Elle may have dropped out of law school in favor of something she termed “more Arts and Science-y,” but those killer questioning instincts appeared to be alive and well.
She curled her legs up under her and leaned on the couch’s armrest. “I think I’m unclear on what kind of meeting this was with Forest. Explain.”
“The kind where Ryan tried to negotiate, but got outmaneuvered by Forest. The guy barely spoke and still led the discussion and demanded attention.” But Jordan knew that part. It was the private intel on Forest she wanted. “Now back to the rumors.”
“Confidentiality agreement.”
Jordan downed a healthy portion of the wine with a hard swallow. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“Are you trying to wow me with your legal knowledge?”
“The rumor is he has his dates, the ones that stick around for anything longer than a few nights, sign a confidentiality agreement.”
“I... Wait...” Jordan wondered if maybe she drank too fast. “What?”
Her gaze searched Elle’s face for any sign of amusement, but all Jordan got was a raised eyebrow. When the discussion was just between the two of them, Elle tended to spit out any information she had as fast as she could. She loved the gossip-oriented part of the site. Thrived on it. And Elle had never gotten her facts wrong. Jordan depended on that.
Still, this sounded insane. “Oh, come on. An agreement?”
Elle reached for the bottle and refilled Jordan’s glass. “I’m just repeating what I’ve heard.”
“That’s a level of control bordering on crazy. Like, I want to call him a therapist right now.” Well, maybe take a second to strip him out of that suit jacket first, just to see what he hid under there, but then straight to a therapist. Jordan was comfortable with that order. She wasn’t as happy about how every crumb she collected about Forest intrigued her more, even this bit of weirdness.
Elle shrugged. “The rich do strange things.”
“Testify, but what woman would sign an agreement for a dinner date? Is he that special?”
Elle smiled behind her glass as she rubbed the rim over her lips. “Well, are you still wearing your panties or not?”
Jordan intended to keep them in place whenever Forest was around, but... “Good point.”
“Word is he’s dark and mysterious. Maybe a woman is willing to do some out-there things to climb between the sheets with him.”
Jordan decided her dear friend had a point. “But hire a lawyer to review a legal document?”
“I guess he likes full command over mattress time.”
Forest. Bed. Naked. Shoulders.
Interesting. “Now you’re just trying to make my head to explode.”
Elle held up her free hand. “Hey, just passing it on. I heard he likes to be in charge in the bedroom.”
“From?”
Elle’s glanced drifted toward the television. The same one that was turned off and had been ever since Jordan got home. “Just here and there.”
Ignoring her vow to forget about Forest almost as soon as she made it, Jordan set her glass down in the coffee table with a clink. “Let me get this straight. We run an anonymous website with hundreds of members, and our sole job is to collect and verify information on the eligible and not-so-eligible but possibly cheating males in the city, and somehow you have information on Forest Redder but no verification to put it on the site.”
“What do you want me to do? No one is willing to write a status report or file a request for information on him.”
And that was the key. “Yet. But they will. We’ll get him.”
Jordan regretted the phrase as soon as she said it. Probably had something to do with the way the light in Elle’s eyes flared. Or the knowing smirk.
“Are you saying you want more information, maybe for a personal connection?” Suddenly Elle seemed to have no trouble giving her boss-slash-friend full-on eye contact.
“He’s not my type.” Not totally true, but Jordan hoped it would fly.
“Hot and sexy with bedroom skills to make a grown woman moan and beg for more is not your type?”
So, no flying. “I started the site because I wasn’t exactly finding that type of guy.”
“Burke Landow is an ass.”
Her most recent ex. Now, there was a subject guaranteed to suck the sexiness out of any conversation. It also had Jordan reaching for her glass again. “Oh, hell yeah. Agreed.”
“Most men don’t lie about being engaged. He’s not the only type of guy out there.”
Jordan shot Elle her best are-you-kidding-me frown. “I’m wondering if you’ve read over the Need to Know site lately.”
“It’s one of my favorite ways to spend an evening.”
“What about that professor? He had solid reports on the site for charm, but no word on sex. Can you fill in the blanks?” The lack of information on something so vital, the fact no member had made it past a few dinners with the guy, raised Jordan’s antenna. But Elle thought he was cute...never mind that’s how the truly weird ones lured you in.
“Yeah, there was nothing on sex.”
“You made it to date three, right? I would think that means you have better things to do at night than read.” When Elle had gone out on the first date, Jordan had felt a tiny kick of jealousy. She wanted to be attracted to the scholarly buttoned-up type, but she had the misfortune of loving a bad-boy streak.
Now, combine buttoned-up and naughty, and her control went on the fritz. She didn’t know how any sane woman walked by that type without giving a second look.
Of course, the seeds for her feelings on men were not a secret. She hadn’t spent time in therapy, but she knew. Not that she couldn’t use an expert now and then, but she feared after a few hours of talking about her upbringing she’d need a lifetime pass.
Her mother liked men. Liked men the way little kids liked cookies. To say mom overindulged would be an understatement. The way Jordan figured it, her front seat to her mom’s dating life should have made her prim or promiscuous. It was a miracle she didn’t head for either extreme.
“There will not be a fourth date with the professor.” Elle kept her head down and her focus on the stem of her wineglass.
No eye contact, cryptic—not good signs, so Jordan poked around a little. “Why?”
Elle smacked her lips together and made a strange sucking sound. “Shaved.”
Between the noise and the word Jordan decided she missed a sentence. Maybe more than one. “Excuse
