Sweet Torment/A Jordan Knight Fanfic (18+)✔️

18

Chapter Eighteen

I woke up the next morning when Charlie was just getting out of bed. He peeked over at me before standing up. "Good morning," he said.

"Good morning." I stretched with grogginess. "You been up long?"

He shook his head. "Just woke up."

He paused and looked at me thoughtfully as if he wanted to say something more, but then he stood and started toward the bathroom. I couldn't help but wonder what he wanted to say. Did he want to finally clear the air? Was he going to ask me to be honest with him?

Was I ready to be honest with him?

I got up and checked on Madi, who was just waking up. I helped her out of bed and we got to work on breakfast.

"Smells good in here," Charlie said after he emerged from his shower. He picked up a giggling Madi to swing her around.

"We made bacon," she announced.

"My favorite," Charlie said.

From the outside, surely we looked like a happy little family. But we were two adults in a broken marriage and a child whose parents were suffering.

This was all wrong, and there wasn't much I could immediately do to fix any of it.

After we ate, Charlie announced that he had to go into the office.

"On a Sunday?" I asked.

His gaze lingered on me for a moment, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. "Yep. Sorry."

I shrugged, and he mussed Madi's hair before heading out the door. "You ready to head to Grammy's house?"

"I want to go home."

I pulled her into my arms. "I know you do, sweetheart. And you will get to go home very soon."

She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder, and my heart broke a little more for my sweet niece.

Immediately after dropping her off, I called Jordan. "Are we still on for Starbucks?"

"I'm already at a table waiting for you."

I glanced at the clock. It was only a few minutes after ten. "Sorry I'm running late. I had a hard time leaving Madi."

I knew how he lived for punctuality, but this wasn't business. This was the two of us meeting under personal circumstances, and surely he couldn't fault me for being late considering what was going on with my sister.

Instead of reassuring me that it was no big deal, he said, "What would you like to drink?"

I thought for a moment. "Iced caramel macchiato."

"I'll be waiting here with it." His words were short.

Something was up with him, and I had a feeling it wasn't just because I was running late.

"What's wrong, Jordan?"

"I'm next in line. We'll talk when you get here."

He cut off the call, and my heart started pounding. I was terrified that this was the end for us. It couldn't be the end—not when we'd hardly even gotten started.

I sped through town and my tires practically squealed as I turned into a parking space in front of Starbucks. I raced out of my car and through the doors, my heart pounding faster and faster the closer I got to him.

I spotted him the moment I walked through the door. He had an imposing presence, an aura of power and strength and manliness surrounding him.

He wore a suit, and my heart beat wildly in my chest as I stared at the man in a suit in the middle of a busy Starbucks drinking coffee as he tapped away on his phone.