Walking out of the bathroom in the guest room that had been allocated to him for the duration of his stay, Jordan stood in the silence of the bright room, drying his wet hair in nothing but his black drawstring joggers.
With his head downturned as he ran the terry cloth through his wet black locks, he suddenly heard a knock on the door of the room. Still drying his hair, he blinked, wondering who it could be before he opened his mouth to respond.
“Coming,” his deep voice echoed round the room but it appeared as if the person on the other side was either in a hurry or they hadn’t heard him correctly because immediately, the door swung open and from his peripheral vision, he saw the person walk in gently before stopping abruptly.
He raised his head to meet the familiar gaze of piercing smaragd eyes. Emerald stood frozen before him with clean bed sheets and comforters piled up in her arms. They remained still, staring at each other with steady gazes until Emerald blinked and cleared her throat.
“H-hey, I’m so sorry. I thought I heard ‘come in’,” she bit her lip in embarrassment, trying to cover up her stutter and to stymie the heat that crawled up her neck and cheeks like ants up a tree stalk.
“It’s fine,” Jordan’s voice came out softly in the quietude as he continued to stare at her in amusement. Under the bright lights of the room, he could see the pink hue dotting her cheeks as she let her eyes sweep past everywhere, but him.
He was happy he had an effect on her and he almost chuckled at her reaction but instead, he took a large step closer to her and watched her eyes widen as she looked up at him.
Jordan didn’t know what had taken over him as he raised his hand from his side and brought it up her cheek slowly and tentatively, seemingly giving her the chance to step away if she wanted to.
But she didn’t. Emerald didn’t move an inch as she stood still, staring deeply into his captivating dark chocolate orbs. She was sure she was blushing because her cheeks felt hot but that was what surprised her the most – Emerald never blushes.
It surprised her because she had seen him half naked twice before but yet, right now, he still managed to have an effect on her. An effect even stronger than the first two times.
She kept her gaze on him, patiently waiting for the feel of his hand on her face. She was curious. She wanted to see how much more her body could react to him because presently, her body didn’t appear to be hers anymore.
As the warmth of his palm caressed her cheek, her eyes instantly slammed shut at the intense feeling it brought. She had never felt anything like it before and the heat radiating from his hand seemed to spread across her face and towards the tip of her toes like wildfire.
Unconsciously, she leaned more into his touch as she let out a little contented sigh. For some reason, his mere touch appeared to have eased off her stress. Her aching body, her almost unhinged shoulders, not to mention all the mental stress she had been going through because of her recent nightmares.
Everything seemed to have evanesced at his single touch. It surprised, comforted and scared her all at once. Her outrageous reaction to him scared her. The way her body was beginning to depend on him, terrified her.
She didn’t want to be dependent on anyone, it only brought trouble, betrayal and pain. She had been independent for most part of her life and it had paid her well. But she couldn’t deny that she was tempted to let go sometimes and have someone there to catch you. She wanted something like that, but it was all just wishful thinking. Mayhap, that was her punishment for all the pain she had caused her mother.
Jordan watched his gem lean more into his touch, apparently enjoying it. He felt a strange feeling surge up and fill his chest as he watched her lips open slightly, giving way to a sigh of contentment. He was happy, genuinely happy.
Having forgotten what happiness and joy truly felt like, feeling it now was strange and unusual but he couldn’t deny that he liked that. As Jordan continued to stare at her, he couldn’t help but notice how she didn’t look like her usual self.
He had noticed it while they were having dinner. He had seen how little she ate and how her mother and stepfather kept throwing her worried glances.
While training to be a Mafia Don, one thing had proven to be really essential and that was being observant. Being able to read the tiniest and slightest body language your opponent or captive makes, goes a really long way in helping one uncover their secrets or hidden plans.
It had become a part of him and the skill had come in handy at dinner and even now. When he saw her eyebrows slightly come together as she appeared to be deep in thought, Jordan raised his other hand and smoothed the crease on her forehead.
He knew he was going to regret ruining their moment because only God knew when such would happen again but her well-being came first before his own comfort, so he asked, “Are you okay?”
Hearing his worry laced tone, Emerald’s eyes snapped open to see that he had stepped impossibly closer to her, enough that they were almost breathing the same air. “Ah,” she blinked and stepped away, much to Jordan’s disappointment.
“N-nothing’s wrong. I just brought you some clean sheets,” she walked over to the bed and laid them gently on the mattress before turning back to face his intense gaze.
“And I also wanted to thank you,” she spoke.
“What? Why?” Jordan asked confusedly.
“For volunteering to help Armani with her university project.”
During dinner when Maggie had asked about the recent news in everyone’s lives, Armani had narrated her project issue to everyone and thankfully, Jordan, who had just purchased an expanse of land for the construction of another one of his clubhouses, had been more than willing to let her use the land for her project.
He was also interested in seeing what true potential she had in architecture. Who knew, maybe he could make out a job opportunity for her in his company after college. Armani and everyone else – including jealous Luca – had been really happy and grateful to him.
“Oh, there’s no need to thank me.”
‘I did it for you,’ he wanted to say but refrained from doing so. Emerald passed him a mild smile.
For what felt like hours but were only mere minutes, they stared at each other before Emerald looked away, shutting down her longing to depend on someone – most especially, him.
“Well, goodnight,” she headed for the door but as she placed her hand on the knob, she stopped and turned back to face him.
“Thank you for making it. I’m really glad you’re here,” she grinned and walked out, meaning her every word as she left behind a smiling Jordan.