11. Jim

Jim

H er acquiescence felt like a big victory. Getting Jordan to let me drive her to and from work ensured that I'd have plenty of time to spend with her, but then the wind went out of my sails a little bit.

Jordan looked around us to make sure no one was nearby, then leaned in close and whispered, "No more kissing though."

She leaned back in her seat, picking up a pickle she'd brought in her lunch. I waited for her to take a bite before I drawled, "That's a damned shame, because it seemed like you enjoyed it as much as I did."

She glared at me while she chewed her food.

"We can't talk about this here," she hissed after she swallowed.

"Fine, we can talk about it later," I conceded. "Now finish your lunch."

"Excuse me!" she said indignantly. "Just because we did…," she paused and looked around again before finishing her sentence, "what we did, that doesn't give you the right to boss me around."

"That's okay, we can take turns being in charge. I'm an enlightened guy."

I gave her the smile that had been making women drop their panties for me since I was fifteen, but it didn't seem to have the same effect on Jordan. She slammed the rest of her lunch into her lunchbox and stood up so fast I thought she'd knock her chair over, then stalked off without a word.

Maybe I'd overplayed my hand here. I wanted to keep her from retreating behind her walls, but I also didn't want to do anything to undermine her here at work. I knew from watching Lillian and other women who worked at the factory that it was hard for females to be respected in this environment.

Realizing I needed advice, I texted Lillian. I knew she was just starting her lunch break on the other side of the factory and was glad when she agreed to meet me at the picnic tables outside. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see George and Leo were with her. Those two were nosier than any women I knew. We settled at the table that was farthest away from the building so I could talk to them in private.

"Thanks for meeting me," I said to Lillian.

"I just saw you last night," she pointed out. "What's happened since then? Does this have something to do with Jordan?"

I felt a flush rise up in my face for some reason, and Lillian broke out into a big smile.

"I told you," she said to the guys before turning her attention back to me. "You guys owe me ten bucks. Now spill it, Jimmy."

"Her car wouldn't start when we left last night and it was after Jensen's closed, so I gave her a ride home and…," I looked around the same way Jordan had, wanting to make sure that no one was walking by who could hear anything and put two and two together. "When we got to her apartment I kissed her."

"This wasn't your first kiss, was it, kid?" Leo asked.

I rolled my eyes. "You've seen me date lots of girls over the years, old man."

"Then why are you acting like a schoolgirl with a crush?" he asked.

There was no teasing there, it was more like he was probing for the truth. My friends all watched me intently.

"I like her," I said quietly.

"You more than like her, don't you?" Lillian asked. "You were different with her than you've been with other women you dated."

"The first time I saw her, it was like, I don't know, like I'd just found something I was looking for, something that was lost and I didn't know it was lost until I found it, you know?"

My friends all nodded. You wouldn't know it by looking at them, but they were a romantic bunch. Every single one of them had fallen in love at first sight with the people who became their spouses.

"When we kissed, I could tell she was feeling the same rush of emotions as me. It was the best kiss of my life. But she's worried about the boss thing."

"She won't be your boss for too much longer," Lillian reminded me. "Jordan seems great too, I really like her."

"She's also kind of hung up on our age gap."

"What is she? Forty?" Lillian asked.

"Forty-three."

She waved her hand. "That's nothing. It's not like either of you are kids, you're both firmly in adulthood. The bigger issue is that you need to be real careful not to do anything to make her lose face here at work."

Lillian gave me a hard stare to emphasize her point.

"If people think she's messing around with her employees, it will be very bad for her. These kinds of things are always way worse for the women, especially when the women are in non-traditional fields. You need to be very, very careful Jimmy."

"Maybe you can just try being friends for a while," Leo suggested. "She's new to town and needs friends, and that way you can get to know her without the romantic stuff gettin' in the way. Take things slow, then when you move back out of her sector, you'll be free to ask her out."

"That's actually good advice, Leo. Thank you."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not so old I don't remember what it's like to be besotted over a woman."

The alarm on Lillian's phone rang, signaling that our lunch break was almost over. As we packed up our leftovers and went our separate ways, I decided the best approach would be for me and Jordan to talk like grown adults.

"I think we need to talk," I said as I drove her home from work later that day.

Just like this morning, Jordan had rebuffed my effort to help her into the truck, instead grabbing onto the ‘oh shit' bar and hoisting herself up into the seat.

"Okaayyy…" She stretched out the word, her tone clearly indicating that she didn't think she was going to like whatever I was about to say.

I pulled into the parking lot of her apartment, then turned off the truck and shifted to look at her.

"That kiss last night was…well, you know, you were there. I think it's pretty clear that there's something between us, something big."

She opened her mouth to interrupt, and I raised my hand, stopping her.

"I also know that if we start something right now it's going to be trouble for you at work, and I don't want that. I want you to come into a relationship with me free and clear of any fears."

"Come into a relationship with you?" she parroted.

"That's why I think we should just be friends."

"Friends?"

I rolled my lips in to keep from laughing at the way she was just repeating what I said.

"We can hang out, get to know each other better, that kind of thing. But we gotta promise to keep our hands off each other, because if I kiss you again, there's no way I'm not going to want to do more."

"Sounds like you thought a lot about this," she said. "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

I studied her face. She didn't look mad, more like she felt like she should be putting up a protest.

"Look, you're new to town and don't really know anyone. I've lived here my whole life and I've had a lot of women friends over the years so if we're acting friend like, no one will think anything of it," I explained. "Then when I go back to my regular job, we'll be free to be more than friends."

"What if I don't want that? What if you're still stuck in the friend zone?" she asked.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take to get to spend time with you."

"Okay, we can do that," she agreed. "It's a good plan."

She opened the door, but I stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"The heat between us, Jordan? That's not going anywhere. When I finally make you mine, it'll be all the sweeter after waiting. The next few weeks is gonna be like foreplay."

She made the cutest squeak as she hustled out of the truck.