Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,26
the first layer of Logan Diffenderfer. She’d missed all the layers underneath.
The alarm on her phone finally went off. They’d survived their fifteen minutes.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Logan said. “About the panic attack. I don’t want people to think I’m…”
Logan didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. Ava knew what he was going to say. Crazy.
Ava picked up her phone to silence the alarm. “Uh-oh,” she said.
“What?”
She showed him the text from Jordan.
MAJOR DUCKING PROBLEM.
CHAPTER SEVEN
JORDAN STOOD in the doorway of the legislative deputy’s office and prayed to the universe that he wouldn’t recognize her. Which hardly seemed possible. She had recognized him the second he’d looked up from his desk. This truly was a major ducking problem.
He’d been on the phone, which is how she’d been able to quickly text her friends. Now she was waiting for him to finish his call. The receptionist who had escorted Jordan from the lobby was still standing there waiting to introduce them. Maybe Jordan should tell her she needed the bathroom again. She could go and never come back.
Scott Mercer hung up the phone. “Sorry about that,” he said.
“This is Jordan James,” the receptionist said.
Jordan pushed her shoulders back and raised her head high. It was something that CJ swore made her feel more confident. Scott Mercer stood and did that politician thing where he buttoned his jacket and extended a hand in one swift move. Jordan didn’t know what else to do, so she shook it. When their hands touched, his blue eyes narrowed into a squint. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“I don’t think so.”
But they had—the night of the community meeting. He was the young man who had been walking with the councilman when she’d asked for an interview.
“You sure? You look so familiar.”
“Definitely not,” Jordan said.
The receptionist turned to leave, and Jordan seriously thought about running after her. She might have gone through with it too were it not for the stilettos she’d borrowed from her mom’s closet without asking. She felt wobbly in them. Like a little girl in her mother’s shoes. Which is exactly what she was.
“Well, come on in, Jordan. I’m getting pulled into a meeting with the councilman, so unfortunately I can only give you twenty minutes.” He started to sit back down but then stopped. He looked at her like something had just occurred to him. “I know exactly where I recognize you from.”
Jordan’s shoulders slumped. She knew she owed him an explanation. She may as well tell him the truth. I just wanted to be taken seriously.
“I—”
“You were at the young professionals’ mixer.”
She blinked a couple of times. “Uh…”
“The one at the Hyatt Regency.”
All the adrenaline that had been coursing through Jordan’s body suddenly stopped at once. It made her feel heavy. “Oh yeah. The young professionals’ mixer. That must have been it.”
“See? I knew we’d met,” Scott said. “Do you need to deal with that?”
Jordan hadn’t even realized that her phone was dinging over and over and over.
“Shoot. Sorry. Guess I forgot to silence it.”
She glanced at her phone and saw that the texts pouring in were from Martha.
What’s the ducking problem?
(My “ducking” is intentional and for comedic purposes.)
But seriously? Are you okay?
Oh my god. ANSWER ME.
Hellloooooo?
“It’s my editor. Just give me one second.” Jordan quickly typed a bunch of letters so that he’d see her texting.
czopiuvawerawlu
She hit send and silenced her phone. “Okay, that’s done, so…” She took a deep breath. She had only twenty minutes. She needed to pull it together. She sat down and crossed her legs because she felt like it made her look more professional. “Is it okay if I record?”
“Of course,” Scott said as Jordan fumbled for the record button. “So you’re right out of college too?”
Jordan looked up. “Oh, uh…” She tried to remember how old Martha had made her on her LinkedIn profile. Did it even include an age?
“The young professionals’ thing. That was the one for recent grads, right?”
Jordan nodded. “Right. Yes. Recent grad.” She needed to calm down. She was flustered and scattered.
“I go to so many of those things, it’s hard to keep track. I’m working on building up my professional network.”
“Yeah,” Jordan said. “It’s all about who you know, right?” She smiled and took a quick breath to center herself. Then she set her iPhone down on the desk between them and saw that both Martha and CJ were responding to her string of gobbledygook.