Sparring Partners Read Free Page A

smiled,
sending her mop of red-gold curls bouncing. When her eyes narrowed,
he knew he'd pissed her off. For some perverse reason he couldn't
name, Jordon was enjoying her reaction. Since he didn't have to get
back to work, and he didn't have any place he needed to be for the
next month, he could afford a few more minutes in wet clothes while
he watched her steam.
    "If I have to dance naked on a street corner
shaking a tambourine and whistling Dixie, I'll find the cash to
replace your overpriced shirt and tie." She said, sticking out her
chest and batting her glorious eyes at him, hand extended again
like she really expected him to turn over his tie.
    "As much as that image appeals to me, and it
does, have dinner with me instead. You can dance after I feed you.
Or before. " Jordon shrugged. "I could go either way." Some of the
tightness he'd felt since his meeting with William eased as she
stood toe to toe sparring with him.
    "I don't own any overpriced clothing."
    "Doesn't matter. Especially if you're intent
on dancing naked. What you've got on now will do." Jordon shrugged,
looking at her well worn concert-t-shirt. "Although I prefer
Aerosmith to Alice Cooper."
    "Why?" She asked.
    "Alice Cooper's a little one dimensional for
my taste."
    She waved that away. "My son just ruined
your clothes. Why take me to dinner?"
    Jordon lost the smile he didn't know he was
sporting until it was gone. "My apologies. I didn't see a ring. I
didn't realize you were married. Don't worry about the shirt and
tie. No problem." He took a step towards the exit, but she blocked
him.
    "I'm not married. Not anymore."
    Jordon's shoulders relaxed and the acid in
his stomach seemed to neutralize. Then he remembered the kid called
her Reed. "Your son calls you by your first name?"
    She waved that away too. "Jesse's only been
my son for two years. It's a long story."
    "Tell me over dinner." Jordon didn't
normally have to ask twice, but this time he wanted to. "Come on.
I'll bring a tambourine."
    The smile she gave him transformed a
perfectly pleasant face into a beautiful one. She had the kind of
fresh faced attractiveness that he knew from experience would get
more beautiful every time he saw it. That kind of beauty was
dangerous, it never grew old. He should have just kept walking. He
didn't really have time to enjoy himself, and, he didn't need a
relationship. He needed a wife.
    Jordon was about to tell her he'd forgotten
a prior commitment when she pulled a card from the back pocket of
her well worn jeans and slapped it into his hand.
    "Pick me up at seven." Grinning widely, she
winked at him. "Wear the tie. We'll add some salsa stains for
variety." Reed turned and bounced back toward her son of two years,
who looked to be at least sixteen. She looked back over her
shoulder at him, before pulling Jesse away. She was interested, and
interesting, and she wore trouble like a neon warning sign around
her neck.
    Instead of doing the smart thing, Jordon
looked at the card. Reed M. Mohr - Mediation Specialist .
Judgmental little thing, for a mediator. He put Reed's card in his
pocket, pulled out his cell, turned it on and punched one on his
speed dial. His friend and head of security, Henry Platske,
answered before the first ring ended.
    "Where the hell are you?" Henry yelled into
the phone. "You left B.H. without me. Not cool. Do you want me to
station two of my guys with you 24/7? You're lucky you didn't get
your ass kidnapped."
    Jordon pinched the bridge of his nose again.
He'd forgotten all about Henry when he fled B.H.'s conference room
after meeting with William. "Are you done?"
    "Stay where you are, I'm coming to you."
Henry said.
    "Henry, take your bodyguard hat off for a
second and just be my friend." The silence on the other end of the
phone meant Henry wasn't done tracking him yet.
    "Give me a break, Henry. I need you to run a
name for me. Not just the average background check, I want
everything you can find. And I need it by five."
    "Shoot." Henry