Moonlight Over Seattle. Callie Endicott

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       Chapter Four

      NICOLE COULDN’T INTERPRET the expression on Jordan’s face and decided not to try.

      She pulled up in front of her house. It was after three thirty and she’d be heading back to the school in four hours. The schedule seemed rigorous for the kids, but the principal had explained the afternoon’s performance was mostly intended as a dress rehearsal.

      Considering how the agency had been inundated with people wanting to become clients, it might be silly to go out searching. But this was more dynamic—not to mention more fun—than sitting in her office looking at pictures or videos.

      “What now?” Jordan asked.

      “I’m going to sit on my new deck and breathe fresh air while I make notes about the performance.”

      “May I join you?”

      “I suppose,” Nicole said reluctantly.

      It was ironic. If PostModern had sent a different reporter, she probably wouldn’t be letting him or her into the house. So in a sense, being “herself” might actually be easier with Jordan. Well...easier on some levels, harder on others.

      She went through the kitchen on the way out to the deck and took a bottle of mineral water from the beverage chiller.

      “Help yourself,” she offered. “Sorry, there isn’t any beer.”

      He glanced into the compartment and selected ice tea. “I also see there’s no wine. Worried about the calories?”

      “I don’t care that much for alcohol. The last time I had a drink was when we toasted the purchase of Moonlight Ventures.”

      Nicole spent a few minutes playing with Toby, tossing a toy while he fetched it and returned. The dog wriggled with pleasure each time she praised him. According to Toby’s records, he’d been found as a hungry puppy near the Bainbridge Island ferry. It broke her heart to think of any animal being abandoned, but at least she could ensure this particular dog had a good life.

      Finally he collapsed on the grass, panting and looking thoroughly pleased with himself. Some people thought cocker spaniels or corgis had the corner on adorability, but Nicole’s money was on beagles. When he’d whimpered and looked at her from his kennel at the rescue center she’d practically melted. Until then she’d been considering a German Shepherd adolescent with enormous paws and a goofball personality.

      She went back to her chair under the covered section of the deck and started making notes in her electronic notebook, periodically referring to the program from the play. The kids had seemed eager and sincere, though most of them weren’t polished actors and actresses.

      “I didn’t know you liked dogs,” Jordan said after a while.

      Nicole reached down and patted Toby, who’d come over to sit next to her chair. “I couldn’t get one before because of my travel schedule—it wouldn’t have been right to kennel it constantly.”

      “That’s why I’ve never adopted a pet or thought about family. I like being able to drop everything and head to another part of the world.”

      “Being free to travel is nice and I suppose a pet or a family would tie you down.”

      Though Nicole was glad she no longer had to be on the go constantly, she also missed it. But a business couldn’t be run on an occasional basis.

      Jordan’s head cocked. “You have an odd expression.”

      “I was thinking about choices. This is probably the longest I’ve stayed in one place since I was a kid. It seems strange in a way.”

      His gaze sharpened. “Then that’s one of the costs of your decision to change careers?”

      Nicole didn’t want to discuss what she thought or felt, but she had agreed to the interviews and intended to follow through.

      “Yes,” she said, “if you want to call it a cost. I’m responsible for taking care of the agency until there are more of us here to fulfill our commitments. Being more mobile the way I used to be might be nice, though I rarely had time to simply appreciate the locations where I worked. Still, I got to see a lot, even if it was on the fly.”

      Jordan had pulled out a notepad and written a bit before looking up once more. For a minute she was afraid he was going to imply again that she felt sorry for herself, which would tempt her to send his pad into the yard for Toby to use as a chew toy.

      “Do you think you’ll be able to resist the freedom of travel?” he asked instead.

      “I don’t intend to stay in Seattle three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Once the four of us are here, there will be some leeway. In the meantime, I made a choice about what I wanted to do with my life. It means I can’t do some things, but can do others, such as have a dog.”

      Jordan looked at Toby. “He’s a pretty nice choice.”

      “Yeah. Originally I wanted a large dog, but this guy charmed me into taking him instead. Maybe I’ll get a cat to keep him company when I’m out.”

      “Two animals? I can imagine the look on Helen’s face if she had to clean up after them.”

      “Helen?”

      “She comes in once a week to clean my condo. She jokes that I’m Felix Unger, the neat freak from The Odd Couple.”

      “But didn’t Felix hope to get back together with his wife?”

      “So I’m like him in some ways, not in others. Besides, I’m not exactly a neat freak, I just like to have everything in its place.”

      Jordan fell silent again and Nicole made a few more notes, trying to ignore his very male presence on her deck. It wasn’t easy. Tension emanated from him, as if just sitting while she worked was taxing his patience beyond its limit. Though he’d claimed otherwise, she sometimes wondered if he’d already written the articles and if interviewing her was just a pretense.

      Nicole mentally slapped herself. It was hypocritical to condemn the guy before giving him a chance to prove himself. If the PostModern articles turned out to be pure opinion, the same as his columns, then she’d know the truth.

      She glanced at him from beneath her eye lashes. He was good-looking enough to be a model himself, though there was no telling how his looks would translate into photographs.

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