Chapter 14：Hold the Phone

"Hey."

"Jordan?" Lana tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder. Olivia and Lisa squealed in delight. She had met them for lunch.

"Guess what? I'm in Minnesota!" He said trying to sound dramatic.

"Oh..I thought I was supposed to come there this evening?" She put down her cutlery and held her phone.

"Yeah, but there was a slight change of plans. You don't want to see me?"

"No, of cos I do. I-I'm glad that you know-that you're here?" She said flustered. Her appetite was long gone by now and she grabbed a glass of wine and gulped it down. Did he fly all the way down here especially for her or he was here for another reason? Lisa and Olivia had stopped eating and they were staring at her.

"You're still there sweets?" He asked.

"Yeah...so where are you?"

"I just jetted in. Was hoping I could join you for lunch?" He pressed gently.

"Yeah of cos..I-we're at The Capital Grille on Hennepin. I'm sure you can find it?" She replied, avoiding looking at her friends. Their faces lit up with excitement as they shamelessly listened in to the conversation.

"See you in a bit sweets."

"Yes. You do know that it's rude to listen in to someone else's conversation?" Lana said as she gulped down a glass of water.

"So should we go? Should we stay?" Lisa added, her eyes shining.

"Let's go to the bathroom and regroup shall we?" Olivia suggested. "Besides your face needs a bit of work babe. You look like you were running a marathon." She threw her napkin on the table and held out her hand to Lana as they stood up.

"I'll stay." Lisa offered. "Just in case-you know?"She shrugged and tossed her hair back.

"You know this isn't necessary." Lana protested as Olivia powdered her face. "He has seen me without make-up and probably knows what my morning breath smells like..so.."

"Overshare alert." Olivia rolled her eyes. "He must really like you, you know?"

"What makes you think that?" Lana frowned at her reflection in the mirror.

"Well..you've slept in the same bed on many occasions and he didn't try to take things further. I mean who does that? He's Jordan Carter! He could have had you just by blinking in your direction but he hasn't." She observed.

"I know right? But what if it's an angle? All part of his game?" She voiced her thoughts.

"Sweetheart, this is Jordan-freakin-Carter. what could he possibly gain from having sex with a college student? If I was in your shoes I would have been all over that hot bod! You're wasting a perfectly good dish.. Just let me at him!" Olivia clawed the air and they burst into laughter.

They had just settled at the table when Lana's phone rang again.

"Hey, sweets. I'm parked outside. I can't come in because I don't have any guards with me and I don't want to cause a commotion. So do you and your friends mind if we go somewhere else?"

"Okay sure," Lana said.

"Great. I'll pick you up at the front entrance." He replied.

"Hey, listen..Jordan wants us to meet him out front like now-so let's go." Lana stood and hurried her friends along.

Jordan pulled up in his black matte Aston Martin DB11, looking hotter than the sun. He was dressed in full white, shorts and a white v-neck t-shirt and completed the look with his Ray-Ban police sunglasses, his hair messier than usual because the drop-top was down. They all jumped in with squeals of delight from Olivia and Lisa.

"Oh, my days!! I'm in Jordan Carter's car!" Lisa kept saying over and over again. She sounded like a scratched record.

"Careful there, you might just inspire me to write a new song." Jordan laughed.

"Hie! By the way, I'm Lisa and this is Liv. Oh, my days! I still can't believe I'm-Ahhh!" Lisa screamed like a typical groupie. Olivia just sat with her hands on her head chanting "Oh my gosh." repeatedly.

"Interesting friends you got there Bambi." He stole a glance as he fixed his eyes back on the road. Gosh, he had missed her. " You miss me much? Or I didn't stay away long enough??" Jordan threw a smile at Lana.

"You should have stayed away a little longer Carter." She smiled at him. She had missed him but she was never going to tell him that. Her heart was racing just by being so close to him and her stomach was in knots. She had it bad. This was more than a crush.

"Aww, you two are so sweet!" Lisa gushed.

"I know right?" Jordan winked at Lana.

"So where to?" Lana asked.

"We are going to leave your friends at the mall to do a bit of shopping on me of cos- because-they will be coming to spend the weekend with us in New York." Lisa and Olivia let out loud screams and it was difficult to contain them after that. They started talking in excited whispers at the back.

"And then we are going to spend some QT alone..seeing as you my-you know?" He squeezed her hand. He played it down. He really wanted-no he needed to be alone with Lana right now. She had this calming effect on him and he needed that right now. He just wanted to enjoy this time with her and just forget about everything and everyone else.

"Oh, sounds good." She said. Did he really want to spend time alone with her or it was just to appease the media? Either way, she didn't mind the logic behind it, she would milk it for everything it was worth.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought the press would be curious as to why we hardly make public appearances." He lied but it caused untold damage to Lana's heart.

"Yeah. I understand." She said with a smug smile.

"But don't get me wrong I don't mind. In case you didn't notice, I kinda enjoy your company sweets." He lifted their joined hands and kissed hers.

"Did you see that?!!" Olivia exclaimed to Lisa as she pointed to the front.

"You ain't seen nothing yet babe." Jordan chuckled as he turned up the music.