Chapter Four

Gotta give credit to Auntkia and her story He Watched Me Walk Away for the inspiration for this chapter. Great story. If you haven't read it, do so. I do so enjoy making Woody squirm.

Oh…and lest you think I have something against blondes….I don't. I'm very blonde myself…literally. But graduated MagnaCum Laude…so dumb blonde doesn't fit in my description. :)

John met Jordan for lunch several times during the next month. Their music classes were over with, but they still were seeing each other on a regular basis. And Jordan enjoyed going out with him. The one thing that dating John did do for her, it made her begin to think about how she looked.

John wasn't just a real estate lawyer. Jordan soon came to realize he was the real estate lawyer for all the local bigwigs around the Boston area. When they were out on a date, he was constantly running into his clients….the moneyed folk of Massachusetts. Although John had said nothing to her, she became acutely aware of her clothing. So she went shopping. Several times. Finally updating her wardrobe to that of a modern professional woman and shedding the jeans and t-shirt genre she had been in for so many years. Now she had little skirts and sweater sets…a few nice dresses….high heels and panty hose, for heaven sakes…dress pants…shrunken jackets…scarves….and discreet jewelry. She even was having her nails done.

However, she left her hair alone. She had contemplated cutting it…to a shorter style that was in vogue, but in the end, decided not to. Not because she didn't think it would look good, but because in the heat of their one passionate night together, Woody had whispered to her how much he loved her hair long and wavy. She should cut it just to maybe get a rise out of him.

But it might give him one more reason to ignore her.

So her hair stayed the same length, even if everything else about her changed. John had been awed by the transformation, telling her over and over again how good she looked.

Max had been dumbfounded. "You have no fashion sense?" he questioned, referring back to their earlier conversation in which Jordan compared herself to Kim. "You have no figure? You're too tomboyish? Have you looked in the mirror lately, Jordan? You were beautiful before. Now you're….you're…." Max was nearly speechless. "A grown woman," he finally said, thinking of no better words to define his daughter's metamorphosis.

Woody gradually became aware of the change in her…literally running into her one day at the morgue when he needed to retrieve some reports from her. She was leaving her office to meet John for an early dinner and he bumped into her on her way out, nearly knocking her off her high heels. "Whoa. Sorry, Jordan," he reached out to steady her, and slowly took in the sight of her. Gone were the faded jeans and t-shirts. In their place she wore a short black and pink checked skirt and a pink cami with a black jacket over it. She had on sheer black hose and black high heels…at least three inches tall and brought her head up past his shoulder now. A bit taken back, he actually stepped away from her for a second to regain his composure. "Um….I need the reports on the Marsali's autopsy if you've got them finalized," he stammered.

"Oh. Sure." She went back into her office and pulled the reports from her files. "There you go. Need anything else?"

"No. Were you in court today?"

"No. Why?" A moment of panic overtook Jordan…had she forgotten something? A trial?"

"I was just wondering…I mean, you're all dressed up….I've never seen you in that outfit…"

"It's new."

"You look nice," he said, still a little befuddled at her appearance

"Thanks….I think. You sound amazed."

"I mean…I just never have seen you so dressed up before…not even for court."

She smiled. "I have a date, Woody." And with that, she walked passed him with what she hoped was her best seductive stroll.

A date…she has a date…. He thought, all the way back to his office. Who with? If she was dating another detective or police officer, he'd know. Gossip traveled fast in the Boston PD grapevine. So it wasn't anyone in the precinct. And probably not anyone in the morgue, either. That left the answer to his question up to a thousand unknown possibilities.

It had to be someone special to make her dress like that…For as long as he had known Jordan, he had seen her in a dress or skirt only a few times. Jeans were her everyday de rigor wardrobe.

But today, in that short skirt, high heels, and low-cut cami, she looked better than a model. A professional woman with a hint of seduction. Who was she seeing that made her dress like that?

And why hadn't she ever dressed like that for him? What reason have you ever given her to dress like that, Hoyt? A little voice in the back of his mind questioned. All you've ever done with her is order take out or delivery….working over cases. The second time she invites you over to her apartment to just "stay," you get called out on work. And decide it's not worth your effort to try to return… that things were just better for the both of you that way, mainly because you were already hooked up with Kim.

Ah. Kim. His temptress with the claws. The increasingly sharp claws. He winced. Kim was beautiful…Kim flattered him…Kim did things to him and for him in bed that he had only dreamed of…some he had never even thought of….

And she was becoming increasingly clingy and whiney. What he had thought was going to be a wonderful relationship….a perfect match of beauty, boobs, and brains, was turning sour. Kim was gorgeous. No doubt about that. And she was built. No doubt about that in Woody's mind or her plastic surgeon's plans. But she was one of those women that gave blondes a bad name. When they had begun seeing each other, he was flattered that a woman that looked like Kim would spend time with him. However, as time wore on, the one thing that Kim knew how to do really well was massage his ego…push the exact buttons she needed to in order to get what she wanted out of Woody.

She wasn't original. She lacked spunk. He was beginning to think she couldn't string two coherent thoughts together in her head. The only place she kept him on his toes was in bed.

In short, she was nothing like Jordan. That was who he really craved. Jordan, with all her issues and feistiness. With her disregard for orders and her impulsiveness. Jordan. He missed her. He regretted more than words could express not returning to her that night in her apartment. The hurt that had spread across her face and echoed in her eyes when he told her that it was better that they not sleep together….they'd regret it….haunted him. He missed her quick mind and her quick tongue…

He missed her kisses. Kim was a born seductress. One brief caress from her could send any man in search of the nearest hotel room.

Jordan's kisses, though tinged with the passion of that night, had been sweet, honest, and totally his. He had heard that Kim was seeing another man behind his back…he couldn't prove it, but he had heard. With Jordan, he knew she was all his…there was no deception there.

Only now she wasn't his. She was seeing someone else. Who? And how serious was she with this guy? He had to find out.