Chapter Seventeen
Mia was unlocking the front door of Sullivan Realty on Monday morning when Ford stepped out of a black car parked at the curb. His jaw was scruffy with stubble and he looked like he hadn’t gotten much more sleep than she had over the weekend. And yet, she couldn’t remember him ever looking better.
Nor could she remember the last time the butterflies had started flying around in her stomach like this, even though she’d been expecting to see him this morning so that they could put in an offer on the tower house.
“Good morning.”
His dark eyes were full of appreciation as he let them run from her head to toe and then back again. “It is now.”
She was extremely glad that they were the first two people in the office this morning, so that she didn’t have to make introductions and pretend that everything was perfectly normal between her and her client. Not when nothing about her relationship with Ford felt remotely normal...and not when she’d made a pretty darn big decision during the thirty-six hours since she’d last seen Ford at the wedding.
He followed her into her office, and as soon as the door closed behind him with a soft click, she said, “I know we have business to take care of this morning, but before we do, I want you to know that I’ve made a decision about us.”
It had made so much sense in the middle of the night when she’d been going over and over things in her head. There was no question that they’d come to a crossroads at the wedding. The only question had been which way to turn. Last night, she’d been certain that she’d figured out the best way to deal with their ongoing attraction without making the mistake of letting herself get in too deep again.
“I think we should sleep together.”
“I haven’t gotten much rest since Friday,” Ford said, “so I’m pretty sure I just hallucinated you saying that we should sleep together.”
For all the sense that her decision had made in the middle of the night, now that he was standing here in front of her, she had to silently remind herself why she was doing this. Fighting their attraction was going to be impossible. Not only that, but for a sensual woman like her, it was downright unnatural not to want the pleasure that she knew Ford could give her.
Having a sex-only affair was the only thing that made sense.
“I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have some fun, casual sex when you’re in town and I’m free for a night or two.”
“How many reasons do you want?” Ford asked. “Because I’m pretty sure I could fill up your entire work day with them.”
Damn it, why couldn’t he behave like any other guy would and just jump at the sex? “Hold on a minute,” she said, letting her anger match his. “You’ve angled and strategized for a kiss every time we’ve been together, but now that I’m offering a heck of a lot more than a kiss, you’re saying no, you don’t want to have sex with me.”
“Of course I want to have sex with you, Mia. And if I thought I could get to your heart that way, you’d better believe you would be na**d and coming beneath me right now.” Every inch of her skin went hot and damp at the crazy-hot picture he’d just painted, even as he growled, “How many times do I have to tell you I want more from you than your body?”
“So unless I’m ready to declare my love to you and promise you forever, you aren’t going to touch me again?” she growled back instead of answering his question. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
“No,” he said as he reached out to drag her against him, “that’s not even close to what I’m trying to tell you.”
By less than a heartbeat, his mouth beat hers to the kiss that she’d been aching for since the wedding. At the winery in Napa his kisses had been gentle, almost reverent, as he’d roamed her skin. But nothing was soft about the way they devoured each other now, her teeth making hard nips against his lower lip, his tongue tangling with hers in a rough dance of pure lust. His hands covering every inch of her that he could reach, from br**sts to hips, hers tightly gripping the dark strands of his hair to keep his mouth right where she wanted it.
Moans, gasps, pleasure, pain—Mia relished every single second of feeling again. Even though, as both of them continued to drag each other deeper into burning heat and desperate need, somewhere way back in her brain, a warning flag was waving, trying to tell her that this was a bad idea.
Oh yes, she knew that what they were doing was a terrible idea, knew that she shouldn’t be giving this much to Ford, shouldn’t be giving him any part of her at all when he’d hurt her so badly once before. But right now, knowing better was taking a distant backseat to the sinful pleasure of arching into his large hands as they cupped her br**sts through her silk shirt.
The shrill ringing of her assistant’s phone only one wall away hit her like an ice-cold bucket of water.
It wasn’t just a bad idea to be kissing Ford because he had the power to hurt her in a way no one else did—but also because they were in her office and her employees were going to start coming through the front door any second now.
Was she trying to get caught with him?
Her heart was scrambling as she let him go and stood on her own, on legs that threatened to tremble like a bowl of Jell-O.
“We’ve built up sleeping together again to be too big, too important. As far as I’m concerned, the best thing we can do is get this out of our systems so that we can both move on with our lives.”
“Once I have you again, Mia, I won’t ever get you out of my system. And I won’t give you up. Not to some other guy you meet jogging or on a plane, who doesn’t deserve you.”
Desperately fighting against the part of her that wanted to belong to Ford and believe that it was possible to have a forever with him, she said, “You say you want more than my body, but then you talk about me like I’m some toy you can be jealous and possessive over.”
“Damn it, you’re right.” She watched him run a harsh hand through his dark hair as he paced her office like a lion trapped in a cage. “I’m saying everything wrong. Doing every goddamned thing wrong.”
Was it crazy that a part of her wanted to go to him, to comfort him?
Yes, this Ford-inspired crazy was precisely why she’d suggested a casual, sex-only relationship. Because that way they could focus on their bodies and pleasure...and things like comfort and support—and emotions that could be stripped raw and utterly destroyed—wouldn’t be on the table at all.
* * *
“Five years ago, even though I was an immature punk who didn’t know which way was up, I was smart enough to love you. How could I not?” Ford paused to make sure he didn’t say it all wrong again. “But after we split up, I spent way too long pretending I could be a man on an island again. That I wasn’t thinking of you every second we were apart.”
“Ford—”
“Let me try to get at least one thing right.” He moved back across her office to reach for her hands. “After seeing the way Nicola and Marcus are with each other, I think I finally figured something out. Something big that we skipped in our week together. Something between sex and love that holds everything together.” He looked down at where their fingers had naturally threaded together, then back up into her beautiful eyes. “Every second since I saw you again, I’ve been consumed with wanting you. But sex isn’t enough, Mia. It wasn’t enough the first time around, and it won’t be this time, either.”
“But what—”
“Friends.” He knew the truth of it in his bones and could see from the look on her face that it was resonating with her, too. “I need to be your friend this time. And I hope you’ll eventually be able to trust me enough to be mine, too.”
He’d written more than a dozen love songs, but he’d never truly understood until he’d fallen in love with Mia just how complicated it really was. Or how incredible is was that somehow, if two people with their own dreams and damage, hopes and fears, worked really hard and were really lucky, they might actually make it work.
At the same time, over and over during the past thirty-six hours, he’d reminded himself that complicated didn’t have to mean impossible. Look at Ryan Sullivan and his fiancée, Vicki, who had made things work after fifteen years apart. And, of course, there was Marcus and Nicola, who hadn’t let his winery or her music career tear them apart.
“I told you this weekend that I forgave you, Ford, and I meant it, but—”
Before she could say anything else, both of them heard two voices carry down to her office.
Still, instead of immediately dropping his hands, he felt the lightest brush of her thumbs over his knuckles before she let him go and walked over to her desk to sit down behind her computer. It gave him hope that she wasn’t unaffected by what he’d just said about wanting to be her friend. The best one she’d ever have.
“Over the weekend,” she told him as she slipped on thick, black-framed glasses that only served to highlight her beauty, “there was a great deal of interest in the tower house. Since I’m not at all surprised by this, and I know that Alana and her ex-husband would like to close things as quickly as possible, we should finalize the details of your offer so that we can send them over this morning.” She pressed a button on her phone. “Good morning, Orlando. I’d like to introduce you to my new client. And please bring the paperwork for the tower house with you.”
Though her manner was all business, he could still see the heat and desire—along with her lingering surprise over the idea of the two of them working on their friendship before hopping back into bed with each other—simmering just beneath the surface.
“My employees are used to dealing with famous and wealthy clients. But just like the guests at Marcus and Nicola’s wedding, I suspect they still might be a little bowled over by you.”
“I’m always happy to meet fans. They’re the reason I’m where I am.”
“No,” he was surprised to hear her say in a fervent voice, “your talent is the reason you’re where you are. Like I said,” she added with a small smile, “even those of us who couldn’t stand you still liked your songs.”
Orlando came through the glass door carrying a large folder. “Here are the files you need, Mia. I’ve flagged the various—” When he realized Ford was standing next to him, the folder fell from his hands, scattering papers all around his shoes. “Oh my God, you’re Ford Vincent. I’m your biggest fan. You’re a genius. I can’t believe you’re actually standing here in front of me.”
Ford took the young man’s hand to shake it. “It’s great to meet you, Orlando.”
Mia gently put her hand on her assistant’s shoulder. “Thank you for bringing the papers in.”
Orlando turned, dazed. “Papers?” A few seconds later, his pale skin turned a dark shade of red. “The papers. I’m so sorry.” He was already on his knees trying to pick them up, but his hands were shaking too hard to do anything but make more of a mess.
“Actually, Orlando, I think we can take it from here,” Mia interrupted. “But I’m sure Mr. Vincent would love a cup of coffee, black with extra sugar, thank you.”
Loving the fact that she still remembered how he liked his coffee, Ford knelt down with Mia to help pick up the papers.
“In the year he’s been working with me, I’ve never seen him like that.” Mia looked bemused by her assistant’s reaction. “Do you ever get tired of it?”
He barely restrained himself from reaching out and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, knowing every one of her employees was surely watching them now through the glass. “When you’re a kid dreaming, you don’t know enough to think about anything but the glory. If I had understood more than that five years ago, Mia, maybe I wouldn’t have screwed things up so badly.”
Her gaze locked with his for a moment before she abruptly shook her head. “I know our earlier conversation was interrupted, but let’s stay focused on the house for now, okay?” She quickly gathered up the rest of the paperwork, then went back to her desk to reorganize it. “I wish I could tell you it was overpriced, but—”
“Could you live in it?”
“You already asked me what I thought of the house, and if you recall, I said it’s one of my favorites in Seattle.”
“I know you think it would be great for kids and a family. But what about for you?”
“You’re the one buying it, Ford, not me.”
She was stubborn, but so was he. And he wouldn’t buy a house that she didn’t love just as much as he did. Some might call him crazy for putting so much on the line for a woman.
But Ford now knew it would be crazier not to.
“If it were you looking for a house in Seattle, would you buy it?”
“I thought we were going to stick to business until we finished making your offer.”
“I need to know your answer, Mia.”
She sighed. “Yes. I would.”
He grinned. “Good. Then let’s tell Alana and her ex that I’ll pay their asking price today.”
She held up her hands to try to slow him down. “Even if you make a cash offer, you don’t have to pay it right this second.”
“I want to move in right away. Let them know I’ll have the money transferred into their account by lunch. And I’ll buy everything in it, too.”
Mia was shaking her head at what she obviously thought was an impulsive decision, but she picked up her phone and conference called the owners. “I’ve got an offer for you,” she told them, “and I think you’re really going to like it.”
* * *
Ninety minutes later, the paperwork had been signed by both parties and Ford had called his personal banker to transfer the money. Mia had done some pretty big and quick real estate transactions in the past six years, but this one blew them all away by miles. Even for a woman who had always loved speed and excitement—nearly as much as her car-racing cousin, Zach—she felt like she’d been blown over by a hurricane. That was how strong Ford’s determination was when he focused on an end goal.
And as Orlando took Ford out into the office to introduce him to the rest of her employees and she watched him charm everyone through the glass walls of her office, she acknowledged, again, just how difficult it would be for anyone to resist him. Especially when he was determined and focused on having something.
Or someone.
With his deep voice and laughter carrying through to her office, knowing that the sexiest man on the planet was close by made her need a bucketload of her own determination and focus to concentrate on answering some high-priority email and phone messages.
A short while later, when she saw in her peripheral vision that he was headed back toward her, Mia’s heart rate started jumping and the words in the email she was composing about a property in escrow blurred on her computer screen.
“Your staff is great,” he said with a grin as he stepped back inside her office. “And they adore you.”
She clicked Send on her email and closed her laptop. “I adore them all right back.” She pushed away from her desk and grabbed her bag. “Congratulations, again, on your amazing new house. How about we go pick up some champagne to celebrate?”
He looked surprised, and clearly thrilled, by her suggestion as she told Orlando that she was taking a few hours off. Still, even though Mia knew that spending even more one-on-one time with Ford was a bad—okay, it was a terrible—idea, she tried to justify it by telling herself that she couldn’t treat him any differently than any other client who had just spent millions of dollars on a house.
But as Ford held open the passenger door of his Tesla and she slid onto the smooth leather seat, Mia couldn’t deny that the lies she was telling herself about him were only getting more pathetic by the hour.
I don’t like him.
He was sweet with her employees, had been great with her family at the wedding...and if she wasn’t so busy grappling with not letting him hurt her again, she’d already be head over heels in love with him.
This celebration is going to be just business.
Considering that her business meetings had never included super-hot kisses before, and she was about a thousand percent positive that this celebration would, she was either going to need to change the definition of business...or she was going to have to accept that spending the day with Ford was about so much more than just celebrating a real estate transaction.
Our connection is just a sexual one, no matter what Ford says to the contrary.
Oh, how she wished this one were true...but there had never been a moment with Ford, either in the past or right now, where her heart wasn’t on the line.