Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
He waved while the two of us gawked like idiots.
“Seriously…” Eve fanned herself. “…if you don’t take a ride on that stallion, I think you need your head examined.”
Ford jogged up the beach toward the house. Eve pushed her sunglasses up. I chuckled, knowing she was hiding her eyes so she could keep ogling when he got closer.
“Morning, ladies.” Ford stood with his hands on his hips, looking up at us from the sand. He wasn’t even winded.
“Good morning!” Eve called down. “We were just talking about you.”
I shot my best friend and her ginormous mouth the evil eye.
Ford grinned. “Oh yeah? All good, I hope.”
Eve smiled broadly. “I’d say so. Our discussion was about your proposal for a few months of sex.”
“Eve!” I looked around. I seriously wanted to kill her right now.
Ford, on the other hand, seemed amused. His brows shot up. “Good to know. How’s it looking for me so far?”
Eve turned and gave me the onceover, tilting her head as if she were assessing me, then looked back down to Ford. “I’d say about fifty-fifty right now. I need a little more time to tilt the odds in your favor.”
He chuckled. “Well, then, let me get out of your hair.”
Ford turned to walk toward the stairs that led to his deck, and Eve called after him. “Hey, boy-toy?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Yeah?”
“We’re going to spend the day on the beach. Why don’t you join us?”
His dimples appeared. “I’d love to. I have to work for a few hours, but I’ll meet you down there later.”
“Sounds good!”
I waited until after Ford was inside his house to lay into her. “What the hell?”
She smiled as if she hadn’t just broken girl code. “You can thank me later, after he gives you all the orgasms I know a man with that body is capable of.”
***
I tried to get back to relaxing, but it wasn’t easy.
The water was calm today, so we’d brought out a few tube floats and tied them to an anchor on the beach with a long towrope. Slow and steady waves had started to rock me to sleep as I floated and soaked up the sun.
Until I heard his laugh.
I looked to the shoreline, though I didn’t really need to confirm who it was. My body tingled an alert. Ford had just come down to the beach and planted himself in the chair I’d been sitting in next to Eve and Tom. I felt six eyes bore into me as I floated. And I was pretty sure Eve was about to start an inappropriate discussion, if she hadn’t already. So I turned my face back to the sun, took a deep, cleansing breath, and concentrated on relaxing. The sound of the water breaking against the sand drowned out their voices, and after a little while, I started to drift off again.
Until suddenly I flew up in the air and splashed back down into the water.
“What the…” I pushed wet hair out of my face and spit out a mouthful of salty ocean.
Ford looked pretty damn proud of himself. He held the float I’d just been napping on in one hand. The jackass had snuck up and flipped my tube over, with me still in it.
He sported an ear-to-ear grin. “It’s hot out. I thought you could use some cooling off.”
I splashed water at him. “I was enjoying the peace.”
“You looked bored.”
I glared at him. At least I tried to, though I wasn’t actually that upset. “I didn’t sleep well last night. A little nap would have been nice.”
Ford flashed a smug smile and moved toward me. “Why didn’t you sleep well?”
I splashed more water at him as I backed up. “Go away.”
His smile grew wider. “Tell me why you didn’t sleep well, and I’ll go away.”
I splashed him again. He chuckled and lunged for me. Grabbing me by the waist, he lifted me out of the water and up into the air over his head. I screeched for him to put me down.
“Tell me.”
“Put me down so I can kick your ass.”
“What was that? Did you say dunk me?”
I tried to wiggle out of his grip. “Don’t you dare!”
I’d barely finished the sentence when he plunged me into the water. Then just as fast as he’d dunked me, he lifted me back out. Only this time when he lifted me, my slippery body slid from his hands. I attempted to run out of his reach, but before I could get any momentum going, he pulled me back. His arms wrapped around my waist, and he hauled me up against his chest.
I flailed and tried to sound pissed off, but it was difficult to pull off an angry tone while smiling. “I’m seriously going to kick your ass.”
“Yeah? That should be fun to watch.”
I attempted to unclasp his arms from around my waist, but his fingers were too damn strong. He leaned down and rested his head on my shoulder, almost whispering he said, “Stop fighting it, Valentina.”