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)
“Sure. But I don’t think I can drink whatever it is you’re having.”
Ford stood and walked to a wine rack in the kitchen. “I have the cab you like.”
I watched from the doorway while he pulled it out and proceeded to uncork it before filling a glass for me and refilling his own with liquor.
Returning to the living room together, he handed me the wine glass.
“You just happen to have the wine I like?” I bumped shoulders with him playfully.
“I also bought more of the cologne you said you liked last week.” Ford sat down and leaned his head against the back of the couch, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m sure my eagerness is a sign of immaturity to you. But I just want to please you.”
I shook my head. God, I’ve been such a jerk.
“Actually, I find attentiveness in a man to be incredibly attractive.”
Ford lifted the glass to his mouth and drank like he was taking medicine. “Let me guess, you find attentiveness attractive, but in your mind I’m just a boy, not a man, so it doesn’t apply to me.”
I sighed and set my wine glass down. “I’m sorry I’ve been treating you the way I have.”
He sat up and nodded, though his eyes were hesitant to accept my apology.
“Watching how you handled your sister tonight made me realize that you’re right—age isn’t what’s important.” I shook my head. “I know plenty of forty-year-old men who act like they’re teenagers.”
He still didn’t look convinced that my outlook had changed. I’d never asked a man on a date in my life. Hell, I hadn’t been on a date in more than twenty years, so who was I to judge how things should happen? I sat up taller and chugged back the rest of my wine before shifting to look directly at Ford.
“Would you…go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?”
“Can’t. Have a meeting in the city in the afternoon.”
“The night after?”
Ford’s thumb rubbed his bottom lip as he assessed me. “Do you feel bad for me because my parents were killed and I raised my little sister?”
I was honest. “Yes, I do. But that has nothing to do with why I’m asking you out.”
Usually his face was pretty easy to read, but this time I couldn’t see what was going on inside his head.
He stared at me some more before speaking again. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to go out with me?”
“You mean why today, when I’ve said no before?”
He shook his head. “No. I mean, tell me the reasons you want to go out with me.”
I squinted, unsure if he was screwing around. When I realized he was waiting for an actual answer, it didn’t take long to think of one. “You’re smart, funny, handsome, and mature.”
“So you aren’t just going out with me for a pity date?”
I smiled. “No. Definitely not.”
Ford knocked back the rest of his second drink and slammed the empty glass down on the table. He curled a hand around my neck and pulled me toward him. His lip twitched at the corner. “Just so you know, I would have taken a pity date. I don’t give a shit how I get it. But it was nice to hear you say those things.”
I play-shoved at his chest, though he didn’t budge.
“As long as you’re asking me out, how about you come here and kiss me for a change?”
I smiled and leaned in to brush my lips against his. When I went to pull back, Ford wound his fingers tightly into my hair and kept me there, deepening the kiss. It was hard and needy, and before it broke, he nipped at my bottom lip, causing a sting of pain.
I found myself thinking this kiss marked the official start of my summer fling—it was hard, needy, and had the sting of pain—a lot like how things would end come Labor Day.
“It’s about damn time,” he growled. “We already wasted almost half the summer.”
Chapter 15
* * *
Ford
I’d made reservations for two nights later at Blue—a new, high-end restaurant overlooking Lake Montauk. The dining room had dark walls, candlelit tables, and a view that made you forget you were only a few minutes from a highway. Soft music drifted in from a piano in an adjacent room being played by a man who sounded like a young Ray Charles. I’d never taken a date to a place that had slow dancing before.
“Wow. This is really nice,” Valentina said as I pulled her seat out.
Pushing her chair in, from the angle I stood, I could see right down her sexy, red dress. I leaned down, kissed her bare shoulder, and whispered in her ear. “I really love your dress. Especially the view from right here.”
Val looked up and followed my line of sight straight down to her cleavage.