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 nodded. “That’s sort of what I thought, too.”
“I really do believe some things happen for a reason. Like how I’d been taking one class a semester for a few years, and a year and a half before my divorce, I decided to take more. I had no idea I’d be divorced and the decision would become so important to me. But the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Finishing the classes gave me something to focus on through some hard times, and when I was done, my son was off to college. Maybe you’re supposed to do this project, the way the opportunity fell back into your lap.”
“Yeah.” He stared off to nowhere for a minute, and then his eyes returned to mine. “You might be right. Important things seem to happen for a reason, and we shouldn’t walk away from them even if it wasn’t how we saw things playing out originally. If something feels right, we have to make it work.”
We were definitely talking about more than a building in Chicago now. And though I agreed with him, the discussion made me nervous. I broke our eye contact and reached into the closet for a cute, bright blue sundress.
Holding it up against myself, I tilted my head. “How about this?”
He frowned and held my eyes for a moment before looking at the dress. “I think any one of the sixty-three outfits you’ve shown me would be perfect.”
***
I had the greatest time at the concert once I got there, once I realized no one really gave a shit about what I wore or how old I was. We arrived at the festival about three. It had been going on since noon and was scheduled to go on until at least midnight. By ten o’clock, I was definitely starting to fade. Ford and I sat in the grass, me between his legs with my back against his chest and his arms wrapped around me. Most of the audience was young, but there were also a decent amount of people my age and older.
“Did you come to a lot of these?”
Ford kissed the top of my head. “I used to when I was in college.”
I looked around. “There’s just such a carefree feel here. I’m not sure if it’s the music or the people, or maybe both, but I’m so relaxed.”
He gave me a good squeeze. “I’d like to think it’s the company.”
I smiled. “I’m sure that has a lot to do with it.”
A high-pitched voice popped my blissful bubble. “Ford?”
His arms tightened around me. “Jess. How you doing?”
The woman didn’t even try to hide her sizing me up. Her eyes started at my shoes and worked their way up to the top of my head. She made a disapproving face.
“I’m good. It’s been a while.”
There was an awkward silence, and I knew in my gut that he’d slept with her. Don’t ask me how—women just have a sixth sense about these things. Of course, that made me examine her even closer. Her body was ridiculously perfect, tanned and thin…and so much of it was on display. She was basically wearing the outfit I’d seen in the festival photos I’d Googled—crocheted bikini top, tiny denim skirt and cowboy boots. She also had dozens of bracelets up her arm, a choker, and three or four different long necklaces to complete her outfit.
Ford tilted his head to me. “Valentina, this is Jessica.”
“Hi,” I said.
Jessica showed me her pearly white, fake smile as her eyes shifted above me. “You look good, Ford.”
He shrugged. “Thanks. Must be because I’m happy.”
She tilted her head. “You should give me a call sometime.”
I might’ve been insecure about my age and whatever was going on between us, but this tart wasn’t going to be disrespectful. Ford had his arms wrapped around me, for God’s sake.
I answered her just as he started to speak. “Do you need office space?”
Her nose wrinkled. “No?”
I flaunted the same plastic smile she’d given to me, along with her coy tilt of the head. “So you wanted him to call for…”
I heard Ford’s soft chuckle behind me.
The girl stared down at us for a few seconds, then flipped her hair and rolled her eyes. “Take care, Ford. You have my number.”
I wiggled my fingers. “Bye-bye.”
Jess was barely ten feet away when Ford wrangled my back to the grass. He looked thoroughly amused, grinning wide with his head hung over mine. “You’re sexy as fuck when you’re jealous.”
“I wasn’t jealous. That girl was just rude. You’re sitting with your arms around me, and she asks you to what…give her a booty call?”
Ford rubbed his nose with mine. “You like me and don’t want other women seeing me naked.”
“I get the feeling you’ve already seen that particular woman naked.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Glad to hear that.”