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)
Of course she was gorgeous.
And had a killer body.
Miles and miles of legs.
Boobs that hadn’t become acquainted with gravity yet, too.
Young.
So, so young.
She had a bottle of wine in one hand, and an overnight bag in the other.
I felt sick. Yet like watching a bad car accident, I couldn’t look away. As she got to the top of the stairs, Ford opened the door. He must have been waiting for her.
Anxious.
I looked away when he took her in his arms for an embrace. It shouldn’t have hurt so much. But that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.
***
I’d just drifted off to sleep when I heard a noise. Sitting up in a fog, I wasn’t sure where it had come from, only that it had woken me. I waited to see if I heard it again, because I wasn’t positive I hadn’t imagined it.
But then I heard the noise again. It was coming from downstairs and sounded like it might be the garbage cans rolling around in the breeze. Slipping from bed, I peered out my second-floor window. Our road had no streetlights, and it was too dark to see anything without the exterior house lights. So I went downstairs to turn on the porch light and take a better look.
At the bottom of the stairs, I saw the silhouette of a person standing outside my front door. It was late, and I knew Ford had company, so it likely wouldn’t be him. Maybe Mark had come back? That didn’t seem probable since he’d left more than an hour ago and would be halfway home by now.
My heart sped up as I moved closer to the door. “Who is it?”
“It’s Ford.”
That did nothing to slow my rapid pulse.
I opened the door. “Is everything okay?”
“No. Can I come in?”
Chapter 11
* * *
Ford
“How was your date?” I stared out her back sliding glass doors, looking out at the darkness. Valentina stood somewhere behind me.
“It wasn’t a date.”
I turned and caught her eyes. “Sure looked like one.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter what it looked like. It wasn’t. Mark is a friend from school. We belonged to a study group together.”
I took a few steps toward her. “Yeah. I remember you telling me about him…the night he asked you out on a date.”
She squared her shoulders. “How was your date?”
My brows drew down. Date? Then it dawned on me that she must’ve seen Nina come in—my cousin Nina, who came for the weekend to hang out with Bella. I wondered if she was feeling as jealous as I was—so I went with it and let her think what she’d obviously been thinking.
“Great, just great.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets and shrugged. “Nina—great girl.”
“She left early.”
I grinned. “Nope, she’s still next door. Getting all settled in for the night.”
Val looked hurt, but I wanted her to be pissed. So I pushed. Her back leaned against the kitchen sink. I took a few more steps, so I stood right in front of her.
“Just came over to see if you know of any good, romantic restaurants that are open late in town.”
“No.” Her eyes shot daggers, and her voice was clipped. Clearly she wasn’t even going to entertain my question and think about it.
I moved yet closer, just inside her personal space. She had nowhere to retreat.
“How about nude beaches? Thought maybe we’d go to a nude beach tomorrow.”
Her eyes sparked. “No.”
She was definitely jealous, though she did her best not to show it. But where there’s a spark, there’s fire, so I kept adding gasoline.
“How about lingerie shops? Nina likes to shop. I hate it, so might as well make it something we can both enjoy.”
She squinted. “Maybe you should go back into the city for the weekend. Not too many shops like that in Montauk.”
I clicked my mouth and grinned. “Shame. How about sex toy shops? Maybe some edible underwear and body paint? Do you think that stains sheets?”
That did it. I actually saw the spark in her eyes shoot to a flame. “You know what, Ford? I really don’t want to hear about your sex life.”
I put one hand on either side of the counter behind her, boxing her in. “No? Why not, Val? What’s the reason you don’t want to hear about me having sex with another woman?”
“I just don’t. Do you want to hear about my sex life?”
My chest burned even hearing her say sex life. I started to get angry. “Fuck, no. But you know why I don’t want to hear about it?”
She stared at me, steam practically coming out of her nose.
“Not going to take a guess? Let me fill you the fuck in, then. I don’t want to hear about your sex life because I’m jealous. Because I want to be the one taking you out on a date and sleeping in your bed. And you feel the same goddamn way I do, but you’re too afraid to admit it.”