by Vi Keeland
I giggled, but the praise shot straight to my head to meet the two glasses of champagne I’d enjoyed on the trip in. I felt dazed and high, but so very happy.
Ford shut the limousine door and took my hand. “Come on. Let’s go inside before we don’t.”
I distantly took in the name of the restaurant as we made our way to the door. Osteria Isabella—I knew it was an exclusive one. Eve had mentioned it before…the type of place where my menu wouldn’t even show the prices. It was so sweet of Ford to go all out for my celebration. But I had no idea how all out he’d gone until we walked to our table.
Five smiling faces yelled “Surprise!” all at once. Startled, I took a step back.
“Eve? Tom?” Not only was my best friend here, but so were my three study partners. I looked at Ford. “How? When?”
“I swiped your phone when you were in the shower and took their numbers to arrange tonight. You deserve a real celebration.”
I felt an ache in my chest, and my eyes started to well up. No one had ever done anything so thoughtful for me. All eyes from the table were on us. Choked up, I didn’t have the words to express my gratitude, but I knew what would speak volumes. For the first time, I didn’t hesitate. I reached up and took Ford’s beautiful face in my hands and pulled his lips down to meet mine—in public, in front of all my friends.
After, he leaned down to my ear. “Thank you.”
I smiled. “No, thank you.”
***
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” Mark leaned across the table to me and whispered.
Seeing the confused look on my face, he clarified by pointing his eyes to Ford, who sat on the other side of me, currently engrossed in a conversation with Tom.
“In Montauk. I didn’t realize you were seeing someone, and I pushed myself on you for the day.”
“No. It’s fine. I enjoyed showing you around.”
Mark’s eyes dropped to my lips for a moment. He smiled. “He’s a lucky bastard. But I’m happy if you’re happy. You deserve it.”
“Thank you.”
In my peripheral vision, I caught Ford watching my whispering session with Mark, and I turned and winked. He smiled—definitely more comfortable with what we had now than a few weeks ago.
Throughout the night, the laughter flowed as freely as the wine. I spent time talking to my friends, celebrating our success, and enjoying good food and company. Ford and I hadn’t really spoken since we walked in. He was letting me enjoy the night he’d arranged, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it looked like he was having a good time, too.
We might not have spoken to each other much, but we shared plenty of intimate glances and smiles—one of which Eve had just caught.
She sipped her drink and gave me a knowing look. “I really like him.”
I sighed. “Me, too.”
“You look…alive again.”
“Was I the walking dead before this summer?”
I’d been kidding, but Eve raised a brow.
She looked over at Ford. “He came to see me the other day.”
“What? When…and where?”
“He passed by my restaurant and stopped in.”
“He just happened to pass by?”
She shrugged. “He’s crazy about you.”
“I know. I don’t understand it, but I’m finally starting to realize that for whatever reason, he really does want to be with me.”
Eve shook her head. “I’d do you if I was a guy.”
I laughed. “Thanks. I think.”
“You don’t see it, but you’re a catch. You’re beautiful, loving, warm, fiercely protective, loyal, smart, a great mom. Your asshole ex-husband never appreciated what he had.”
“Honestly, Ford makes me feel beautiful. He watches me while I’m sleeping sometimes. That might sound creepy, but it’s actually sweet. He’ll just be looking at me with this reverent face you just can’t fake. He’s made me look at myself in the mirror and search for the beauty he sees. And you know what? Sometimes I find it.”
Eve took my hand. “I know you need to do some things—hell, I was the one who bugged you about making your My Turn list. But you can have a boyfriend and still find you. Ryan wanted you locked up in his stingy little castle because he was weak and insecure. Ford might be younger, but he’s stronger and more confident in who he is. I don’t think he needs to be the center of your universe. He just wants to be part of your world.”
***
I stood with my jaw hanging open.
Ford didn’t have an apartment. He had an entire floor.
From the outside, the building looked like what it mostly was—a giant warehouse. But the top floor had been converted into living space. It had an industrial feel with worn steel beams, exposed ductwork, real brick walls, and polished concrete floors, yet it was also warm and homey with natural wood, a giant fireplace, and a gorgeous, modern, stainless-steel kitchen—though the best part was the open mezzanine level above half of the apartment. A rooftop terrace occupied a space twenty feet in the air, with walls of glass. Standing in the living room, you could look up and see the night sky twinkling. I was at a loss for words.
“Ford, this is…this is stunning. Absolutely incredible.”
He was adorably modest. “It looks like more than it is. The area was pretty depressed when my parents bought it thirty years ago. It didn’t become trendy to live down here until the last decade.”
“But you made this?”
“Well, contractors made it. I just designed the layout and converted the space from storage to livable. It was under construction when the accident happened. My dad never got to see it completed. I finished it and moved in here after I went through that rough patch. It helped me feel like something was my own.”
“I’m sure your father would be proud of this place and your choices, Ford.” I walked to an open staircase toward the glass rooftop room. “Can I see up here?”
“Of course.”
Ford led me to a large, outdoor space. It was partially sunken into the indoor space below to create a mezzanine level, and the interior space was viewable by looking down through a glass wall. I stood outside on the roof of the building and could see his kitchen.
“I feel like I’m in a tree house.”
He smiled. On the floor, along the perimeter of the entire room, were plants in multicolored pots. “They’re what’s left of my mom’s plants. She had a green thumb. Mine’s black.”
I’d never seen anything like this. “Ford, this should be in a magazine.”
He pushed his hands into his pockets. “Thanks.”
“So this is what you want to do to all the warehouse space, then? You can convert them all like this?”
He nodded. “Sort of. They’d all be different because I keep the commercial elements of the support structure intact, and those are different on each floor. And of course, only the top floor can have the skylight room.”
I surveyed the room in awe. “I obviously know nothing about building or architecture, but I know what I like. And I’d kill to live here.”
Ford walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Oh yeah? You know what you like?” He dropped a sweet kiss on my shoulder before moving to my neck and then up to my ear. “Tell me…do you like this?”
Uhhh…duh. I nodded. “I definitely do.”
He reached down and under my dress, skimming his fingers along my thigh. “How about this?”
I shut my eyes and leaned my head back against him. “Mmm…yes.”
His hands moved up to cup my breasts, and he squeezed hard. “And this?”
I let out a breathy yes as he pinched my nipples. My back arched as he sank his teeth into my shoulder. I’d definitely have a mark tomorrow, but I’d smile when I saw it in the mirror.
“I love the thought of fucking you out here. It’s too bad we’re up so high and no one will see. Because I’d like the whole world to watch.”
I turned to look at him, and he took my mouth in
a kiss—unhurried and drugging; he made me feel like I was floating. One hand slipped inside the halter of my dress, and he plucked and pinched my already pert nipples into stiff peaks. When I moaned into his mouth, he slid his other hand up and inside my panties.
Finding me soaked, he growled, “So fucking wet for me already.”
He pressed his front deeper into my back, and I felt his erection at the top of my ass. His fingers pressed against my clit. “This—do you like this?”
I wasn’t sure if he was referring to feeling him behind me or his fingers inside my panties. Since I liked both, I nodded. “Yes.”
“Show me how you like it.” He found my hand and covered it with his, guiding us down into my panties and over my swollen bud. Applying pressure, he led me to massage slow, gentle circles.
“Ford,” I whimpered.
“Tell me…tell me what you like.”
“More…”
He increased the pressure over my fingers and pushed deeper into me. My eyes drifted closed, but I felt him watching me intently from the side. He steered my fingers lower, toward my opening, and then coaxed two inside of me. His hand stayed over mine as my own fingers moved in and out of my pussy.
“Does it feel good? Tell me…”
“Ford…” I opened my eyes, feeling the familiar wave start to come over me, and he pushed one of his fingers inside along with my two. He used his thumb to reach up and rub my clit at the same time our joined fingers pumped in and out. I began to shatter.
“Look at me.”
My hooded eyes met his hungry ones, and I cried out.
His hand took over when my body went limp. My arms fell to my sides as he strummed every last throb of orgasm from my body. Ford scooped me up into his arms.
He kissed me while walking down the stairs. “I just want to do that to you over and over. I don’t even give a shit about my own release. It’s way more satisfying to watch you fall apart under my touch.”
I couldn’t contain my goofy smile. “I like that.”
He smiled back. “That’s good. Because I’m just getting started with our celebration.”
Chapter 22
* * *
Valentina
We’d become inseparable.
During the week, when Ford had to work, I’d go into the city for a night or two. He’d spend the days in his office, and I’d go to museums and spend time hanging out with Eve at her restaurant. Sometimes I even met him for lunch. Yesterday, I’d packed us a picnic, and we ate in the park not far from his office. At night, we went out to dinner or ordered in and ate naked in bed. Weekends we spent in Montauk frolicking on different beaches.
He’d even started to teach me how to surf—another item crossed off my My Turn list. I sucked at it, but a few tumbles in the waves always ended with making out on the sand, so it was worth it. I couldn’t remember being this happy in years.
But time was moving way too fast now. I’d sent out more than a hundred resumes and had a bunch of interviews already. Tomorrow I had a second interview at a school not too far from my house in New Jersey. The position would be perfect for me—a one-year leave replacement teaching Intro to Italian to middle school students. Though thinking about anything that would occur post-Labor Day made me feel a little sick to my stomach.
Tonight we were going to the music festival he’d bought tickets to—yet another item from my list. By the end of the summer, I wouldn’t have many things left.
“I got an interesting email today,” Ford said.
He was lying on my bed, buck naked, with his hands behind his head as he watched me try to find something appropriate to wear to a twelve-hour concert. I’d actually Googled music festivals earlier to see what people wore because I was that out of touch. The photos that popped up freaked me out. Not only did I not have a crocheted bikini top, micro-length denim skirt, and cowboy boots, but I wouldn’t wear them if I did—even if that looked like what half the female attendees were wearing.
“Oh yeah? What was the email about?”
“A building in Chicago that’s for sale.”
I poked my head out of the closet. “Chicago?”
“Yeah. We used to own it. It’s a long story, but my father had wanted to expand the temporary office space business outside of New York. His plan was to open an office in Chicago. He bought a building there three years before the accident. It was an old, dilapidated warehouse that needed a ton of work to convert.”
“Oh. Wow. But you said it’s for sale. So he owned it and sold it?”
Ford shook his head. “No. I actually sold it. When my dad bought it, there was an existing tenant that still had a few years left on their lease. We worked on the conversion plans and blueprints off and on while I was in college. It was kind of our thing. It was supposed to be the first project I’d manage after I graduated. But after the accident, being in two states was too much to deal with. It was just Bella and me, and I couldn’t be running back and forth to Chicago during the construction all the time. She was only fourteen. So I sold it. Apparently it’s for sale again.”
“Are you thinking of buying it back?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s odd that it’s available again so soon. Now that Bella’s away at school and things run pretty smoothly again at the office here, I could probably take it on. I still have all our old plans. It feels like I should at least go check it out. I think I’m going to fly up for the day next week. I’ve never actually been to the property. I was in college during that time.”
“Sounds almost like it might be meant to be, the way the project left your life when you needed it to and now suddenly it’s back again.”
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 a
round 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?”