Author: Bella Andre

“Right.”

“Then I don’t need to weigh any other options.” Though they were surrounded by her family, right then it felt like they were the only two people at the table. “I’ve already made up my mind about exactly what I want.”

He could see from the look in her eyes that she knew he wasn’t just talking about the house, but the moment was ruined when a loud burst of laughter from the next table over sent her back into business-only mode.

“Are you saying you want to make an offer on Alana’s house?”

“Yes.”

She was already reaching for her phone when he put a hand over hers. “Monday is soon enough. Today I want you to enjoy being with your family.” The pulse at her wrist was racing by the time he reluctantly lifted his hand away and turned back to everyone at the table. “Where are you all from?”

“There are Sullivans here from San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Maine,” Ryan replied. “We all get together periodically for family reunions and, of course, weddings.”

“Got any good stories?”

“Where do you want me to start?” Zach said with a laugh. He nodded toward Mia. “Especially with Ms. Wild Child over here.”

Mia raised an eyebrow in Zach’s direction. “Just remember I’ve got a few stories of my own about you, Speed Racer.”

“I’m just saying it’d be pretty hard to forget that night at the lake when you were only six years old and didn’t tell anyone where you were going.” To Ford, he said, “She hid out in the woods for hours just so she could scare the hell out of us guys when we hiked past. I thought Uncle Max and Aunt Claudia were going to lose it when we brought her back home wearing a big smile on her sneaky little face.” But it was clear that Zach was totally impressed with her even before he added, “To my fearless and determined cousin.”

And as everyone at the table raised their glasses in a toast to Mia, Ford finally got some insight into a family who were always there for each other, no matter what. Because even now, when Ian and Mia were clearly at odds, Ford could see that it didn’t diminish their bond in the least.

“Whatever happened to that guy you were with at the last wedding?” Ryan asked Mia. “Bob? Or was his name Buddy?”

Ford watched her very carefully as she replied, “He was just a friend.”

“Come on, you must have someone up your sleeve. You always do.”

Ford was pretty sure Vicki kicked Ryan under the table. Clearly, she’d picked up on the sparks between Mia and her client even if her fiancé hadn’t.

“You know she can’t answer that with her big brother sitting here,” Tatiana said before Mia could respond. Clearly, she’d appointed herself peacemaker for the table.

“True,” Zach agreed. “Odds are, you’d hunt the guy down before sunset, wouldn’t you, Ian? It’s what I always wanted to do when I found some guy sniffing around one of my sisters. Got a few good ones in on Jake, actually, when I found out he’d knocked up Sophie. Never had a chance to slug Grayson, though, for dating Lori.”

Ian’s eyes were sharp as daggers and cold as ice as he stared across the table at Ford. “If I ever meet a guy and find out he’s hurt my sister, I’m going to make him pay in the most painful way possible.”

Mia cleared her throat and when everyone finally turned back to her, she was smiling at them all over the rim of her glass as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Actually, since you’ve asked, Ryan, I had a date on Friday night with this great guy I met while I was out jogging.”

“You went out with someone Friday night?” Rationally, Ford knew he had no claim on her, but just the thought of anyone else touching her, kissing her, made him crazy. “After you showed me the house?”

Mia nodded, looking extremely pleased with herself. “I did. And then on the flight here I met someone else on the plane.”

“Damn it, Mia—”

Marcus’s voice came through the speakers, cutting Ford off right before he broke his promise to Mia and outed them as more than just business associates. “Thank you for being here with us today to celebrate the best day of our lives so far.”

Still not able to think straight, Ford couldn’t focus on what Marcus and Nicola were saying to their guests as he pulled out his phone.

DID YOU LET EITHER OF THOSE GUYS TOUCH YOU?

Her expression remained smooth as she read his message, then typed a message back and shoved her phone into her bag.

IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS IF I DID OR NOT.

He was about to respond first and think later, when Billy tapped him on the shoulder. “Your guitar is tuned and ready for you.”

“Thanks, Billy.” Ford knew he needed to pull it together to give Marcus and Nicola his gift before he left on his private plane to head to Los Angeles for his show.

Hopefully, Mia would understand whom he had really written the song for...

* * *

Mia had been certain that she could find a way to resist Ford’s sweet words, even his kisses.

But no matter how hard she worked to brace herself, she already knew she’d never be able to resist him performing one of his songs. It wasn’t just how sexy it was when he was on stage that got to her...it was the fact that he loved singing and playing guitar so much that touched her so deeply.

“We’re going to let all of you loose on the dance floor soon,” Nicola said to her guests, “but before we do, I’m beyond excited to let you know that a friend of mine is going to give us a really special treat.”

Ford was undeniably gorgeous as he wound through the tables to pick up his guitar.

“Nicola and Marcus, I’m really glad I could be here today to witness the kind of love that we’re all hoping for. I wrote this song yesterday, so I apologize if it’s still a little rough, but know that it comes straight from my heart. It’s called Everything I Need.”

Yesterday? Had he written the song early in the morning, before they’d met at the tower house...or could he have written it after they’d seen each other again?

Mia knew firsthand that Ford didn’t need to hide behind a stage or a microphone, and a shiver went through her as he began to play the acoustic guitar. Just as she had the very first time she ever heard him sing, right from the first few lines of his new song about finding forever in a kiss, a touch, a smile, Mia couldn’t keep her eyes from closing as the music washed over her.

Everything I need

You’re everything I was looking for

When nothing else could have made me whole

There you were

Everything I need

When I’m holding you tight against me

I lose myself in you every single time

Because you’re everything I need

Don’t ever stop

Don’t ever stop

Don’t ever stop being everything I need

She didn’t hear the sighs of the women all around her—frankly, wasn’t aware of anything other than Ford singing a song that spoke straight to her heart. But as every new lyric hit closer and went deeper, though it would have been smarter to try to block out at least one aspect of his performance, she couldn’t keep her eyes closed. She simply had to watch Ford as he poured his heart and soul into the music.

Music that almost felt written just for her.

And, my God, he wasn’t just beautiful as he sang for Marcus and Nicola. He wasn’t just utterly captivating, a natural born performer.

This was who Ford was at his core.

She’d known it all along, of course, but now, as she watched him create magic with talent that very, very few other people possessed, she had to wonder how a home in Seattle could possibly fit into the life of a man who belonged on stage. And how could he even think about giving up being on the road?

Because while she knew millions of people could listen to his music through headphones or on the radio, the truth was that just being in the same room with Ford while he was singing to you—whether out in a vineyard with three hundred people or in a stadium with a hundred thousand—was a life-changing event.

When the final chord rang out, as everyone applauded and Ford kissed Nicola on the cheek and shook Marcus’s hand, Mia excused herself from the table and slipped out toward the vineyards to a spot where no one in her family and none of the other wedding guests could see her.

She needed a little while out under the bright blue sky away from everyone to recover from what Ford’s song, and his earlier kisses in the storeroom, had done to her.

She could accept by now that she still wanted him, even that there was desperation and intensity to that wanting. But she didn’t want to have to acknowledge anything more...certainly not all the emotions, and the dreams, that his song had sent pouring through her.

And yet, even though she’d told herself she wanted to be alone for a little while, she was neither surprised nor displeased when she heard footsteps in the dirt behind her. She turned to face him, knowing neither running nor pushing him away was an option anymore.

“Your new song is beautiful.”

“After I saw you on Friday, the song wrote itself.” He took her hands in his and lifted them to his lips for a kiss. One that moved her just as much as his music had. “I need to leave now for Los Angeles, but I’ll be back in Seattle on Monday morning.”

She’d miss him, she realized as she watched him start to walk away, and a pang landed deep in her belly. Five years she’d lived without him, and now, after less than twenty-four hours with him, she was already hooked again.

Hooked enough to reach for him at the exact moment that he turned to reach for her, too.

“Damn it,” he said, “I keep saying I’m not going to push you, but I can’t leave without kissing you goodbye.”

“And I can’t let you go without kissing you, either,” she admitted.

Just as his song had been emotional yet edgy, so was the goodbye kiss they gave each other. His hands fisted in her hair and hers tightly gripped his shoulders. His tongue dove deep and hers met his just as violently. Her teeth nipped at his lower lip and he dragged her closer so that he could give her more of everything she so desperately craved.

And yet, even in the middle of the storm that was rising up between them in the vineyard, Mia knew their hearts weren’t just thundering against each other’s chests from passion…but from the deep and relentless power of the emotions swirling around them.

When they finally made themselves draw away from each other, neither of them was breathing steadily. “Have fun with your family, Mia. They’re great. You don’t know how much I envy what you have with them.” He pulled her back against him for one more quick, breathless kiss, and then he was gone.

And as Mia sank back against a rock wall to catch her breath, she knew that wanting Ford, needing Ford, was no longer in question.

The only question left was, what was she going to do about it?

Chapter Seventeen

Mia was unlocking the front door of Sullivan Realty on Monday morning when Ford stepped out of a black car parked at the curb. His jaw was scruffy with stubble and he looked like he hadn’t gotten much more sleep than she had over the weekend. And yet, she couldn’t remember him ever looking better.

Nor could she remember the last time the butterflies had started flying around in her stomach like this, even though she’d been expecting to see him this morning so that they could put in an offer on the tower house.

“Good morning.”

His dark eyes were full of appreciation as he let them run from her head to toe and then back again. “It is now.”

She was extremely glad that they were the first two people in the office this morning, so that she didn’t have to make introductions and pretend that everything was perfectly normal between her and her client. Not when nothing about her relationship with Ford felt remotely normal...and not when she’d made a pretty darn big decision during the thirty-six hours since she’d last seen Ford at the wedding.