Author: Bella Andre

But the wickedly sensual thank you on the tip of his tongue dried up as he realized how stiff she was against him. Clearly, he now realized, her uber-professional behavior all evening hadn’t just been because she wanted to make sure she didn’t miss any details of the property transaction.

He brushed his thumb across her full lower lip. “Is everything okay?”

She hesitated for a moment before saying, “I should be asking you that. After all, you’re the man who just spent less time thinking over buying a major commercial property than most people take to decide what to have for dinner.”

Even though it didn’t escape him that she hadn’t answered his question, her mouth was so tantalizingly close that he lost the thread of anything but how good it felt to hold her...and how much he wanted to kiss her.

His mouth was almost on hers when he got a really good look into her beautiful eyes—eyes that were distinctly wary. And even though the blood was pumping dangerously hot in his veins, yet again he couldn’t dismiss the sense that she was much tenser now than she’d been in her office earlier in the day.

“Something’s wrong.” He didn’t phrase it as a question this time. “I need you to tell me what you’re thinking, Mia.”

“You do realize you’re the only man in all of history who has ever asked a woman to tell him what she’s thinking, right?”

“I’m probably the only one who’s ever meant it, too,” he agreed. “Look,” he said, trying to guess at what the problem might be, “I know I made this decision about making sure we’re friends before we have sex unilaterally. And I know you don’t like being given limits any more than I do. Is that what’s going on?”

“You’re right that I’ve never liked other people making decisions about what’s best for me. But,” she said with a shake of her head, “that’s not really the problem.” She turned her face away from his, as though she didn’t want him to witness her vulnerability. “All the years we were apart, I was so clear, so strong, so sure I didn’t still want you...and that I’d never be at risk of falling for you again. But today, when I was watching you talk to Natasha and her cameras about kids who need the magic of music in their lives, I was so proud of you for putting your energy and money into a camp that’s going to make such a difference.” She sighed. “And that’s when I realized just how full of it I was.”

Elation shot through him at her admission that she was falling for him again. Sure, he could feel it in her kisses, could see it in her smiles, but this was far more than she’d said yet with words. At the same time, he hated knowing that it worried her.

“Even now,” she added in a soft voice, “though I’ve been telling myself over and over that I should know better, and that you could be sharing a bed with any of those groupies we saw today out in front of the museum if you wanted to, I want a heck of a lot more than the goodnight kiss I’m sure you’re planning to give me so that you can stick to your friendship vow.”

She was right about the goodnight kiss, even though it would kill him to walk away from her again tonight, but he also needed her to know, “I don’t want them, Mia. You’re the only one I want. The only one I’ve ever wanted.”

“Then prove it to me,” she said in a husky voice that ripped through his system like a bolt of electricity.

He had her mouth crushed beneath his before she could finish her sentence, and the sweet taste of her was all it took for Ford to lose the extremely tenuous hold he had over himself. A heartbeat later he had her backed up against the wall and had lifted her so that her legs were wrapped around his hips. He needed to get as close as he could to her, and when he pressed his denim-covered erection against her and she gasped with pleasure, he immediately took advantage by sucking her tongue into his mouth.

He had been planning to give her a sweetly seductive goodnight kiss...not this sinful assault on every inch of her mouth, but when he tried to pull back, he found himself doing just the opposite. He tangled his hand into her long hair and roughly pulled her head back so that he could attack the soft skin along her neck with his lips, tongue, and teeth.

But he wasn’t the only one losing his mind, because Mia had her hands underneath his shirt, and she was raking her nails across his pecs. When he suckled her most sensitive spot—right where her neck turned the corner to her shoulder—she had to grip his shoulders to keep herself steady against him as she shook with pleasure.

Ten seconds. That was how quickly he could have their clothes off and be inside of her. She’d be so hot, and so wet, and so ready for everything he could give her that every clear thought in his head turned to static, until all he could hear was the hard throb of blood in his ears.

No, damn it. He wouldn’t lose their chance at forever for a few perfect minutes of rolling around on the floor naked with her.

On a forceful curse that reverberated against all the floor-to-ceiling windows in her condo, Ford made himself take his mouth from her neck and put her down on the floor.

Her breath was heaving in her chest as she stared up at him, her skin rosy and gorgeous, her eyes bright with arousal. “I didn’t know a goodnight kiss could be like that,” she whispered.

He knew he should be taking one step away from her, and then another, but when she reached up to touch his face, he knew he’d stay if she asked him to. Every promise he’d made, every one of his good intentions would crumble in the face of his need to be with her right now, tonight, to take that taste of pleasure they’d both just had and multiply it a thousand times over.

“Go.”

Her eyes were dark with need, and he knew it cost her just as much to say that one word as it did for him to obey it. Somehow, he made his feet take him one step away from her, and then another and another, until the front door was at his back.

Chapter Twenty-one

The moment Ford unexpectedly walked into Mia’s office on Wednesday morning, the buzz of excitement started humming among her employees again. He was only human, but everywhere he went it seemed crackling energy followed him. It was why hiding with Ford in public was pretty much impossible. No matter how good a disguise he put on, or how deserted a location they went to, his fans could sense his presence.

Clearly, given how giddy her employees were as he greeted each and every one of them by name, none of them had gotten used to being around him yet.

Would they ever? That is, if she and Ford actually were able to make a new relationship work? It was the very question she’d spent most of the night lying awake trying to figure out...

“Good morning, beautiful.”

He was holding out a to-go cup of coffee for her, but it was his absolutely tantalizing clean male scent that hit her first. That, and the fact that he only seemed to get better looking as the days passed. Age, she knew with perfect certainty, would only make him more desirable.

“You again? You’re here so often I’m going to have to start putting you on my payroll, aren’t I?”

She had to tease him, all the more because it was so good to see him. So much better than it should have been, considering it had barely been twelve hours since he’d left her with the hottest goodnight kiss in the entire world. One that had left her reeling almost as much as her growing feelings for him.

“I hope hazelnut lattes are still your favorite.”

Her heart was pounding and her legs felt a little shaky as she took the cup from him. “They are, thank you.” She couldn’t seem to stop her voice from coming out a little breathy, not when every inch of her craved every inch of him. Knowing she’d drop the scalding hot coffee on both of them if she didn’t put it down, she carefully placed it on her desk.

“I’ve got to head down to Oregon in a few minutes. The bus is outside blocking traffic, but I couldn’t go without seeing you first.”

“I’m glad you did.”

And she truly was. She wasn’t sure if the skies had been sunny before he arrived, but now that he was here, she felt as though she were on a Caribbean beach soaking up the strong, warm rays rather than in the cool and cloudy Pacific Northwest.

Oh, how badly she wanted to touch him, so badly that her hands were actually shaking from the urge to reach out. But she knew her employees had to be watching the two of them through the glass walls of her office...and even the slightest touch would be akin to admitting she was Ford’s.

His eyes were dark and full of the same impatient longing as hers, but, amazingly, he didn’t push her. Just as he’d promised, there were no ultimatums this time.

It would be easier, so much easier, if there were. Because if he just grabbed her and kissed her in front of her employees, how could she do anything but give in? And then she wouldn’t have to make this incredibly difficult decision about being with him or not being with him. It would just happen because she didn’t have the strength for things to be any other way.

His lips curved up slightly as though he could read her mind. “I want to kiss you so badly, Mia, it’s nearly ripping me in two.”

He swallowed hard and so did she as she marveled over how gorgeous and sexy even his throat was. God, to be able to strip him naked so that she could relearn every inch of his incredible body...

“But I promised I’d wait,” he reminded her in a low voice. “For both of us. For our future.”

“What if I don’t want us to wait any longer? You wanted us to be friends first, and we are. You know we are, even if it’s only been a few days since you’ve been back in my life.”

“I don’t just want to be your friend, Mia, I want to be the best friend you’ve ever had. But I’m not there yet, am I?”

Yes, she’d forgiven him. And she couldn’t deny that she felt closer to him with every hour they spent together. She thought about him all the time, too. But could she trust him with her deepest fears? And could she believe that he’d always be there for her, no matter what?

When she didn’t give him the answer he was hoping for, the barely masked pain in his eyes made her chest squeeze tight.

She was wishing she could give him the answer he wanted, if only so that she could make that hurt go away, when he put his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a white envelope.

Disappointment at not being in his arms, at not having his mouth against hers, was so strong she could taste it as she took the envelope from him and opened it. A concert ticket fell out first, followed by a thickly laminated pass.

“I know you’ve got a lot to do today, but just in case...”

Ford had never been a tentative man, either in or out of bed. But she could feel how unsure he was as she held the concert ticket and backstage pass.

“If I could go,” she said slowly, “I would, but I have a late showing and to get all the way down to Eugene in time for the show would probably be impossible.”

“It’s okay,” he said in a way that told her it wasn’t okay at all. “I knew it was a total long shot. You can just give them to someone you think might enjoy catching the show.”

Finally, she reached for his hand, heedless of what her employees saw or thought about the two of them, because she needed him to know. “I would enjoy it, Ford. So, so much. And if I could come tonight, I would.”

She’d never been a liar about anything other than admitting her feelings for him. And now, as he looked into her eyes to see if she meant it, she made sure he knew that she did.

“It’s been way too long since I’ve seen you make a stadium rock.” They’d both loved that old Air Supply song, Making Love Out of Nothing at All. “I’d really like to come to your show this Saturday in Seattle, if you can scrounge up a ticket for me.”

“Do you still have the silver dress?”

She gave a wicked little smile with her reply. “If you’d asked me that last night, I could have put it on for you.”