Chapter 16
Violet
I was tired and relieved when we finally said our goodbyes, but it wasn’t because I wanted to escape Ford’s family. It was because I was overwhelmed with how much I’d enjoyed them, and the day.
The guilt hit hard when they all hugged me and said how much they looked forward to seeing me again. Ford would eventually have to tell them we’d “broken up”, and I hated that all those kind smiles would turn into disappointment.
When he’d warned me about his meddling sisters, I’d pictured nosy, overbearing types I wouldn’t feel bad lying to. The kind of family where you had to lie just to get any privacy. Instead, they’d been wonderful. Warm. Genuine. So welcoming, and I wasn’t used to that.
I wanted a distraction. Needed one. Ford was sitting beside me, quiet and solid at the wheel, but I could feel the sexual tension from that kiss still evident between us.
He wanted me. I wanted him, too. Not necessarily as a dom, in a carefully constructed scene, but in the simplest, most basic way possible.
Straightforward sex. No games. No roles. Just him and me and the kind of fucking that blurred out everything else but the feel of him claiming me.
I glanced out the passenger window, thinking maybe I should ask him to take me to the club.
Put us back in familiar territory, with the kind of expectations I understood.
That kiss in his parent’s den, in front of all those family photos, hadn’t been casual at all.
It had been intimate. Too intimate, and I knew I ought to put a stop to whatever was happening between us before my emotions got tangled up in feelings I couldn’t afford to have.
I chewed on my bottom lip. Tell him to go to the club, I ordered myself, but the words stuck in my throat. That would be the smart play. Keep things neat and compartmentalized. But after that kiss, it was difficult to pretend any of what was happening between us was neat. Or safe.
I glanced at Ford, taking in his handsome profile as he drove back toward my house. All I had to do was say the words and steer us back into the security of rules and boundaries, and keep the sex impersonal and transactional.
Come on, Violet. Don’t be an idiot. Ask Ford to take you to the club.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak, I saw Ford’s gaze flick up to the rearview mirror, his brows pulling tight, his body rigid. His jaw clenched, and then he glanced out the windshield again.
I knew Ford well enough by now to know when he was on alert. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It’s probably nothing, but I think someone might be following us.
” His hands tightened on the wheel, his gaze going back to the rearview mirror again.
“Could be coincidence, but they’ve mirrored every move I’ve made for the past two miles.
Same turns, same lane changes, but keeping distance at the same speed. ”
My pulse spiked and I twisted in my seat, looking over my shoulder. It was still light out just enough that I could see a bright blue sports car behind us. “That’s not the kind of car that swiped me,” I said, though I didn’t discount Ford’s concern. He was the expert, after all.
“I’m not taking a chance on that, considering how long they’ve been following us.” Ford made another turn, and the vehicle stayed on our tail. He swore beneath his breath.
“What do we do?” I asked, hating how a bit of fear was creeping in making me all too aware of how complacent I’d become with Ford around.
“I’m going to lose them.” His tone was steady, calm in a way that didn’t match the tension radiating off him. “Hold on.”
I barely had time to brace myself before Ford wrenched the wheel, abruptly taking us down a side street and gunning it so hard gravity pinned me to my seat.
He made a hard left, blowing through an intersection just as the light turned red.
I held onto the strap of my seatbelt as he made a sharp right again, sped onto the freeway, and immediately got off again.
My stomach flipped with every maneuver, the spike of adrenaline making my heart race.
Finally, he turned into the entrance of an underground garage. He slowed, his eyes on the rearview mirror, then slid into a vacant spot and turned off the engine. The silence was deafening as we sat there for a minute.
“That was quite the Fast and Furious routine,” I said, trying to mask my nerves with humor.
The corner of his mouth twitched, but his eyes remained sharp and focused. “Stay here,” he ordered, his tone brooking no argument, not that I was going to undermine his authority on this. “They didn’t follow us in, but I’m going to see if they’re anywhere around the outside of the parking garage.”
I nodded as he got out of the car. He locked the doors and I hunkered down in the front passenger seat, trying to keep myself from being seen if someone glanced in my direction. I knew he was probably being overly cautious, but I understood why. Actually, I appreciated his diligence…just in case.
He’s being paid to be protective, I reminded myself, but it was still nice to have someone else who cared about my safety—whether he was paid to do it or not.
I heard footsteps and slipped my hand into my purse, ready to grab my mace and pocket knife, but then I heard the car unlock remotely and the driver’s door opened.
“All clear,” Ford said, sliding back in. “If they were following us, I shook them off.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
Ford started up the car again. “It could have just been a coincidence but after what you’ve been through, and the fact that the casino hasn’t located the guy who threatened you, I’d rather overreact than risk anything happening to you.”
“I get it. I really do,” I said gratefully.
Now that the potential danger had passed, his mouth curved into a slow smile that made a traitorous heat pulse between my thighs. “Why don’t we head back to your place and give you that relaxing evening I promised?”
“I’d like that,” I said, and I meant it too much.
When we arrived at my place, Ford circled the block to make sure there were no suspicious cars nearby before he parked.
We headed inside, and I flicked on a living room light and set my purse down while Ford searched the place and double checked the locks.
Then, he approached me and lightly stroked his hands up and down my arms.
“Thank you for coming today,” he said, his voice sincere, his eyes equally so. “It meant a lot to me.”
I nodded, enjoying his gentle caresses, as if he couldn’t help but touch me. “Of course. I’m glad we could work something out so you could be there. You’ve got a great family.”
He smiled, adding to the heat already coiling low in my belly. “They’re not perfect, but they’ve always been there for me.”
“That’s how family should be,” I murmured.
His gaze lingered on my face, warm and soft in a way that felt more dangerous than any hard edge of his dominance.
I didn’t want him to stop looking at me like I was special, and that was exactly the problem.
That softness was a trap, one I couldn’t afford to fall into.
My mother had taught me that lesson. Sweet looks turned into promises, and promises turned into heartbreak.
I needed to steer us back into familiar territory before this spun into something I couldn’t control.
Sex I could handle, and even though we weren’t at the club it was all about stripping it down to physical pleasure, and keeping the rules in check.
Because rules kept my heart and emotions safe.
Rules kept me from wanting the one thing I couldn’t afford to need.
So I did what I did best…I tilted the game back into my favor.
I took a step back so that his hands fell away and released the tie holding my halter dress up.
The material slid to the floor, followed by my swimsuit top, leaving me in just my skimpy bikini bottoms. The way his eyes darkened as they trailed down my body made my nipples raise into tight points and a wicked little thrill shot through me.
I started toward the hall, and feeling his heated gaze on me, I put an extra sway in my hips to tempt him. “I’m going to shower and wash the chlorine off,” I said, giving him a come-hither look over my shoulder, daring him to follow. “Care to join me?”
I walked into my bathroom and turned on the shower.
I peeled off my bikini bottoms and stepped into the enclosure and under the spray, the water hot against my skin.
For a second, when Ford still wasn’t there, I thought he wasn’t going to join me.
Disappointment coursed through me, but then the glass door opened and Ford appeared, completely naked as he stepped inside.
His dark eyes swept down my body, lingering just long enough to make me feel like prey caught in his sights.
He was big enough that the shower felt crowded with all his male energy and I took a moment to really take in his body, toned and tanned and muscled.
He was insanely hot, and my pulse spiked as I took in the water streaming down his shoulders and cascading across his smooth, taut skin before lifting my gaze back up to his.
I pressed my back to the cool tile, daring him to make the first move. He didn’t. Not right away. He just stood there, dark gaze locked on mine, making me burn for him without a single touch. His restraint made me crazy, and I had a feeling he knew it, too.
“Took you long enough,” I said, using that impertinent tone I knew would flip that switch in him to my favor.
His lips tipped up, sinful and knowing as he braced one hand on the tile beside my head, and settling the other possessively on the curve of my waist, caging me in. “Sassing off already? Looks like I need to give that mouth other things to do to keep it busy.”
I tipped my chin up. “You can certainly try.”
“Brat,” he murmured, and then his mouth was on mine—hot, hungry, and seductively deep—his tongue tangling against mine until I was dizzy with the taste and feel of him.