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)
I didn’t think he was referring to our playing around in the water. “I can’t believe you just tossed me off my raft and dunked me.”
He bear hugged me from behind. “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. Let’s kiss and make up.”
I laughed. “You’re such a jerk.”
As fucked up as it was, I had the strongest urge to turn around, wrap my hands around his neck, legs around his waist, and climb him like a koala bear does a tree.
I didn’t. Though I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of being wrapped in his strong arms.
I stopped struggling, and Ford whispered in my ear. “See? It’s not so hard to stop fighting it.”
I leaned my head back against his chest and closed my eyes. It felt so good; I honestly wasn’t sure how much fight I had left in me.
***
I lay on my stomach, watching two little girls make a sandcastle twenty feet away. “I remember the first time our families met on the beach. Ryan wasn’t much older than them.”
Eve and Tom had gone up to the house to shower, and Ford sat in a chair next to me.
He stood. “Scoot over a little.”
My blanket was big enough for two, although I’d been lying in the middle of it. I moved over, and Ford joined me on his stomach to watch the girls.
“I was twelve when my parents bought the house,” he said.
“Ryan was six. He used to follow you around. You were always really sweet about it and let him hang out with you.”
Ford rolled onto his side to face me. He trailed a finger along my spine. “Do you want more kids someday?”
I shielded my eyes from the sun to look over at him. “Not sure that’s in the cards for me. I’m single, thirty-seven, abstinent, and about to start a new career.”
“What about if you were thirty-seven and happily married?”
I smiled. “If we’re pretending, could I be happily married to someone other than Ryan?”
He rested his hand on my back. “Sure. Since we’re pretending, you can be married to a younger man who can’t keep his hands off of you.”
I rolled my eyes, but spoke honestly. “Ryan and I tried to have another child about ten years ago. We tried for more than five years, but couldn’t get pregnant—which was ironic since Ryan wasn’t exactly planned for my senior year of high school. Both of us got tested, and they didn’t find a medical reason we couldn’t conceive. It just didn’t happen.”
“So you want more kids, then?”
I shook my head. “I’m getting too old.”
“Plenty of people have kids into their forties now. You’re really hung up on numbers, aren’t you? Twelve years is too much of an age difference. Thirty-seven is too old to have a baby.”
There was more truth to that than he knew. Eve was the only person I’d ever admitted the truth about Ryan’s cheating to.
I rolled over on the blanket and faced Ford. “Ryan cheated on me with a twenty-year-old.”
Though years had passed now, it was almost as difficult to say those words today as back when it happened.
A look of understanding crossed Ford’s face. He nodded. “Your ex is really a dick.”
I smiled sadly. “That, he is.”
We were quiet for a while, but stayed on our sides, facing each other. The beach was emptying out, though I had no desire to leave just yet, and it seemed Ford didn’t either.
“How about you? Do you want kids someday?”
Ford had removed his hand from my back when I’d turned over, but now he rested it on my waist. His touch felt natural and comforting. He stroked the dip of my waistline with his thumb. “I’m not sure. I already have a nineteen-year-old, and that’s not too much fun.”
I smiled. “You’re good with her. I think you’d be a great dad.”
“Oh yeah?”
I nodded.
He skimmed his hand down from my waist, up and over my hip to my thigh. Goosebumps broke out all over my body, even lying in the warm sun.
“You know what I’m good at?”
“What?”
He leaned in and rubbed his nose with mine. “Practicing to make babies.”
I grinned. “Is that so?”
He nodded. “You know what else is true?”
“What?”
“There’s no better way to get back at your douche of an ex-husband for sleeping with a twenty-year-old than having a summer fling with a younger man.”
Chapter 14
* * *
Valentina
I hadn’t seen Ford since Sunday evening on the beach. He’d left early the next morning for his office in the city, and we’d only exchanged a few quick texts in the days since. But when I pulled up from getting groceries an hour ago, his car had been parked in the driveway. I hated that I went right upstairs and fixed my hair, before even unpacking the bags.
And let’s not even talk about how excited I got when my phone buzzed. My head had been in the refrigerator, trying to decide what to make for dinner, and I jumped and banged it on the freezer door. My damn pulse took off like a runaway train as I nabbed the phone from the counter, and that was before I’d even confirmed who sent a text.