CHAPTER 8
Viveka
I flip the bacon on the sizzling griddle. Cooking always eases my anxiety, and yes, I’m slightly nervous to have a man sleeping in my bed right now. It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up to that, so I did the best thing I could to save my sanity. I slid out from under his hold and decided to make breakfast.
Cooking keeps my hands busy and my mind from overanalyzing things. There’s a lot of stuff to be confused about this morning. What I thought would be an impersonal booty call last night took a different direction than I had anticipated.
Now, I don’t know what to think.
I give another flip of the bacon before pulling out a plate from the cabinet. After covering it with a few sheets of paper towels, I pull the slices off the griddle to drain. I snag a strawberry out of the bowl of fruit I had cut up earlier and pop it into my mouth.
Then I freeze.
I can hear Ford’s footsteps coming down the short hall and through the living room. I brace for what may either be a shameful confrontation or a pleasant greeting.
Ford steps into the kitchen, and I actually get tingles between my legs when I see him. He slipped on his jeans, but that’s all he has on. Hair messed up, feet bare, and an unforgettable chest with amazing abs I spent a great deal of time feeling up last night.
Mostly because the two of us slept wrapped up in each other’s arms.
My cheeks flush with warmth as I think about the wild and crazy sex we had followed by an intimate cuddle that turned into satisfying slumber.
Ford’s eyes lock with mine. I think he will make a quick excuse to leave because that’s what you do after a booty call, right? And besides, Ford has on more than one occasion made it clear he’s not relationship material. And this is generally okay. I’m not searching for one either.
But I can’t deny I like the guy.
Forget about what he does to me in bed, I have absolutely enjoyed every minute of conversation I’ve had with him. It’s been seamless and perfectly natural. Moreover, he has shown a genuine interest in me as a person. For much of my life, I have only been noticed and interacted with because of my looks. Many men don’t even want to hear a thing I have to say.
But not Ford. He peppered me with questions relentlessly while we munched on pizza and watched Flash Gordon. In just a few short hours, I can now say he is someone who knows practically everything there is to know about my life, as lamely normal as it has been up to date.
The tingles move from between my legs into my belly when his lips curve up in appreciation as he stares at me. I had thrown on a short silk robe that was hanging on the back of my bathroom door and had put my hair up in a haphazard ponytail.
“How is it that you are sexier and more beautiful every time I lay eyes on you?” Ford asks.
And he is not teasing me. He is absolutely serious with that question, and the tingles spread through my entire body.
“How is it that you manage to say and do things that make me like you even more every time you open your mouth?” I ask in return.
“You had an up close and personal experience with my mouth last night,” he reminds me.
I can’t control the deeper blush that warms my face. My pale Swedish skin always betrays my embarrassment.
“I like that you like my mouth,” Ford murmurs.
God, do I like his mouth. He made me come in under a minute with it before he flipped me on my stomach, pulled me up to my hands and knees, and fucked me from behind.
I think perhaps he might be able to read my face because his expression softens, and he takes a step toward me. Unfortunately, his foot catches on the huge bowl of water I have on the floor for my dogs. It’s stainless steel and makes quite the racket when it knocks into the refrigerator and spills water over the top.
“Shit,” he says apologetically. He makes a grab for some paper towels off the counter. “I’ll clean that up.”
I laugh and point out, “It’s only water, Ford. It’s not going to hurt anything.”
He gives me a sheepish grin, and then starts to bend down to mop up the water when he freezes. “Dogs,” he says, sounding completely perplexed.
“What about them?”
He straightens up and turns to stare at me, the fistful of paper towels forgotten in his hand. “You have dogs. Where are they?”
Understanding dawns, and I give him a soft smile. “I had Frannie take them for the night. While I didn’t want to assume you were going to stay, I figured if you did I would at least make it a little more comfortable for you. I know you’re not much of a dog person.”
“You see,” Ford grumbles, throwing his hands out, “It drives me nuts that people automatically think that.”
“Oh, poor baby,” I tease as I turn back to the bacon. “But you’re the one who told me you didn’t like dog slobber.”
“And you do?” he asks me.
Touché.
“It’s not my favorite thing in the world,” I admit grudgingly. “But the price is well worth the joy they bring to me.”
He’s nothing but pure stealth because I don’t hear him come up behind me. His hands go to my waist before circling around my stomach, and he draws me back into his body. I feel the rough scratch of his jeans against my legs and the warmth of his chest through the material of my robe.
Ford rests his chin on my shoulder and murmurs in my ear, “Next time, you do not have to send your dogs away. I will learn to like them.”
Of all the ways Ford has made me feel since I’ve met him, there’s no describing the swelling within my chest over those simple words. My dogs are important to me. They’re like my children. And it absolutely killed me to send them away last night.
I had hoped if I had a relationship one day in the future, it would be with a man who was an animal lover. And while I can’t say Ford is such a man, the mere fact he is going to try speaks volumes.
I give a cough to clear my throat and reach for the bacon. Ford releases me and says, “Do you have some coffee?”
“The Keurig is right there,” I say, jerking my head toward the machine to my left. “I’ll take another cup too, if you don’t mind. Cups in the cabinet above.”
“A gorgeous woman making breakfast on a Sunday morning?” he says with a chuckle. “I absolutely do not mind making you a cup of coffee.”
After I pull the bacon off, I work on mixing up some pancake batter.
“Tell me about your dogs,” Ford says. The tingles take over once again when he adds, “Because I guarantee you I’ll be back in your bed sooner rather than later.”
“Both of them are rescues.” I ladle hotcakes onto the griddle. “A golden retriever named Daisy, and my Pomeranian mix is a cocky little male who thinks he’s the boss in this house. I named him Butch.”
“Daisy and Butch,” Ford says as if testing their names to see how they roll off his tongue. “Got it.”
“It’s a good thing they weren’t here last night,” I say as an afterthought. “The noises we were making would have freaked Butch out.”
“You mean the noises you were making,” Ford counters.
I flip pancakes and laugh.
I don’t know why I feel compelled to tell him, but maybe it’s gratitude for his excellent lovemaking abilities. I just know I’ve never had a man devote the type of attention to me that Ford does when it comes to pleasure. “It’s been over two years since I’ve had sex. I imagine I have been making all kinds of sounds.”
Ford doesn’t respond, so I’m compelled to look over my shoulder. His face is impassive. “Two years?”
I turn back to the pancakes and say lightly, “Well, I know for a stud such as yourself who cycles through women as often as you do, it might seem unbelievable, but…”
My voice trails off as I realize this might make me sound overly pathetic.
Ford moves to my side as I continue to monitor the pancakes. His hand comes up, and he slides his knuckles across my jaw. It’s a move intended to get my attention, and I can’t help but turn my head toward him.
“I don’t understand,” he says softly. “You’re an incredibly beautiful and outgoing woman. You have a lot to offer someone. Why have you remained alone for two years?”
I give a shrug and turn back to the pancakes, sliding the edge of the spatula under one to check whether it’s done. It’s not so I turn back to him. “I really don’t like talking bad about anybody, and please know I’m only telling this to you because you asked an important question. But my sex life with my husband was not all that great. My sex life with the two other men prior to him wasn’t all that spectacular either. My knowledge of sex is clearly limited, but it’s what I believed sex felt like. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I was missing much the past two years. I definitely got more enjoyment out of my vibrator.”
A gleam enters Ford’s eyes. His voice goes low and husky. “You have toys? Excellent. We’ll talk about those later and in more depth, but I have to ask… how do you feel about sex now?”
I don’t think he’s angling for compliments, but I decide to keep on the straight and narrow and give him my full honesty. “You have to know you’re completely different. I mean, you heard the sounds I make right?”
He slides in closer to me, his voice going even lower. His hand comes up to rest on my hip. “Tell me exactly what it is you like about what I do to you?”
My throat feels tight and closed off, but I manage to ask him, “Why?”
My legs practically buckle when he says, “So I can give you more of it. I like pleasuring you, V.”
I suck in a sharp breath through my nose, and let it slide out slowly between my teeth. My voice is barely a whisper. “I like that you’re so in control. I like that you do what you want and somehow seem to know it’s exactly what I like. It’s the control you have over me I like, and I’m not sure what that says about me.”
“It doesn’t say anything particular about you. You like what you like, and I like that you like it.”
He leans in and brushes his lips along my jaw. “Your pancakes are gonna burn.”
I startle and turn toward the griddle, lifting the edge of a pancake to check. They are perfect and ready to come off.
Ford chuckles as he steps away from me, and I plate up the food for both of us. We walk over to the small kitchen table on the other side of the butcher block island and settle in to eat and sip at our coffee.
“Okay, I’m going to ask you something I swear to God has nothing to do with inflating my ego. But you said you like the control I have over you. I’m just wondering… your ex-husband was a surgeon, which means he’s probably confident and has a healthy ego. I guess I’m curious—as sort of a human study—why he didn’t take care of you in the bedroom?”
I spread butter over my pancakes. “Well, Adam as a surgeon was definitely in control and confident, but he was also meticulous and efficient. You translate how that might work out with sex.”
“He never saw to your needs, did he?” Ford asks, but he doesn’t even need the answer. The question was absolutely rhetorical.
I put my knife down and look at the gorgeous man sitting across from me while we have a completely naked conversation about my previous love life. “I didn’t know I had needs to be honest. Not until that first night with you when I was getting ready to leave. The way you dragged your finger up the inside of my thigh, and I don’t know… I just ached. I actually hurt from the need that consumed me, and I had never felt it before.”
Ford’s face softens, yet his eyes seem to blaze with heat over the memory. His voice causes me to shiver. “You shoved my hand between your legs. It was one of the hottest things I’ve ever experienced.”
My voice goes to a whisper. “I needed something, and I never knew it until then.”
“Did I give it to you?” he asks me softly.
“Yes.”
“I’ll give it to you any time you ask me to, V.” His eyes reflect the same promise as his words.
I nod, knowing I will ask him for it. I’ll also give it to him.
“I’ll do the same for you,” I say.
Ford gives me a sexy grin and points his fork at me. “Looking forward to it.”
I stare at him in fascination from the way he can so easily bounce between serious sex talk and mischievous teasing. With a slight tilt of my head that’s swimming with curiosity, I ask, “What is this? Between us, I mean.”
“It’s definitely not a one-night stand,” Ford says, and I’m relieved he doesn’t seem perturbed. “I want to keep seeing you, and I hope you feel the same.”
“And the fact that you and I have a case against each other?” I ask.
“We agree to leave that out of our relationship.”
The tingles ripple up my spine over the word relationship. It’s not a word that has been important to me for a very long time unless my friendship with Frannie and my love for my animals counts. I’m still amazed how quickly my life has changed in just a few days. Who knew the thought of a relationship with a man like Ford is something that would appeal to me?
I also remember I’m dealing with a man who self-admittedly will want to move on from me at some point. I know I’ll end up getting hurt, yet it doesn’t scare me away.