The ceiling fan whirls around, causing Ellie to shiver every now and then as we lie together in her bed. I use it as an excuse to bring her even closer to me. She doesn’t resist, just smiles in her sleep and repositions her face on my chest.

After a nap, a pizza delivery, a shower, followed by round two, we both fell asleep. It’s now nearing eight in the morning. I don’t know what time she usually gets up, but I know there’s no way I’m going to disturb her.

My clothes are on a chair in the corner of the room, my phone tucked safely in one of the pockets of my pants. In less than an hour, that phone is going to ring. It’s going to be Graham and he’s going to be pissed.

There is a meeting scheduled at Landry Holdings at eight-thirty. It’s a meeting I’m going to miss because I’m not about to shorten this moment for anything in the world by untangling our bodies just to get my phone.

Glancing down at her, I take in her pouty lips that are pressed together like they want kissed. Her lashes are splayed against her cheeks, her arm stretched lazily over my stomach. It’s a beautiful sight. It’s an even better feeling.

I might have suspected that I couldn’t fully connect with another woman because my heart was still with her. It was one of the only explanations why I found a fatal flaw in every date I had, in every girl that I even vaguely considered dating. They just weren’t right. Something was slightly amiss and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

My finger—hell, my whole hand—is on top of it now. It’s absolutely clear that I have two choices: live alone for the rest of my life or fight like hell for this. For her. For us.

There might be two choices, but there’s only one answer.

Ellie begins to stir, rolling away from me and stretching.

“Shh,” I whisper, trying to bring her in beside me again.

Her beautiful eyes pop open. “Are you going to let me sleep all day?” she laughs sleepily.

“I’d let you sleep all week if that meant I got to hold you.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost eight or so.”

She furrows her brows as if she’s just waking up and putting all the pieces together. Before she can comment, my phone rings through the silence.

“Shit,” I groan. Reality has officially broken through. “I really need to get that.”

After she wiggles to the side, I unfold my body and pad across the floor. Her gaze is hot against my back, searing my skin as I grab my phone and bring it to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Where the hell are you?” Graham asks.

“Occupied.”

“Damn it, Ford. Just because Lincoln has shaped up a bit, doesn’t mean you have to fill the vacancy.”

“Easy there, captain,” I laugh. “Hoda will be there. She has the files, and I went over everything with her yesterday. She knows where I stand. You don’t really need me.”

I listen to Graham’s tirade, slipping on my pants and shrugging on my shirt. It’s hard to pay attention to what my brother is saying as Ellie sits up in bed, her breasts perky, her nipples in stiff peaks.

She climbs out of bed, her ass so perfectly round I want to palm it. I’m only reminded of the call when I hear Graham mutter a string of profanities.

“Relax, Graham. I heard everything you said.”

“You did fucking not.”

“Okay. You’re right. I didn’t. But I get the gist of it.”

He sighs. “Moments like this, I loathe being the only responsible one out of all of you.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“I’ll add it to your tab,” he says. “Oh, before I go—Barrett will be in town in a couple of days. Mom wants everyone at the Farm for dinner. She said something about Linc wanting to get together anyway so it’s perfect timing. I’ll text you when.”

“I’ll be there. Talk to you later.”

Placing my phone back in my pocket, I stretch my arms over my head and catch Ellie watching me.

“What?” I ask.

“I love listening to you talk to your brothers.”

“Why is that?”

She shrugs. “You feel so … safe with them, I guess. Like it seems like you can say whatever you want and you know if you called him back right now, no matter how mad he is at you, he’d help you.”

“True,” I state. “He would. Any of them would. Well, maybe not Lincoln right now, but he has an excuse.”

She disappears in a closet and returns in a purple and white robe. I hate her body being covered and away from my sight. It feels like a barrier, a way to keep me out.

“Want to meet up for lunch?” I offer, feeling her out.

“I have a meeting, actually.”

“Dinner? Or we could go fishing.”

“I haven’t been fishing in forever,” she admits. “Probably not since I left for school.”

“Let’s do it then.”

“Maybe some other time.”

“I’m sorry. Did I miss something here?”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “What do you mean?”

I mimic her posture. “I thought we were passed this whole thing.”

“I can have dinner and an orgasm and not lose my mind, Ford.”

“Seeing me again is losing your mind?” I ask in disbelief. “You’re going to have to explain that one, El.”

There’s no attempt to explain, no words thrown my way to demonstrate why she’s now pushing back a little. She just stands there and watches me in that adorable little robe I want to rip off her damn body.

“Fine,” I sigh, stuffing my wallet in my pocket.

“Fine what?”

“I’ll just keep thinking of ways to win you over.”

Her arms drop to her sides. “Stop trying. Just let things be.”

“And risk losing you? Risk letting you think I don’t care? Sorry, babe. Not happening.”

“Listen, I love being with you …”

“And I love being with you. So what’s the issue?”

“The issue is just because we had sex doesn’t mean things have somehow changed between us.”

“Babe. Everything has changed.”

The air changes, everything now heavier than it was moments ago. Her eyes are filled with an uncertainty that I want to kiss away.

“I’m not going to lie and pretend I don’t feel something different with you than I’ve felt with anyone else.”

“Good to fucking know.”

She shakes her head. “That’s part of the problem, Ford. I don’t know how much of this is just some kind of hold-over emotion from a carefree time in our lives and how much of it is real.”

“You don’t think this is real?”

“I don’t know,” she breathes. “I hope it is. But before I go jumping in this with you—whatever that even means—I need to know this isn’t something we’re doing on a whim.”

“Even if it is, and it’s not, what would be wrong with that, El? We’re two adults that want to spend time together.”

“Spending time together is fine. I quite enjoy spending time with you,” she adds cheekily. “But none of that changes where I want us to go. Not right now.”

“Ellie, I want to—”

“Your knight awaits!” A voice, a very male voice, booms from the entryway.

My gaze snaps from Ellie to the doorway, back to a wide-eyed Ellie. “Who in the hell is that?” I ask.

“Where are you?” he shouts again, his voice much closer. “Ellie?” The last syllable wraps around the doorway as he steps into view. He takes me in and stops dead in his tracks. “And who are you?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I warn.

“Hey, Heath!” Ellie’s voice is too loud, too chipper, to be believable. “How are you?”

“Um, I’m okay,” he draws out, still looking at me. “Confused. But good. Maybe getting better, depending …”

“Want to make some introductions?” I ask, my brows raised.

“Heath, this is Ford Landry. Ford, this is Heath Breckenmeir, my friend that obviously doesn’t realize the key he has is for emergencies only.” She glares his way.

“He has a key?”

“For emergencies,” they say in unison.

I take in my opponent. He’s thin, too thin to be able to put up much of a fight. He’s wearing wire-rimmed glasses and his black hair is more perfectly styled than any man I’ve ever seen. Then he smiles. Wide.

A phone rings in another room and Ellie’s hand smacks her forehead. “Could this timing be any worse?”

“I’m kind of appreciating it right about now,” I note.

“I’m definitely appreciating it,” Heath snickers. “Go get the phone, Ellie.”

“Why don’t you answer it?” Her voice is almost a plea, which makes his snicker turn into an all-out laugh.

“Oh, no, sweetheart,” Heath grins. “This is your problem. I’ll stay right here with Ford.”

I cringe at the term of endearment, my fists balling at my side. “Go on, sweetheart,” I say pointedly to her.

She looks on the verge of panic, but as the ringing starts again, she throws her hands up, mumbles something under her breath, and storms out. Once she’s out of sight, Heath moseys my way.

“I’m just here to go with her to a few wholesalers today,” he tells me. “So while that alpha-male posturing you’re doing right now is so fucking hot, you can ease up a little.”

I don’t respond.

“Or not. For the record, I’m really, really gay.”

“Good to know.”

“Heath!” Ellie’s voice shouts from the kitchen. “Will you come here for a second?”

He tosses me a wink before joining her in the front. I meander to the doorway and listen to their conversation.

“What did you tell him?” she hisses.

“I told him I’m gay,” he admits. “There’s no chance he swings both ways, is there? Hey!” he yelps as I hear a smack that makes me grin.

“Would it have killed you to pretend we have something going on?”

“And why would I do that?”

“To buy me some time.”

“Because you need to get your head together after he just fucked the shit out of you?”

“Heath. Really?”

“Yes, really. Now, circling back to your question, I couldn’t pretend anything. I couldn’t take my eyes off that hunk of man meat,” he says.

I bite my tongue so I don’t laugh out loud.

“Second,” he continues, “I’m not about to get on his bad side. Did you see his biceps? Wait. You’ve seen his biceps and his triceps and his … Come to think of it, I hate you.”

“Get in line, buddy.”

“You just got dirty with GI-fucking-Joe. I’m proud of you, Ellie. Maybe you’re not too old to learn new tricks after all.”

A laugh comes roaring out of my mouth before I can stop it. I grab the last of my belongings from the table and stick them in my pockets before joining Ellie and Heath in kitchen.

“I need to head to the office,” I tell them both. Looking at Ellie, I grin. “I’ll call you later and we can pick up the conversation we left off.”

“Sure.”

Wrapping my arm around her narrow waist and pulling her towards me over the start of her faux objection, I kiss her loudly and with as much force as I think is legal square on the lips.

“Thanks for last night,” I wink.

“Ford!”

“Oh, I can’t even …” Heath nearly squeals.

When I release her, she stands breathless, a little wobbly on her feet, as I head to the door. “I’ll call you this afternoon, Ellie.”

“Hey!” Heath calls after me. “You forgot mine.”