CHAPTER 5
After a decade of dealing with panic-driven subjects, Ford had more than earned a PhD in nonverbal cues and body language. And Liv Preston was most definitely interested.
A nice thought, and had she been any other woman, he might have considered it. But she was a single mom, Paxton’s mom, and they both had a heartbreaking past. A past he’d played a role in—and that made it impossible.
So this attraction between them would never go beyond flirting. “I wasn’t going to steal anything, just returning your dog,” she said. “He seems to have befriended my son.”
With a grin, he pointed to the big pot on her right. “The key’s under the fern. But next time you can just try the door. It’s unlocked.”
“Oh, I promise there won’t be a next time,” she said, shoving some kind of braided leash made from yarn at him.
“Too bad.” Ford stuck his board in the sand, resting one arm at its peak. “Because I can’t promise you the same. Once Bullseye here finds a friend, he has a hard time letting go.” Not wanting to get into where his dog had learned that, he squatted down to give the mutt a Good job pet. After all, by tracking the scent from the stuffed dog earlier that morning, he’d found his missing subject.
Just like he had two years ago when Bullseye had found Paxton and his dad in that cave.
“I’m sorry if he’s a little sticky. He may have had some peanut butter cookies. And maybe a cupcake, but I made sure that dessert was served after dinner.” She said it as though she’d hosted his dog for a playdate.
“Dinner being?”
“Pizza. But I don’t think the cheese settled so well.” She waved a hand in front of her face and grimaced.
Ford laughed, then leveled the dog with a look. “One funny sound and it’s the garage for the night.”
Bullseye averted his gaze to study an ant crawling across the wood deck.
“Don’t do that—I’m the one who offered it to him,” she said, her heart in her eyes but some steel to her tone. “Just light a few candles and it’s not so bad.”
Ford smiled. He liked this compassionate-crusader side of hers. He also liked the sundress she’d put on. Light and flowy, flirting around her legs with every shift in the breeze.
If not for the lingering sadness in her eyes, she’d look like a sexy coed instead of a widowed single mother.
“Is your bed back on the bargaining table?” he asked, loving how her cheeks went pink. “Because I should warn you, he might look all sweet and cuddly, but he’s a sixty-pound bed hog.”
Bullseye jumped onto his hind legs and barked in offense, then placed his big paws on Ford’s thighs. “What?” he said, turning his attention to Bullseye, ruffling his head when he barked again. “You didn’t even bring any pizza home to share?”
“I brought this,” she said, holding up a little Ziploc containing a half-eaten cupcake.
“There’s a bite taken out of it.”
She handed it over. “And all of the frosting is missing.”
“So much for having my back,” he said to Bullseye, who was too busy cleaning his paws to care.
“I have some leftover casserole in the oven if you want it,” she offered, all neighborly like. “But before you say yes, it’s only fair to warn you that by some casserole, I really mean the whole casserole. Because it was so bad not even the dog would touch it.”
Ford picked up a piece of driftwood and tossed it. Bullseye took off, barking as if it were aliens coming to invade the planet. “Do you always warn someone before inviting them over to dinner?”
“I wasn’t inviting you over. I came here to bring you a cupcake to say thanks for helping me out today.”
He grinned. “Without frosting. Talk about neighborly.”
“There’s also the leftover casserole.”
“The casserole that’s so bad my dog wouldn’t touch it?”
“I usually don’t offer to poison my neighbors,” she said through her fingers. “I’m just a little distracted by . . .” She flapped her hands at his chest, and there went her cheeks, flushing the most adorable shade of pink.
He lifted a brow. “My paddleboard?”
“No.” This time the blushing was accompanied by a smile. “By all of the flirting and laughing. I’m not sure how to read you.”
Join the club.
“Well, isn’t that a damn shame,” he said. “Because you have one hell of a laugh, and flirting is good for the soul.”
It was good for the body too, almost too good. And if he didn’t change the topic, Ford’s bodysuit wasn’t going to have enough room for his paddleboard. Because her eyes were locked on his mouth, and the way they dilated told him that she was drawn to him. The worst of it was, he was feeling pretty damn drawn to her.
And it had nothing to do with the promise he’d made to Sam.
Had she been any other woman, he’d see where that attraction led—which was usually a bed or the nearest flat surface. But this wasn’t any woman, and he couldn’t go there.
Ever.
“See, that,” she said. “The whole one hell of a laugh thing—I’m not sure how to read that.”
That she was hung up on it was interesting. Almost as interesting as the way she was looking at him. Not like he was some rookie, but as if she saw something in him that was somehow impressive. It was a look he could get used to.
He leaned against his paddleboard. “It’s as straightforward as you bringing me a cupcake.”
“Then let me clarify,” she said seriously. “The cupcake was to thank you for helping me out with Superdog Stan and saving my son’s first day at superhero camp. Even though I know it made you late for your briefing.”
“Well, with superhero camp on the line, it was a no-brainer. First days are a big deal. How did it go?”
He asked it casually, as if they were two neighbors simply shooting the breeze on a nice summer’s eve. When in fact, Ford had been looking forward to this day for months. Ever since he read about the program online.
The camp encouraged kids to find their inner superhero, while giving them a costume to role-play. Fake it till you make it, Ford liked to say. It was skill that had pulled him through some of his hardest times. And he’d hoped Paxton would find the same benefit. It was why Ford had enrolled him in the first place. His birthday present to Paxton. Not that Liv would know, because Ford hadn’t signed the card. He never signed the cards. Just like he never stayed longer than it took to make good on his promise.
A promise that, up until today, had been nothing more than checking in on Sam’s family from a distance. Making sure they were healing and thriving. And okay, whenever a holiday came around, and Ford found a trinket or comic book, something a father would gift to his son, Ford picked it up for Paxton—delivered from an anonymous sender.
What had started out as a onetime trip to Sequoia Lake to give Liv Sam’s final Christmas present had turned into a two-year mission to find closure. But this was to be his last trip, so he needed to make sure that when he left, there would be no need to come back.
Well played, Ford told himself, because once he got past the reason he’d been sent to Sequoia Lake and became recertified, there wouldn’t need to be another visit. Something that brought up a dump truck full of mixed feelings he didn’t want to acknowledge right then.
It was clear that Liv was going to be just fine. She’d come a long way in the past year, and Sam would be proud. Oh, there were still a few hurdles she’d have to navigate, but Ford wasn’t worried. Liv Preston was as tough as they came. She’d picked up the pieces and was moving forward. Which meant that Ford was free from his promise.
And at the perfect time.
He hated secrets—and this one was getting out of hand. Had witnessed firsthand just how destructive the cycle could be. Most folks were one dark secret from destroying everything that mattered. Playing the silent protector had taken its toll, and Ford was ready to relinquish the role.
Too bad that meant owning the past.
“I guess it went exactly how I pictured the first day going. Paxton, that’s my son, doesn’t do change well. He’s had to adapt to so much change so fast. I think he’s just rebelling,” Liv said as if she wouldn’t mind rebelling every now and again. “But tomorrow is a new day, which means a chance to make new friends, take new risks, and maybe come out of his shell a bit.”
“He’ll get there,” Ford promised, because with a woman like Liv in his corner, there wasn’t anything Paxton couldn’t accomplish. Just like there wasn’t anything positive that could come from prolonging this conversation.
Ford picked up his board. “Good night, Liv.”
“Night, Ford.” But neither of them moved.
Liv worried her lower lip while her gaze slid over his. And fair being fair, he did some gazing of his own, surprised to discover he couldn’t look away. Sure, Liv had some kind of hold on him. But up close, she made his head spin so fast common sense was obliterated. Which was why he kept flirting with this particular woman even though logic told him it was a bad idea.
Even worse, it didn’t feel like flirting. It felt more like connecting. A connection he suddenly wanted to investigate.
Not good, he thought. Not good at all. Because while he’d come to Sequoia Lake to find answers, when she smiled at him like that it stirred up questions that were a hell of a lot more problematic.
Ford told himself to take a step back, even as his feet moved forward.
“Woof!”
Liv braced herself as Bullseye, stick in his mouth, his sights locked on the pretty yellow sundress, charged up the beach with no intentions of slowing down.
“Sit,” Ford said right before Bullseye would have lunged through the air and onto his new friend. Good boy that he was, Bullseye did as he was told, except the wet stick hit the ground, sending water and sand everywhere.
Bullseye looked at the stick, then up to Liv, his tongue panting in anticipation.
“First apologize to the lady for getting her dress wet.” He gave a signal with his hand. “Then I’ll throw the stick.”
Bullseye lowered his head and nudged at her thigh with his nose in apology.
“It’s okay, you were excited.” She gave his head a pat. Lucky dog. “He was so obedient with my son. How long did it take to train him?”
“Two years.”
Her eyes went wide. “That’s a long time.”
“Not for a search dog.”
Understanding filled those pretty eyes. “He works with you, then?”
“Every day.” Ford picked up the stick and threw it in the water. “Bullseye is a special dog with a lot of special gifts. But it took two years of intense training to get him ready for the field.”
Bullseye swan-dived into the lake with all the grace of a rhino, and she laughed. “How do you know which ones are special?”
Ford watched the sun reflect off her hair, casting a soft glow around her, and said, “I know it when I see it.”