All Grown Up(59)

I sighed. “Me, too.”

“You look…alive again.”

“Was I the walking dead before this summer?”

I’d been kidding, but Eve raised a brow.

She looked over at Ford. “He came to see me the other day.”

“What? When…and where?”

“He passed by my restaurant and stopped in.”

“He just happened to pass by?”

She shrugged. “He’s crazy about you.”

“I know. I don’t understand it, but I’m finally starting to realize that for whatever reason, he really does want to be with me.”

Eve shook her head. “I’d do you if I was a guy.”

I laughed. “Thanks. I think.”

“You don’t see it, but you’re a catch. You’re beautiful, loving, warm, fiercely protective, loyal, smart, a great mom. Your asshole ex-husband never appreciated what he had.”

“Honestly, Ford makes me feel beautiful. He watches me while I’m sleeping sometimes. That might sound creepy, but it’s actually sweet. He’ll just be looking at me with this reverent face you just can’t fake. He’s made me look at myself in the mirror and search for the beauty he sees. And you know what? Sometimes I find it.”

Eve took my hand. “I know you need to do some things—hell, I was the one who bugged you about making your My Turn list. But you can have a boyfriend and still find you. Ryan wanted you locked up in his stingy little castle because he was weak and insecure. Ford might be younger, but he’s stronger and more confident in who he is. I don’t think he needs to be the center of your universe. He just wants to be part of your world.”

***

I stood with my jaw hanging open.

Ford didn’t have an apartment. He had an entire floor.

From the outside, the building looked like what it mostly was—a giant warehouse. But the top floor had been converted into living space. It had an industrial feel with worn steel beams, exposed ductwork, real brick walls, and polished concrete floors, yet it was also warm and homey with natural wood, a giant fireplace, and a gorgeous, modern, stainless-steel kitchen—though the best part was the open mezzanine level above half of the apartment. A rooftop terrace occupied a space twenty feet in the air, with walls of glass. Standing in the living room, you could look up and see the night sky twinkling. I was at a loss for words.

“Ford, this is…this is stunning. Absolutely incredible.”

He was adorably modest. “It looks like more than it is. The area was pretty depressed when my parents bought it thirty years ago. It didn’t become trendy to live down here until the last decade.”

“But you made this?”

“Well, contractors made it. I just designed the layout and converted the space from storage to livable. It was under construction when the accident happened. My dad never got to see it completed. I finished it and moved in here after I went through that rough patch. It helped me feel like something was my own.”

“I’m sure your father would be proud of this place and your choices, Ford.” I walked to an open staircase toward the glass rooftop room. “Can I see up here?”

“Of course.”

Ford led me to a large, outdoor space. It was partially sunken into the indoor space below to create a mezzanine level, and the interior space was viewable by looking down through a glass wall. I stood outside on the roof of the building and could see his kitchen.

“I feel like I’m in a tree house.”

He smiled. On the floor, along the perimeter of the entire room, were plants in multicolored pots. “They’re what’s left of my mom’s plants. She had a green thumb. Mine’s black.”

I’d never seen anything like this. “Ford, this should be in a magazine.”

He pushed his hands into his pockets. “Thanks.”

“So this is what you want to do to all the warehouse space, then? You can convert them all like this?”

He nodded. “Sort of. They’d all be different because I keep the commercial elements of the support structure intact, and those are different on each floor. And of course, only the top floor can have the skylight room.”

I surveyed the room in awe. “I obviously know nothing about building or architecture, but I know what I like. And I’d kill to live here.”

Ford walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Oh yeah? You know what you like?” He dropped a sweet kiss on my shoulder before moving to my neck and then up to my ear. “Tell me…do you like this?”

Uhhh…duh. I nodded. “I definitely do.”

He reached down and under my dress, skimming his fingers along my thigh. “How about this?”

I shut my eyes and leaned my head back against him. “Mmm…yes.”

His hands moved up to cup my breasts, and he squeezed hard. “And this?”

I let out a breathy yes as he pinched my nipples. My back arched as he sank his teeth into my shoulder. I’d definitely have a mark tomorrow, but I’d smile when I saw it in the mirror.

“I love the thought of fucking you out here. It’s too bad we’re up so high and no one will see. Because I’d like the whole world to watch.”

I turned to look at him, and he took my mouth in a kiss—unhurried and drugging; he made me feel like I was floating. One hand slipped inside the halter of my dress, and he plucked and pinched my already pert nipples into stiff peaks. When I moaned into his mouth, he slid his other hand up and inside my panties.