Suddenly One Summer (FBI/US Attorney #6)(91)

Her eyes filled with tears, her expression suddenly so hopeful and vulnerable it made his heart ache. “Really?”

“Yes.” He smiled softly. “Like, crazy, awful, miserable-without-you kind of love. Hell, even Tucker was trying to cheer me up.”

Victoria bit her lip. “But the blonde in the elevator—”

“—was just a co-worker.” Ford stroked his thumb across her cheek, wiping away one of her tears. “See, apparently, that’s how these crazy, miserable-without-you things work. It means you’re the only one I think about. Ever since the day I first knocked on your door.”

She smiled and touched his cheek. “You weren’t the only one who was miserable. Friday night, I had to sleep at Rachel’s because I couldn’t stand the thought of you with another woman.”

“Ah . . . Rachel’s. That’s where you were.”

In his head, he did a little victory dance.

“Where else would I have been?” She cocked her head. “Wait, did you think—”

He cut her off. “Still don’t want to think about it. Ever.”

Her lips curved. Then she looked at him for a moment, her expression softening. “You know I love you, too, right?”

He pulled her closer, his voice thick with emotion. “I do now.”

He bent his head and kissed her, tenderly at first, and then more heatedly as they leaned against the building, her purse falling to the ground, and his forearms pressing on the brick as he held her face in his hands.

When she finally pulled back, her cheeks were flushed. “I think we need to get out of this alley.”

His thoughts exactly.

Ford scooped up her purse and they hurried through the alley. But then Victoria stopped in her tracks when they got to his car. “Shoot. I forgot about Nicole. She’s still with Peter and Melanie.”

“Nicole will be fine.”

“I was so distracted when you left, I’m not sure I even said good-bye. Not my usual level of client relations,” she said with a sheepish grin.

He took out his phone. “I’ll text her and explain everything.” He read out loud as he typed. “‘Victoria left with me. She says good-bye.’” He hit send and winked at her. “Now can we go have make-up sex?”

A guy passing by them on a bicycle looked over sharply and nearly crashed into a parked car.

“Seriously,” Victoria said to Ford.

But he noticed that she climbed into his car lickety-split.

“I got a funny vibe from Nicole earlier,” Victoria said as she buckled her seatbelt. “Do you think she knew something was going on between us?”

As Ford got behind the wheel, his phone buzzed with a new message. He shook his head while reading it. “Well, at least now I know why she asked me to come tonight.”

He held out the phone so Victoria could see his sister’s reply.

You’re welcome. Now stop brooding.

* * *

IN HIS BEDROOM, as the evening summer sun filtered in through the shades on his windows, Ford kissed the back of Victoria’s neck. He slowly inched down the zipper of her dress, thinking how, a mere hour ago, he’d been going out of his mind at the thought of some other man doing exactly this. But now here they were.

And she was all his.

He pressed his mouth to the top of her shoulder as he pushed the dress down her arms and let it fall to the floor.

“Ford,” she murmured, leaning against him.

He picked her up and carried her to the bed. After setting her down, he stripped off his clothes as she kicked off her heels and took off her bra. Then he climbed onto the bed and swept his mouth over hers in a long, possessive kiss. When his hands finally moved to her underwear, she sighed. But instead of yanking them off, he pulled them down just an inch and slowly kissed his way down to her stomach.

She groaned. “You’re driving me crazy.”

He smiled wickedly against her skin. “Better get used to it, Ms. Slade. I have two weeks’ worth of driving you crazy to make up for.”

Afterward, they lay face-to-face on their sides, looking at each other as the fading sunset cast a soft orange glow around the bedroom.

She reached out and slid her hand over his.

“Don’t even think about asking me for brownies,” he growled.

She laughed. “I was just going to say that I’m really glad those *s broke into my town house. Because that led me to you.”

He slid a hand down her back and pulled her close once again. “You slay me, Victoria. You know that, right?”

She sunk her fingers into his hair and smiled.

“I do now.”

* * *

LATER THAT NIGHT, Ford woke up to the sound of his front door creaking shut.

He sat up and saw that the other side of the bed was empty. Frowning, he quickly threw on his jeans and went out into the living room.

No Victoria.

Then he noticed a dim sliver of light filtering in through a crack between his front door and the wall, and realized that someone had left the door propped open with the deadbolt.

Seconds later, that someone tiptoed back in, bare-legged and wearing his shirt.

Victoria smiled when she saw him standing there. “Sorry. I was trying not to wake you.” She held up a skinny travel container. “Toothbrush.”