Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
I hadn’t meant to sit here and pepper Ford with questions, but it felt natural to talk to him. Far more than I’d expected, especially after that kiss.
The faintest hint of a smile curved the side of Ford’s mouth, bringing a light to his sea-green eyes. For a moment, I saw a glimpse of a Ford I hadn’t met—maybe a Ford who’d existed before he’d gone to prison.
“I have a drink or two some days,” he said, “but I space them out. I’ve never been much of a drinker. One or two in an evening is enough for me. But Avery’s taught me to appreciate every drop. She really found her calling here.”
“She definitely did,” I agreed, finishing the last of the donut hole.
Before the silence could get awkward, someone walked up to the bar, claiming Ford’s attention. I pulled out my phone to browse. Off at the far end of the bar, an open doorway led to the small kitchen that Finn would use when he started serving food here. I’d heard getting it ready to use was a bigger job than he’d expected, and he was still cleaning it up. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but heard him rattling around, banging metallic things, and occasionally swearing.
Ford pulled pints to fill his order, ran a credit card, and made his way back to the middle of the bar where I sat. He stood there, sliding a wet towel across the top of the bar. His eyes rested on me, considering, before he said, “Are we going to talk about it?”
Chapter Seven
PAIGE
Ifelt heat hit my cheeks and shook my head before I could think too much about the answer. I didn’t want to talk about it. What I really wanted was to do it again, and never, ever talk about it. Because talking about it would be awkward and weird, and I didn’t even know how I felt or what I wanted—except to kiss Ford Sawyer again.
How did I get myself into this situation? I was always professional. And that was what spilled from my lips. “I’m always professional,” I said. “And that was very much not. I work for your brother. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Ford nodded. “Probably not,” he agreed, “because you’re a professional and you work for my brother. And I don’t want to take advantage of your position in our household.”
“Okay,” I said, both relieved and oddly bereft, as if something I hadn’t decided I wanted had been snatched away. “Then we’re in agreement.”
Ford was already shaking his head. “What do you think we’ve agreed on?”
“That it’s not going to happen again,” I said, pushing away the empty pint glass in front of me.
Ford took it, poured me another very short pint, and handed it back. I accepted the glass but didn’t drink.
“I’m not agreeing to that,” he said in an annoyingly reasonable tone.
“What if I don’t want to kiss you again?” I said, my eyebrows drawing together, cheeks still hot. This conversation was awkward as hell, but at the same time, intriguing.
“You do,” he said, something sparking in the depths of his green eyes.
“You don’t know that,” I said, wanting to be annoyed but instead finding myself oddly charmed. I did not want to be charmed by Ford Sawyer.
That tiny grin curved the side of his mouth again, the light I was coming to like so much hitting his eyes for a flash.
“Paige,” he said quietly, “I was there. You definitely want to kiss me again.”
Damn it. I couldn’t deny it. He hadn’t just kissed me. I’d kissed him back. I’d kissed him back with everything I had because the kiss had been that good.
I let out a long sigh, my shoulders slumping forward. “Fine,” I admitted. “I do want to kiss you again, but I also have self-control, and it’s a terrible idea. I don’t want to lose my job.”
“Griffen is not going to fire you,” he said. “Not for that. He’d get rid of me before he’d get rid of you.”
I stared at him, my brows drawn together, wondering if he was crazy. “You’re his brother! Of course, he’d choose you over me. He barely knows me.”
“Clearly you haven’t heard enough of the family lore,” Ford said dryly. “We’re not close, haven’t been for a very long time, and it’s entirely my fault. I’m his brother, and family is important, but if it came down to you versus me, he’d keep you and boot me. No question.”
That didn’t make sense to me in the slightest. I was just the nanny. I liked Griffen and Hope an awful lot, but I was still an employee, one they didn’t even know that well, certainly not compared to their relationship with Ford.
I drummed my fingers on the top of the bar, thinking.
“You need to trust me,” he said. “Dave will be here soon, and telling you the whole story would take a lot longer than we have. Ask me later and I’ll give you the gory details. But for now, you need to understand that Griffen is far more likely to get rid of me than you.”