Page 78 of Tempt Her

Snatching his keys, he storms out and slams the door behind him while I mutter, “If that man had a fucking clue, it would die of loneliness.”

Ford must’ve heard me. Because it’s the first time I’ve heard him laugh. I whip around, and his broad shoulders shake with it as he unscrews the cover off an A/C vent on the wall.

“Do I amuse you?” I’m not mad about it. It’s better than pitying me.

“Yeah.” Slowly he turns, twirling the screwdriver in his fingers like a baton. “You amuse me. You piss me off. You worry me. And you’re lucky I’m laughing because I was about to stab this screwdriver in that fucker’s neck.”

“Don’t. I want to destroy him. Killing him would be too swift and kind.”

He nods, “By the way,” as his eyes grope me, “nothing against whores, but you don’t look like one.” The way he does it feels sexy, not cruel. “You look cute.”

A smile blooms across my face before I can stop it. “Thank you.” I can’t stop the blush, either.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, he crosses one ankle over the other, and I fight not to stare at his package because he’s wearing the same jeans he did last night.

Is it on purpose?

“What did you ever see in him?”

“Other than his tall, hot, hulking body and warm, winning personality?”

Ford grins. “Yeah, he melts my butter too.”

“Because men who wear sailboat belts and floral polos are catnip for pussy?”

I make him laugh again as he adds, “And for some dicks, green stripes and ironed khakis get us rock hard.”

Damn, he’s sexy when he’s nice.

“Looky there, Mr. Alexander. We agree on something.”

“I agree you need to get out of your marriage.” His smile fades. “Why have you stayed for so long?”

“When Gentry proposed, he said he’d take care of me and my dad. He has Alzheimer’s, and I was overwhelmed with his care, knowing I could never afford it. I spent all the money my dad had saved and everything I had too for his first year in a facility, and Gentry’s been in control ever since. Exactly how he planned.”

Something dances in Ford’s eyes, and I’m mesmerized.

I can’t read him.

Luke is open and vulnerable, and Mateo is genuine and warm. But Ford?

He’s not mysterious. He’s torn. I know he feels this. Our attraction is strong. Our alliance is even stronger.Come on, stop fighting me.The heat is overwhelming. It’s cracking the ice in his eyes, and that same passion is melting me too.

“I can build your dad a safe place on my land,” he says… and time stops.

His words rip my breath away, tilting the room. I have to search my brain to confirm what he just said because…

“What?” I can’t find one thought but, “Why would you do that for me? For my dad?”

“Because Mateo loves you. Luke does, too; he’ll worry about you when he goes in. My men care about you, andIlove them. More than what I let you see last night, and I’ll die before I let something break us apart.”

“You meansomeone. Me.”

I feel it. More than sex and kink, or work and laughs, or even land binds Ford to Luke and Mateo. Some dark fear looms in him. It makes his commitment to them unwavering… and ominous.

This isn’t a game. This is his truth.

“That’s why you hate me. You think I’ll break you guys apart.”

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