Page 79 of Tempt Her

“That’s twice now.” He shakes his head. “I told you; I don’t hate you.”

“So if you don’t hate me, what do you feel for me?”

I don’t know what to do with my itching hands that want to touch him. With my feet closing the distance between us. With this intensity pulling me to Ford. And he’s not moving. Like a magnet, he’s letting it happen.

His icy eyes don’t back down as his tone drops, calm and cold. “You terrify me.”

And he’s so fucking manly, strong, and mature to admit it.

“Because I remind you of your mom?” But moving so close to him, I’m not afraid. “I’m sorry about what happened to her. It has to be hard on you.”

I step into his shadow as he gazes down at me. “It’s not just her.”

“Who then? Why do you keep fighting me?”

A swallow grabs his throat. He doesn’t answer me. Though he talks of being terrified of me, that’s not the look in his eyes. Iknowthe look in his eyes. Desire. He feels it. He wants me to see it.

“I’m not fighting you,” he says, “because that would be mutual destruction.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“Dying,” he rumbles, “and deciding how I’ll spend my last days doing it.”

I can smell his woodsy body soap and seductive cologne. I can see he’s hiding a scar under his beard. I can taste his temptation. I can hear the edge we’re on in his deep voice. There’s something he’s not saying and everything he’s feeling.

“It’s not fair to make me pay for a ghost I don’t know.” I don’t fear this man. I fear never having him.

“Life’s not fair.” His look levels me. “Neither is death.”

“So, she died too? The woman I remind you of?”

“No. She didn’t die. She left me feeling like I did. Until I met Luke and Mateo.”

“I saw how they make you feel. I meant it; it’s beautiful.” His eyes narrow, tripling my pulse and drawing me even closer. My breasts brush against his chest. “They do the same for me. I feel alive again.” Heat steams from his tall flesh, making me sweat. “I saw it last night; how much you want me, too.”

His blue eyes flame, staring at my lips. “You think I want you?”

“Iknowyou want me.” I confess, “I want you too. It can work. We can all four be together.”

“You think you can handle three men? How you’ll have to obey me like they do?”

The throb in my pussy is sudden. Why, with him, does submission feel like liberation? “Yes.”

My lips reach up for his, making his body blaze toward mine. Leaning his plush, parted lips, his approach starts to burn my flesh…

Then a cold shiver shoots down my arms, stealing my attention as I glance up. The air-conditioner cut on. It catches my eye, something fluttering in the A/C duct. “What’s that?”

Ford turns around, sees what I see, and he’s tall enough, reaching for it.

“Wait,” I say. “Use a paper towel in case prints are on it.”

He snatches one off the roller before pulling out a manilla envelope. Its flap was open, fluttering in the air.

“It’s not that old,” he says, handing it to me.

I know it. Like my mom is answering my prayers again, I grab another towel before using it to pull a stack of papers out.

Bank statements. From one in Delaware?

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