10

“What I’m thinking about is your mouth.” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and then the top. “What it would taste like. What it would feel like.” His gaze was there, on the spot he was speaking about, making those same lips part. “And I don’t know how much longer I can wait to find out.”

Three

Ford

“Y

ou want to kiss me”—her voice was soft, breathless—“in the middle of the bar?”

With my hand still on her cheek, I aimed her mouth up to mine. “It’s not just that I want to.” I lowered my face until we were only inches apart. “It’s that I have to.” The feeling inside me was so brutally overwhelming that I couldn’t leave this bar until I had her taste on my tongue. Until I was satisfied with the feel of her lips. That was why I’d moved my seat next to hers. To have this moment between us, to re-create the fire that I’d felt before. “If you don’t want this, Sydney, tell me to stop.”

I waited.

And just as I was about to close the space between us, she whispered, “Ford …” She swallowed. “I want this.”

My mouth crashed against hers, my tongue slipping between her lips, a tropical coconut scent filling my nose.

Fuck.

She tasted even better than I’d anticipated. A sweetness that hadn’t just come from the liquor she’d been drinking or her perfume. A sensuality that dripped from her body that she seemed unaware of.

This woman wasn’t just sexy.

She was breathtaking.

As I pulled her closer, moving her to the end of her chair, her back arched. I ran my fingers up and down her spine, taking in the temperature of her skin. There was a thin bra strap, lacy material holding her tits in place. Her nipples hard and poking, dying for me to lick.

Bite.

My cock fucking throbbed.

I widened my legs to move her in between them and held her face, devouring her lips, memorizing their feel, flavor.

When I finally came up for air, every bit of her flesh was flushed.

I was sure mine was, too, and I couldn’t catch my breath.

All I knew—what I was absolutely positive about—was, that kiss wasn’t enough.

She touched her mouth, blinking several times as her fingers traced across it. “Ford …” Her hand flattened against her chest, pushing as though she were trying to move air through her lungs. “God, you can kiss.” She lifted her hair off her neck.

That was because it hadn’t just been a kiss.

It was a promise.

But, fuck, I wasn’t the same man I had been four years ago, when I would have taken her by the hand and brought her back to my place. It wasn’t just my house anymore; it was Everly’s, and my daughter came first. That meant random hookups and one-night stands were all sacrifices I had given up when she was placed in my arms.

Sydney’s fingers were on my stomach, rubbing the outline of my abs, causing my cock to fucking pound against my zipper. I would do anything to be inside her pussy right now, to feel her naked body pressed against mine, to have her moans filling my ears.

To give her so many fucking orgasms that she lost her voice from screaming.

My lips touched her cheek, skin that was soft, delicate. I dragged them to her ear, inhaling her scent that reminded me of a piña colada, hair that tickled my face.

“Your friends are standing at the bar. Go to them,” I whispered in her ear.

Her chest stopped rising as she moved to look at me.

“Go,” I added, “before I toss you over my shoulder and carry you out of here.” I took a breath, only smelling her. “One more second, and I won’t be able to stop myself.” I ground my teeth into my lip, her gaze taunting me, building this tease. “Sydney … go.”

Her smile made my dick even harder, especially as she swiped a finger across my lips, like she was wiping herself off me, before she walked over to her friends. I watched every step she took, the back of her just as gorgeous as the front. An ass that was the perfect shape with just the right amount of thickness, toned legs that made me groan as I thought about wrapping them around my face, hips that only accentuated her curves.

Goddamn it.

There wasn’t a girl in this bar who compared to her.

I had to force myself not to follow her, to look away, to focus on the guys who were sitting around both tables in front of me.

“Jesus Christ,” Jenner said, taking the empty seat next to mine, moving it closer before he sat. “Who the hell was that?”

“A girl I can’t get enough of.” I put my back toward the bar, so I wouldn’t keep staring at her.

“She must feel the same way because she keeps looking over here,” Dominick said.

“Oh, hell yes, that girl has it bad for you,” Declan said.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not coming home with me. You guys know I don’t play like that anymore.”

I downed my drink and set the empty on the table.

Dominick handed me his and said, “Ford, you’re only thirty years old. You’re not dead. You need to fucking live a little. There’s nothing wrong with being a father and getting your dick wet once in a while.”

“You say that like I’m celibate. We all know that I’m not.”

The guys knew I’d dated a little since Everly had been born. None of those relationships had lasted more than a few months, and none of those girls had stepped foot inside my house.

I didn’t know balance.

I didn’t know how to make anyone a priority other than my daughter.

And that was the demise with each girl I’d gone out with.

“Celibate, no. Semi-celibate, unfortunately, yes,” Jenner said.

“Listen to me, brother,” Dominick started. “It doesn’t make you a bad father to take a little time for yourself.” He squeezed my shoulder, shaking me. “And if you don’t jump on that fucking girl, then you’re a damn fool.”