Swear (Landry Family 4)

A rustle breaks out behind me, surprising us both. Vi approaches with an amused look in her eye. “Am I interrupting something?” she asks sweetly.

“Not at all,” Ford chirps, deliberately looking over my head. “You can actually help.”

“I’d love to,” she says all too happily.

“Can you tell me what time you usually start in the mornings?”

“Vi . . .” I warn.

She ignores me, her eyes dead-set on the hunk of man candy in front of her. “I’m usually here by nine, but I think you mean what time Ellie will be here.”

“Violet.”

She ignores me. “Ellie is usually here by nine-thirty, depending on the line for vanilla lattes at Frank’s.”

“Great. I will see you next week then,” he says.

“No, you won’t,” I command. As he opens the door, ignoring me completely, a stream of fear and anger roars through my veins. “We don’t want you here, Ford.”

He turns on his heel. Bending down so we’re at almost eye-level, his breath is hot against my skin. “Go to dinner with me.”

“No.”

“Fine. I’ll see you around nine-thirty,” he grins.

“No, you will not!”

He leans against the door frame. “You can’t expect me to k

now you’re here and not want to see you.”

“I absolutely can expect that and I do.”

“Oh, just let him come back,” Violet almost begs. “I mean, look at him, Ellie.”

“Stay out of this, Violet,” I groan.

Ford chuckles, but doesn’t take his eyes off mine.

“This isn’t funny, Ford. I have a business to run—”

“Me too, and mine has a contract with yours.”

“No, you don’t,” I state matter-of-factly.

He looks at Violet with a smirk that almost melts me. “You seem like a reasonable woman. Isn’t it prudent to have some sort of security plan in place to protect your assets? Why do all this work and leave it open to unnecessary risk?”

I roll my eyes. “Seriously?”

Ford ignores me and keeps his focus on my helpless friend. “I’d love to come back and put together a plan for you. And, if price is an issue, I have a crazy deal this week that we could throw in.”

“Ellie did mention the budget,” Violet offers.

“How does this work for your budget?” he turns to me. “It’s free.”

I look at the ceiling, words escaping me, as Violet begins to laugh.

“I’ll be here in the next few days to get started,” he grins.