Six
Sydney
“What are you going to wear?” Gabby asked as she stood with me in her office, the room we’d converted into my semi-bedroom, both of us looking inside the closet.
I’d filled a small side with the clothes that had fit in my suitcase; the rest still hadn’t arrived from New York.
“Sigh.” I crossed my arms over my stomach. “I have no idea. He didn’t say where we’re going, so I don’t know if I should lean toward fancy and wear a dress or put on jeans and a tank top and assume sports bar-ish.” I looked at my best friend. “Help.”
She turned me toward her, holding the sides of my head. “Honestly, you could show up in a hazmat suit, and his eyes would drop from his head. You look hot as fuck in everything you put on.”
I rolled my eyes. “I love you, but you’re not helping.”
“Fiiine.” She reached inside the closet and pulled out a black dress. “This.” The material was extremely form-fitting, the bottom ending just above my knee, with spaghetti straps that hugged my shoulders. “Wear a jean jacket over it with wedges. This way, you’ll fit in, no matter where he takes you.”
“You’re a genius.”
“I know.” She smiled and handed me the hanger. “What does Ford think of your upcoming interview with his assistant?”
My eyes widened as I processed her question. “Ummm …”
“Oh fuck.” She paused, staring at my face. “He doesn’t know, does he?”
I shook my head. “His cousin Hannah told me not to tell him.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea.” I swallowed, the dishonesty causing my throat to tighten. “She must have a reason, but I don’t like it. You know lying is not my thing.”
“Do you think she’s trying to sabotage you?”
“No.” I took a breath. “I mean, you should have heard the way she was praising me. She kept saying she wanted me to be Everly’s nanny and how she would benefit from having me around.”
“Well, she’s right about that.”
“Stop.”
“It’s true.” She shrugged. “She must have her reasoning—whatever it might be.”
“Gabs”—I grinned as I thought of Everly—“she’s seriously so freaking cute. She reminds me so much of Lilac.”
When Lilac, the youngest of the three, had been Everly’s age, she had been just as smart and sassy. Her little dimples made it impossible for her father to say no to anything.
I had a feeling Everly’s dimple was one of Ford’s biggest weaknesses.
“Of course the hottest man in LA made the cutest kid in the world. But, Syd, what’s going to happen when you pass the assistant’s interview and you walk into Ford’s house and he doesn’t know it’s you who got the job?”
“Let me focus on tonight’s date. Once I get through that, we can stress about the nanny part.” I placed my hand on my heart, trying to calm the racing. “However, I have to believe that whatever is supposed to happen will.”
“That’s the strategy you’re going with? Okaaay.”
“Think about it. Isn’t that the way my life has gone so far?” I folded the dress over my arm and leaned my back against her tall bookcase. “I wasn’t ready for college, and the job with the Turners fell into my lap. I wanted more than anything to travel the world, and that’s exactly what happened. I was ready to return to LA and got accepted to college. And you wanted to drag me out the first night I was home, and I met Ford. See? It all unfolded just the way it was supposed to.” I pushed hard against my chest as the images from that night, at his house, caused the pounding to turn to flutters. “Whatever happens, whether I get the job or not, hopefully, Ford will be in my life some way or another.”
She twirled a lock of my hair around her finger. “You’re so mature; I can’t stand it.”
“Truth: I’m pushing on my heart, so it doesn’t pop out of my chest.”
“I was just trying to make you feel better. We both know this is a fucking implosion waiting to happen. We also know you’re getting laid tonight, so we’ll focus on that for now. But I do have a suggestion …”
I wanted to laugh but couldn’t. Things were far too tight in there. “What’s that?”
“Make it a night he’ll never forget.”
“Jesus,” Ford said as I climbed into his car, his stare covering the whole length of me. Each inch he rose, starting at my feet, caused tingles to burst in my chest. “You look stunning, Sydney.”
“You’re sweet.”
The intensity in his eyes, the hungriness in his lips told me Gabby had chosen the right outfit.
Even after I put on my seat belt, he stayed double-parked along the curb.
Unmoving.
Except for his eyes, still traveling, still taking me in like I was a feast.
“Damn it,” he said, shaking his head, a slight moan coming from his throat before he leaned across the middle of the car. Rather than go for my lips, he went for my cheek. He kissed it softly, keeping his lips there, breathing me in.
I didn’t mind.
I was doing the same to him.
Refreshing my memory with the scent of his cologne. The citrus tones I remembered from the morning after the bar, the way it had lingered on his shirt when I put on his button-down.
“Thank you for coming out with me tonight.” He whispered those words against my cheek, sending a shiver through me.
One that made my skin turn hot. One that made me quiver.
My body felt like a rose, each petal opening, the layers peeling back until I was bare.
Ready.
Oh God.
As he moved back, his eyes finding me, not letting me go, I replied, “You make it pretty easy to say yes.”
A smile crossed his lips, and he shifted into first, pulling onto the road.
I took a deep breath, waiting for the nerves to settle. “Where are we going?”
“A favorite place of mine.”