When the final chord rang out, as everyone applauded and Ford kissed Nicola on the cheek and shook Marcus’s hand, Mia excused herself from the table and slipped out toward the vineyards to a spot where no one in her family and none of the other wedding guests could see her.

She needed a little while out under the bright blue sky away from everyone to recover from what Ford’s song, and his earlier kisses in the storeroom, had done to her.

She could accept by now that she still wanted him, even that there was desperation and intensity to that wanting. But she didn’t want to have to acknowledge anything more...certainly not all the emotions, and the dreams, that his song had sent pouring through her.

And yet, even though she’d told herself she wanted to be alone for a little while, she was neither surprised nor displeased when she heard footsteps in the dirt behind her. She turned to face him, knowing neither running nor pushing him away was an option anymore.

“Your new song is beautiful.”

“After I saw you on Friday, the song wrote itself.” He took her hands in his and lifted them to his lips for a kiss. One that moved her just as much as his music had. “I need to leave now for Los Angeles, but I’ll be back in Seattle on Monday morning.”

She’d miss him, she realized as she watched him start to walk away, and a pang landed deep in her belly. Five years she’d lived without him, and now, after less than twenty-four hours with him, she was already hooked again.

Hooked enough to reach for him at the exact moment that he turned to reach for her, too.

“Damn it,” he said, “I keep saying I’m not going to push you, but I can’t leave without kissing you goodbye.”

“And I can’t let you go without kissing you, either,” she admitted.

Just as his song had been emotional yet edgy, so was the goodbye kiss they gave each other. His hands fisted in her hair and hers tightly gripped his shoulders. His tongue dove deep and hers met his just as violently. Her teeth nipped at his lower lip and he dragged her closer so that he could give her more of everything she so desperately craved.

And yet, even in the middle of the storm that was rising up between them in the vineyard, Mia knew their hearts weren’t just thundering against each other’s chests from passion…but from the deep and relentless power of the emotions swirling around them.

When they finally made themselves draw away from each other, neither of them was breathing steadily. “Have fun with your family, Mia. They’re great. You don’t know how much I envy what you have with them.” He pulled her back against him for one more quick, breathless kiss, and then he was gone.

And as Mia sank back against a rock wall to catch her breath, she knew that wanting Ford, needing Ford, was no longer in question.

The only question left was, what was she going to do about it?

Chapter Seventeen

Mia was unlocking the front door of Sullivan Realty on Monday morning when Ford stepped out of a black car parked at the curb. His jaw was scruffy with stubble and he looked like he hadn’t gotten much more sleep than she had over the weekend. And yet, she couldn’t remember him ever looking better.

Nor could she remember the last time the butterflies had started flying around in her stomach like this, even though she’d been expecting to see him this morning so that they could put in an offer on the tower house.

“Good morning.”

His dark eyes were full of appreciation as he let them run from her head to toe and then back again. “It is now.”

She was extremely glad that they were the first two people in the office this morning, so that she didn’t have to make introductions and pretend that everything was perfectly normal between her and her client. Not when nothing about her relationship with Ford felt remotely normal...and not when she’d made a pretty darn big decision during the thirty-six hours since she’d last seen Ford at the wedding.

He followed her into her office, and as soon as the door closed behind him with a soft click, she said, “I know we have business to take care of this morning, but before we do, I want you to know that I’ve made a decision about us.”

It had made so much sense in the middle of the night when she’d been going over and over things in her head. There was no question that they’d come to a crossroads at the wedding. The only question had been which way to turn. Last night, she’d been certain that she’d figured out the best way to deal with their ongoing attraction without making the mistake of letting herself get in too deep again.

“I think we should sleep together.”

“I haven’t gotten much rest since Friday,” Ford said, “so I’m pretty sure I just hallucinated you saying that we should sleep together.”

For all the sense that her decision had made in the middle of the night, now that he was standing here in front of her, she had to silently remind herself why she was doing this. Fighting their attraction was going to be impossible. Not only that, but for a sensual woman like her, it was downright unnatural not to want the pleasure that she knew Ford could give her.

Having a sex-only affair was the only thing that made sense.

“I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have some fun, casual sex when you’re in town and I’m free for a night or two.”

“How many reasons do you want?” Ford asked. “Because I’m pretty sure I could fill up your entire work day with them.”

Damn it, why couldn’t he behave like any other guy would and just jump at the sex? “Hold on a minute,” she said, letting her anger match his. “You’ve angled and strategized for a kiss every time we’ve been together, but now that I’m offering a heck of a lot more than a kiss, you’re saying no, you don’t want to have sex with me.”

“Of course I want to have sex with you, Mia. And if I thought I could get to your heart that way, you’d better believe you would be naked and coming beneath me right now.” Every inch of her skin went hot and damp at the crazy-hot picture he’d just painted, even as he growled, “How many times do I have to tell you I want more from you than your body?”

“So unless I’m ready to declare my love to you and promise you forever, you aren’t going to touch me again?” she growled back instead of answering his question. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

“No,” he said as he reached out to drag her against him, “that’s not even close to what I’m trying to tell you.”