Orlando came through the glass door carrying a large folder. “Here are the files you need, Mia. I’ve flagged the various—” When he realized Ford was standing next to him, the folder fell from his hands, scattering papers all around his shoes. “Oh my God, you’re Ford Vincent. I’m your biggest fan. You’re a genius. I can’t believe you’re actually standing here in front of me.”

Ford took the young man’s hand to shake it. “It’s great to meet you, Orlando.”

Mia gently put her hand on her assistant’s shoulder. “Thank you for bringing the papers in.”

Orlando turned, dazed. “Papers?” A few seconds later, his pale skin turned a dark shade of red. “The papers. I’m so sorry.” He was already on his knees trying to pick them up, but his hands were shaking too hard to do anything but make more of a mess.

“Actually, Orlando, I think we can take it from here,” Mia interrupted. “But I’m sure Mr. Vincent would love a cup of coffee, black with extra sugar, thank you.”

Loving the fact that she still remembered how he liked his coffee, Ford knelt down with Mia to help pick up the papers.

“In the year he’s been working with me, I’ve never seen him like that.” Mia looked bemused by her assistant’s reaction. “Do you ever get tired of it?”

He barely restrained himself from reaching out and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, knowing every one of her employees was surely watching them now through the glass. “When you’re a kid dreaming, you don’t know enough to think about anything but the glory. If I had understood more than that five years ago, Mia, maybe I wouldn’t have screwed things up so badly.”

Her gaze locked with his for a moment before she abruptly shook her head. “I know our earlier conversation was interrupted, but let’s stay focused on the house for now, okay?” She quickly gathered up the rest of the paperwork, then went back to her desk to reorganize it. “I wish I could tell you it was overpriced, but—”

“Could you live in it?”

“You already asked me what I thought of the house, and if you recall, I said it’s one of my favorites in Seattle.”

“I know you think it would be great for kids and a family. But what about for you?”

“You’re the one buying it, Ford, not me.”

She was stubborn, but so was he. And he wouldn’t buy a house that she didn’t love just as much as he did. Some might call him crazy for putting so much on the line for a woman.

But Ford now knew it would be crazier not to.

“If it were you looking for a house in Seattle, would you buy it?”

“I thought we were going to stick to business until we finished making your offer.”

“I need to know your answer, Mia.”

She sighed. “Yes. I would.”

He grinned. “Good. Then let’s tell Alana and her ex that I’ll pay their asking price today.”

She held up her hands to try to slow him down. “Even if you make a cash offer, you don’t have to pay it right this second.”

“I want to move in right away. Let them know I’ll have the money transferred into their account by lunch. And I’ll buy everything in it, too.”

Mia was shaking her head at what she obviously thought was an impulsive decision, but she picked up her phone and conference called the owners. “I’ve got an offer for you,” she told them, “and I think you’re really going to like it.”

* * *

Ninety minutes later, the paperwork had been signed by both parties and Ford had called his personal banker to transfer the money. Mia had done some pretty big and quick real estate transactions in the past six years, but this one blew them all away by miles. Even for a woman who had always loved speed and excitement—nearly as much as her car-racing cousin, Zach—she felt like she’d been blown over by a hurricane. That was how strong Ford’s determination was when he focused on an end goal.

And as Orlando took Ford out into the office to introduce him to the rest of her employees and she watched him charm everyone through the glass walls of her office, she acknowledged, again, just how difficult it would be for anyone to resist him. Especially when he was determined and focused on having something.

Or someone.

With his deep voice and laughter carrying through to her office, knowing that the sexiest man on the planet was close by made her need a bucketload of her own determination and focus to concentrate on answering some high-priority email and phone messages.

A short while later, when she saw in her peripheral vision that he was headed back toward her, Mia’s heart rate started jumping and the words in the email she was composing about a property in escrow blurred on her computer screen.

“Your staff is great,” he said with a grin as he stepped back inside her office. “And they adore you.”

She clicked Send on her email and closed her laptop. “I adore them all right back.” She pushed away from her desk and grabbed her bag. “Congratulations, again, on your amazing new house. How about we go pick up some champagne to celebrate?”

He looked surprised, and clearly thrilled, by her suggestion as she told Orlando that she was taking a few hours off. Still, even though Mia knew that spending even more one-on-one time with Ford was a bad—okay, it was a terrible—idea, she tried to justify it by telling herself that she couldn’t treat him any differently than any other client who had just spent millions of dollars on a house.

But as Ford held open the passenger door of his Tesla and she slid onto the smooth leather seat, Mia couldn’t deny that the lies she was telling herself about him were only getting more pathetic by the hour.

I don’t like him.

He was sweet with her employees, had been great with her family at the wedding...and if she wasn’t so busy grappling with not letting him hurt her again, she’d already be head over heels in love with him.

This celebration is going to be just business.

Considering that her business meetings had never included super-hot kisses before, and she was about a thousand percent positive that this celebration would, she was either going to need to change the definition of business...or she was going to have to accept that spending the day with Ford was about so much more than just celebrating a real estate transaction.

Our connection is just a sexual one, no matter what Ford says to the contrary.

Oh, how she wished this one were true...but there had never been a moment with Ford, either in the past or right now, where her heart wasn’t on the line.