“Oh, wow. That’s crazy.”

He laughed. “Yeah. That’s the tip of the iceberg with Mrs. Peabody. She’s seventy-six and lives in an assisted living facility out in Wyoming.”

“And you kept in touch with this woman after that?”

“I still keep in touch with her. It’s been about three years now. The day after my drunk dial, I woke up and vaguely remembered talking to someone. So I looked through my missed calls and dialed the last number. Mrs. Peabody answered, and we got to talking again. She had just left the podiatrist’s office and found out she needed to have her toe amputated the next day. She’s diabetic and has circulation issues. Anyway, we talked for a while, and I wasn’t sure if she was crazy, clairvoyant, lonely, or just eccentric. I’m still not entirely sure. But she sounded nervous about the surgery, and it was obvious she just needed to talk. So we spent a few hours on the phone again, only that time, she did most of the talking. I figured I owed her one. After that, I reverse-searched her telephone number and got an address to send some flowers for her recovery.” He shrugged. “We’ve been talking a few times a month ever since.”

“That’s a little bizarre, yet also oddly sweet. Though I do believe some people have special gifts like that.”

“Oh yeah?” He smirked. “Then I feel inclined to tell you Mrs. Peabody called this morning and said if my neighbor didn’t sleep with me, something bad might happen to me.”

I squinted. “You’re so full of shit.”

He chuckled. “Okay…but if I break a leg tomorrow, that’s all on you.”

We stopped as we reached my house and stood at the bottom of the stairs. We had to have walked five or six miles, yet I could have kept walking for another five talking to him—it was just so easy to do.

“For what it’s worth, you should be proud of how you’ve handled things since the accident—especially your sister. You might not have done everything perfectly, but she seems like a regular nineteen-year-old who’s pretty well adjusted.”

“Yeah. I had a lot of help, and it wasn’t always pretty. But I wound up in the right place, even taking a different path than I’d expected.”

Modesty was another quality I found attractive in a man. Why couldn’t Ford be an egomaniac?

“Even though I’m divorced and starting over at thirty-seven, I wouldn’t change a thing either.”

“You see? We’re not as different as you think.”

Maybe not in values, but an entire generation gap stretched between us. “Oh yeah? Who’s your favorite musician?”

“I listen to everything. But I’m into Jack Johnson right now.”

“Never heard of him. My favorite band growing up was The Backstreet Boys.”

Ford shrugged. “That’s not a difference. That’s an opportunity to share new things with each other.”

“I don’t have an Instagram or SnapFace.”

“You mean SnapChat.”

“Whatever. I just proved my own point. I don’t even know what social media is called anymore. Are you on Facebook?”

“No.”

“Let me guess, because Facebook is for old people?”

“No. Because we don’t know my mother’s passwords, and when I had an account, it kept sending me reminders of stuff with her tagged after the accident.”

Shit. Now I felt awful. “Sorry. I didn’t realize.”

It had grown dark, and Ford and I lingered at the bottom of my stairs for a while longer, but eventually it felt like I needed to call it a night. I thanked him for joining me on my walk.

“Hey!” he yelled up as I reached the top step. “Have dinner with me tonight?”

I frowned. Not because he’d asked, but because I wanted to. I really, really wanted to.

“I can’t.”

“Have plans already?”

I shook my head.

“Too tired from your drive out and our walk?”

I shook my head again. “I’m sorry, Ford.”

He gave me a sad smile. “It’s okay. I’ll wear you down. I don’t give up easily. Goodnight, beautiful.”

Chapter 10

* * *

Valentina

I heard the music from my kitchen and assumed people must’ve come to the beach early today. Stirring my coffee, I found myself singing along as I went to enjoy the morning view with my cup of caffeine on the back deck.

A shirtless Ford held up a mug as I walked out. “Morning, neighbor.”

What a view, alright. I could get used to seeing that every morning.

“Good morning.” I forced my eyes back to the screen door to slide it closed and then turned to look out at the beach, shielding my eyes. It took me a minute to realize no one was out there yet, and the music was coming from next door. I squinted at Ford. “Backstreet Boys just happens to be playing this morning at your house?”

He grinned and waved for me to join him over on his deck. “Come have your coffee with me and listen to my new favorite band.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Come on. I downloaded two full albums.”

I laughed, but went to join the crazy man on his deck anyway.

Boy.

Crazy boy.

I walked down my stairs, took a few steps on the sand, and went back up his stairs to the deck. When I reached where Ford was sitting, he stood and took my mug from my hand, setting it down on the table.

“What was your favorite song? Wait…let me try to guess… ‘I Want it That Way’?”

“Nope. But I think that was their most popular song.”

The song ‘Everybody’ was currently playing—it had a disco dance rhythm to it, and Ford took my hand and led me into a twirl. I giggled when he then took a turn at twirling under our arms.

“I’m not a great dancer,” I said.

“No one’s watching, I promise.”

We fooled around dancing for the rest of the song. It felt really good. When the next one came on, he still had my hand.

My eyes lit up after the first few bars. “This is it! This was my favorite song. It’s called ‘Incomplete’.”

“Yeah? Well, then we definitely can’t stop dancing yet.” Ford tugged my hand, and I practically tripped into his arms.

Before I could give it any thought, he’d wrapped his other arm around my waist and pulled me flush against him. God, it felt good. It had been a long time since I’d been in a man’s arms, especially one with a body so firm—so, so firm. And he smelled incredible, too—woodsy, but clean, very masculine.

I took a deep breath in, and Ford pressed his hand against my back. Every muscle in his body felt so hard against my soft. He knew how to slow dance and was confident in his lead, which made my mind wonder if that skill might carry through to the bedroom.

Stop it, Val. Don’t go there…

Ford’s head ducked down, and he rested his cheek against mine. He sang some of the chorus—about being sexual and rocking your body, and I fully gave in to enjoying the moment. I knew it was dumb, but…did I mention how good his hard body felt? This was as close as I would likely get to feeling it pressed up against mine, so, hey…why not? I let myself get lost in him.

Which was why I didn’t hear anyone coming until the squeaky screen door of his house slid closed.

“Thought we had a no overnight guest rule,” Bella quipped.

I jumped out of Ford’s arms and stumbled back, almost falling on my ass.

Bella’s eyes widened as she caught sight of me. “Oh. Val, I didn’t realize it was you. It’s so early. I assumed he’d had a girl overnight.”

I was so flustered. “No. Just me.” I reached for my coffee on the table. “It was…Backstreet Boys…and…yeah….my favorite old band…and so…I should be going.” I practically ran from their deck. “Achoo!”

God damn it. Bella probably thought I was nuts, but I didn’t stop to look back to check.

Inside the safety of my own house, I leaned my head against the door. I was breathless from, well, everything—the way it had felt to be in Ford’s arms, getting caught red handed, running up the stairs to my house. What the hell had I been doing, allowing that to happen? I’d been so deprived of human contact, contact from a man, that I’d let myself get caught up in a touch that felt good.

Eve was right. I really needed to get laid.

But at the moment, I really needed a cold shower.

***

“Knock, knock,” Bella called from my back door.

I got nervous, thinking she might’ve been coming over to bawl me out—tell me what a dirty old lady I was for what she’d walked out to see earlier.

I took a deep breath and slid the door open. “Hey.”

“What are you up to today?”

“Ummm. Nothing.”

“Wanna go to the art show in town? It’s outdoors under tents in the square.”

I let out the relieved breath I’d been holding. “Oh. I read about that. I didn’t realize it started today.”

“My mom and I used to go every year. They had some pretty cool stuff. If you’re not into art, they also have jewelry and ceramics, too.”

“No, I love art shows. Especially local ones like this. But…”

She smiled. “Ford left me a credit card and said I can get something for my new apartment. I’m moving out of the dorms next semester. We should go do some damage.”