“So…since Nina’s here and Val has company this weekend, you really don’t need to come back out. I’ll be fine.”

I knew she was right. Even though I hadn’t wanted her out in Montauk by herself when we’d first talked about it, spending time out there made me feel a lot better about it. She could stay on her own for a weekend. Though…I had a party to crash on this particular one.

“I’ll see you tomorrow anyway,” I said. “Be good.”

Chapter 12

* * *

Ford

“Morning.” I walked out onto my back deck and nodded to the woman sitting on the adjacent one. Val’s car wasn’t in the driveway, but one I didn’t recognize was.

The woman took off her sunglasses and smiled. “You must be Ford.”

I smiled back. “And you must be Eve. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that you know my name?”

Eve got up and walked over to lean on the deck railing that faced my house. She sipped out of a mug. “You’ve been a hot topic of conversation lately. I was hoping I’d get to see you. Are you coming to the barbecue today?”

“I wasn’t invited.”

“Well, let me rectify that. Ford, would you like to come to the barbecue today? We’d love to have you.”

I grinned. “Absolutely. What time?”

“Two.”

“What should I bring?”

She winked. “Just your A game.”

***

“Hey.”

Valentina opened the front screen door. The look on her face told me her friend hadn’t mentioned I’d be coming. I extended the bottle of wine I’d brought.

“Eve invited me.”

She shook her head. “Of course she did.”

“You want me to leave?”

“No. No. It’s fine. Come on in. The neighbors on the other side are stopping by, too.”

Not exactly a warm reception, but at least she didn’t send me packing. A man came down the stairs as the two of us stood at the door. I thought it might’ve been her dad.

“Tom,” Valentina said. “This is Ford.”

Tom stuck out his hand right away. “Nice to meet you.”

She finished the introduction while we shook. “Tom is Eve’s husband.”

I had to work at not letting the surprise show on my face. This guy was her best friend’s husband, not father?

Tom held up a pair of sunglasses. “Eve needed bigger sunglasses from upstairs. Apparently the ones covering half her face already weren’t cutting it.”

Val smiled and nodded toward the kitchen. “She yelled for you to bring her sunscreen, too, but you were already upstairs. There’s some in the cabinet next to the stove. I was about to make a batch of margaritas.”

I followed the sway of her ass to the blender. Once Tom walked out the back door, I stood behind Val and whispered into her ear. “Your best friend is married to a much older man, huh?”

She poured mix into the blender. “It’s different.”

“How?”

Val turned to face me. “She was thirty-three when she met him. She got to experience life.”

We stood in almost the same exact spot as we had two nights ago when we kissed.

“I’ve experienced life. Maybe we should argue about it again. I liked the way the last disagreement we had in this spot ended.”

Val sighed. “Why don’t you go outside? I’ll be out in a minute.”

I would have preferred to stay right here, but didn’t want to push. So I put the wine I’d brought into the fridge and gathered the margarita glasses on the counter to carry outside with me. I almost forgot the other thing I’d brought, until I reached for the door handle.

Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw Val wasn’t paying attention. I slipped the yellow sticky note I’d written from my pocket and stuck it on the back door right at her eye level before heading out. Sleep with Ford really should be on her to-do list anyway.

Eve pulled out the chair next to her the minute I walked out. She patted the cushion. “Come sit. I want to get to know you better.”

Her husband shook his head. “That’s Eve-speak for I’m about to interrogate you. Sorry, man.”

I smiled and took the seat. “It’s fine. Interrogate away.”

A minute later, Valentina struggled to open the back door while holding a pitcher, salt container, and bag of chips. I got up to slide it open and took the pitcher from her hands.

The interrogation started before Val had even filled all the glasses.

“So, Ford, ever have a serious girlfriend?”

Valentina scolded her. “Eve…”

I waved her off. “It’s fine. I don’t mind at all.” I looked at Eve. “One. Lasted about a year and a half.”

“What happened?”

My eyes darted to Valentina’s and back to Eve. Gotta go with honesty. “I went through a rough patch and decided I needed to make some changes in my life. She was part of those.”

Valentina must’ve assumed the rough patch was immediately after my parents’ accident. She cleared her throat and interjected, “Ford lost his parents in a car accident five years ago.”

Eve’s face fell. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.” The words hung in the air for a while, so I circled back to her initial question. “The relationship I had ended two years ago.”

Valentina’s forehead wrinkled.

Eve sipped her margarita. “Are you still friends?”

I flashed a guilty smile. “She’s not my biggest fan. No.”

Eve seemed unperturbed by my answer. “Republican or Democrat?”

“Democrat.”

“Last book you read?”

“The Outsider. Stephen King.”

“Morning person or night owl?”

“Lately, morning person.”

“What do you care about the most?”

“My sister. But don’t tell her that.”

Eve smiled. “What do you care about the least?”

I scratched my chin. “What other people think.”

“Good answer.” She nodded.

I snagged a chip and dipped into the guacamole. “Thank you.”

“What are you obsessed with?”

My eyes jumped to meet Valentina’s and then returned to Eve. I grinned. “Currently, your best friend.”

Eve’s smile grew wider while Valentina’s blush deepened. The interrogation lasted another five minutes before Tom stood and nodded toward the beach.

“What do you say we play some volleyball?”

Eve pouted. “I’m talking to Ford.”

He took her hand and tugged her up. “Yeah. That’s why it’s time for volleyball.”

***

By nine o’clock that night, it was just Val and me on the back deck. Tom was tired, and Eve had started to slur her words. I’d had fun spending the day with everyone. Bella and Nina had come by for a while, and so did the neighbors on the other side. But I was glad to finally be alone with Valentina now.

“Sorry about the all-day inquisition. Eve’s amazing, but she’s not great with boundaries.”

“It’s fine. I really liked her.”

Val sighed. “I can tell she liked you, too. Which will make her unbearable now. She wants me to get back out there.”

“Smart woman.” I grinned. “I concur.”

“A month ago she was trying to get me to go out with a waiter who wasn’t old enough to drink yet.”

That wiped the grin off my face.

“She means well… She really does. She just thinks I need to get the first one under my belt.”

“One?”

“Date. Sex. Relationship. Whatever.”

I reached for the wine we’d just broken open and refilled Val’s glass. “You really need to start taking advice from your friend. She seems very intelligent.”

Val took another deep breath. The emphasis on the exhale sounded a lot like frustration.

We were sitting next to each other, but I wanted to see her face—read every little thing it would tell me that her words wouldn’t. So I pulled her chair out and moved mine so we were facing each other.

Leaning in, our knees touched, and I caught her shivering a bit—though she tried to cover it up. Her mind might’ve been reluctant about us, but her body was damn enthusiastic.

“I’m not sorry about the kiss the other night,” I said. “Not in the least.”

She closed her eyes. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

“Forgetting that you think that for a minute, you have to admit it was fucking phenomenal.”

Val smiled sadly. “It was a good kiss, yes.”

My ego felt bruised. Good? It was better than good. I might be younger than her, but I’d kissed my fair share of women, and that kiss… It was…addictive. We had the kind of chemistry that left us incoherent. I slipped my hands under the back of her knees and tugged her toward the edge of her seat. “If you think it was just a good kiss, I think you need your memory refreshed.”

She put her hand on my chest, though I had a feeling if I’d leaned in and taken her mouth, her resistance wouldn’t have lasted. I should’ve done it. But our physical connection wasn’t the problem. It was her head I needed to work on.

“Fine.” She sighed again. “It was a mind-blowing kiss. The kind that kept me awake for three hours afterward because my body was so revved up, it couldn’t idle down enough to go to sleep. Does that make you feel better?”

I grinned. “It does. And I’m glad to know you didn’t sleep either.”

She rolled her eyes. “You made sure of that with your texts.”