While Ford stood out of my swinging range but still far too close for my liking, I lined up my shot and let the axe fly through the air toward the target. It landed with a satisfying thump. No bull’s-eye, but I still snagged four points, and I couldn’t stop the grin from sweeping over my mouth. What I was not prepared for was Ford’s matching one as I headed toward him.
“Why do you look so smug? I’m still beating you.”
“I’ve got my three.”
“Well, let’s hear them, then. I’m ready to be out of these jeans, and the faster I can make that happen, the better.”
“I’mverygood at that, kitten. You should’ve asked sooner. I would’ve been happy to Netflix and chill instead of this.”
I rolled my eyes—as much for my sake as his because I refused to show or even acknowledge what his words did to me. Refused to admit the brief flicker that’d flashed through my mind of him doing just that.
His grin widened in response. It was as if he had a sixth sense for what got the biggest rise out of me, and he was not above exploiting it to his very last breath.
“Okay, two truths and a lie. I got my dick pierced after losing a bet with Levi, I’ve been to seven countries for Habitat for Humanity, and I never want to get married.”
I nearly laughed. He didn’t eventryto make it a challenge. I already knew the last one was a truth. And I knew enough about Ford’s family to know that bets between them were a sport, so the piercing wasn’t too much of a stretch of the imagination—something I absolutelyrefusedto allow my mind to run wild with. I shut that down tighter than Fort Knox.
“You sure you don’t want to pick three different facts?”
He braced himself against the metal fencing again, his arms crossed over his chest. “Nope. I’m gonna stick with these.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Then this is going to be the easiest bet I’ve ever won. The lie is you traveling for Habitat for Humanity. Obviously.”
That smug grin of his only grew, and he shook his head slowly. “Sorry, kitten, that’s a truth.”
My mouth dropped open on a gasp, shocked that he’d somehow managed to trick me. Though I shouldn’t have been. This was Ford after all.
“So youdon’thave your penis pierced?”
“No, I do.”
Up until this point, I’d held strong and hadn’t allowed my attention to drop to the front of his jeans, but I couldn’t help myself now. Not after he’d confirmed it. My gaze snapped there as if it was drawn by a magnet, as if I’d be able to see the proof for myself if only I looked hard enough. What kind was it? Had he gotten it strictly for his pleasure, or was it mostly for his partner?
“Eyes up here, kitten,” he said, his voice low and rough, sending a jolt of awareness through my body. “It’s an apadravya since you’re clearly transfixed on it. You can Google it when you get home.”
“I don’t care,” I said immediately, snapping myself out of whatever trance he’d put me in and hating that he’d caught me. “Wait, then that means…” I blinked up at him in shock. “You actuallywantto get married?”
“Sure. Someday. Eventually… When I meet the right woman.”
“But you… You’re just so… Well, I mean, you always—”
He raised a single brow. “Is that your polite way of saying I’m a bed-hopper?”
There was no point in trying to soften the blow. His history wasn’t exactly a secret. And though I hadn’t been able to confirm it since I’d been back because tales of his nighttime activities had been suspiciously quiet, I’d heard enough thinly veiled comments around town to bolster my suspicions.
“Pretty much.”
“Yeah, well.” He pinned me in place with his gaze, something I couldn’t quite place deep in its depths. “It’s actually been a while.”
Why did it feel like he was saying so much more with those handful of words than he’d shown on the surface? That couldn’t be right.
This was Ford. Like the auctioneer said, he was Starlight Cove’s favorite flirt and had the swagger of someone who got laid on the regular. That impression of him wasn’t incorrect. It couldn’t be.
But then again, I didn’t think he’d be the kind of man who traveled all over the world building houses for those less fortunate, either.
I couldn’t even count all the ways I’d changed in fourteen years, so why didn’t it occur to me that he could’ve changed, too?
“Your turn,” he said. “And you better make them good because your only saving grace would be if we both lose.”
