“Oh, she’s going to lose her shit, for sure. But she won’t be the only one. I’m sure your landlord will have something to say about it. I’m surprised you managed to keep this from her in the first place.”
I shrugged. “I left while George was sleeping and Mabel was hosting a Pleasure Party.”
“A Pleasure Party, huh? You ever go to one of those?”
“Nice try, but I’m not talking to you about my sex toy collection.”
“You have a whole collection?” he asked, not hiding the interest in his tone. “Not gonna lie, I love a good assist.”
I forced myself to ignore the images those words conjured up, knowing I needed to keep myself in check, now more than ever. Rather than answer him, I just pinned him with a glare before glancing around at what would be my home for the foreseeable future.
It was bigger than I’d thought it would be but smaller than I’d hoped. Directly off the front door, a small seating area housed two oversized chairs that faced the wood-burning fireplace bracketed by floor-to-ceiling mostly bare white bookshelves. A small galley kitchen sat on the opposite side of the room. Through glass-paned French doors was the bedroom, and from my vantage point, I could just make out a sliver of the en-suite bathroom.
It was cozy and quaint, if a bit impersonal. And it was a bonus that I was only steps from the beach. Even now, I could hear the crash of the waves against the shore, and I knew when it was light enough outside to see, I’d have an unobstructed view of the ocean from the front porch. All things considered, it could have been a hell of a lot worse.
There was just one problem…
“Why is there only one bed?”
Carrying my bags, Ford strode toward the bedroom and shot me a raised brow over his shoulder. “Not sure if you noticed this, kitten, but this isn’t exactly a mansion. I’ve done my best to fix it up over the years, but I can’t add square footage. Were you hoping for two twins?”
“It’d be better than this,” I said, gesturing to his king-sized bed.
While it wasn’t anything fancy, it was, surprisingly, made. A light gray duvet covered it, and four huge pillows were stacked at the head of the bed, a piece of paper resting on top of the pillows on the left. Right next to where Ford was placing my bags.
I walked toward him, glancing down at the paper, my brows lifting when I realized what it was. “Did you need help reading your test results? I know data isn’t your strong suit.”
I’d had to carry both our asses in statistics when we’d been paired together for group projects, and I wasn’t above reminding him of that.
After setting down my bags, Ford shifted so he could lean against the wall, his arms crossed as he stared at me with amusement. “Those are for you, kitten. I thought you might be curious.”
“Why would I be curious about your test results?”
He lifted a single shoulder. “I figured my wife had a right to know her husband has a clear bill of health. You know, in case you can’t keep your hands off me tonight.”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the sudden flash that came to me thanks to his words, Ford pinning me beneath him as he took my mouth, slipped between my thighs, and—
“Oh my God, I’mnotsleeping with you.”
“I don’t know, wife, it looks to me like you’ve got yourself all set up on that side of the bed. Which is, obviously, directly next tomyside of that very same bed.”
I opened and closed my mouth several times, but I was at a loss for words. Which was never a good thing in this man’s company.
“And…” he said, clearly waiting for something from me.
“What?” I snapped.
“Do you have anything to tell me?” He gestured to the paper on my side of the bed.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not getting mine because they’re three years old, and I didn’t bother keeping them when they were clear and I wasn’t having sex.”
“What about birth control?”
MyGod,this man was irritating. “I already told you, I’m not sleeping with you, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
He hummed low in his throat and shook his head. “Don’t you think our birth control method is something a husband would know? What do I say if one of my siblings asks?”
“You think one of your siblings is going to ask about birth control,” I said flatly.
