Sighing, I almost turned and left, but then Ford’s face lit up as he spotted me across the room. I couldn’t help obeying when he waved me over.
“Guys,” Ford announced, looping an arm around my waist and pulling me against his strong, hard body. “This is the new girlfriend I was telling you about! Emzee, these are some of my colleagues from the real estate office.”
Ah. So, just like always, Ford had taken me for granted and assumed I’d agree to his plan. I never said no to him, though, so why would I this time?
Still, he didn’t have to make it so damn obvious that he was in the driver’s seat—again. I was already feeling on edge, and even his little public display of snuggling (as good as it might have felt) wasn’t going to completely erase my irritation. At both himandmyself.
I didn’t know who I was more annoyed with.
“So nice to meet you all,” I simpered. “I’ve heard such great things.”
As they returned to their conversation, I tried to act interested, already playing the part of doting girlfriend just like Ford had obviously assumed I would. I always bailed him out, covered for him, lied for him, everything—of course I did. I was in love with him. But it was starting to occur to me that loving Ford had a higher cost than I realized.
Namely, my own well-being.
But I kept up my smile, fully committed to playing along as the guys joked and laughed. Because that’s what I do. Meanwhile, Ford’s hands never lingered too far from my hip or my shoulder. He started playing with my ponytail at a certain point, giving it these taut little tugs that I kind of liked. Okay, that Ireallyliked.
My body was at complete odds with my mind.
“You look great in that tennis skirt, babe,” Ford said loudly, dropping a kiss on my temple. “Good enough to eat.”
I flushed. “I was actually surprised I could still get into this outfit, I haven’t played tennis in so long.”
“She looks amazing, doesn’t she?” Ford took my hand and made me do a little twirl in front of the guys. “All bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on a Sunday morning.”
They all nodded and voiced their agreement.
“Can’t even tell that I had her up. All. Night. Long.” Ford offered a leering wink and all the guys laughed.
I could feel my face getting even hotter.
“Oh you,” I said, gritting my teeth, giving him a harder-than-necessary swat on the arm.
“Look at that,” Ford said, rubbing his arm as he grinned back at me. “She can still blush. Gotta love a girl that’s innocent in the streets and wild in the sheets, am I right?”
Everyone chuckled. Ford raised his glass—he obviously wasn’t the only one who’d been doing a little day drinking—and his coworkers did the same, all of them clinking their glasses together with frat boy-esque solidarity.
Who the hell was he trying to impress? These guys were all technically his employees, since Ford was already VP at Malone Real Estate Holdings. Despite his age, which probably rankled them since they were all twice as old (and twice as experienced), theyhadto pretend they liked him. He was the boss. There was no need to parade me—or “us”—around like this.
Without warning, his hand snaked around my waist, sliding down until it rested on my ass. Then he gave it a firm squeeze. I jumped. Ford had never touched me like that before.
“Ford!” I hissed, less than discreetly.
“What?” he asked, all innocence.
Enough was enough. Time to either take control of the situation or get the hell out of there.
“Well,honey, it’s obvious you’ve had more than enough drinks to loosen you up,” I told Ford, pretending to appreciatively squeeze his bicep while purposely digging my nails into it. “So why don’t we go play that tennis match you promised me? Or would you rather I go find someone elseto play games with?”
Despite my teasing tone, my warning was clear. He could get up right now and play nice with me, or I was done with this charade. Which had lasted all of twenty minutes so far.
I dug into his arm a little harder for emphasis as he rose from his seat.
“All right, all right, easy there tiger,” he said, reaching over me to give one of the guys a high five. “I like a woman who knows what she wants. Let’s go.”
Even with a few drinks in him, Ford was able to easily beat me at tennis. Which was fine with me, since I wasn’t actually there to play.
“Okay. I’ve made my appearance, we’ve officially been seen on the court together, and now I’m going home,” I told him from the other side of the net.
