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“Yep, and don’t forget the part where I said that I have for a long time. I don’t want to play games with you, Journey. I’ve done enough of that. I left town, all those years ago, to avoid my feelings for you.”
“Well, we also both needed some time to grow up. Don’t forget that part,” she said. How could he forget that part? It was agony waiting for Journey to come of age and then, he still wasted time, telling himself that she wasn’t supposed to be his. Making Journey his was the best decision that he’d ever made, and one that he’d not regret—ever.
“So, you’re good with me telling you that I’m in love with you?” he asked. Ford could tell by her beautiful smile that she was more than fine with his admission.
“I think that I can live with it,” she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Since I’m in love with you too and have been since I was just a girl.”
“Good to know,” he growled. “How about we figure out a way to tell my sister about us then, since I plan on never letting you go again, Journey.”
“I’ll figure out how to tell Lucinda,” she promised. “Just give me a day or two to work up the nerve. She’s my best friend and I can’t lose her,” she said.
“I don’t think that you will. My sister might be hard-headed, but she’s also reasonable. I’m betting that Lucinda will even surprise you,” he assured.
“I hope so,” Journey said.
“How about I help take your mind off of my sister for a while?” he asked.
“And just how will you do that?” she asked.
“Oh, I think that I can come up with a few ideas.” Ford pulled her towel free from her curvy body, loving the giggles that filled the bathroom.
“You are very good at the art of distraction,” she teased. Ford planned to help her forget all of her troubles for the rest of the night, and if she’d allow it, for the rest of her life.
Journey
Journey was sitting on Ford’s back patio, sipping the coffee that he had brought her, and thinking about how she could get used to his pampering her when Lucinda came walking through the kitchen door and into the backyard. A part of her panicked, and she thought about running, but the jig was up, her best friend had finally found her.
“I can’t believe that you’ve been avoiding me for two weeks now, and this is where I find you. Has my brother been covering for you this whole time?” Lucinda asked.
“Covering for me?” Journey asked. “Why would Ford cover for me?”
“Because for some reason, you’re mad at me and you’re avoiding me. I know that I haven’t been around a lot since getting married, but I promise that I’ll do better. I’ll be a better friend, I swear,” she promised. Oh God, Lucinda thought that she was mad at her because she was feeling neglected. She couldn’t let her feel that way, but telling her the truth meant telling Lucinda everything—even the stuff about her sleeping with Ford.
“What’s going on out here?” Ford asked, coming from inside the house. Shit—this was exactly what she didn’t need before she could figure out what she was going to do about Lucinda. “I can hear you shouting from inside the house, Sis. You okay?” he looked at Journey but kept his distance and she was thankful that Ford seemed to be taking her lead in all of this.
“I’ve been ghosted by my best friend,” she said.
“Don’t be so dramatic, Lucinda,” Journey said. “I haven’t ghosted you.”
“No, you feel as though I’ve ghosted you, and now, you’re angry with me. I can’t blame you, really. But you shouldn’t have to hang out with Ford just to get back at me. Why didn’t you just come over to my place and talk to me instead of turning to my brother?” Ford barked out his laugh and Journey shot him a dirty look. He grinned and shrugged and God, it was hard not to find him completely irresistible, but at this moment she had bigger fish to fry.
“I haven’t been hiding out over here or using Ford to get back at you. I’d never do that.” Journey took a deep breath and let it out. “I’ve been staying here with Ford for two weeks now.”
“You’ve been staying here? What’s wrong with your apartment?” Lucinda asked.
“Nothing’s wrong with it,” Journey said, “unless you count my crazy boss stalking it.”
“Wait, Andrew is stalking your apartment?” Lucinda asked.
“And me,” Journey said.
“Tell me that you finally went to HR about that slimeball,” Lucinda asked.
“You knew about her boss giving her trouble and you didn’t bother to offer that advice earlier?” Ford asked. Journey didn’t need him getting involved in this mess. He promised to let her handle things with Lucinda.
“Journey insisted that she could handle Andrew on her own, and she’s an adult, so I believed her,” Lucinda insisted.
“Thank you,” Journey said, “but, I kind of blew it. I thought that he wanted to go over my latest article, so I had dinner with him. That’s the night that Ford rescued me and helped me to see that Andrew was stalking me. I went to HR the next Monday, but they said that my window to report him was when the incidents first happened.”
