by Vi Keeland
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry!” I rubbed the top of my head as his hand reached for his jaw. His very sexy jaw. Oh God. Figures.
“It’s okay. That was my fault. I thought you saw me walking around. I was trying to guide you to bend straight. You’re dipping to your right.”
I definitely would have noticed him. Our instructor was tall, with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, tanned skin, and dark eyes. Tall, dark, and handsome. Definitely handsome. Although that wasn’t the part that was so distracting. No, that I could deal with. But the loose, gray sweatpants and no shirt—that was exactly what I’d imagined Ford wearing in my fantasy a few weeks ago. That thought, along with the ridiculously amazing carved chest standing before me, turned me into a bumbling idiot.
“Oh. Jeez. Yeah. Sorry. To the right? Okay. Yeah. Sorry again.”
The instructor’s brows rose, and he grinned knowingly.
The heat rose on my cheeks and wouldn’t let up. “Umm. Sorry again.”
“Not a problem. Why don’t we try that again? This time without the beat down.” Hot Instructor winked, then put his warm hand on the exposed skin of my back. “Bend at the waist.”
I was thrilled to hide my face and have an excuse for the color that had already rushed to my cheeks. When my fingertips reached the sand, the instructor stepped behind me and gripped my hips with both hands, guiding me to shift to the left. “There, you’re aligned now. When you stretch into your bend, there’s less chance you’ll injure your back.”
I stayed down long enough that he moved on to someone else. When I eventually rose, Bella leaned toward me, failing at her attempted whispering.
“He’s hot and was totally checking you out.”
The sunrise morning yoga class turned out to be the best exercise class I’d ever taken. Not only was the instructor amazing at poses and helping all of the students ease into positions, but he guided us to use those moments in pose to appreciate the beauty around us. The sunrise, the light shining on the unusually calm ocean, streaks of orange and gold shimmering on the water—it was absolutely breathtaking.
As we moved through our vinyasa, coming into upward-facing dog, my eyes, which had been closed for the last few minutes, suddenly opened. I had that sensation you get when someone is watching, a prickly awareness I felt all over my skin. Looking to the left and right, I could find no one in my peripheral vision, and the instructor was busy helping a woman a few rows ahead of me. Yet that strange feeling stayed with me through the end of the class.
After our hour was up, the yoga instructor came over to introduce himself. “We didn’t actually get to meet before.” He extended his hand. “I’m Ty. I haven’t seen you in class before. Are you vacationing in Montauk this week?”
“Actually, I live a few houses away. Well, I have a summer home here. It’s my first week out, and Bella invited me to the class. We’re neighbors.”
Ty smiled at Bella and returned his attention to me. “Did you enjoy the class? We’re out here five days a week.”
“The class was amazing. You’ll definitely be seeing me again.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Something about the way he said that, or maybe it was the gleam in his eye, made me feel good. I might have been thirty-seven, but I liked to think I’d begun to grow old gracefully.
Bella and I shook the sand from our mats and rolled them up. I stared out at the ocean as she tied hers closed. “Remind me not to have coffee right before yoga,” she said. “I’ve had to go to the bathroom for the last seven poses.”
My skin had a layer of sweat on it from the workout, and a warm breeze floated by, leaving my arms with goosebumps. I should have felt grimy, but instead I reveled in the chills, feeling more alive than I had in a long time.
“Thanks so much for inviting me. Let me make you some breakfast after I wash up.”
Bella groaned in response to my invitation. Not exactly the answer I’d expected.
“What’s the matter? Please don’t tell me you’re on a diet. You’re so thin.”
I was still facing the ocean, but I turned toward our houses just as she filled me in on her problem.
“My pain-in-the-ass brother’s here.”
Chapter 7
* * *
Ford
I stood on the back deck watching the yoga class for nearly a half hour before it ended. For the last two days, I’d been telling myself I needed to come out to Montauk to check on Bella, make sure everything was okay—that was the reason I was coming. The only reason. But seeing Valentina walk up wearing tight, black yoga pants and a cropped exercise top that showed off her flat stomach, I realized I wouldn’t have even known if my sister had a giant hole in her face.
“I told you, I’m fine,” Bella whined as she approached, still thirty feet away.
Valentina stared at me, looking nervous. I assumed she hadn’t shared our little Match.com chat and almost-date with my sister, and she was anxious that I might let on. Of course I wouldn’t. I kept my sex life far away from my Bella—not that there was any sex to talk about when it came to Val anyway. Unfortunately.
Reaching the deck, my sister kissed my cheek chastely and then jogged to the back door. “I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute. Do you remember Mrs. Davis?”
“I do.”
Val had been looking anywhere but at me until I began to speak.
“How are you, Mrs. Davis?” I arched an eyebrow and sipped my coffee. Once I heard the back door close and my sister was out of earshot, I took a step closer to Valentina. “You haven’t answered any of my messages.”
“I…I didn’t know what else to say.”
“But yet you read them all. You could have blocked me or just ignored them.”
She looked flustered. “I didn’t want to be rude.”
“Uh-huh. Just rude enough to ghost me, got it.” I took another step closer. “Can I ask you something?”
“What?” She spoke to my shoulder, and I wasn’t sure if she was avoiding eye contact or watching for Bella. Probably both.
“Valentina?” I waited until she looked at me. “Have you thought about me since the night at the restaurant?”
She closed her eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”
“To me, it does.”
“Let’s not make it any more difficult than it needs to be, Ford.”
It was the first time I’d heard her say my first name. And I liked the sound of it… I liked it a lot.
“Why don’t I go first? I thought about you. A lot.”
“Why does it matter if I thought about you if nothing is going to come of it?”
“It just does,” I said.
The sliding glass back door to our house made a high-pitched screech as it slid open. Salt air rusted everything out here.
I lowered my voice. “Tell me the truth, and I’ll keep pretending you’re only Mrs. Davis.”
Valentina’s eyes flared. The door squeaked again as my sister closed it behind her.
I lowered my voice even more. “Come on. Tell me. Did you think about me?”
Her eyes flitted between my sister and me a few times.
I leaned in and whispered, “Say it.”
“No.”
Without taking my eyes off of Val, I spoke to my sister. “Hey, sis. I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”
Valentina looked like she was about to freak out. I smiled and mouthed Say it. The panic on her face was adorable.
“Fine,” she gritted through her teeth. “I did. Are you happy now?”
I grinned from ear to ear. “You hear that, Bell? Even Mrs. Davis says I’m right.”
Bella had no clue what we were talking about, yet rolled her eyes. “Whatever it is, don’t encourage him.”
“I’ll try to remember that.”
“What are you doing here?” my sister asked. “And why are you here so damn early? You had to leave the city at four in the morning to get out here at this time.”
&
nbsp; I shrugged. “Figured I’d beat traffic.” I locked eyes with Val. “Lately, I haven’t been sleeping well anyway. Something’s been on my mind. Keeps me up at night.”
My sister assumed I was talking about work. “Well, just do what you always do. Go after it like it’s nobody’s business, and you’ll get it.”
“Very good advice.” I grinned.
“We were just going to have some breakfast. Valentina was going to cook. But since you’re here, you can take us out, Mr. Moneybags.”
“I can do that.” I looked to Val. “John’s Pancake House?”
“Ummm…I don’t mind cooking. You’re welcome to join us.”
No way was I passing up an opportunity to get inside her house. “Even better.”
“Well, why don’t you give me a little bit, and I’ll wash up and get breakfast started.”
She disappeared into her house. I impatiently waited fifteen minutes, and then Bella finally came downstairs.
“You didn’t even change yet?” I said.
“My roommate from school called while I was upstairs. It’s impossible to get Brooke off the phone.” She tossed her cell on the couch and pulled the hair tie from her hair. “Think Val will mind if I take a quick shower?”
“Why don’t I go over and let her know before she starts cooking. Then you can take your time.”
“Perfect. Thanks, Ford.”
Yeah. Perfect.
***
“Hey.” Val opened the screen door and looked over my shoulder for Bella.
“She’ll be over in a bit. She wanted to give us some alone time.”
Val’s eyes bulged. She was cute when she freaked out, but I let her off the hook, leaning in close as I passed. “Joking. Relax.”
I hadn’t been inside her house in years…probably since I was seventeen and kept an eye on Ryan the last time. The layout was exactly the same as ours, only hers was painted brighter colors. I headed straight to the kitchen, my nose leading the way.
“Our chaperone is in the shower. What smells so good?”
“I’m making spinach and feta frittatas, with bacon on the side.”
A bunch of yellow sticky notes on the refrigerator caught my attention. A few had obvious errands written on them, but one just said Oil.
Val noticed me reading. “The back door squeaks.”
“You want WD-40, not actual oil then.”
“Oh yeah. Okay. Thanks.”
“I have some lube that can take care of you.”
She glanced sideways at me, unsure if I was being a wiseass or not. I managed to keep a straight face and turned back to the fridge.
Pointing to another sticky, I asked, “VS?”
“Oh. I…uh…need to pick up…” She shook her head. “It stands for Victoria’s Secret.”
“I can help you with that, too. The mirrors in dressing rooms can’t be trusted. I’ll come so you can model for me.”
Valentina laughed, and that sound was freaking awesome—right up there with my other favorites like the ocean and a crackling fire. It drew me closer to where she stood in front of the stove. Three burners were going at once.
“Wow. That looks delicious.”
“I only have three small pans, so I can only make two frittatas at a time.”
I shrugged. “Works for me. Bella doesn’t need to eat anyway.”
“How thoughtful of you.” She walked to the refrigerator, took out the feta, and began to sprinkle it into the pan with the eggs.
I moved behind Val, definitely closer than was neighborly, and took a deep breath in. “Smells delicious.”
She ignored me. The burner she wasn’t cooking on had a paper-towel-lined plate filled with crispy bacon. I reached around her to swipe a piece, and my chest brushed lightly against her back. I heard the hitch in her breath, even over the sizzle of the bacon.
Good to know.
She didn’t budge as I leaned in to steal a second piece.
This time, I purposely brushed against her back. “You smell good.”
Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, allowing me to see the nape of her neck, skin that was pebbling with tiny goosebumps—so I didn’t back up.
“I love knowing you thought about me this week. Are you curious what I was doing when I thought about you? Because I can’t stop wondering what you were doing when you were thinking about me.”
Valentina’s breathing grew more labored. I wanted to turn her around and press my body against hers, make her gasp into my mouth. But even though I could see her reaction to me on her skin, her body language was still rigid. I’d managed to crack the door open, but she wasn’t inviting me in.
Hesitantly, I touched her arm.
“Ford.” Her voice strained in warning—like her head and body were in conflict and her head was only barely winning the fight.
“I’ll go first. I thought of you during the day when I was at work, staring at the computer where we’d first messaged back and forth online. I thought of you as I was at a lunch business meeting yesterday, wondering what wine you would order. But my favorite time to think about you was at night. I’d take off all my clothes, get into bed, shut my eyes, and reach down and grab my—”
“Anybody home?” My sister’s voice interrupted.
Shit. Instinctively, I stepped back. Val shook her head a few times before rushing to the door.
Bella still had wet hair from her shower. Figures she’d pick today to not spend an hour getting herself ready. “Mmmm…it smells good in here. That workout made me so hungry.”
I caught Val’s eye. “Watching it made me hungry, too.”
Val walked back to the stove, not glancing in my direction again. I stood a few feet away, leaning against the kitchen sink with my arms folded over my chest, just watching her.
“There’s coffee in the pot and creamer in the fridge,” she said to Bella. “Help yourself.”
“I haven’t had a frittata in forever. Our mom used to make them. You sort of remind me of her. Doesn’t she remind you of Mom, Ford?”
My eyes shut, and I shook my head. “She definitely does not remind me of Mom.”
Val plated the two frittatas and set them on the table. “You two eat.”
“We’ll wait for you,” I said.
“Yours will get cold while I make mine. Eat.”
Bella caught my eye and smirked as she sat down at the table. She pointed her fork at me before digging in. “See? Mom.”
I was definitely waiting for Val to eat after that comment. I wasn’t really that hungry anyway. She finally sat a few minutes later.
“The class this morning was amazing, right?” my sister said.
“It was. I really enjoyed it. It’s been a while since I did yoga, so I might be sore later, though.”
“And that instructor was totally into you. I bet he asks you out next time.”
Valentina gave my sister a polite smile, and then our eyes caught briefly. My sister was totally oblivious, so of course she continued.
“He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. We should take the class again tomorrow. He’s totally worth getting up so early for.”
I had a momentary lapse in sanity. “Maybe I’ll take the class, too.”
“You?” My sister snorted.
“Sure. Why not?”
“You’ve never done yoga.”
I stood and put my plate in the sink. “I’m all about trying new things.”
“Well, I’m all about getting a job today.”
“A job? You’re only out here for the weekend.”
Bella’s lips pursed. “I have an interview for a summer waitressing gig at a restaurant in town. I figured if I got a job, you might start to see that I’m responsible enough to stay out here for the summer. Plus, I need to save some money. I sort of blew through my savings during my semester abroad.” She looked down at her phone. “Shoot. My interview is in twenty minutes. I’m going to be late. Let me help you clean up before I go, Val.”
Valenti
na waved Bella off. “I got it. Go to your interview. You don’t want to be late.”
“Go,” I added. “I’ll help Val clean up.”
“Okay. I owe you one.”
“I’ll add it to the pile of ones you owe me.”
Val and I were both quiet after the screen door slammed closed. It felt like small talk was needed.
“She’s supposed to be out here for a four-day weekend, and she’s interviewing for a job.”
“Well, at least she took some initiative. You could have arrived to a house full of knocked-over, red Solo cups and passed-out teenagers.”
“I suppose.”
Val stood and picked up her plate and Bella’s. But I took them from her hands. “I got it. Sit. You cooked.”
“I can’t just sit here and let you clean up.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I just can’t.”
“I tell you what, if you don’t let me clean up, I’m going to continue my story about what I was doing when I was thinking about you this week.”
She started to speak, but then closed her mouth and sat back down, a light blush on her cheeks.
I mumbled to myself, though loud enough that she could hear, “Shame. It’s a phenomenal story.”
After I had all the dishes rinsed and loaded into the dishwasher, I noticed a puddle of water forming at my feet. “I think you have a leak?”
“Crap. Ryan was supposed to fix that when he was out here last summer. I told him to call a plumber, but since we share expenses on the house, he never wants to spend on a repairman.”
“I can take a look.”
“No. It’s okay.”
“I’m good at fixing things.” I grinned. “Don’t let my pretty face fool you into thinking I’m a wuss.”
“Really, it’s fine. I can call someone.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to fix it. Do you have a bucket and a toolbox somewhere with a wrench?”
“I think Ryan has some things in the closet.”
On second thought, I didn’t want to use her ex’s shit for some reason. “I’ll just run next door and grab what I’ll need to take the drain apart and see what’s going on.”