Hot Silver Nights: Silver Fox Romance Collection

by Ainsley Booth

  He chuckled. “Sometimes he gets fed misinformation on purpose, just to keep the rumor mill going.”

  And Jimmy didn’t care. “As if there’s not enough already going on around Best Bay to keep the wheels turning on their own.”

  Ford took a swallow of coffee then turned to her. “What do you suppose the rumor mill is saying about us right now?”

  She’d stepped right into that. At least this topic was better than college. “I’d say the gossip will be equally divided between the ones who are certain we’re getting married and those who are pretty darn sure we’ve killed each other.”

  He let out a full-blown laugh that time. “Yeah, that’s pretty fair.”

  She pushed away her empty plate. “I don’t want to kill you, Ford.”

  “Good. I don’t want to kill you either.”

  “But we’re not going to talk about getting married.”

  He caught her gaze. “Not yet, anyway.”

  Oh no. They were not going there. Time to steer the conversation to a neutral topic again. “It’s hard to believe our kids are so much older now than we were when we dated and none of them are even close to taking wedding vows.”

  “Kids don’t get married as early now as we did back then.”

  “Are they afraid of growing up or do they just not want to commit?”

  “Maybe they think they have to live more before they get married. But we learned how to live our lives while being married and raising families, didn’t we?”

  “Yeah, and look at us, free to live more now. These guys will still be raising their kids when they’re in their fifties.”

  Ford shuddered but with a smile on his face. “I’m glad we got that over when we were younger and had more energy.”

  “Definitely.”

  He got up and poured them each another cup of coffee. “Maybe you’re right,” he said when he sat back beside her at the table.

  “About what?

  “That things happened the way they were supposed to. We married who we were supposed to, had the amazing kids we were meant to have.” Ford put his hand over hers. “Did you ever consider that you and I are where we’re supposed to be right now? That this is our second chance? We’re older and hopefully a lot wiser. Maybe we’re supposed to be together at this point in our lives.”

  Was he right? Did everything come down to fate? To luck?

  “So Laura was supposed to come back to Best Bay when her marriage fell apart? She was supposed to bump into Gary at the grocery store so they could rekindle the relationship they had in high school?”

  “I don’t know, Di.”

  “And Irene was meant to lie and come between us, and then go on to have a happy life with you?” Had Irene felt guilty for stealing Ford away from Diane? How had she come between them so easily?

  In that instant, Diane realized that if there hadn’t been problems with her and Ford’s relationship, no amount of lying on Irene’s part would have broken them up. “There had to have been a space, didn’t there? Between you and me? If we’d been close enough, tight enough, Irene wouldn’t have been able to come between us, no matter what.”

  “Di…”

  “No. I’m not angry anymore. It’s pointless, I realize that now. There’s no sense in wondering about what might have been.”

  Ford squeezed her hand. “All we can do is move on from this point.”

  She nodded, but in what direction did she want to go?

  Ford helped her clean up the breakfast dishes. “What do you want to do today?”

  She closed the dishwasher and tried a light-hearted shrug. “I don’t know. Usually on my day off I’m cleaning and grocery shopping.”

  “Can’t go grocery shopping. I can help you clean if you want.”

  Her expression must have told him how much she didn’t want to clean with him.

  He laughed. “I guess that means we’re pretty much stuck here with each other all day. All night.”

  Ford was so close. So tempting. She backed up until she bumped into the countertop. “It’s kinda scary.”

  “Really?”

  “What if we find out we have nothing in common anymore? What if we can’t carry on a conversation? What if we start fighting and we can’t get away from each other?”

  He stepped up to her and pulled her into his arms. He was warm and strong, his masculine scent speaking to her on a deep level.

  “You’re over-thinking this,” he told her. “We’ve already shared a number of conversations. Meals together too. Think of this as an opportunity to see if we’re still compatible. If we can stand each other in the long term or if that ship has sailed.”

  She didn’t want to think about them sailing away from each other, but could they make a relationship work at this point in their lives? “We can’t watch TV all day. What did we used to do when we stayed home together?”

  “I can think of something we did a lot.” Ford’s eyes flashed and her face grew warm. So did her body.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t know if we could handle a day-long sex marathon at this point.”

  Ford dropped a kiss to the tip of her nose. “It’s too bad, but you’re right. I’ll need some recovery time in between.”

  She wriggled against him because he felt so good. She cast her mind back to the past with Ford. Sitting on the floor with a checkerboard between them. Laughing. Stealing kisses. Knocking the checkers off the board as they fell to the carpet and tore off their clothes. “We used to play games, didn’t we?”

  Ford laughed and pulled her closer. “Board games. Does anyone play board games anymore? It’s all video games and RPGs and WOWs or whatever they’re called. Give me Monopoly or checkers or—”

  She gave him a quick kiss and then stepped out of his arms. Their minds were on the same wavelength. “We used to play checkers for hours, didn’t we?”

  His dark gaze met hers and she knew he remembered those nights as well. “Don’t suppose you have a checkerboard around here?”

  “Maybe.” She headed for the hall closet. “If it’s anywhere, it’ll be in here.” Ford followed. “I haven’t played in years. I probably don’t even remember how.”

  “Sure you do.”

  Diane pointed to the game box on the top shelf. “Can you reach that?”

  Ford brought down the box and they found the checkerboard and the box of checkers. They set it up on the table and soon were fumbling through the first game while they remembered the rules. They were setting up for the second game when Ford’s phone rang.

  “Jason. Good morning. Is it still morning?” Ford glanced at his watch. “I mean, good afternoon.” While he listened to his son, he winked at Diane and it gave her a shivery feeling. “We’re fine. Guess everything’s closed down today, so we’re just taking it easy. My leg’s fine. Haven’t given it too much of a workout.” He winked at her again and she laughed. “Any word on how Paige is doing? Great. You have a good day too. Talk soon.”

  “Paige is okay?” she asked as soon as Ford disconnected.

  His black jumped her red and they were on their way. “Yeah. She’s going to be fine.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad. Katie was over here a few days ago and said Paige was filling out college applications. I’d hate to think she wouldn’t get the chance to follow her dreams.”

  Ford paused with a checker in his hand. “Speaking of college and following dreams...”

  Diane groaned. She stepped right into that one too. Maybe talking things out with Ford would help her decide. “Okay.” She studied the board and jumped two of his checkers. Might as well get to the heart of the matter right away. “To be honest, I don’t actually know if I want to go to college.”

  He frowned. “Okay. Why gather all the information then?”

  She sat back in her chair, staring at the board but not really seeing. “I guess I was thinking that all I’ve ever been is a waitress. Is it wrong to want to find out if I could be something else?’

  “Of course not.”r />
  “But most people are thinking about retiring at my age. Look at you, you’re retired. What am I doing even thinking about college?”

  “People go back to college at every age.”

  “I wouldn’t be going back. I never went, remember? You took criminal justice and then went to the police academy before you got hired. All I’ve done is take orders and dish out specials since I was a teenager.”

  “I get it. You’re tired of it.”

  “Not really. I like my job. But actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about…art.”

  “Of course. How could I forget? You were always sketching something. Painting something. You want to go to school to study art?”

  Diane nodded. “But I know it’s not practical. It’s not like I can get a better job after I learn concepts and design and color.” Oh, but she longed to learn those things. “I can still fool around with sketchbooks and canvases without spending all that time and money.”

  “Is money the problem? Can you afford it?”

  “Yeah, I can.”

  Ford didn’t speak for a moment, just folded his hands on the table and looked into her eyes. Diane tried not to squirm under his gaze. Then he took a deep breath and Diane’s stomach twisted. What was he going to say?

  He grasped her hands. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

  “I knew you’d tell me to do it.”

  “I’m not telling you anything. I’ll support you whichever way you want to go, but I know you well enough to think that you didn’t gather all that college information for nothing. Something pushed you to look into this. And that wasn’t me.”

  That evening, Ford and Diane curled up on her sofa as the sky darkened, the snowflakes no longer swirling with the intensity they had earlier. This had been the perfect way to spend a snow day. He’d got to spend it with Diane. They’d laughed over checkers, and shared stories of rescue calls and BB&G rumors. They’d cooked a pot of chili for dinner and now held mugs of hot chocolate while they watched the flames flicker in the fireplace. His hand kept playing with the hem of her shirt, sneaking beneath to stroke her bare skin.

  His attention was caught by a plant on the floor beside the fireplace. It had thick, smooth leaves and a dark green color that reflected the light from the fire.

  He ran a finger down her ribs. “What kind of plant is that?”

  She followed his glance. “That’s a jade plant. I bought it years ago and put it in that pretty painted pot I found at a thrift store. It’s my favorite.”

  Ford lifted his brow. “Lucky, I suppose?”

  “Of course. It’s why I chose it. Lucky plant actually is one of its names.”

  Frustration made him want to shout at her, instead he fought to not roll his eyes. “Of course, it is.”

  She gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. “Nothing wrong with surrounding myself with lucky things.”

  He should let it go, but it was obvious that in the years since they’d been together she was still dealing with her grandmother’s bad luck curse. Would she ever be free of it? “It is if you obsess and only choose things for their luck value.”

  If she considered him bad luck because of their past, would she ever choose a future with him?

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t do that.”

  The flames from the fire reflected in the tears welling in her eyes. Shit. The last thing he wanted was to make her cry. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

  She sniffed. “I was happy.”

  He turned her into his arms. “That’s all that counts.”

  Maybe he was reading too much into it. Everyone had a few superstitions. Just because she liked good luck charms and lucky plants, didn’t mean anything. She was looking into a college education. She was even open to a relationship with him…he hoped. All he could do was accept her as she was and show her how much she meant to him. How much he loved her for her strength and humor, her courage and creativity.

  He caught her behind her neck and pulled her close for a long, wet kiss. She froze for a moment. Had he pushed his luck too far? Guess not. She didn’t push him away.

  “Mmm. Diane and cocoa is a potent combination,” he said when he finally lifted his lips. “Let me make you happy, sweetheart.”

  Her eyes flashed. “I want to make you happy too.”

  She grabbed the edge of his shirt and tugged. He lifted his arms, happy to cooperate as she stripped it off. Her quick hands ran over his arms, shoulders, chest. Every inch, as if she was memorizing him. As if she thought this was the last time they’d be together like this.

  He nearly bit his tongue to stop from asking for a commitment from her right then. He loved her. He wanted to keep seeing her. He wanted a future with her. But would she believe she could be lucky in love this time?

  So he kept still, even though he itched to take her into his arms again. He let Diane take the lead. Let her hands roam where she wanted them to go. He hardened beneath the fly of his jeans, anticipating those hands releasing him, stroking him.

  “Why are your hands curled up into fists?” she whispered.

  He hadn’t even noticed. He consciously uncurled his fingers, stretching them out so she could see. “I want to touch you.”

  “So touch me.”

  She didn’t have to tell him twice. He buried his hands in her soft hair and pulled her in for another kiss. This one was soft, searching. Ford tried to put all the emotion he felt into the play of their lips.

  Diane crawled into his lap, never breaking the kiss. She moaned into his mouth as she straddled him, pressing her knees into his hips. He dropped his hands to her waist and slipped his fingers beneath the hem of her shirt. So soft. So warm.

  They were way too old to have sex on a couch now. He wanted to focus on Diane, on making love with her again.

  He drew away, took her hand, and whispered, “Come.”

  She smiled as he brought her down onto the soft rug in front of the fire. “I’ve never made love in front of a fireplace before.”

  “Me either.” It pleased him more than he could imagine that they could still do something new together, something that was entirely theirs.

  The flames warmed them as they stripped the rest of the clothes from each other’s bodies and then stretched out together. Ford couldn’t wait any longer and slid into her welcoming body.

  He kissed her lips, her jaw, her shoulder as he moved slowly over her, in her. Diane wrapped her arms and legs around him in an erotic embrace. She met his movements, thrust by thrust, with the arch of her body. Her lips brushed his shoulder. Her nipples hardened against his chest. Her moans sang in his ears.

  Her skin glowed from the light of the flames. Ford wished he could freeze this moment. Buried inside this beautiful woman, surrounded by her. Loved by her.

  But would love be enough?

  The doubt spurred Ford on, and the slow, sweet lovemaking changed to something frantic. Something wilder. Possessiveness took over his body and clutched at his heart. Diane panted, reaching for her satisfaction. He was determined to take care of her before he reached his climax.

  He pulled out and lowered his mouth to her slick folds, licking up her sweetness. Her clitoris was hard and swollen and once he started to worry it with his tongue it didn’t take long to help her over the edge. She cried out his name and tightened her fingers in his hair as she came.

  He took her hands in his and kissed the tips of her fingers. Then he twined their fingers together and stretched over her. She was still writhing beneath him when he plunged into her again. This time he didn’t move with a slow drag along her slick channel. This time it was thrust after crazy thrust into her heated core, the ragged movements born of passion and need.

  The orgasm hit him hard. He shouted as he came, spilling his seed and foolishly wishing they were younger so there would have been the possibility of a child together. As soon as the thought entered his head, he pushed it away. He wasn’t going to wish away any of
his life before this moment.

  As he gathered her into his arms before the fading fire, he could only hope that he’d be lucky enough to have Diane with him for the rest of his life.

  Chapter 9

  Diane woke before sunrise, her heart thudding against her ribs, a sense of foreboding creeping over her. She and Ford had spent the entire night on the living room floor, wrapped up in each other. Had the hard floor awoken her, or the strong arm draped over her waist?

  The fire had burned down, so she eased herself out from under his arm, dragged a blanket from the arm of the sofa and covered Ford. After a quick run to the bathroom, she threw on some yoga pants and a sweatshirt, then sat cross-legged on the rug beside him.

  She’d had the most amazing time with Ford, enjoyed the best sex she’d had in years, so why did she wake up to such a bad feeling about everything? Had there been a nightmare she couldn’t remember? A bad luck omen hanging over her head, draining all the joy from her bones?

  She fingered the good luck charms hanging from the chain around her neck. She looked down at Ford and her heart raced, and not in a good let’s-have-more-sex kind of way. This was a bad feeling. There was nothing good about it at all.

  What was she doing? Why did she want to turn everything upside down? A relationship with a man who’d let her down once already? An unrealistic dream of a college education? Her life was fine. She would be asking for trouble by looking for something more. Something else.

  A fist twisted in her stomach at the thought.

  Bad feeling.

  What was the point of going to college at her age? To study art? All that time. All that work. A big cut in her income because she wouldn’t be able to work as many hours. Why would she want to go through all that? She was a damn good waitress and there was no guarantee she’d have any better life after she did all that work. All she’d have was a smaller bank account and nothing practical to show for it.

  There was that fist again.

  Bad feeling.

  Diane scrambled to her feet and pulled all the college information out of the drawer of the hutch. Who was she kidding? She was never going to go to college. Never going to be an artist. She blinked the tears away as she ripped the papers to shreds and stuffed them in the trash.