18. Emzee

EMZEE

CHAPTER 18

I made it through the rest of the evening with a fake smile on my face, grinding my teeth to keep it there. Ford came over every so often, tucking his arm around my waist, lifting my hand so that our guests could examine and compliment the heirloom engagement ring he’d given me.

It really was perfectly subtle, especially since I’d never been the type of girl who wanted some huge rock on her finger. Even though I was still angry at Ford, I couldn’t help admiring the ring every time I glanced down, appreciating the way the rows of antique diamonds sparkled in the moonlight and the glow of the candles that had been set up around the Aquatic Garden.

I loved the way it looked on my petite hand. Like it belonged there.

Not that I was going to tell Ford that.

He had to know I was pissed at him, because every time he’d put his hand around my waist and squeeze, I’d move away. Though obviously neither of us could comment on the tension. That would ruin the illusion of the happy, newly engaged couple.

And we couldn’t have anything ruining the illusion.

So I played the good little fiancée for the rest of the evening, and I played it well. I smiled and made small talk and showed off the ring and gushed about how surprised I’d been.

“You looked utterly shocked,” Ford’s Aunt Miri—the one who had the excellent taste in Prada—said to me. “I’ve never been one to weep over romance, but I did get a little misty.”

“I was shocked,” I said. “Ford is amazing at surprises, aren’t you, honey?”

He was beside me, and I could sense his hesitation. “I do try,” he said with a chuckle.

“He’s so good at it,” I said, pouring it on thicker. “Always springing things on me out of nowhere. I never know what he’s planning behind my back.”

The words were pointed, and his smile faltered. But only briefly.

“Only because it’s so much fun to surprise you,” he said.

“I’ll just bet it is,” I said sweetly. “I’ll have to surprise you myself one of these days.”

At the end of the evening, as had become our pattern, Ford and I arranged to ride home in the same car so he could accompany me—purely for show, of course.

We were barely a few weeks into this charade, and I was already exhausted by it. Tired of the lies and the maneuvering that we were doing to convince people this was the real thing. I just wanted to go home and take off this dress and flop down on my bed and go to sleep. Thankfully, Munchkin’s friendly dog walker had been by earlier to feed him and take him around the block, so I wouldn’t have to do any of that when I got home.

Our car pulled up to the curb, and we got in, waving to our friends and family. I could see Tori and Brooklyn standing with my brothers, exchanging self-satisfied looks of “told you so.” I wanted to tell them the truth—that what they’d witnessed between me and Ford earlier was a total sham, completely different from what they had with Stefan and Luka. That it wasn’t going to end up the same way at all, because Ford was just manipulating me throughout this entire process. Whatever he wanted, he got, and I was hardly an afterthought.

As we turned onto the street, I scooted as far away from Ford as I could, moving to the other end of the back seat. He didn’t say anything and didn’t attempt to stop me, so he must have known how livid I was.

We spent the entirety of the car ride in silence. I was too riled up to say anything.

Instead, I kept looking out the window, trying not to think about how incredible and yet awful the evening had been, but I couldn’t stop staring down at my lap, where the ring shone on my finger. I didn’t want to keep admiring it, but my eyes kept getting drawn to its sparkly glory.

At one point, Ford cleared his throat, and I thought he was going to say something, but he remained silent. I was glad. I didn’t want to get in a fight, and I needed some time to process everything. He knew I wasn’t the kind of person who’d be into a surprise fake engagement party—had he played it close to the vest because he thought I wouldn’t go along with it?

And all this after I’d been so clear with him about my expectations, about wanting to be kept in the loop.

Something else occurred to me then. When Ford had gone down on one knee with that box in his hand, before our friends and family had popped out of the fucking shrubberies, I’d stupidly hoped for the briefest of moments that things between us had actually changed. What if he had kept the proposal a secret because he wanted it to mean something? Something real?

If so, what the hell? Was he into me that way or not? Was his attraction to me more than just physical? All the uncertainty was driving me bonkers. We definitely needed to have The Conversation, but first I had to get my head on straight.

Thankfully, we’d arrived at my apartment building.

I let Ford open the door for me, and then I swept myself out of the car and headed toward the entrance to my building without looking back. When I heard the car door close behind me, I expected to hear the car drive off next, and it took everything I had to keep from bursting into tears as I tried and failed to find my keys. But after the car had pulled away, I heard footsteps.

Turning around, keys still buried at the bottom of my purse, I found Ford standing there.

“What do you want?” I said icily.

“Can I come up?” he asked.

“You don’t leave me much choice,” I told him. “Your ride is already gone.”

He held up his phone. “I can call him back,” he said. “But I’d rather go up with you.”

It was an unusual request, and it threw me off guard. I couldn’t say no. “Fine.”

I got the door open and he followed me through the lobby and into the elevator. The small space felt even smaller with him in it, and I kept my eyes focused on my shoes as the car made its way up to the loft floor.

When we walked into my place, I allowed myself to foolishly hope that Munchkin might attack Ford with a nice bite in the ass, but of course he didn’t. Munchkin loved Ford, almost as much as he loved me. The two of them were thick as thieves. In fact, at this very moment, Munchkin was in Ford’s arms, wagging that stub of a tail as Ford gave him a good ear scritch.

“Traitor,” I muttered to my dog, dropping a kiss on the top of his head before swishing my way into the living room area and tossing my bag on the coffee table.

For a second I just stood there, wanting nothing more than to take off my dress and my shoes, my feet aching and my entire body exhausted by the past several hours. But it would have to wait. I was most assuredly not taking off a single article of clothing as long as Ford fucking Malone was standing there.

As if sensing my impatience, Ford put my dog down. Munchkin took off for my bedroom, probably to jump up and take a nap on the cushy mattress while he knew I was too distracted to kick him off. Meanwhile, Ford ran his hand through his hair and looked at me.

“I’m sorry, Em,” he said, finally breaking the ice. “I should have warned you.”

“Mm-hmm,” I grunted. I was surprised at the apology but didn’t show it, crossing my arms over my chest instead. No way in hell was I going to forgive him that easily.

“You’re my first fake fiancée,” Ford continued, trying for a conspiratorial smile. “It’s all new to me. I don’t know what I’m doing, and I fucked up.”

It wasn’t what I had been expecting.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

“Yeah, well, this doesn’t feel anything like the partnership we discussed when you do things like that,” I said, letting all my anger boil over. “What were you even thinking?”

He seemed a little taken aback by my passion, but he didn’t try to talk me down, just stood there and listened.

“We’re supposed to be a team,” I railed, venting the frustration I’d been holding in all night long. “I agreed to do this for you —yes, there are some benefits to my family, but the whole reason we’re in this mess is because you can’t stand up to your parents.”

“That’s fair,” Ford said, looking properly deflated. “And I get it. Honestly. I understand. I wasn’t thinking at all.”

“No, you fucking weren’t.”

I knew I was being unduly harsh, but I didn’t care.

“Seeing you get down on one knee with a box in your hand, when I thought it was just the two of us,” I went on, “I didn’t know what to make of it. Especially after what happened the other night, in the car…” I trailed off, embarrassed at what I was admitting. That for a second, I’d actually believed his proposal might mean something.

I hadn’t meant to bring up our hookup in the car, either, but it was out now and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

“You’re right about all of it,” Ford said, stepping closer to me. “I made it confusing. I know. So how about I un-confuse things?” He took my hands in his. “The fake stuff is the fake stuff—the proposal, the wedding, the farce. That’s all for show.”

He moved even closer to me and I could feel his breath hot on my cheeks.

“But what happened in the car?” he said, his voice dropping lower. “That was real.”

“It was?” I asked, hating how uncertain I sounded.

“Yes,” he said, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Let me show you exactly how real.”

I swallowed hard as he led me over to the couch. He gestured for me to sit, and I did.

Then he knelt down. He didn’t have a ring this time, but my heart was pounding as fast as it had when there’d been a velvet box in his hand. My whole body was tingling, and it was getting hard to breathe as I waited for him to show me what he’d promised.

His hands started at my feet, pulling my shoes off one at a time. The fabric of my dress was cool against my legs, but underneath it my entire body ached for Ford. For his touch.

He slipped his hands underneath the hem of my dress, slowly, carefully sliding it up to my thighs. Then his fingers trailed their way back down to my knees, and he pushed them apart, so suddenly that I gasped. And I let him. In fact, I helped him, lifting my hips up as his hands traveled to the waistband of my silky black thong.

“I love knowing you were barely wearing anything under this dress,” he said as he drew the underwear down my thighs, letting them drop to the floor. I kicked them aside, keeping my legs open for him and bunching my skirt up at my waist. I should have felt exposed, but I didn’t.

“This is nice,” Ford said.

He’d just gotten a glimpse of my trim landing strip. I liked being mostly bare, and I could tell from his expression that he liked it too.

He spread my legs even wider, making the muscles of my inner thighs burn a little at the tension. At first, I was expecting to feel the brush of his fingers, assuming he was going to do exactly what he’d done in the car the other night. My body was ready and wet, eager for it, but then, instead of using his hands, Ford lowered his head and tasted my pussy.

I cried out at the shock of his hot tongue lapping against my lips, tracing a line from bottom to top, around my clit, and back down again. My head fell back against the couch cushions, my hands clenching the fabric of my dress as Ford began to fuck me with his tongue.

No one had ever done anything like this to me.

It was so good.

Ford stopped and pressed his tongue against my clit, sucking it softly into his mouth, and then the low moan he let out vibrated through my entire body.

“Oh my God,” I groaned, panting for air. I was breathing so hard I worried I was going to pass out, but if I did, it would be worth it. “Fuck…yes…”

Pleasure washed over me in wave after wave as he licked and sucked and caressed me with his tongue. I was so wet, so dripping wet for him, but he seemed to like it, nuzzling his chin against my inner thighs before returning to drag his tongue against my slit. God, his tongue. Strong and sure and steady, lapping up and down, darting right inside my pussy, thick and wet. So fucking good.

I was moaning now, an orgasm rapidly building. It had never felt this way before, not even when I was alone with my vibrator. I panted as Ford parted me and slid one finger deep inside of me, keeping his mouth over my clit, sucking it like a Hoover. I was riding his hand now, grinding hard against his fingers and mouth, seeking the relief that I knew was close.

“I’m going to come,” I panted, squeezing my eyes shut.

My toes curled into the carpet, my body arching up and away from the sofa as Ford inserted another finger in my pussy. I loved the way his body stretched mine, the way I could feel his fingers moving inside me, matching the quick, hard rhythm of his tongue on my clit.

He began to move faster, harder, coaxing the climax out of me, and my body responded.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming,” I whimpered, pleasure arching through me as I came—so fucking hard, I couldn’t believe another person had done this to me, moaning so loud, I wondered if my neighbors could hear it. But Ford didn’t stop until I finally pushed him away, falling back breathlessly against the couch, my entire body buzzing.

He stood, and I could tell he was aroused, the hard press of his cock evident against the zipper of his pants. I half expected him to sweep me up into his arms and carry me to the bedroom, to finish what we had started.

Instead, he leaned down and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

“I should go,” he said. “I’ll call you.”

Somehow I managed to nod, laying there in a daze as Ford let himself out. It wasn’t until I heard the door click closed that I realized exactly how much trouble I was in.

I was screwed, and I knew it.

Figuratively, since Ford was such a damn good lover and my heart was bound to get attached…but I was also pretty sure I’d be getting literally screwed soon enough as well.

Because there was no way I was going to be able to resist him.

And I knew my heart wouldn’t be able to, either.