Fourth Down (12 page)

“You better put a muzzle on your
bitch, Walsh. Or I’m going to shut her up myself.”

My mouth dropped open in shock at
being called a bitch, and before I could give Bill another earful,
Ford reached over the bar and grabbed Bill by the collar of his
plaid flannel shirt. Bill had to have weighed a good fifty pounds
more than Ford, although none of it was muscle.

In a split-second Ford yanked Bill
halfway over the bar and snarled in his face, “You can sling all
the shit you want at me, but don’t you ever talk to her like that.”
He gave Bill a harsh shake and said in a low voice that couldn’t be
argued with, “Apologize to the lady.”

Bill croaked out something that
sounded like “Sorry”. Then Ford shoved him back over the bar, and
good old Bill landed ass first on the floor with a thud, knocking
over bar stools on his way.

I couldn’t do anything other than sit
there looking back and forth between Ford, who was angrier than I’d
ever seen him, and Bill, who looked like he had fallen and couldn’t
get up.

“Take your girl home, Ford. I’ll
handle Bill.” This came from one of the waitresses, a tall bleached
blonde who was probably close to forty but dressed like she was
twenty.

Ford glanced at me, and I could see
him take a deep breath in an obvious effort to calm
down.

“Thanks, Shelly.”

He tossed his towel on the bar and
came around the end of the bar to help me off the bar stool. I
reached for my jacket, but he got there first and held it out for
me. When we left, he took my hand and led me down the back hallway
and out the back door into the parking lot.

It was still snowing lightly, and we
didn’t speak as Ford held the passenger door to his truck open and
closed it after I got in. I buckled my seatbelt and waited for Ford
to come around and get in the drivers’ side…but he didn’t. Turning
in my seat, I saw him pacing back and forth behind his truck. What
was he doing?

Unbuckling my seat belt I scrambled
off my seat, and teetered on my heels through the gravel to the
back of the truck.

“What are you doing? It’s snowing and
you’re not wearing a coat.”

He scoffed and shook his head. Putting
his hands on the tailgate and leaning over, he mumbled, “I have no
fucking idea what I’m doing.”

Taking a tentative step closer, I sat
on the bumper next to him. “What’s wrong, Ford?” I asked
quietly.

He turned his head to look at me, and
I was struck by the swirl of emotions in his blue eyes. Usually
there was only anger with a hint of sadness, but now there was
confusion, indecision and …desire? I recognized it as the same look
that had flashed in his eyes earlier in the back room. Desire for
me? My chest began to rise and fall a little quicker as he held my
gaze.

Looking away, he said, “Christ, Poppy.
Don’t look at me like that.”

My eyes immediately dropped to the
ground in front of me. “Like what?”

“Like you want me to kiss you…because
that’s not a good idea.”

Oh, God. Not only did he read my mind,
but he rejected me in the same sentence. I could feel my cheeks
heating with embarrassment, and I turned my head away so he
couldn’t see the tears threatening to fall.

“That’s not what I was thinking,” I
lied. “But it’s good to know where you stand.” Obviously I had
misunderstood his meaning earlier when he said his feelings for me
weren’t fatherly and the look in his eyes just now.

“Can you just take me home, please?” I
mumbled, sniffling just a little.

With my hand on his truck for balance
in my heels, I made it around the side of the truck before Ford
took my hand and turned me back to face him.

“Are you crying?”

Sniffling again, I blinked back a
couple of tears. “No.”

Still holding my hand, he placed his
other on my chin, raising my face up to his. “Why are you crying,
Poppy?”

Turning my head away from his piercing
eyes, I snapped, “Don’t be nice to me, Ford. Just take me home, and
I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Hey. You’re not bothering me…I mean
you are, but not in the way you think.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and
scowled at him. “Shut up, Ford! I get it, okay. You don’t want to
have to take care of me, and you certainly don’t want to kiss me.
So, I’ll be sure to …”

His hands landed on my shoulders, and
he bent down so we were eye to eye again, just like earlier in the
back room.

“Wait. You think I don’t want to kiss
you? That’s why you’re upset?”

He released me and turned around,
shoving his hands through his hair again and looking up to the sky.
I didn’t say anything; I couldn’t. My well of words had dried up
for the evening.

Ford fisted his hands in his hair and
then suddenly spun back around, stepping right up in front of me so
our bodies were mere centimeters away from touching. I was already
against the side of the truck, so there was nowhere to go. One of
his hands wrapped around my waist to the small of my back, while
the other resumed its position on my chin, forcing me to look up at
him.

His blue eyes were blazing, all trace
of confusion and indecision gone, and when he spoke his voice was
low and rough.

“Make no mistake. I want to kiss you.
I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment you walked into the bar in
that ridiculous schoolgirl costume. Even when I was pissed at you
for helping my mom, I wanted to kiss you. And tonight, when you
defended my honor to a guy three times your size, I wanted to kiss
you. There is not a second that goes by when I’m around you that I
don’t want to grab you and kiss the hell out of you,
Poppy.”

I pressed my hands to his chest for
balance, because his words were making my knees weak. Although I
was often too nice and avoided confrontation at all costs, in the
important moments I was able to speak up. This was one of those
rare moments.

“So, do it,” I whispered, holding his
gaze and silently praying he wouldn’t refuse me.

Ford dropped his forehead to mine and
swore softly. Before I could second guess my boldness, his lips
were on mine, soft but firm. Even better than I had imagined, and
my lips parted on a sigh. Ford swept his tongue inside, boldly
possessing my mouth. My hands slid up his chest and around the back
of his neck, where I held on for dear life.

I’d never been kissed like this, and I
never wanted him to stop. His hands were restless on my body, one
on my back pulling me tight against him, the other on my face
gently caressing my cheek with his thumb and angling my head to
deepen the kiss. One of his legs fit snugly between mine, and his
thigh pressed against me, causing me to moan and press closer. He
was hard against my belly, and his obvious arousal only caused my
own to burn brighter.

Breaking away, Ford dropped his head
to kiss my neck and suck on my earlobe, sending shocks of pleasure
through my body. My breathing was heavy and uneven, and even though
I wasn’t terribly experienced, I knew this was unlike anything I
would ever experience with someone else. Ford pushed all my buttons
simply by existing, and now that he was touching me…I wanted more.
So much more.

Chapter Eight

Ford

The soft sounds of pleasure escaping
from Poppy’s mouth while I kissed my way along her neck were
driving me crazy. She had a firm grip on the back of my head,
holding me to her, and the way she was rocking against my thigh let
me know she was just as aroused as I was. Before I captured her
lips with mine again, I needed to stop this before it went any
farther. If I kissed her again and felt her tongue against mine, I
might not be able to stop.

Gripping her hips to keep her from
following me, I tore my mouth away from the soft skin of her throat
and took a step back. For a second before she realized I was gone,
I took in the sight of Poppy with her head thrown back, eyes
closed, lips parted. She looked more beautiful than should be
allowed. When she noticed I wasn’t just shifting my focus, her eyes
opened and were clouded with desire. It took every ounce of self
control I possessed not to move back in and take what I
wanted.

“What’s wrong?” Poppy asked me, her
voice husky. She licked her full bottom lip, and I had to shut my
eyes for a moment against the visual of her luscious
mouth.

“I’m sorry, Poppy. I shouldn’t have
done that.”

Hurt flashed through her eyes, and she
opened her mouth to protest.

“Shh,” I said pressing my finger to
her lips. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it, because…damn
Poppy.”

“Then why did you stop?”

“Because I’m not what you
need.”

She scoffed and knocked my hands off
her hips so she could replace them with her own. “How do you know
what I need?”

I wished I could memorize her as she
looked right then with her hands on her hips, her eyes alight with
desire and annoyance, snowflakes in her hair, and her mouth
thoroughly kissed.

“I know you’re not a one-night stand
kind of girl, Poppy. And that’s all I have to offer right now. I
don’t know what the hell I’m doing with my life, but I’m not a
relationship kind of guy.”

Her bottom lip stuck out slightly in a
pout. “What if I’ll take whatever you’re offering?”

That wasn’t what I expected her to
say, and for a moment I almost took her up on it. I hadn’t actually
dated anyone since I had moved back to town three years ago, and
when I was interested in female companionship I didn’t have to work
too hard to get it. The idea of taking Poppy back to her place and
losing myself in her was tempting, so very tempting. But I had the
feeling one night with her wouldn’t be enough. She was turned on
right now, but she would regret it in the morning. The last thing I
wanted to be to her was a regret.

“I do care about you, Poppy, in my own
way and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. I can barely make
it through the day without biting someone’s head off, let alone be
the kind of guy you should be with.”

She was silent as she studied me
through hazel eyes. It was like she was making up her mind whether
she was going to accept what I said or demand I take her home and
pick up where we left off. Lord, I was in trouble if she chose the
latter. I was strong now, but if she begged I wasn’t sure I could
refuse her.

With a sigh, Poppy’s shoulders slumped
and her gaze dropped to the ground. “Fine, Ford. I’m not going to
throw myself at you. I can only take so much rejection in one
day.”

“Hey, hey. I’m not rejecting you. I’m
trying not to hurt you.”

She rolled her eyes and walked to the
passenger door, yanked it open and climbed in. Okay, I guess she
was ready to go home. On the ride home, she looked away from me and
out the window, sitting as close to the door as her seatbelt would
allow. It was a far cry from the way she was pressed against me
earlier, and I felt the distance she was putting between us. It
wasn’t a good feeling.

When we got to her place, I got out
and walked her to the door.

She unlocked her door and turned back
to face me. “Thanks for fixing my car,” she said, looking defeated
and sad.

I hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but
that’s exactly what I had done. Though I knew this wouldn’t hurt
nearly as bad as if I had slept with her and then did what I always
do. Walk away. Poppy deserved better.

I wanted to say something that would
make it all better, but I didn’t know what that would be. So, I
just stood there with my hands shoved in my pockets so I wouldn’t
reach for her.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday,” Poppy said
walking inside her apartment. “Oh, and Ford? If you could start
being mean to me again, that would make it easier for me to not
want to kiss you.” The door shut in my face.

I was halfway down the stairs when it
opened again, and Poppy stuck her head out. “And don’t you dare
kiss me again unless you’re ready to finish what you started,” she
scolded with her eyebrows pulled together in a scowl.

I gave her a thumbs up over my
shoulder and said, “Got it.” Continuing down the stairs and getting
the hell away from her was the only thing I could focus on right
now. She was always so nice and pleasant, and to see that cute
frown on her face made me want to go back up and kiss it
away.

But I got her message loud and clear -
she was basically telling me not to play with her emotions, and I
respected that. It was exactly why I put a stop to this in the
first place.

The night was long and held little
sleep for me. No matter how far under the pillow I buried my head,
I could still taste Poppy on my lips and smell the sweet floral
scent that was uniquely hers. I drifted off somewhere close to dawn
only to be awakened by my alarm a few short hours later.

Staring up at the ceiling, I felt
uneasy about how we had left things last night. Over the last
couple of weeks I thought we had become friends, but with how
things went down last night I wasn’t sure how it would be between
us. I definitely still wanted Poppy as my friend, even if it would
be torture not to touch her whenever she was near. Now that I’d had
a taste, and God it was so much better than I had imagined, it
would be hard to keep my hands off.