Fourth Down (20 page)

“Monday nights are pretty slow now
that football’s over. You should come by the pub for dinner after
you’re done with work…you know, if you’re not studying or
whatever.” He sounded so unsure of himself that I wondered if he
was thinking the same thing as me.

Deciding to go out on a limb, because
what the hell, that’s pretty much all I did where Ford was
concerned, I said, “That sounds great. Maybe I’ll see if Brooke
wants to go. I haven’t seen her in forever…and…you can come over
after your shift is over if you want. I might be asleep,
but…”

He grinned at me and reached over to
take my hand. “I’ll be there, but I can’t promise to slip in
quietly. Once I see you in bed, I can’t be held accountable for my
actions.”

Smirking back at him, I wiggled my
eyebrows and said, “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Needing to work for the money, but not
ready to jump right into another aide assignment after Maggie’s
death, especially another terminal patient, my agency was temping
me out to the hospital. As a state registered nurse’s aide I was
able to float and fill in where needed. Today I worked a few hours
in the pediatric unit. Kids were often much better and braver
patients than adults.

Tired from a long day of class and
work, I kicked off my boots as soon as I entered my apartment and
collapsed on my bed. It was almost five o’clock, so I texted Brooke
about going for dinner and stared at my ceiling as I waited for her
reply. It was almost immediate, and she was up for meeting me at
the pub in half an hour when she got off work.

I laid on my bed for twenty more
minutes just enjoying the silence of my empty apartment but missing
Ford’s presence at the same time. His tall built frame seemed to
take up all of the small space when he was here. For two and a half
years I had lived here alone with no problem. Two weeks with Ford
basically living with me, and I couldn’t remember what it was like
without him here.

Shaking off my thoughts before they
could head too far down a depressing road, I pushed myself up and
got ready to leave to meet Brooke.

When I walked into the pub, Brooke was
already waiting for me at the bar. Ford was busy serving other
customers, but he winked at me when I sat down next to
Brooke.

“I can’t believe you’re banging Ford
Walsh!” Brooke said, a little too loudly for my
preference.

I cringed at her crude description of
what was going on between Ford and me. He must not have heard her
as he walked toward us with a rare smile on his face. Judging from
the way he reprimanded me our first night together when I joked
about it being a pity fuck, I was sure he wouldn’t appreciate
Brooke’s take on the matter.

Ford nodded at Brooke before leaning
over the bar and placing his hand on the back of my head. Pulling
me forward slightly he kissed me in a way that made it obvious we
were together, in some sense of the word. I was too shocked that he
would initiate such a public display of affection where he worked
that he slipped right past my defenses. When he finally pulled
away, he smirked at me. “That’s for being denied
earlier.”

Brooke was looking back and forth
between us with her mouth hanging open. I was aware that I was
acting totally unlike I normally would, and actually Ford was too,
but it’s just what came naturally with us.

“What can I get for you ladies?” Ford
asked us.

Brooke flipped through the menu and
ordered a cobb salad and a beer. Pointing at me she said, “You can
order your own drink tonight. I’m not getting in trouble like last
time.”

It seemed like ages ago that we were
here on Halloween. So much had happened since then.

Ford shook his head. “I’ll be more
than happy to get you drunk at home and take advantage of you, but
I can’t serve you in here.”

“You can serve her. She’s twenty-one
now. This time I’m telling the truth,” Brooke laughed.

Ford didn’t join in her amusement.
Turning his frown on me, he demanded, “Since when are you
twenty-one?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “My birthday
was two days after Christmas.”

An older guy sat down on the other
side of Brooke and asked Ford for a shot of whiskey, but Ford
completely ignored him and kept his narrowed blue eyes on me. “Why
didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?”

Brooke cleared her throat and slid off
her bar stool. “I’m going to the ladies room while you two
chat.”

Ford was still waiting for my
answer.

“I don’t know. It’s not like I had a
big party and didn’t invite you. I celebrated with my mom and Rick
and the boys when I was home for Christmas. It’s not a big
deal.”

“It was your twenty-first birthday.
That is a big deal, Poppy. You should have told me.”

“We were just friends then,
Ford.”

Slinging his towel over his shoulder
he leaned in closer and said, “We were never just friends,
Poppy.”

He left me to ponder what he meant by
that while he finally poured the guy his shot of whiskey. Brooke
returned and took a drink of her beer.

“You didn’t order a drink?”

“No. He’s already pissed that he
didn’t know about my birthday. I’m not going to poke the tiger any
more than I already have,” I said sarcastically.

“He’s probably just upset that he
didn’t get to spend your birthday with you. It seems like he really
cares about you.”

I scoffed. “You’ve seen us together
for all of five minutes, three of which were spent arguing. How can
you possibly tell that?”

“Trust me, Poppy. I’ve been with
plenty of guys. If one of them had acted even half as into me, I
wouldn’t be single right now.”

Ford arrived with our food several
minutes later. In the midst of our birthday argument, I had never
placed my order. But Ford took the liberty of serving me the same
thing I had ordered the last time I was here with Maggie. That was
a long time ago. Did he really remember what I liked to
eat?

He left us alone while we ate and
talked about Brooke’s latest dating disaster.

“You should really write a book about
all the stupid guys you’ve been with,” I joked.

She laughed. “Yeah, kind of a what not
to do guide for single girls. I would probably make millions off
it.”

When it came time for us to go, I
caught Ford’s eye and asked for the check when he came
over.

“It’s on the house,” he
grumbled.

“Oh…okay, thanks.” Turning to Brooke I
said, “I have to study tonight, but we should make this a regular
thing.”

She got the hint that I wanted to stay
and talk to Ford.

“Of course! You know I won’t let you
hide in your apartment studying for too long.”

We said our goodbyes and I lingered at
the bar, waiting for Ford to come back my way.

When he saw I was waiting for him, he
walked back over.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my
birthday. I just didn’t think it was that big of a
deal.”

He ran a hand through his hair and
down over his face. With a heavy sigh he said, “I’m sorry I
overreacted. I tend to do that sometimes.”

I smiled at the
understatement.

“Can I still come over tonight?” He
asked, looking at me intently, his blue eyes piercing
mine.

“Of course. I would be sad if you
didn’t,” I answered honestly.

He nodded once and came around the end
of the bar to pull me into his arms. Placing a kiss on the top of
my head, he said, “Text me when you get home so I know you’re
safe.”

I rolled my eyes, but he couldn’t see
since my face was still buried in his chest.

I sent Ford a text when I got home. He
already had a spare key to my apartment that I had given him last
week. It just made sense since he was staying here so
much.

After a few hours of studying, I took
a shower and dried my hair. Usually I ended up sleeping in nothing
when Ford was here. Tonight I slipped on a pair of silky pink
underwear and pulled one of Ford’s t-shirts over my head. It was
the one he had worn this morning before going in to work, so it
still smelled like him. I would have to figure out a way to keep
this one when he was gone.

It was after eleven when I turned off
my light, and I knew Ford would be home within the hour. I tried to
wait up, but my eyes kept drifting shut until finally I fell
asleep. It couldn’t have been much longer until Ford arrived, but
it seemed like I had been asleep for a long time when I heard the
door open and then shut again.

Only a few minutes later I felt Ford
lift the covers and slip into bed next to me. Pulling me close with
my back up against his chest, he ran his hand down my side and over
my hip. He kissed my neck and whispered against my ear, “Goodnight,
Poppy.” His warm breath fluttered over my sensitive skin, and I
shivered.

The fact that he came over just to be
with me, to sleep next to me, made me want to do more than just
sleep. Turning in his arms, I faced him and hitched my leg up over
his hip. “I’m not sleepy quite yet,” I murmured against his mouth.
I could feel his lips curl up as he put his hand on my ass and
pulled me closer.

“Me neither.”

Chapter Fourteen

Ford

I put my hand on my knee to keep it
from bouncing too much and waking up Poppy. We were about thirty
minutes away from landing, and with each passing minute my anxiety
grew. Thank God Poppy was here with me. I don’t think I would have
gone through with this interview if she hadn’t insisted on
it.

Smiling to myself, I remembered how
sexy she was when she was mad. It didn’t happen often - her being
mad that is…she was always sexy. I had picked up on the fact that
she was only outspoken and confrontational when something was
really important to her. I was sure as hell glad I fell into the
something important category.

A few days ago I mentioned that maybe
I wasn’t ready to come down for the interview. It hadn’t even been
a full month since my mom passed away. Poppy put her hands on her
slim hips, her hazel eyes flashing with annoyance and anger, and
told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to go to this
interview.

So here we are, on the plane, with
Poppy fast asleep and me wide awake. I know she had worked a couple
extra shifts this week to be able to take the whole weekend off for
this trip, so she was exhausted. It was late Friday afternoon, so
we had the rest of today to ourselves and then I would meet with
coach tomorrow.

It was a good thing Poppy was sleeping
now, because I had plans for tonight since I missed her actual
birthday. I know she didn’t think it was a big deal, but it was to
me. Poppy was without a doubt the most caring, selfless person I
had ever met. She deserved a celebration for her
birthday.

She was curled up in her seat with her
head practically in my lap. Her long hair was braided and she wore
a sweatshirt with leggings and those furry boots she wore all the
time. I wished her hair was down so I could run my fingers through
the soft strands, but instead I settled for smoothing my hand over
her arm and shoulder.

The pilot came over the intercom and
announced we would begin our descent in a few minutes.

“Poppy. Wake up, babe. We’re getting
ready to land,” I murmured. She stirred and stretched, sitting up
in her seat and blinking her expressive eyes.

“Mmmm…wow, that went fast. I can’t
believe we’re there already. Can you get my bag down for me? I want
to change clothes before we land.”

I stood up and wrestled her carry on
down from the overhead compartment. “You don’t want to wait until
we get to the hotel?”

“No.”

Okay. I handed her the bag and stepped
back to let her pass through the narrow aisle.

While I waited for Poppy to return
from the bathroom, I drummed my fingers on the arm rest and bounced
my knee anxiously. After what seemed like forever, Poppy exited the
tiny airplane bathroom and walked back down the aisle toward
me.

What the fuck?

She went in dressed like she just
climbed out of bed, and she came out looking like a hot college
coed on the way to a party. Her hair was loose and wavy, and it
looked like she had put on some makeup. She wore a very short denim
skirt, which bared her long legs down to the cowboy boots on her
feet. I briefly wondered what she wore underneath the skirt, but
then I saw her shirt.

It was a tight low cut purple t-shirt
styled like an LSU football jersey with the number 10 on the front.
That was my number. Every sports store in the city used to sell my
number 10 jersey, but I hadn’t seen one in three years.

Poppy reached where I sat with my
mouth hanging open. She handed me her carryon bag, which I stowed
back away before slumping back into my seat. Spinning around she
lifted her thick mass of glossy brown hair up so I could see the
same number 10 on the back with Walsh right above it.