Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
What were my choices? Take what she was capable of giving me or walking away. The way I felt, I had no choice.
I swallowed. “Let’s just enjoy each other for the rest of the summer.”
Chapter 21
* * *
Valentina
“I passed!” I covered my mouth in disbelief and stared at my name on the screen.
Valentina Di Giovanni Davis
New York State Teacher Certification Exam- passed
Content Specialty Test - Italian – passed
It was right there in black and white, yet it still felt surreal. My phone started to buzz with incoming texts. Results were posted right at eight a.m., so I knew my friends were getting theirs, too.
Ford came out from the shower in my bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.
“I passed!”
“Holy shit. It’s eight o’clock already?”
I nodded, unable to stop smiling. He walked over to the bed and scooped me up, swinging me around in a circle.
“Congratulations. I’m fucking a teacher. That’s kind of hot.”
I read the flurry of texts from my friends. Mark passed. Desiree passed. Allison passed. “We all did it!”
“That’s great. We need to celebrate.”
I sat down on the bed and texted back to my friends. Ford sat next to me with a proud smile on his face.
“It feels surreal,” I said. “Ten years ago when we had trouble getting pregnant, I decided to enroll in one Italian class. My son had just started second grade, and I needed something. Ryan told me it was a waste of money. I don’t know why, but I didn’t tell him I was thinking of becoming a teacher. I actually took one class a semester for a few years before telling him my plan.” I shrugged. “I knew he would say I didn’t need a full-time job. He saw my wanting to do something for me as some sort of insult to him as the financial provider. And now, ten years later, here I am, finally done—the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I’m ready for a change.”
Ford slid his hand up and down my bare thigh. “I’m proud of you. I know I wasn’t there for the years you worked on things, but I know firsthand how difficult it can be to get caught up in the life you’re in and forget about your own dreams.”
I nodded. He definitely understood.
Ford got up from the bed. “I would love to stay and spend the day celebrating inside of you, but I have to be in the office. What do you say we celebrate tonight at my place? Pack a bag and stay overnight.”
“Okay…but pack a bag? I can just run next door if I need something.”
“I meant my place in the city. I want to show you my apartment anyway, and we need to celebrate. Take the train in, and let’s stay tonight.”
I loved the city and did feel like celebrating. A change of scenery would be fun. “That sounds great. I’ll take the train later and meet you wherever.”
***
Ford had texted me to wear something sexy. Then twenty minutes before I was to leave to catch a train into the city, a black limousine pulled up in front of my house. He’d sent a stretch for me, and when I called him, he’d insisted I get in and said we were starting our celebration early.
Champagne was already open and waiting when I got in the backseat. So I asked the driver to wait a few minutes and ran back into the house to change. I’d originally considered a skimpy, royal blue, halter-top dress and stilettos, but it had felt over the top to wear it on the train. Though, wearing it in the back of a limousine made me feel like I was heading out for a special night.
The driver had been instructed not to tell me where we were going, and Ford was being coy about dinner. As we wound our way through Manhattan, excitement built within me. It was a crystal-clear night, and the city was lit up outside the tinted windows. I felt like a kid in a candy store, waiting to see what delicious treat the shop owner had for me.
But the excitement I felt about the city was totally eclipsed by the man standing at the curb when the limo slowed and pulled to the sidewalk. Ford was dressed in a suit, his feet planted wide, hands casually tucked into his pants pockets while he watched the stretch approach. He buttoned his jacket and leaned down to open the back door as we rolled to a stop. Extending a hand, he greeted me with an insanely sexy smile. It took me longer than it should have to give him my hand because I was too busy drooling.
God, Ford looked incredible. His shoulders were broad, waist narrow, and the perfection of the tailored suit contrasted so uniquely with the messiness of his hair. It looked like he didn’t give a shit, and that upped the sexiness barometer to a lethal level.