Page 72 of Renegade Rift
I’m not sure if I want to smile or cry. So of course, I do both.
“That’s…” I tighten my hand around his, silent tears streaming down my face. “Incredibly sweet.”
Ford lets out a sound that is half laugh, half sigh. “I’m glad you think so, because I was worried you’d think it was creepy.”
“Well now that you mention it,” I tease, using it as a cover to try and wipe away my tears with my free hand.
“Shit, Juliet.” Ford drops my hand and brings his to my face. Cupping my chin, he thumbs away the stray tears. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“See?” I sniff through my halfhearted smile. “I told you I’m bad at this dating thing. Crying on a first date must be going against every lesson.”
“No.” His thumb traces across my cheek in a reassuring circle, grazing the small beauty mark below my eye. “Any guy who faults you for feeling deeply isn’t worth your time.”
“Tyler would have,” I whisper. “We would have already been out of the restaurant and into a cab. He would have told me I was an embarrassment, and he shouldn’t have bothered taking me out.”
Cautiously, I look up at Ford. Anger flashes in his eyes and he clenches his jaw so tight I’m worried he might break a tooth. Yet, despite all that rage, his hand on my face is butterfly soft.
“I’m sorry.” I try to diffuse the situation. “I’m pretty sure I just broke the cardinal rule of dating: don’t bring up your ex.”
“Juliet.”
But of course, I can’t stop there. Once the apology train has taken off, I have to see it through. “I really shouldn’t have said anything. It slipped out. I promise I won’t bring him up again, and we can just go back to having a really good night.”
“Juliet.” His hand tightens on my cheek just enough to let me know he’s there.
I snap my eyes shut and lean into his touch. “I’m sorry.” The words come out as unsteady as I feel.
“Hey. Look at me.” His tone isn’t commanding. It’s almost desperate. And when I open my eyes, I find nothing but understanding in his deep brown gaze. “You don’t have to apologize to me.”
“I—” My body sags, releasing all the coiled tension inside. “I don’t?”
“No, love. You never have to apologize for being honest with me.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, fingering the ends where they fall just above my shoulder. “I’m pretty sure I all but demanded that honesty from you when we agreed to these dates.”
“So you’re not mad?” I hate the uneasiness that’s been trained into me for so many years.But I love that Ford is taking the time to rewrite those notions.
“At my asshole brother? I’m fucking furious.” His hand drops, finding mine in my lap and once again intertwining our fingers. “But not at you. Never at you.”
Maybe it’s the way he’s looking at me, without an ounce of pity and like I am something to be cherished, but I believe every word.
I really don’t deserve this man in my life.
But I want him there.
It’s a quiet, almost whisper, of a truth. One I’m not ready to actually admit—even to myself. Because while I have no doubt Ford will always be in my life, I’m beginning to think maybe his idea ofin my lifeand the story my heart wants to tell aren’t the same thing.
He doesn’t want anything to change. Those were his words.
Which means this isn’t real, and at the end of these three dates, he’ll walk away. So while that whisper of a truth is there, I can’t let myself fully entertain it.
Ford looks past me, excitement sparking in his eyes.I’m about to turn around when his hand slides to my bicep and he stops me. “This is terrible fucking timing, but if you can trust me, I’d like for you to meet someone.”
“Right now?” I squeak. “I’m an absolute mess.”
He leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek. “You’re beautiful, Juliet.”
Those pesky butterflies are back in my belly, and I fully expect my cheeks are red with how warm they feel. But I don’t get more than a second to process any of that because a tall blonde woman dressed in a perfectly tailored plum power suit slides up to the edge of our table.
“You made it!” she exclaims, clapping her hands in front of her.
