Build Me Up (15 page)

“Oh, trust me, you’re going to be screaming,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes as he pulled her close.

“You have a thing for hotels, do you, Mr. Hamm?” she teased, sliding her hands under his jacket.

“It’s a rare luxury.”

“Hm. We’ll have to change that. Maybe I’ll skip the B&B I was looking at and just get a hotel room. You could come.”

“Not the worst idea I’ve ever heard, Miss Barnes,” he grinned at her. “I’ll make sure to return the favor.”

Kristen blushed prettily as his words hit home and he would have gone back for a second taste if it hadn’t been for one of his crew members demanding his attention. Suddenly, he was feeling much better about their weekend away.

THIRTEEN

Kristen was exhausted. It was a good exhausted, stemming from a full day of day shopping and eating, but she was still exhausted. Annabelle, on the other hand, was on the exhilarated side of exhaustion. She was currently sitting on Kristen’s bed, holding up piece after piece of designer wear she’d gotten at a crazy discount at a couple of shops where friends of Kristen worked.

What Ford didn’t know couldn’t hurt him, Kristen had told herself when she’d called ahead and given the shops she was bringing Annabelle to her credit card number and asked them to put 50 percent of whatever Annabelle Hamm picked out on that card instead of on the one presented to them.

The sample sales she couldn’t do anything about, but at least the merchandise there was discounted enough that it wouldn’t put too big of a dent in Ford’s finances.

She’d let him pay for lunch, snacks, and she was going to let him pay for dinner. She was going to make it up to him later, after all. The thought of rolling around in the soft bed all night with Ford over and under and beside her made her lips stretch into a grin, even though she was technically too tired to do anything with her mouth but drool. She was determined to challenge herself on that front, though.

“This is so awesome,” Annabelle said for the umpteenth time since they’d landed in New York. Kristen was relieved that they were having fun together. Kristen was young enough – and Annabelle old enough – for them to connect as friends, but there was no telling what would happen if Kristen’s relationship with Ford ever came into the light.

“Do you come to New York often?” Annabelle asked, her eyes alight.

“From time to time, yeah. I travel a lot.”

“So, what other places have you been?”

“For work or for holiday?”

“Both. No, wait, where did you go on Spring Break?”

“Have you been watching one too many college movies?” Kristen teased.

“Oh, come on, college students go on Spring Break. It’s like common knowledge.”

“Yes, I went on Spring Break. One year, it was Daytona. Another, Cancun. Third, the Bahamas.”

“So cool,” Annabelle practically sighed.

Kristen shrugged. She’d had a great time, but she’d also been pretty irresponsible. Not exactly something she should highlight with Ford’s daughter.

“Is it…” Annabelle started, then clamped her mouth shut.

“Is it what?” Kristen asked.

“Never mind.” Annabelle’s cheeks were rosy and she looked a little flustered.

“Oh, come on, you can ask me anything. I won’t guarantee I’ll answer, though,” she added with a wink.

“Is it as crazy as you see on TV?”

“It can be. Some are very responsible, though, and just take the opportunity to get some sun and relax, de-stress.”

“Did you?”

Kristen took a deep breath. Honesty or prudence?

“No.”

Honesty – 1. Prudence – 0.

“Do you regret it?”

“Parts of it,” Kristen replied, deciding to ride the honesty trail all the way. “Especially the parts I can’t remember.”

Annabelle stayed silent for the longest time, seemingly processing what Kristen had said. Kristen wondered if she’d been too candid. Maybe Annabelle would use it against her someday. But she couldn’t change who she was – much less who she’d been. Ignoring it wouldn’t lead anywhere but a dead end.

“I went to a party at this friend’s house…” Annabelle started, her voice low and guilt-ridden. Kristen felt a hand close around her heart, both from being the person Annabelle chose to entrust what was obviously a secret to, and from knowing she’d have to keep whatever Ford’s daughter told her in confidence from him. “He’s in college. My best friend is dating his brother, and so we’ve hung out a couple of times.”

Kristen nodded silently, her mind working overtime behind her hopefully calm façade. College guys messing with high school girls? That equation never spelled success.

“He’s going on Spring Break to Cancun next year, and he invited us along. We’re going to be sharing an apartment. I haven’t told Mom yet.”

“Okay…”

“The thing is… he’s really hot and all, but I just… I don’t know if I want to… you know?”

“Mm-hm.” Oh, boy.

“So we were at this party, and he said he needed to make sure I was going to enjoy myself in Mexico, and not drag everyone down. He said you need to be able to drink shots like water, so I should practice with him. I did one shot, and it was so gross. I was coughing so bad, but he said practice makes perfect and poured me another. When he tipped his head back to do his shot, I threw mine out over my shoulder.”

Kristen stopped herself from saying ‘good girl’ and simply listened.

“He started slurring and sat on the bed, telling me I should take my clothes off so he could look at me. I didn’t want to, but he was impatient, so I went really slow, unbuttoning one button at a time. Before I got to the last one, he’d passed out. I buttoned up and ran out of there. I don’t know if he still wants me to go to Spring Break with him, but-”

“Elle,” Kristen cut her off and sat down on the bed next to her, turning to face her. “A guy like that is so not worth it. He only thinks about himself, and trust me, that makes for a pretty sucky experience for you.”

“But-”

“Listen, I know what it’s like, okay? I’ve been there. I wanted to be popular, and I thought that because the popular guys talked about hooking up with different girls every night, that was what I had to do to get there.”

“But you’re so pretty?” Annabelle said as if it was inconceivable that Kristen would want for attention.

“Thanks,” Kristen smiled. “Right back atcha. But looks have surprisingly little importance when it comes to feeling secure about who you are – or figuring it out in the first place.”

“Can I ask you something really personal?” Annabelle said after a moment of processing.

“Okay.”

“How old were you? Like, when you first… you know?”

“Too young,” Kristen smiled wistfully. “I was 16. I was at the quarterback’s house – his parents were out of town somewhere – and there was a party. Sometime in the middle of it, he tugged me upstairs and we went into his bedroom. It was quick and painful, and afterwards, he went back down to join the party. I considered sneaking out and going home, but when I came down the stairs, I saw him high-fiving his team mates with his arm around one of the other cheerleaders. So I stuck my chin out, walked over to where he was standing and kissed one of the other guys right in front of him.
Then
I went home.”

Annabelle’s jaw had dropped and Kristen felt tears stinging the back of her head, reliving the humiliation.

“TMI?” Kristen attempted a joking remark, but it felt flat and forced leaving her lips.

“No,” Annabelle shook her head. “Did you talk to him again?”

“No. He moved away a few months later, but my reputation stuck. I was a party girl with a slut label until well into college.”

“Did you sleep with a lot of guys?”

“Not as many as the rumors said I did,” Kristen said with a crooked smile.

“I’m scared I won’t have any friends left if I don’t go on this trip,” Annabelle admitted, biting her lip.

“Okay, I know this is like the lamest thing to say, but if your friends don’t like you for who you are, then they’re not really your friends. Honest.”

“You have lots of friends, though, don’t you?”

“I do. Most of them are more like casual acquaintances. I have a few I can trust – the few who wouldn’t care if I were flat out broke or the queen of Sweden.”

“Sweden?”

“I really like
IKEA
.”

They both laughed then, and when Ford knocked on the door and came in, he found them just like that.

Kristen brushed her hair smooth. She’d finally gotten a chance to make a salon visit – along with Annabelle, of course – and her hair was currently honey blonde and straight. It wouldn’t last long, so she wanted to enjoy it while she could. Straighteners only went so far.

It was their second night in New York, and she was getting ready to go out to dinner with Ford and Annabelle. She was wearing one of her new dresses – a silky smooth black dress that flared out around her knees with thin straps holding the bodice up, her back almost bare except for a criss-cross pattern.

After their heart-to-heart the night before, Kristen and Annabelle had become much closer, and considering the secrets they’d shared, Kristen hadn’t been up to spending the night with Ford. He hadn’t asked why, and she hoped he wouldn’t, but he
had
asked if they could stay another night in New York so that she had time to relax.

It was a sneaky way of getting a second chance at getting her into bed, and they both knew it. Annabelle, however, oblivious to her father’s scheming side, was beyond thrilled. Instead of one full day of hitting the streets of New York, she was getting two. They would be flying back Monday morning, leaving Sunday night wide open for nocturnal activities.

Kristen was just putting on her earrings when there was a knock on her door. She went to open and found Ford standing outside.

“May I come in?”

“I’m not late, am I?” she asked, checking her phone. “We’re not supposed to be at the restaurant until…”

“You’re not late,” Ford said and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Annabelle’s in the shower. I figured I’d give her some space.”

“You’re all dressed up,” she remarked, checking out his charcoal suit. He looked
really
good in a suit.

“It’s a nice restaurant,” he shrugged. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks,” Kristen smiled, feeling oddly timid. “When did you get the suit?”

“While you two were getting your hair and whatnot done.”

“Ah.”

“You approve, then?”

“Mm-hm,” Kristen nodded, stepping closer. “You look very hot.”

“And that’s a good thing?”

“Stop fishing for compliments,” she chided him playfully, reaching up to pat his cheek, “it’s not very attractive.”

He was about to say something in response, but Kristen didn’t let him. She rose up on her toes and kissed him. When his arms circled her, however, Kristen pushed against his chest. “We don’t have enough time for this.”

“Not to brag, but that’s not entirely true,” Ford said with a crooked grin.

“Trust me, that’s nothing to brag about,” Kristen said and tapped his nose, slipping away from him. “Now go, I need to finish getting ready.”

“You look plenty ready to me,” he said, raking his eyes over her.

“Out,” she pointed to the door, but she had a smile on her face. Ford shrugged and backed up.

“I guess I’ll wait in the lobby, then.”

“Enjoy the New York Times,” she called after him.

After dinner, Kristen surprised them with tickets to
Wicked
, which Annabelle was thrilled about. Ford was less thrilled when his daughter chose to sit in between him and Kristen, thereby excluding all possibilities of handholding during the scary bits. There were quite a few. Flying monkeys freaked him out.

As they walked back to the hotel, Annabelle was chatting animatedly of what she had seen, and how those kids had been such jerks to Elfie and what other choice did she have except become what they all thought she was. Ford had a hunch there was a deeper meaning to what Annabelle was saying to Kristen, but he refused to dwell on it.

Annabelle was reluctant to leave Kristen’s room, wanting to chat with her all night, and Ford tried suggesting she let Kristen get some rest, because hadn’t they all had a couple of busy days? Eventually, Annabelle fell asleep with the TV on, and Ford ducked out of the room.

He felt like a schoolboy on prom, itching to get his girl alone, and he would have been upset with himself about it if his libido hadn’t been telling him to suck it up and go get the girl.

He knocked lightly on Kristen’s door and when she opened, she was in a white robe, her hair softly framing her face.

“I thought about having a shower,” she said and held the door open for him, “but once I do, my hair is going to revert back to its curly state, and I’d like to enjoy this a little bit longer.”

Ford reached out and ran his hand through a portion of her hair. It slipped between his fingers like fine sawdust. “Yes,” he agreed, “I’d like to enjoy this, too.” His hand fell to her shoulder, where he pushed back the rough fabric of the robe, smoothing it over her naked skin. He leaned in and planted a kiss right on the edge of her shoulder, then kissing his way along her collarbone. “And this.”

Kristen let out a murmur of approval and his hands went to untie the robe, letting it fall to the floor. She was completely nude underneath, which he should have been prepared for under the circumstances, but wasn’t. He bit back a curse and kissed her deeply, one hand on the back of her neck and the other at her hip, holding her against his straining arousal.