It Must Be Your Love: The Sullivans (3 page)

The tower.

What girl didn’t love the thought of a gorgeous, strapping prince climbing up stone and vines to give her true love’s kiss in a tower? And what boy wouldn’t have loved to stealthily track invaders from high above like a warrior would have so many centuries ago? Plus, on a more practical note, the tower had great light, beautiful stone walls, and an incredible view.

The house was currently owned by a really nice couple who were, unfortunately, splitting up. Mia had attended a few of their parties over the years and had always been amazed by how similar they were—everything from their blond good looks to their classic fashion sense. She’d been extremely surprised when they had called to let her know they were getting a divorce and wanted her to list their home. As far as she had seen, they had never argued or seemed angry with each other beneath brittle smiles and fake endearments, like so many couples often did. Then again, the more she’d thought about it, she couldn’t ever remember them touching, either. Their divorce, it seemed, was now proceeding with as little passion as their marriage.

Mia stopped halfway up the spiral staircase that led to the tower room and gazed out a small window that overlooked the extensive grounds.

How,
she wondered,
do people ever figure out the balance between love and lust? Friendship and passion?

Gazing out at the blue lake and the yacht moored just outside the window, she barely saw them as she mulled over the questions that had been popping into her head again and again now that so many of her family members had found
the one
. First, her eight cousins in San Francisco had all fallen in love. Four were already married and another four were engaged, with Marcus and Nicola’s wedding coming up on Sunday at his winery in Napa Valley. And then, this past summer, her brother Rafe had fallen head over heels in love with their old friend Brooke.

Of course, Mia was thrilled for her brother and cousins. But after seeing each of the happy couples together, she’d seriously begun to doubt that she’d find what they all had with each other. Especially when, given her big past relationship mistake, she clearly had no idea what real love was.

The sounds of a seagull squawking just a few yards outside the window yanked her from her musings. Her anonymous buyer would be arriving in fifteen minutes, and she wanted to be completely ready for him. Taking the final stairs two at a time, she reached the thick wooden door to the tower room thirty seconds later.

She was slightly surprised to find the door open. But when she stepped inside she was
far
more surprised to realize that the room wasn’t empty...and that the anonymous buyer was the very last man on earth she ever wanted to see again.

Just that quickly, five years fell away, and she was reliving the moment when she’d seen him for the very first time.

* * *

Five years ago, in a downtown Seattle venue...

Mia Sullivan was having the best day of her life. She’d sold her first seven-figure property, and had a great Friday night dinner with her family at her parents’ house, where her mother, father, and four brothers had surprised her with a huge arrangement of flowers and champagne to toast her achievement. After heading home to change into something less professional and more slinky, she was out continuing the celebration at a well-known Seattle club with some of her colleagues who had also closed good deals that week.

She’d been too amped up at dinner with her family to take more than a few sips of the champagne they’d popped on her behalf and now her mojito had never tasted better. Bursting with energy, Mia was ready and raring for the band to start playing so that she could hit the dance floor. She felt especially sexy tonight in her shimmering silver dress with thin spaghetti straps and a deep plunge in the back. Mia wasn’t particularly tall, but with the hem of her dress barely skimming her thighs and her five-inch silver heels, she felt like she could go toe to toe with any of the supermodels-in-training in the audience.

The cute guy she was flirting with had just gone to get her another drink when the house music and the lights went down, and dozens of girls in the crowd started squealing. Mia didn’t follow the music scene very closely, but evidently, this show tonight was the hottest ticket in town. Mia was more into Navy SEAL types with their muscles and strength, rather than rockers with their tattoos and leather. Still, the way the other women in the room were acting had her more than a little curious about the singer.

How great could Ford Vincent possibly be?

Just then, a deep male voice cut through the noise of the crowd and the squeals grew louder—then, miraculously, fell away entirely as his voice resonated down into all of their souls.

Mia forgot all about the guy she’d been flirting with as she moved through the crowd to get closer to the stage. She had made it nearly to the front when the spotlight lit.

Oh my God, the singer was
gorgeous.
But not in a typically rock star way. Yes, he had on leather pants and his dark hair was long enough to brush the tops of his shoulders, but he was beautifully built, with a broad chest, muscular arms and thighs, and a surprising ruggedness, as if he regularly spent time lifting something heavier than an electric guitar.

But a few seconds later, Mia realized it didn’t matter what he looked like...because she was utterly lost in the music, her eyes closing as she let it move her body.

When an elbow poked her in the side, Mia opened her eyes to see who was knocking into her. The girl next to her said, “He’s singing straight to you!”

A moment later, Mia turned toward the stage and found herself looking right into the singer’s heated gaze. She’d never been afraid of her own innate sensuality, but...oh...the way just one look from this man instantly melted her insides sent a rare, and very surprising, red flag of caution up inside her chest.

She’d always been the one in control of her relationships, was used to being the one who was wanted and needed more than she’d ever wanted or needed anyone. Relationships, and sex, had all been just for fun. In twenty-three years, her heart had never, ever been at risk—and she’d been okay with that. She figured she had plenty of time to find
the one.

Snared in the heat and intensity of Ford’s gaze, Mia couldn’t do anything but stand in the audience of crazed fans and stare back at him. It wasn’t until the crowd lost its mind at the end of the song and the bassist said something to Ford that pulled his attention away, that she was dragged out of what had been as close to a hypnotic state as she’d ever been in.

Her body felt strange, her mouth dry, her hands and feet tingling...and her heart was pounding way too hard. Trying to regain her bearings, she turned away from the stage and scanned the crowd for her friends. She needed another drink to wet her throat and then, even though it wasn’t all that late, maybe she’d head back home.

But instead of finding any of her colleagues in the crowd that seemed to have quadrupled during the amazing first song, all she could see were dozens gorgeous girls who would clearly do anything to score a night in the singer’s bed.

“You’re one hell of an audience, aren’t you?”

Ford’s question, spoken in that low voice that ran shivers of need through Mia’s entire body, had the crowd shouting and screaming back that they loved him, that he was their hero, that he could have them any way he wanted them.

“I was already going to make it good for you,” he said in a voice laced with sexual undertones, “but now you’ve got me wanting to make it
really
good
.”

She swore she could feel his gaze burning a hole through her as he spoke, and something told her his words weren’t just meant for the audience...but as a challenge for her because he’d seen that she was about to leave.

Mia had never been afraid of anything in her life. Plus, she couldn’t stop asking herself, if one look—if just the sound of his voice—could affect her so deeply, what would one touch do? One kiss?

She shivered at the delicious thought of those hands that worked over his electric guitar with such reverence doing the same over her naked skin. She was here to celebrate, after all, and what could one hot night with a rocker hurt?

When she finally turned to face the stage, Ford raised his eyebrow as if in question. She let her lips lift into an answering smile. A smile that said,
“If you want a night with me, rock star, you’re going to have to earn it.”

And that night, when he finally got her into his bed, did he ever...

Chapter Three

Beautiful.

Looking at her standing there surprised—and then, a moment later, utterly furious—Mia Sullivan was still the most beautiful woman Ford had ever seen.

She’d also been approximately ten feet away the first time he’d ever set eyes on her in the middle of the crowded dance floor, wearing a little silver dress, the tips of her blond hair just sweeping over the swells of her breasts. That night in Seattle, the way she’d looked as she closed her eyes to move to the song he’d written—so sensual
that he’d almost forgotten the lyrics—had made it impossible to look away. And when she’d opened her eyes and looked at him, he’d felt the impact of it like a bass drum reverberating all the way into his soul.

That night, he’d desperately wanted to know how soft her skin would feel beneath his calloused fingertips, how sweet her mouth would taste against his, and how good it would be to hold her. Five years later, he could still remember how he could never get enough of touching her, caressing every one of her sweet curves and sinful hollows over and over until both of them were driven nearly mad with desire.

That night in the club, her tiny little dress had showed off her incredible legs, but somehow, in the pale-yellow wrap dress she had on now, her legs looked even sexier. Her hair was a little longer now, but her eyes were just as bright a blue and her full red mouth was slightly damp, as if she’d licked her lips just before walking through the doorway.

But it wasn’t just her beauty that stunned him...it was the music that came into the room with her. She’d inspired his greatest songs five years ago—for one week straight he’d either been making love to her or notating the endless riffs and lyrics that were streaming into his head. The longer they’d been apart, the less freely the music had come.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Damn, he thought as her eyes sparked with heat and fury, she was spectacular. “You’re even prettier than I remember.”

He thought he saw pleasure at his honest compliment flash in her eyes before rage returned.

“And you’re an even bigger jackass than I remember.” Her voice was steady, but not at all cool, as she told him, “Now that you’ve had your fun, I want you to get the hell out of this house so I can lock it up and get on with my day.”

Ford wanted to drag her into his arms. He’d never forgotten, not for one single second of the past five years, how perfectly they’d fit together. But for now, he had no doubt whatsoever that touching Mia—or worse, grabbing her—was completely forbidden.

Seeing just how angry she was, Ford knew he needed to tread carefully. It wouldn’t be enough just to say he was sorry for being an immature jerk five years ago and for not realizing it sooner, no matter how true that was. Mia clearly wouldn’t believe he meant a word of it. Not yet, anyway.

So instead of making the mistake of trying, and failing, to woo her back into his arms with soft words, Ford planned to take a very different approach. Namely, by playing off the intense sparks of attraction that were clearly just as strong between them now as they’d been years before.

“I thought,” he said while leaning against the stone wall as if he were perfectly at ease, “that showing me this house
is
your day.”

“For your information,” she said as she advanced toward him, her gorgeous chest rising and falling beneath the soft fabric of her pretty dress, her eyes flashing, her skin flushed with emotion, “if I’d had even the slightest inkling that you were going to be my anonymous client, I would have said no so fast your lawyer’s head would still be spinning.”

“Really?” Ford made sure the one word out of his mouth was right in the gray area between a question and a taunt, even though he’d set himself up as her anonymous client to make absolutely sure they would come face to face again. “You wouldn’t have wanted the chance to see me again after all these years?”

At that, one of her eyebrows rose. “I get that you’re a raging egomaniac, but even you can’t possibly be serious.” She laughed then, but it was a bitter sound. “Why on earth would you think I would
ever
want to see you again?”

Because you never stopped loving me, the way I now know I never stopped loving you,
was the answer he hoped like hell was still in her heart, even if it was buried way down deep. But since he knew he had years of anger to make up for first, he said, “From this distance, you could do a lot of damage to me with the heel of your shoe.” As her expression told him she was actually considering it, he added, “And just think of the other ways you could mess me up if you got even closer.”

“Tempting,” she muttered as she looked down at her spike heels. “So incredibly tempting. But I couldn’t stand to have all your weeping fans on my conscience if I ruined your pretty face.”