Playing Dirty Read Free Page A

 
    “Hello, Mattie.”  
    Instantly, she recognized the deep, smooth voice, a voice she’d heard only in her dreams for the past five years. Reaching behind her, she smacked the wall as she frantically searched for the switch. Light from the kitchen flickered to life and spilled into the family room. She stared in disbelief at what could only be a figment of her imagination.  
    This wasn’t real. She was overly tired. She’d fallen asleep on the plane and would wake up any minute now when they landed in Dallas.  
    She closed her eyes, then opened them again.  
    He was still there. Standing less than three feet away—and he was alive .
    “Ford?” she managed on a strangled whisper. Shock, surprise and an uncontrollable sense of joy raced through her as she drank in the sight of him. “My God, is it really you?”
    Somewhere in the back of her mind she was amazed that her legs still held her. He was thinner than she remembered, his thick and wavy sable hair was still cut in the same, standard- military style, but now a hint of gray peppered his temples. He wore his khaki uniform, pressed to perfection, the breast pocket laden with medals and brightly colored striped bars, evidence of his valor in service to his country. The two silver bars on his collar had been replaced with a gold leaf, indicating he’d also received a promotion in rank from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander.
    Her throat clogged with hundreds of emotions, making breathing difficult. Her mind swam with even more questions. Tears of joy filled her eyes. The man she’d loved heart, body and soul had been returned to her. By some crazy miracle of fate, Ford was still alive.
    “Oh God,” she whispered. With tears flooding her vision, she lifted her hand toward him, afraid if she blinked, he’d be gone.
    “I’m home, baby,” he said, his voice a choked whisper. Closing the small space between them, he pulled her into his arms.  
    Mattie clung to him, finding comfort in the strong, vital rhythm of his heart. If she let go, she feared he’d disappear and she’d wake up crying from another dream. For too long she’d hoped and prayed that the news of Ford’s death had been a mistake, that someone had lied to her, but after years of wishful thinking, she’d finally come to terms with the fact that he’d never come back to her. He was gone. Dead. He’d been killed when his plane had been shot down over the Mediterranean Sea, forcing her to deal with the reality that she’d never be held by him again, never hear his smooth, deep voice whisper hot against her skin as they made love. Never see his laughing eyes simmering with desire whenever he looked at her.  
    Somehow that had changed—Ford was alive.
    He was alive, he was holding her, his scent, his hardness wrapping around her, his arms holding her as fiercely as she held him. She pulled back to look at him, slowly lifting her hand to cup his cheek. “How is this possible?”
    He turned his face against her hand and kissed her palm. “Later,” he whispered. “First, there’s something I’ve been dreaming of doing for five long years.”  
    He dipped his head, capturing her lips in a hot, open-mouthed kiss. Without hesitation, she opened to him and his tongue swept inside, demanding, savoring, as if to seal his homecoming in reality. The sweet rush of desire instantly flooded her body. She drank, quenching a thirst that had been unfulfilled for far too long, then greedily drank some more as she pressed her body against his. Time defied existence, only Ford and the feel of his rock hard body registered in her mind.
    Until she heard the click of the front door, followed by the sound of Trenton’s footsteps crossing the tiled foyer.
    Trenton . Her new husband.  

Two

    MATTIE STIFFENED AS reality came crashing down around her. Those few sweet moments when her world had been miraculously righted after five long, heartbreaking years, shattered. Reluctantly, she pushed at Ford’s