Page 144 of Nobody's Girl

Kel hesitated before answering him. His kisses were magical. One good night kiss might not suffice. Her fingers lingered over the screen’s keyboard. Hovering over the letter n, she thought about how nice he’d been that night at dinner. How romantic he could be when he put his mind to it.

Even hiring actors to play some crazy relatives was filled with forethought. Her fiancé hadn’t given much thought to anything he’d ever done for her. Presents were the usual and expected things. Flowers on Valentine’s Day; a piece of not-so-expensive jewelry would come on Christmas and her birthday. No trips of any kind were ever planned by her ex.

Kel had a man within her grasp who could put significant thought into things that concerned her. Sure, everything up to that point had been to win a bet, but Ethan had it in himself to think deeply about her and make plans that were out of this world.

A soft knock came to the door. “Kel, can I please come in? Just for a second.”

She put her phone down. Ethan wasn’t going to wait for her answer. “It’s not locked, Ethan.”

The door opened and in came the tall, well-built Scot. His auburn hair was a mess of waves that flowed to his broad shoulders. It looked as if he’d run his hands through his hair numerous times. Kel saw the worry on his handsome face as he got closer, coming into the light the small bedside lamp gave off.

“Kel, I can feel a disturbance in the Force, love,” he said with a weak grin.

Kel laughed a bit, but he was right about a disturbance. Things were real after all the lies had been confessed by them both. And real was scary to her. She pulled herself up to a sitting position, then patted the bed for him to take a seat. “Ethan, I think I should be truthful with you.”

Taking the seat, he said, “Please do, my love.”

His words were a thing that worried her, so she told him, “Ethan, you’ve called me love since you met me. Am I to believe you, or is that just a thing you call all women?”

Ethen inched his fingers over the pale blue blanket that enhanced the color of Kel’s dark blue eyes. Eyes that he noticed were a bit squinted as she watched him, looking for signs of truths and lies. He took her hand and held it to his whiskered cheek. “Kel, I’m not going to tell you what I think you want to hear. It’s true, I’ve called many a woman, love. And I used that to reel you in, or to try to anyway. But as time has gone on—and I know it’s not been much—I’ve grown to mean it when I call you my love. Is that so hard to believe?”

She nodded. “It’s very hard to believe.” She curled her fingers into his beard, loving the way it was so soft. With a sigh, she whispered, “My heart hurts, Ethan.”

He pulled her hand to his plump lips and kissed the tips of her fingers. “Perhaps it hurts because it’s holding your words within it. The heaviness is most likely what’s making it ache. You should probably just spit those words out and allow them to fall where they may.”

“What’s the plan, Ethan?” she asked. “I need to know if you have a plan.”

“What’s your plan, Kel?” he shot back at her. “You see, you’re the wildcard, in my opinion. Your fear of love is a thing that, quite frankly, frightens me.”

“It frightens me too,” she confessed.

His lips moved softly over the top of her hand. Then he ran them up her arm until he was close to her face. “Kel, my plan is to be with you wherever and however it works out. And I want you to know that I do love you. I can’t think a thought that doesn’t have you in it.”

Kel stared at him, wanting to be as honest with him as he was being with her but that fear was so intense, it kept her heart from doing what it wanted to. “So, you’ll move to Ashby? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I don’t see why I couldn’t. And I don’t see why you couldn’t move in with me.” He looked deep into her eyes as he went on, “Kel, I want you around all the time that I can have ya around. I want to see ya each mornin’ when I wake up and kiss your lips each night before I fall asleep. Do you want that with me?”

“You’re talking about something that’s far ahead in the future, Ethan. We have to get to know one another much better. I knew my fiancé for …”

His lips pressed against hers to stop her from saying any more. He pulled them away, only a bit as he whispered, “I am not him. Don’t make me pay for his debts, love. I’m not saying we need to rush to marry, but I am saying I want you in my bed. I want you there every night.”

The thought made her body flush with heat.

He wanted her in his bed!

She’d never shared a bed with her ex. They’d never taken the step of moving in together. And that was her doing. She’d refused to move in with him when he’d asked her to. She’d been worried about what people might say.

With Ethan’s body so close to hers, her hands moved on their own, running over his shoulders that were covered in a loose fitting, soft T-shirt. His pajama bottoms were soft too, she found, as her hands flowed down his sides to land on his thighs. Large thighs that told her he could dominate her in bed.

Ethan was a beast of a man. Easily twice her size. But his heart was softer than any she’d ever known. She felt the honesty in his words, and her heart sped up, shooting the words out of her mouth, “I’d like that, Ethan.” Averting her eyes, she let the rest come out, “And I do love you. You consume my thoughts.”

“At last,” he said, then pulled her chin to make her look at him. “Say it again, love. This time I want to see your eyes when you do.”

“I love you, Ethan Southern,” she said as a tear ran away and he kissed it away.

“No tears are necessary, my love. The past is gone. Your future is before you, and I’m smackdab in the middle of it. What do you say to this becoming our first night together? One of many.” He waited patiently for her answer as he secretly prayed she’d say yes. His body ached for her. If she said no, he’d get little to no sleep as he would surely toss and turn in his bed, knowing she was within his reach but refusing to allow him her company.

Kel knew she was taking a risk. She knew things could all go south for them. But somewhere, deep inside, she knew she’d be a damn fool not to give the man a chance. Raising her arms up over her head in surrender, she said, “Pull my nightgown off and see what you’ll be getting when you get me in your bed every night.”