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“If he touches me, he’ll go to jail.” Despite the threat, Boyd’s words wavered with a hint of uncertainty.
“If you touch her,” Ethan said in that deadly calm voice, “I’ll go to jail. And you can take all the satisfaction in that you want, but all the money and plastic surgeons in the world won’t be able to fix your face.”
Caveman Ethan was hot. A freaking inferno. And Boyd apparently had at least one brain cell because he wisely took a step back. “He won’t always be there, you know.”
There went the brain cell.
“Whether he is or not,” Rue said, “the answer is no. I suggest you keep that in mind.”
Boyd scowled and looked as if he wanted to say something, but a quick glance at the growing number people watching them had his jaw snapping shut. “We’ll finish this conversation later,” he said.
After he disappeared into the crowd, Ethan said, “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“He’s just posturing. I think he knows he lost.”
Ethan turned her in his arms, no apparent concern for the lingering looks cast their way. “I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who ever knows that. Knowing would require admitting it, even to himself.”
“He and I have known each other for a while. We were actually friends somewhere between the ages of boys are icky and college. He was interested but he never pushed so hard that I worried about his intentions. If his parents are laying on the same kind of pressure mine are, I almost don’t blame him for snapping.”
Ethan’s green eyes flashed. “Don’t justify what he’s doing.”
“I’m not,” she said quickly. “Just telling you there’s more there, but that doesn’t mean I trust him.”
His face relaxed and his arms tightened around her. God, she wanted to dissolve into him. Or, screw that. She wanted to go to bed with him. She wanted him to take all that possessive, animalistic protectiveness and love her with it. “How about we get out of here?”
His brow quirked. “And do what?”
She stretched until her lips brushed his ear and whispered, “Get out of these clothes.”
“What about your hob-knobbing?”
“I paid for my ticket, and I arranged for some extra credit. I think I’ve done my part. Unless you want to spend some time with your family—”
“I work with them—all of them—six days a week, and we have dinner together on Sundays, although I have been known to skip a day in favor of a hot air balloon ride. I think we’ll all be okay.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
He didn’t argue that time. Just let her lead him through the doors and onto the sidewalk, where the night air felt heavenly. He must have had the same thought, because he immediately lost the bow tie and unbuttoned his collar. “God, that feels better. Want to grab some iced coffee?”
“Yeah,” she said with a wicked little grin, “but let’s get it to go.”
Chapter Fourteen
If there was anything odd about a couple in formal wear walking around Central Park in the relative middle of the night, no one showed it. But appearances weren’t everything. Despite the casual nature of the slow, moonlit stroll, she was wound so tightly, she thought she would explode. The park wasn’t anywhere near empty on a night like that, but the playgrounds were, and she didn’t hesitate to pull Ethan to the first one they passed.
“I don’t think you’re dressed for the playground,” he said. “Besides, isn’t it closed at this hour?”
She shrugged. “The gate’s open. And there’s something I really want to do.”
“One of these days I’ll learn to stop asking questions,” he muttered. But he followed her to the back side of a large stone feature and didn’t hesitate when she dragged him in for a kiss that quickly turned from semi-decent PDA to the kind of thing that had her wanting to fling clothes to the ground.
He broke free of the kiss, breathless. “Jesus, woman. What you do to me.”
“I hope that’s not a complaint.” As she spoke, she rubbed the hard ridge his pants did little to disguise.
