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It was just a simple, chaste kiss, but he felt a world of possibility in it. What had she said the day they’d met? She didn’t do casual?
So what then did this mean?
Don’t do it, he warned himself.
“You’re overthinking this,” she murmured against his lips.
“How much wine have you had?”
“One sip. Come on. It’s time you met people.”
She pulled him along with her and he realized, belatedly, that the color in her cheeks was not from the wine. It was determination. He followed her to a table with a group of older, very respectable-looking people.
He recognized the platinum-blonde hair and immaculate attire of Cathy Logan, Carrie’s mother.
“Mom, Dad,” she said, holding him tightly to her side. “This is Ethan Nash. He’s been helping me with my website. You know. After my security breach.”
Wow. She was just putting it out there, wasn’t she?
Cathy Logan looked up, a smooth, smiling query on her face. “Oh, yes, dear. Welcome, Mr. Nash.”
“Mrs. Logan,” he said, taking the dry hand she extended to him. “You’ve done a wonderful job with this event.”
Carrie pushed him to her aunt, her uncle and finally, her grandfather.
“Ethan Nash, this is my grandfather, Nathan Jackson. Grandfather, this is my special friend, Ethan.”
Special friend? He didn’t know whether to be honored or pissed. Nate Jackson didn’t respond at all, simply stared at Ethan from under bushy brows. Ethan stared back. Aside from Carrie, the Jackson name meant nothing to him. The Jackson shame, even less.
Carrie glanced around herself as if to make sure they’d all heard, that there was no question.
She definitely had an agenda tonight. She was using him to show her family, and everyone else, that she didn’t care what they thought.
Which made the kiss and the touching and the dress all… meaningless. This wasn’t a date. She was simply making a statement. He should have felt ripped off, manipulated, but instead, compassion filled him for this girl who wanted so badly to be respected in her own right.
Sure, it hurt, but if this is what she needed, he’d be her bad boy, and gladly.
But if Carrie had been hoping for some sort of mass reaction, she didn’t get it.
“Very nice,” said Carrie’s father. “You’ll have to come up to the house for dinner some time, right Cathy?”
“Of course.” She went back to her conversation with Jane.
“Maybe,” whispered Ethan into Carrie’s ear, “I’m not quite as horrifying as you thought.”
“Hush,” she hissed back.
“Ethan Nash.” Carrie’s grandfather allowed a chilly smile to crack the lower half of his face. “Not quite what we expected for our Care-Bear.”
Carrie’s grip on his arm tightened. Ethan’s neck grew hot but he had no desire to go against the grandfather she loved so dearly.
“A good surprise, I hope, sir,” he said.
“He’s incredibly talented,” Carrie added. “He’s Cherry Lake’s best kept secret.”
She wasn’t just standing up for herself, he realized. She was standing up for him – standing up with him – and that meant something.
Nate continued to watch him, an alpha, throwing down a challenge.
Ethan found himself smiling. Whatever her motive, Carrie’s praise made him feel ten feet tall.
Nate’s face didn’t change, but he turned away and pointed to Carrie’s feet.
“Those shoes,” he said. “Running around all night on those things, you’ll be lucky not to break both ankles. I hope this young man of yours will be there to catch you.”
Beside him, he heard Carrie exhale shakily.
Is that what he was? Carrie’s young man?
“I’ll be there,” he said. He pulled Carrie tighter against his side, possessively, staking his claim. “She’ll need a foot massage once we get home, too. I’m good at those.”
Nate’s face darkened and Carrie’s mother suddenly found she desperately needed an item from her bag.
“Ethan Nash.” Jane Palmer, Carrie’s aunt, pointed a manicured finger as if just connecting the dots. “Aren’t you the one with the dog that’s chasing children around town?”
