“I just want more,” he said quietly.
“No,” his mother replied, calm but firm. “You just want itnow.You’ll get more, but it has to be on her terms. Push her, and you’ll lose her.”
He smiled faintly. “Any other woman I’ve been with didn’t move this slow. Matter of fact, they moved faster than me.”
“And none of them lasted, did they? So maybe that’s something worth remembering.”
36
TIRED OF PRETENDING
“Do you need something?” Nora asked almost three weeks later, glancing up from her computer.
“Just wanted to see you this morning,” Ethan said.
He continued to ask her to stay the night during the week. And as much as she wanted to, it still didn’t feel right. Not yet. The fear of walking in together, yeah, too many people around.
The dust had settled over her connection to Norris. The whispers lasted less than a week, the stares in the hallway, the hushed speculation when they thought she couldn’t hear. Then it was old news. Carolyn and Heather were the only ones bold enough to mention it to her face, and even that hadn’t ruffled her as much as she thought, looking back.
She’d heard some rumors that Heather had been spoken to about confronting her. Since her father was part of it, she believed something might have happened. Nora hadn’t asked for details, and didn’t want them. The less said, the better.
But Ethan… he was another story.
Now that one secret was out, he seemed ready for the next one.
Like she’d just walk down the hall holding his hand. Plan their next date in the conference room. Maybe sneak a kiss by the elevators.
Yeah, no. Not happening. Not yet.
Still, there was a part of her that was growing tired of pretending they were nothing more than coworkers.
“You’re seeing me,” she said, glancing at the clock. It was only seven thirty. The building was quiet with most people drifting in closer to eight.
Ethan stepped inside and shut the door behind him, his grin deliberately slow. “Let me see your dress.”
She laughed, shaking her head at the way he wiggled his brows. “Why?”
“Because I’m pretty sure that’s the same one you wore when we got frisky in my bathroom,” he said, his voice low, teasing and sending shivers over her arms. “God, I miss that.”
“Oh, stop,” she said, waving a hand at him. But she couldn’t fight the smile tugging at her lips.
He was right. It was the same dress. And she remembered every damn second of that morning. His damp skin, his laughter, the way the air between them had sparked like the fireworks on the Fourth of July.
It had been early in the morning then too.
Just like today. He’d come in from his run, hot and sweaty, disappearing into his office to shower and change. Now here he was again, fresh, charming, trouble wrapped in a suit and leaning against her closed door like temptation itself.
“Twirl for me,” he said.
She rolled her eyes but stood anyway, giving him a quick spin. “Happy?”
“Ecstatic,” he said, his grin spreading wider.
Everything about him was fun, easy, and full of laughter.
The way he made her feel not just about their relationship but about herself.
The person who she worked so hard to become and then told herself it was in her all along and only needed the right person to bring it out.
