Page 31 of Not So Very Sensible

“Well, we’ll need to pray we find her soon. In fact”—he paused, grasped her hand—”do you mind if we do that now?”

She nodded, and it felt like a little win. Then he closed his eyes and prayed aloud.

Chapter 6

Ellie’s heart trembled a little as Ethan prayed aloud. She didn’t know too many men who did that. Sure, Pastor Bryan did, and her dad, and she bet even Jordan had prayed aloud with EJ, but she’d never come across a man so open in his faith that he’d willingly pray aloud with a near stranger. She barely heard Ethan’s words, her heart was so touched. Far from being put off by her selfish sister, he seemed to care. And had kept looking at her like maybe that almost kiss from before wasn’t a mistake. She didn’t know what to do with him.

“Amen.”

She nodded, adding a quiet “amen,” even though she barely knew what he’d prayed. “Thank you.”

He half smiled. “God loves her and is with her, wherever she is.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

“That’s what friends do.”

He thought they were friends? Her heart tipped. Oh. That was … good. Even if she wondered what that meant about their previous near lip-lock. Did he mean they were friends who could be more? Or had he drawn back because he only wanted them to be friends?

Ugh. Why was figuring out relationships so hard? Not that this was a relationship. Ethan just said they were only friends.

“I’m sorry about my sister. Apart from that, tonight has been a lot of fun.”

“I’m really glad I came.” Ethan smiled at her, and again her heart gave a little shimmy.

Could this work beyond the weekend? Oh, she hoped so. At least she could message him on Instagram, so they could stay in touch that way.

They continued to peer in small rooms, and along the way surprised several other couples who were not happy about being interrupted. Then she turned into a small alcove she remembered seeing on the guided tour yesterday. And there, on a silver brocade divan, was her sister, lip locked with Jason, oblivious to the world.

“Ahem.”

Maybe they didn’t hear her, because they didn’t pause from their very enthusiastic kissing. Embarrassment heated her cheeks. She’d known her sister was romance minded, but how could she be so loose to kiss a man she’d only just met?

Conviction clanged inside, along with a fresh round of regret. Hello: log in the eye alert! She’d been about to do the same, until common sense prevailed. Which showed just what a slippery slope attraction could be. “Katie!”

Katie jumped, and Jason blinked, his pupils dark, his gaze hazy as he drew back to look at them. “Wh–what are you two doing here?”

“Looking for you,” Ellie said to Katie. “What are you doing?”

“I would’ve thought that was obvious.” Jason smirked.

Katie glared at Ellie. “How dare you?”

Ellie coughed. “Excuse me? How dare I?” She pointed to Jason. “You’ve known the man all of two seconds, and you’re eating each other’s faces?”

Katie huffed. “Just because you’ve never kissed a guy in your life.”

Ellie stiffened. So what if it was true? It didn’t mean that Katie needed to be so heartless in exposing her in front of the others. She reached for her sister. “I think it’s time for you to go.”

“I’m not a child.” Katie wrenched away. “I don’t need you telling me what to do.”

“She’s definitely all woman,” Jason murmured.

Ugh. She might’ve just thrown up a little in her mouth. “You are old enough to know better.”

“Hey, I haven’t forced her to do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

“It’s late, Katie. You need to sleep.”