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Ethan kissed her again there—for the cameras, of course.
And, had he loved her, then it really would have been the perfect wedding. Because just as Merida started flagging, as the faces she had only just started to put names to started blurring, Ethan put an arm around her.
‘Let’s get you home.’
They left their own celebration early, though word had got out as to where they were, so there were the inevitable cameras waiting for them—but so too was the car.
Back over the bridge they went, and Merida felt spun into a world where she didn’t belong, but wanted to.
The lights and the shadows from the bridge had a strobe effect on her face, and Ethan was shocked into realising that he cared for her more than he should.
But he didn’tknowher.
The only thing he actually knew was that she would leave.
He didn’t know where that had come from, but he felt as if it was carved on the steel wall surrounding his heart—one day she would simply be gone.
And he was prepared for that. He had all the ‘i’s dotted and the ‘t’s crossed in their contract, because to Ethan it was as inevitable as that.
* * *
Her first glimpse of his home brought actual tears to her eyes.
It wasn’t the sight of the gorgeous building that blew her away, but the trees outside, which had been decorated with fairy lights, and the fact that there were gardenias around the doorway.
‘Ethan...’ She could not think of anything more welcoming.
They were away from the celebrations now. The toasts had been made, the photographers and cameramen had packed up and gone, and now, close to midnight, it was just them.
And he’d done this.
Well, Merida doubted he’d been wrestling with lights and fuses and flowers, but the fact that he’d arranged it touched her.
Merida climbed out of the car and stood on the street, looking up at the apartment building and just drinking the decorations in.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Merida said. ‘Seriously...’
Merida didn’t get to finish. Ethan scooped her up into his arms.
‘And so are you.’
‘Stop it!’ She was laughing, kicking. She had never imagined him like this—or maybe she had, and now she felt that, even for a very hasty wedding, they’d somehow got it right.
The doorman held open the door as Ethan carried her over the threshold and kissed her so hard that her arms went to his neck.
Oh, would he evernotturn her on? Merida wondered.
She had ached for them to be alone—to talk, to make sense of the million details and plans—but now she simply drowned in his kiss. And he kissed her all the way to the elevator, so she was burning in his arms as he carried her inside.
The doors slid closed and the elevator jolted. So too did her heart.
‘Okay...’ he stopped kissing her and carefully put her down.
Merida was disorientated, slightly giddy, and in unfamiliar surroundings with a now unfamiliar man—for gone was the passion of before.
‘You can stop acting now,’ he said.
CHAPTER TWELVE
