LEAH NERVOUSLY PACED back and forth in front of her living room window as she waited for Ethan to arrive. He’d called to say he’d be with her in half an hour. What had happened with the police? What had Anna said to him? How had he felt, seeing his ex-wife again after she’d come at him with a knife? And finally, what decision had he made moving forward?
The unanswered questions made her heart heavy with unease.
Ethan had said he suspected he would come hurrying back to her for a while, yet here she stood, alone and uncertain. Her heart and mind were in a volatile state, just about the worst she’d suffered since she was a young girl and her grandmother had been taken away from her. She had worked so hard to ensure nothing could hurt her that badly ever again, but Ethan easily could if she fully let him into her heart.
She moved away from the window and walked to her dining table. Two plates and two wineglasses were set opposite one another, the cutlery and napkins laid just so to the side. A simple arrangement of roses snipped from her garden formed a centerpiece. The setting looked as forced as the smile she kept practicing, for fear it would abandon her altogether.
The doorbell pealed through the silent house, making her jump. She inhaled a strengthening breath before heading into the hallway. Plastering on that practiced smile, she glanced in the mirror and flinched. She looked like Jack Nicholson in The Shining...but maybe Ethan would kind of like it. He was a Stephen King fan, after all.
Pulling back her shoulders, she flung open the front door. “Ethan. I’ve been so worried. What happened? Are you okay? Did you speak with DI Garrett...?” She stopped firing words at him like a machine gun. “Sorry. Come in.”
He smiled, amusement dancing in his blue eyes. “You okay?”
“Yes. No. Maybe.” She shut the door. “Let’s go into the kitchen. I’m sure you’d welcome a glass of wine as much as I would.”
“Sounds good.” He took her hand and whipped her into his arms, her breasts flattening against his broad, hard chest. “Once I’ve kissed you.”
She smiled softly, a little of her anxiety dissolving as his lips met hers. She reached up and scored her fingers into the soft hair at the nape of his neck, and he pulled her closer. Tentatively, she eased her tongue against his and the kiss deepened. She wanted this man in a way that was as exhilarating as it was frightening.
Slowly, they parted, and Leah blew out a shaky breath. “Well, it’s great to see you.”
He laughed. “You, too.” He rested his palms on her waist. “I think I could take a glass of that wine now.”
Taking him by the hand, she led him to the kitchen. As she walked to the fridge, he leaned against the counter. “Anna’s in Marchenton.”
The moment vanished. “Why Marchenton?”
“There’s a safe house there for battered women. DI Garrett said Anna can stay there for a few days while she makes a decision about what she wants to have happen next.”
Leah extracted a chilled bottle of white wine and closed the fridge. “I see. And what do you think Anna will decide?”
His hands gripped the countertop, the tendons in his bare forearms stretching tight. “I’ve no idea.”
Leah opened the wine as concern knotted her stomach. “Would you mind grabbing the wineglasses I’ve put out on the dining table?”
He pushed away from the counter and headed toward the door. “Sure.”
With Ethan out of the room, Leah released a shaky breath, willing her nerves under control. Just because Anna was staying around awhile longer, that didn’t mean whatever decision she came to would be a bad one. Leah took a deep breath. She had to maintain faith that Ethan’s ex would do the right thing, come the end.
Ethan reentered the kitchen and placed the glasses on the counter beside her. She smiled. “Thanks. Are you hungry? I’ve ordered delivery. It should be here soon.”
“Sounds good.”
He slowly eased the bottle from her hand and filled the glasses, then offered one out to her. As she moved to take it, he held on to the stem for a moment, looking into her eyes. “I didn’t enjoy seeing her again, you know. Anna hasn’t changed. She still can’t see, or doesn’t care, how her actions affect others. Still has the same self-serving attitude that led to her leaving me and Daisy five years ago.” He smiled wryly. “Your theory about her mental state was generous, but not true.”
Leah swallowed. “Okay.”
He released the glass. “I don’t want you thinking, not for a single moment, that Anna being here will have any effect on my feelings for you. It won’t.”
His feelings for her...
Leah relaxed. “Guess you know me pretty well already, right?”
“It’s hard not to when everything you think and feel shows in those gorgeous eyes of yours.” He brushed his lips over hers before leaning back and taking a sip of his wine. “Shall we sit outside while we wait for the food? It’s a nice night.”
“Sure.”
They walked into the garden, and Leah switched on the lights she had dotted in bushes and trees, and along the eaves of her aviary. She glanced at him when he stared at her, his eyebrows lifted.
She smiled. “What?”
He shook his head. “If Daisy saw your garden lit up like this, she’d go into fits of ecstasy. You really need to make some changes at my place.”
“I need to make changes? Shouldn’t that be you?”
“Um, that would be a no. I have no clue how to make a room or garden look like a wonderland. If I tried, it would look like a flea market.”
Leah laughed. As they sat at her small bistro table and sipped their wine, she struggled to not ask him what happened next with Anna, with him and Anna, with Daisy...and finally, with him and her. She coughed. “So, Anna’s in Marchenton. Do you think she might want to see Daisy eventually?”
“Not for a single moment. She showed some consideration of her when we were at the station, but Anna knows seeing Daisy right now isn’t an option.”
“You told her that?”
“There was no need. She said she wouldn’t let Daisy see her with all that’s happening at the moment.”
“So that could change in the future?”
“Who knows?” He drew in a long breath, released it. “After I left the station, I went to see Mum. If Anna is going to be here for some time, it felt wrong to keep that from Mum. She was livid, of course, but agreed to look after Daisy for the next few days until Anna’s gone back to Bristol. She doesn’t want her near Daisy any more than I do.”
Relief she had no right to feel whispered through Leah. Anna and Daisy’s relationship had nothing to do with her, but her protective instincts were already sky-high as far as Ethan’s daughter was concerned. She sipped her wine. “I worry about us deciding what is best for Daisy without asking her how she feels about her mother. You know how I feel about parents making life-affecting decisions for their kids...yet here I am butting in with my own feelings toward Daisy when she isn’t even mine.”
Ethan took her hand and squeezed it. “And I like that you care about her, and in turn, care about me. I’m glad we have that, Leah. Really.”
Her doorbell rang and Ethan stood. “I’ll go. Do you want to eat out here?”
“Sure.”
He winked at her and walked into her home. Her cheeks burned as she felt the impulsive need to have him touch her and her him. Their differences were still plain to see, no matter how much they might want to be together. He needed to control his child’s present and future, whereas Leah could consider only how his decisions might negatively affect Daisy in the long term. How could she ask him to take her to bed when she still worried over his decision making?
But despite everything that had already happened to them—between them—their intimacy had hurtled forward full throttle, and Leah wanted him. Now.
* * *
ETHAN CARRIED THE bag of food through to the kitchen and stopped.
Leah stood in the center of the room, her gaze alight with a fiery desire he’d seen every time he pulled away from kissing her. But this time the desire burned hotter, hungrier. Slowly, he put the bag on the table beside him and walked toward her.
He laid his hands on her waist and lifted his eyebrows. He had to be sure she wanted this. “Now?”
She nodded. “Now.”
He waited for the uncertainty to rise inside him, as it had time and again whenever he’d slept with a woman since his divorce. He waited for thoughts of Daisy to flash into his conscience, as though letting himself give in to desire was a betrayal to the daughter who should be his only concern.
He lowered his lips to Leah’s when none of the guilt, none of the trepidation came, only the certainty that he wanted to make love to her. She sighed into his mouth, the tension seeping from her as she turned pliant beneath his hands. Their kiss intensified as their hands moved over each other’s clothed bodies.
His heart picked up speed and his erection strained against the confines of suddenly too tight denim.
She pulled back and stared into his eyes. “Let’s go upstairs.”
He nodded, the confession of his deepening feelings for her battling on his tongue, along with the fear that, should he utter them, they would rip her from his arms. She’d said he knew her so well already, but there were layers to Leah he had yet to discover.
The intense fear of failure in her huge hazel eyes every time she was faced with a medical or emotional emergency meant Leah’s professional capability was paramount in her thoughts and feelings. Yet he was merely a man, a father, struggling through a dangerous situation.
“Are you all right?” She stared at him intently, color darkening her porcelain complexion. “If you don’t want—”
He brushed a lock of hair from her brow. “I want.”
“Good.” Her smile lit her eyes. “Then come with me.”
Hand in hand, they walked into the hallway and up the stairs. She led him into a bedroom and switched on two lamps on her dresser. Color and light burst from every surface. The bedcover was a bright fuchsia pink, with huge white swirls and dashes. Clothes hung from the chair near her dresser and her wardrobe door hung open, revealing an undoubtedly organized chaos.
“Sorry about the mess. I did warn you.”
He turned and smiled. “This is not mess. This room is yours...is you.”
“You don’t mind? Your place is so...”
“Boring? Rigid? Unsuitable for a seven-year-old girl who should have fun every minute of her life, including a messy bedroom and living room?”
Leah smiled sheepishly. “Maybe.”
He dropped his focus to her mouth. “God, I am so glad Daisy brought you to me.”
Soft delight shone in her eyes before she tugged him toward the bed. “So am I.”
She lay down, pulling him alongside her. They kissed, before Ethan inched back to take off his shirt. Her gaze ran over his bare chest and shoulders, slowly lowering toward the belt on his jeans. “Not bad...for a writer.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I work out.”
She laughed softly. “It shows.”
“Your turn.” One button at a time, he loosened her shirt, and she shrugged her arms out of the sleeves to reveal a black satin bra that was perfect against the whiteness of her skin. He exhaled. “Better than I’ve imagined.”
“You’ve been imagining?”
“Oh, yes. A lot.”
“Good.” She trailed her nails down his chest, and her fingers became busy at his belt as they kissed.
Ethan tugged on her belt, the sound of their kisses and breaths filling the room as they undressed one another, their shoes hitting the polished floorboards.
He ran his fingers up over her knee and along one toned thigh, his gaze following his fingers with rapt attention and exploration. She was perfect. Higher over the soft dip of her waist to her ribs, and up to gently ease back one of the cups of her bra. With her breast released, he saw more perfection, more beauty. His thumb teased her already hardened nipple. He lowered his head and took it into his mouth.
“Ethan...”
She sighed his name, her exhalation ruffling his hair and sending his desire for her higher. Lifting his eyes, he absorbed her every reaction, lightly running his palm down her flat stomach to tease back and forth along the top of her panties. Her hands tightened on the quilt as he slid his under the satin and found her slick with wanting. He massaged her, reveling in her softness.
When she started to moan, he leaned toward the bedside cabinet and grabbed the condom he’d left there when he’d discarded his jeans. He had no idea if she felt about him as he did about her, but all he wanted was to stretch out this time together for as long as possible.
He ripped open the packet and turned to the bed.
She smiled softly and gestured for the condom. “Uh-uh. My turn.”
His body tense, he passed it to her, then lay down beside her. She splayed her free hand across his chest, scratching lightly. Her fingers moved lower and inched around the base of him. He sucked in a breath, his blood pumping.
They had to find a way to make this relationship work. This woman had brought him into the light, had allowed him to breathe again, and she had absolutely no idea.
He reached for her and pulled her in for a long, lingering kiss before she smoothed on the condom and pushed up from the bed. She straddled him, smoothly guided him deep inside her. Their gazes locked and she swayed back and forth as she sought their rhythm.
They moved in perfect, sexy unison, her eyes dancing with a happiness that burrowed deep into his heart. He would never ever forget how she looked in that moment.
Ethan sat up, wrapping her tightly in his arms. They kissed, before she tipped her head back and he feasted on the smooth column of her throat, his hands on her buttocks urging her on.
Sensation after sensation rolled through him, pulsed through his whole being as he gripped her tighter. She let out a single, shocked gasp and convulsed around him, her quivering muscles escalating his lust and tipping him over the edge.
Satisfaction and heightened testosterone roared through him, and he held on to her, wanting their bodies to become one. At last, the sensations ebbed and, spent, Ethan looked into her eyes. She stared at him, her expression glowing with satisfaction.
She sighed. “Wow.”
He smiled. “You okay?”
“More than okay. Now I’m even more glad I met you. Glad...and a little scared.”
Concern swept through him. “Scared?”
“Uh-huh.” She dropped her gaze to his mouth, her cheeks flushing.
He touched her chin, lifting her eyes to his. “Why are you scared?”
“Because I think maybe, just maybe, you might be the kind of guy I’ll want to hold on to.”
His muscles relaxed. “Well, you might just be the kind of girl I’ll want to hold on to, too.”
She grinned. “That’s okay, then. Now, shall we eat or are we going to do what we just did all over again?”
He rolled her over so she was pinned beneath him. “Eating’s overrated.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LEAH LOOKED TO the kitchen ceiling and smiled as she listened to Ethan walking around her bedroom. He’d spent the night... She’d actually asked a man to spend the night. She couldn’t believe it, nor did she want to analyze it too deeply.
Although she was confident it was more than simple lust that attracted her to Ethan, she couldn’t say the same for him, and for that reason she would continue to play it nice and cool.
She needed to be sure she had him figured out before things got any more complicated than they already wer
e. Ethan was caught up in a dangerous situation and the last thing on his mind should be her. His need to protect Daisy still rang out loud and clear, as it should.
Footsteps sounded outside the kitchen door and Leah pulled herself from her thoughts. She rushed to the microwave and removed a bowl of scrambled eggs. “I hope eggs and toast is okay?”
Ethan came up behind her, smoothing his hands onto her waist and snuggling his stubbled cheek against her neck, practically drowning her in a cloud of soap and man. “Sounds good to me. Umm, I’m not sure if I get more turned on seeing you naked or in this nurse’s uniform.”
“Perv.” Her insides knotted with desire, but neither of them had time for round four...or was it five? “You can stop that kind of thinking right there. We have jobs to go to, remember?”
“Spoilsport.” He pressed a kiss to her hair and walked to the coffee machine on the counter. “It slipped my mind last night, but DI Garrett asked that you drop by the station when you can.”
“She did?” Leah frowned as she carried their plates to her small kitchen table. “Is it about the photographs?”
“Yes, and I suspect she wants to warn you off seeing me for the time being.”
“Cat’s not one to pry into people’s personal lives.”
“No, but she is one to protect everyone in the Cove. I got the distinct impression, after I told her everything that’s going on with Anna, that she wasn’t pleased that you and I are starting a relationship.”
A relationship? Was that how he saw them? “I see.” Leah sat and picked up her fork, pushing at her eggs to cool them. “I’ll drop by the station after work. Although I’m pretty sure there isn’t much I can add to what you and Anna have already told her.”
When he didn’t answer, she lifted her head. His gaze was hesitant. They had been so open with one another during the night, but it was obvious he had more on his mind. They might really like one another, but the timing was off for starting a relationship. Neither of them should be rushing into anything. Not yet.
She picked up her coffee. “Are you okay?”
He swiped his hand over his face. “Do you feel any differently about meeting Anna? Now we’ve spent the night together, I was hoping you might have changed your mind.”
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