Tug of Attraction

by Ashlyn Chase

  He set his phone on the control panel and looked out over the bow. The river stretched in front of him. From his vantage point, the possibilities looked endless. If he didn’t already know, he couldn’t tell where the river would take him or for how long.

  He supposed that was how life was. But with the single life, if you entered the wrong tributary, you could always turn around and try another route. No harm. No foul.

  Once you entered fatherhood, you couldn’t go back to carefree exploration. You had to know where you were going and that all the routes were safe ones.

  Dammit, why did Brigit choose him? It’s not like there weren’t plenty of other men who’d be willing and able. Hell, the lawyer and even Keith said they would be glad to do the deed.

  He tried to put himself in her shoes, and he understood a little better. The child was bound to wonder who his or her father was. She’d at least want to explain that he was a good man and a close friend. She wouldn’t want to look at the child and see the slimy lawyer or a mini Cher.

  As Ethan rolled it around in his head some more, he realized he had been approaching it from a failed direction. He had been wondering what would happen if she changed her mind and wanted his help—or his name. But what if she didn’t? Why did that idea disappoint him too?

  He threw his paper coffee cup in the trash and jogged down the gang plank. There was only one way he was going to make up his mind without driving himself crazy. He had to see her.

  * * * *

  Brigit looked up from the big bag of kibble to see long legs and hands on lean hips. She straightened and took in the rest of Ethan Cox’s handsome face and angry scowl. Uh-oh.

  She tamped down her instant desire, and tried to sound nonchalant. “Ethan! What are you doing here?”

  He looked like he was about to answer her but turned his head and sneezed instead.

  “Bless you.”

  “Great. I’m allergic to your workplace.”

  “And I’m not crazy about boats. Is that what you wanted to tell me?”

  “No. Is there someplace we can talk—someplace that isn’t covered with animal dander?”

  At an animal shelter? “Maybe outdoors...Want to help me feed the horses?”

  “You have horses here?”

  “A few. I just need to finish—”

  Ethan turned his head and sneezed again.

  “You know what? I’ll finish feeding the dogs later.” She put the kibble to the side and said, “Sorry guys. I’ll have to come back.” To their yips of protest she said, “I can’t let my friend get sick.”

  Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she saw Ethan smile slightly. She led him outside as quickly as possible, and hoped beyond hope that the scowl had more to do with his allergies than hinting at an answer to her recent request.

  As soon as they were a few feet from the building, she took his hand. He glanced down at their clasped hands, but she couldn’t read his expression. At least he didn’t recoil. His hand was warm, and a little rough, as she’d expect from all the work he did outside in all types of weather.

  “I’ll just add water to the horse’s trough. You can sit on the picnic bench and I’ll be right back. He nodded and let go of her hand, but he didn’t sit on the bench. He stood and watched her. Maybe there was still a chance...

  She leaned over and stuck out her ass, which she’d been told was a lovely rounded shape. The skinny jeans with some bling on the pockets made her feel feminine. With any luck he’d notice and want to cop a feel.

  She glanced beneath her arm, and saw the hunger in his eyes as he watched her. Ah. A very good sign. She was tempted to wave it back and forth a bit, but she didn’t want to be that blatant.

  At last she’d filled the trough and resisted patting the horses. She didn’t want to test how bad Ethan’s allergies were. She did, however take a moment to murmur some nonsense that seemed to make them happy. When she walked back up the hill she let her breasts bounce just a bit, hoping it didn’t seem too obvious.

  “Have a seat,” she said and gestured to the bench.

  “What I have to say is quick.”

  Oh, no. That’s never good. She braced herself and expected her hopes and dreams to be dashed. She bit her lip and nodded as if to say, “Go ahead. I’m ready.”

  “If we’re going to do this, it’s going to happen the normal way. I need your phone number, so I can ask you out.”

  “On a date? But that’s not—”

  He held up a hand to halt her speech.

  “That’s how it’s got to be. I won’t do this any other way. I’m not even guaranteeing we’ll have sex on the first date—or the second.”

  Her jaw dropped, then she remembered he didn’t say no. ‘Maybe later’ was better than an outright no. Anything was better than a no.

  “Okay. Let me get a pen and paper.” Her hands began to shake.

  He reached into his lightweight jacket pocket and produced a small spiral notebook and a pen.

  “Oh. You come prepared.”

  “Generally, yes. I don’t think there’s any preparation for someone like you though.”

  “Huh? Someone like me?”

  “You dropped a bombshell on me. I hope you don’t do that often.”

  She chuckled. “I can honestly say I’ve never done that to anyone else, ever.”

  “Lucky me.”

  She smiled. “I hope so.”

  * * * *

  “I must be out of my mind.” Ethan opened a beer and leaned against his refrigerator.

  Charlotte sighed. “I don’t know what the big deal is. She’s a sure thing, like I was, but she isn’t charging you a cent and doesn’t have a knife sticking out of her head.”

  “Yeah. Now that I have that visual, you’ll have to tell me how it happened.”

  “My customer had a jealous lover. What else is new?”

  “That must have been one strong woman to sink a knife into your skull.”

  “Not a woman. A man. And it’s a very long, very sharp, two sided dagger.”

  “Wait a minute...a man? Were you entertaining women too?”

  “Oh, my, no. The man who owned this house went to sea for several weeks at a time. You’d call him gay these days. His—ahem—roommate was the kind of man who could play a part if it would keep him from working too hard. In fact, he was an actor. But I know acting, and I can tell you beyond a doubt that the lazy lout preferred me. I made the mistake of telling the sailor the bad news when he returned unexpectedly and demanded to know who I was.”

  “Wow.” Not knowing what else to say, Ethan took a long swig of his beer.

  “Yeah. Wow. At first, I didn’t even know I was dead. I didn’t feel anything. When I finally figured it out, they were fighting. I hung around to see if my John was going to be all right, and I must have missed the bright light...my chance to move on. I’ve been here ever since.”

  “I’m sorry, Charlotte. That was kind of you to worry about the actor.”

  “Yeah, well I’m just a big ol’ mushy romantic. Now, why don’t you invite that thoroughly fuckable, willing woman over and have at her?”

  Ethan leaned back and let out a deep belly laugh. When he slowed to merely chuckling and wiping his eyes, he said, “Thanks, Charlotte. I needed that. But I can’t bring her here.”

  “Why not? I’ll stay out of the bedroom.”

  “Yeah, right. I’ve heard that before.”

  “I will. I have to. She can see me.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Ethan put his beer on the counter and found the notebook in his jacket pocket. “It won’t matter anyway. I’m going to get to know her better first.”

  “Huh? Get to know her? What’s there to know? She wants you to bang her, so bang her.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  * * * *

  Brigit had hoped Ethan would call soon, even though it wasn’t like they were really dating. Most guys waited until Tuesday to call, especially if they just met her on Saturday. As tim
e went on, and they were pretty sure she wasn’t getting offers elsewhere, the call might wait until Thursday. The ones who were really full of themselves would wait until Friday rolled around and they wanted to see her that night.

  Ethan surprised her with a call on Monday morning.

  “How was your weekend?”

  “You saw the most exciting part of it.” She set her coffee on the counter and ran her fingers through her hair as if he could see her.

  “Yikes, sounds boring. Did the puppies have to wait long for their dinner?”

  “No. I got right back to them.”

  “I hope you apologized for me.”

  She chuckled. “The thing I like about most animals, dogs especially, is their instant forgiveness. No apology necessary.”

  “Good. Well, I hope you’ll forgive me for what I’m about to say.”

  “Noooo...” Please don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.

  “Wow. I guess people are quite different from pets.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t assume the worst.” She tried to calm her racing heart. “You had something to tell me...”

  “It’s just that I need to cover for one of the other captains who had a death in the family. I think I mentioned this job can be hard to get away from. In some ways it’s harder on me, because as the single guy they figure my time is my own—and for the most part, they’re right. So I wind up covering most last minute emergencies.”

  “Oh.” She scratched her head. “I’m confused. We didn’t have a date.”

  “Yeah, and now I can’t make one unless you’re flexible enough to let me run out on you if something comes up.”

  “I’m flexible. It might be awkward if we’re in the middle of making a baby, but I’m sure I could get the mood back later,” She said in her sexiest voice.

  Silence on the other end spiked her anxiety. Why the hell had he wanted to date? They could have skipped all that bullshit. Well, tough. He wanted it this way...In fact, he’d demanded it. She sipped her coffee and waited.

  “Uh, yeah. I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. I was thinking more along the lines of dinner some night this week.”

  “Sure. I’m free by six most nights. Seven if it requires dressing up.”

  “I’m a pretty casual guy, but I want to take you somewhere decent. How about the Dolphin Stryker? It’s basically next to my boat and they have live Jazz after eight.”

  “Sounds nice. Are you sure you want to invest so much in a relationship that’s guaranteed not to work out?”

  Silence again. What was so hard about hearing the truth—even in jest?

  “I’m not sure of anything where you’re concerned.”

  ...and the anxiety was back. “Is there anything I can do to help your uncertainty?”

  “Yeah. Pick an evening and let me have your address so I can pick you up.”

  Oh, no. He’d better not be trying to trick me into telling him exactly where I live. “I’ll meet you there. How about tomorrow?”

  “How about Wednesday? Mondays and Tuesdays are the only nights without live music.”

  “Okay. Sure. What time?”

  “Seven thirty. If you shower before, I won’t sneeze all night.”

  She laughed. “Deal.”

  After hanging up she reached out to her beautiful ten year-old Golden Retriever, and the loving animal trotted over to her. She rubbed up against her leg, and Brigit scratched her behind her floppy ears. “Well, Goldie, I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad you shed. Maybe we can keep Mr. Curious from coming over unannounced.”

  Something about this dating thing bothered Brigit. He hadn’t said he was willing to give her the baby she wanted. He hadn’t outright refused to either.

  “What do you think, Goldie?”

  The dog just licked her hand.

  “Hmmm...You’re saying, he could be like all the other guys out there. Right?”

  Goldie sat on her haunches and barked once.

  Brigit sighed. “I see. I thought if anyone would be cool with something a little different, it would be him. Well, I tried to be up front and honest. I guess we’ll see where that gets me.”

  * * * *

  Hanna bent over and reached for the handle on her mini-fridge to get an iced tea when

  Fayleen hovered upside down in front of her face.

  “Holy crap!” Hanna backed away until she felt the chair cushion with the backs of her legs and sat down, hard. “Can’t you enter a room the normal way?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Fayleen flipped around and her sneakers touched to the floor.

  “Please tell me you’ve found the Unholy Grail.”

  Fayleen sat beside her. “Um. I could do that, but I’d be lying.”

  Hanna closed her eyes and counted to ten. I still believe she lost the one thing that gave us our supernatural powers. “Did you find any leads yet?”

  “Apparently my cat knocked the grail off the sofa table and it fell into my African wicker basket. The new housekeeper thought it was a trash bucket and emptied it into the recycling bin.”

  Hanna slapped her hand over her heart. “Whew. So, you know where it is.”

  “No. I’m just telling you what happened to it. She took the recycling out to the curb and it was picked up the next morning.”

  “Picked up...You mean, it’s at a recycling center somewhere?”

  “Hopefully.”

  Hanna rose abruptly and clenched her fists. “That’s all you can say? Hopefully? Why aren’t you over there, sifting through every piece of crap until you find it?” Hanna shook her head and muttered, “I can’t believe you lost the damn thing. And right when I have another candidate to recommend to the supernatural coven.”

  “Who?”

  “I think Ethan is ready.”

  “Cool. So, we really have to find the grail or he won’t be able to drink from it and won’t become a super witch.”

  Hanna rolled her eyes. “We call ourselves Supernatural Witches, not super witches. You know that.”

  “Yeah, yeah, but that’s such a mouthful. We need something short and catchy.”

  Hanna clasped her hands behind her back and paced. “What we need is more of us, if we’re going to affect any kind of change in this world.”

  “That’s why I’m here,” Fayleen said. “I thought the search might go faster with two of us looking for it.”

  Hanna halted and crossed her arms. “So you want my help.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  “What if I do?”

  “I still want your help. Look, I’m sorry. I should have hidden it away immediately, but I didn’t.” Fayleen got on her knees in front of Hanna and took her hand. “Pleeeease. This is too important to trust to one person.”

  “Especially you.” Hanna rubbed her eyes. “Okay. Fine. Let me change into some old clothes, if I’m going to be rooting around in piles of trash.” She snapped her fingers and instantly wore her New England Patriot’s Superbowl 2004 Champions sweatshirt and a pair of ratty gray jeans that used to be black.

  Fayleen bounded to her feet. “You keep sweatshirts from the dark ages?”

  Hanna smirked. “You’re precious Carolina Panthers lost that year. Didn’t they?”

  “That’s what I meant by the dark ages.” Fayleen sighed. “Don’t worry. Your dig wasn’t lost on me.”

  “Good. Let’s get to that recycling center. Where is it, by the way?”

  “It’s just easier if you grab my hand and let me take you.”

  Hanna twined her fingers with Fayleen’s. A moment later, they were in a large warehouse in front of a conveyor belt. Fayleen was wearing a hard hat and she handed one to Hanna.

  “Safety first.”

  “If you were concerned about safety you wouldn’t have bothered me in the first place.”

  “Oh, quit your bitchin’. Look.” She pointed to a lone worker coming through the double doors.

  “Hey, what are you two—” The middle aged ma
n froze in place.

  “Why did you do that?” Fayleen demanded.

  “Sorry. Reflex. Whenever I’m with you and someone shouts at us, it’s usually because we’re doing something illegal.”

  “Oh. Well, your reaction might not be far off. I may have forgotten to check and see if our being here was okay.”

  Hanna rolled her eyes. “Quel surprise.”

  “Shall we get started?” Fayleen asked.

  Resigned, Hanna sighed. “Might as well. How does this equipment work?”

  “How would I know? Maybe I can unfreeze the nice worker and use my considerable charm on him.”

  “Yeah. That won’t backfire at all.”

  “Give me a little credit. This isn’t my first time getting around the rules.”

  “That’s for damn sure,” Hanna muttered. “Okay.” She snapped her fingers and the guy said, “doing here?” Then he jammed his hands on his hips.

  Fayleen sashayed up to him and ran her finger along his arm. “There’s no need to get mad at little ol’ us.” She spied his name badge and added, “Henry, honey.”

  He coughed and smiled. “I’m not mad. It’s just that no one is supposed to be back here without a pass.”

  “Oh!” She swiveled toward Hanna. “It’s those silly passes we were given that he has to see. You’ve got them right there, don’t ya, darlin’?”

  “Oh, Yes. Of course.” Hanna fake-fished in her pocket and held up nothing but air. “See? I have them right here.”

  He nodded. “Very good. Now, how can I help you fine ladies this afternoon?”

  “Well,” Fayleen draped her arm over the guy’s shoulder. “We need to find something that shouldn’t have been thrown away. It’s very unique. Very special. There’s only one in the whole wide world.”

  “What is it?” Henry asked.

  “It’s a cup sittin’ on a long, thick stem.”

  “What’s it made out of?”

  Hanna and Fayleen exchanged panicked expressions.

  “We don’t rightly know. It’s gray and has a lot of colorful baubles stuck in it.” Fayleen batted her eyelashes at him.

  “We separate everything by material. For instance, over there’s the plastic...” Henry pointed to a large pile sitting on a beige tarp.

  “Oh, no. The grail is definitely not plastic.” Fayleen said, and Hanna shook her head. “It’s quite heavy.”