by Amy Woods
None of which he would entertain, because that word—love—was no longer part of his vocabulary when it came to women.
Of course he loved his parents, his siblings and his nieces and nephews, but that was the safe kind of love. Loving a woman, which would inevitably lead to a broken heart again—well, that was an experience he’d rather not repeat. Especially not when his heart hadn’t quite healed from the last.
What kind of scientist would he be if he didn’t learn from failed experiments?
“Remind me again why we’re doing this?” June asked as he opened the door and snow crashed through with the force of a speeding train.
He reached for her hand and, when she grabbed it with her own, pulled her close to his body, tucking an arm over her shoulders. He chose to ignore the way she stiffened as their figures came together, not caring to assess whether it was aversion or pleasure at the contact that made her react in such a way.
“Because we’re starving, remember?”
“Oh, right,” she said. “Somehow the idea of having my face frozen off made me forget how hungry I am.”
He started to laugh but stopped when icy air hit his lungs, and set his focus on moving ahead instead. As they made their way in the direction of the bakery, Ethan was careful to keep his free hand against the wall of the building as the wind’s forceful blasts threatened to send them flying into the white abyss that used to be a parking lot. June’s head was down, her chin tucked into the top of her coat as he led the way. Despite the circumstances, Ethan couldn’t help but enjoy the way her tall, slim figure nestled against his own, her body’s warmth seeping through the layers of his clothing, strong enough to set off a flame in his lower abdomen.
Astounding, the lack of discipline he’d allowed in letting himself get carried away over June. Having her huddle against his skin for warmth was one thing; that just made practical, biological sense.
Letting her under it, though, was another matter entirely.
“Looks like there’s a note on the door,” Ethan shouted to June, who was still tucked under his arm. It was virtually impossible to hear himself think, let alone to communicate with each other with the high-speed wind whipping around them. They were only a couple of yards from Bauer’s Bakery and, Ethan hoped, his stomach growling like an angry dog, something hot to eat.
He felt June nod beneath his shoulder as it occurred to him for the first time, stupidly, that the Bauers might have closed up early and hit the road once the weather started to get worse. He certainly couldn’t blame them; it’s exactly what he would have done if he didn’t have so many little furry creatures depending on him. Even if he’d been able to earlier before June showed up, after he’d told the overnight tech not to risk the trip in, he would never have left the babies alone on a night like this.
As soon as they made it to the door of the bakeshop, June emerged from his side and reached for it, only to find it locked. He wasn’t surprised, but he sure as hell was disappointed. The note on the door had been taped at all four corners, three of which were now torn. Peeling off the last, he read it only to confirm his earlier assumption that the Bauers had gone home, and he was glad for their safety.
“Well, crap,” June said, turning to face him. “Guess we’ll have to head back to the clinic. Maybe we can find a granola bar to split or something. Or...doggy biscuits are basically flour and water, right? So, maybe if we use our imaginations, it would be like eating cookies.”
He’d have to be a little more desperate to try a canine treat, but if they did find a granola bar, Ethan would let June have the whole thing. However, it was too early in the game to consider giving up just yet.
“Hang on a minute.”
June’s face was bright pink from the well-below-freezing temperature and the wind’s icy fingers slapping at her cheeks. He needed to get her inside that building, needed to get her warm.
“I’ve got a key.” He took off one mitten and, reaching under his coat, pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and dug through the compartments until he found what he was looking for. “My dad gave it to me in case the Bauers had an emergency.”
June didn’t look too relieved; probably she was holding out to make sure it worked. That made two of them. He hadn’t paid much attention when Dad went through all the important numbers and files and such that Ethan might need while caring for the clinic, and it hadn’t occurred to him to check and see if the key worked. Who would have guessed that the worst storm in Texas history would hit during his stay?
“Well, what are you waiting for?” she yelled so he could hear, her eyes squinting against the brutal air.
With fingers on the brink of frostbite, he gripped the key and shoved it into the lock, releasing an audible sigh when it fit and the knob turned.
“Oh, thank God,” June said, her eyes shooting toward the sky.
Ethan opened the door and ushered her inside, pulling it closed against a turbulent gust.
Once inside, Ethan leaned his back against the door, then they looked at each other and both started laughing as relief and the possibility of getting their hands on some food settled in. The moment of relaxation didn’t last long, though, and suddenly Ethan heard a sharp, incessant beeping.
“Oh, crap!” he shouted, echoing June’s words from when she’d thought they were locked out in the cold. This could be worse.
When she met his eyes, hers were wide as salad plates. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Uh, yeah. ’Fraid so.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no.” Her hands flew to her cheeks and she stared at him with obvious fear. “We are going to be in so much trouble when the police...”
He held up a hand in an attempt to prevent her panic from gaining momentum.
“Hang on. It would take them ages to get here if they were coming at all, but I’ve got a strong feeling that’s not going to happen. Luckily, I also have a plan.” He reached into his pocket once more, praying his phone was still in there; he hadn’t checked before they left the clinic, a distraction he could justifiably blame on June. He pressed his thumb against a button, unlocking the cell, and dialed as quickly as his icicle fingers would allow.
“What are you doing?”
“Just trust me, okay?”
She nodded at the same time his father picked up.
“Dad, hey, I’m glad you answered. I need you to listen carefully. I don’t have much time.”
“Ethan, is that you?” his father asked.
He rolled his eyes.
“Yes, Dad, of course it’s me. Look, do you have the alarm code to the Bauers’ place?”
He waved at June to get her attention and motioned for her to open the keypad near the door where the alarm continued to blare its warning.
“Just a minute, son, I think I have it here somewhere.” Ethan could picture the older man digging through the kitchen junk drawer of his uncle’s apartment in DC.
Ethan groaned—getting his father to hurry up was about as futile as trying to force a cat to walk on a leash—but thankfully, he’d set to work without an argument.
“Time is of the essence here, Dad.”
“All right, all right. I’ve got it right in front of me now. Just let me put on my reading glasses.” More shuffling ensued. “Are you ready?”
“Of course I am. Go ahead.”
He listened as his dad recited the code, repeating it to June, who promptly punched the numbers into the keypad. When the inane beeping stopped, Ethan dropped the phone to his side and they both let out the breaths they’d been holding since the noise began.
“Is everything okay now?” his father’s voice chimed from the cell.
“Yes, Dad, it’s fine. Thanks a bunch. It’s a long story and I can’t talk now, but I needed to get into the Bauers’ and I’ve got the key you gave me. I just hadn�
�t considered the alarm system.”
“Tell Dr. Singh thank you for me,” June called out.
He nodded that he would.
“Is that a girl?” his dad asked.
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad. And she said to tell you she’s thankful for the help, as well. But like I said, I’ll have to explain later. I have to go...”
“What girl?” came his mother’s voice in the background.
Grumbling rose up from his throat when he heard her snatch the phone from his father’s hand.
Here we go.
“Ethan Singh, do you have a girlfriend you haven’t told us about? Are you on a date? You should not be on the phone while on a date. I raised you better than that and...”
“Mom, Mom! I’m not on a date.” He shook his head at the curious, teasing smile that sprung up on June’s face. She crossed her arms, clearly enjoying his misery just a little too much.
“Look, like I told Dad, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“You’d better not be out with a woman and keeping it a secret from us, Ethan. I’m your mother and I deserve to know if your heart isn’t broken anymore and you’re back out there. Are you back out there, Ethan? I certainly hope so. I never liked that last girl and I know you can do so much better.”
“Jessica, Mom. Her name was Jessica. All right, thanks for the lecture. I really do have to go, though.”
“Bring her by the house so we can meet her, son,” his dad interjected from the background. “I don’t know if your mother has told you yet but we’re coming back down for Neena’s birthday party in a few days. We will see your new friend then.”
“Yes, do so,” Melanie Singh agreed. “And sooner rather than later. I don’t like to see you so down all the time.”
He could practically see the maternal finger shaking in his face.
“You’re not getting any younger, Ethan,” she continued, “and I want to see you settled before you’re old and gray.”
He gazed heavenward, hoping maybe the guy upstairs would throw him a bone. As if getting stuck in a blizzard without dinner wasn’t bad enough, now he had to endure an inquisition from his overinvolved parents while a woman he’d been attracted to the moment he laid eyes on her looked on with thinly veiled amusement.
June could at least have the courtesy not to look so thoroughly entertained.
“Yes, Mom. Tell Dad I said bye. I will talk to you later.”
“Not so fast. First, promise you’ll bring this young lady by for Neena’s birthday party. The more, the merrier, I always say.”
He’d never heard her use that expression before in his life, but this was a time for picking battles.
“I can’t do that.”
“And why ever not?”
His jaw clenched and he withheld choice words. “Because as I said, we are not dating. If you’d been listening you would know that we’ve only just met, June and I. Now I really do have to go.”
“Oh, June is such a pretty name, but, Ethan, if you’re not dating this young woman, then what are you doing with her in the middle of this weather? After the clinic is closed?”
“She’s not...we’re not...” He closed his eyes, drawing in a slow breath and hopefully a hefty dose of patience, too. “I will explain later.”
“I know you, Ethan,” his mother said, her voice stern now. “The party. Next weekend. You’ll call me later for the details.”
“I...” Oh, what was the point in fighting her? When Melanie Singh got an idea in her head, there was simply no talking her out of it. “All right, Mom. I promise.”
“Good boy,” she said, the sound of victory clear as a bell in her falsely innocent voice.
He knew when to admit defeat. “Okay, Mom. Goodbye.”
He pushed the end call button with a bit more ferocity than was necessary. June was standing there staring at him, arms still crossed, a pleased grin curling her lips up at the corners.
“You don’t have to look so smug, you know.”
June’s eyebrows shot up. “Smug?” she asked, pointing at her chest. “Who, me?”
She batted her eyelashes, a gesture that was meant to be silly but instead ticked up his pulse a notch.
“Yes, smug. I can see you got a kick out of watching me get dominated by my overbearing family, and you’re enjoying it far too much.” He shoved his cell back into his pocket and took a few steps nearer to the woman who’d turned his evening upside down—whether in a good way or bad still remained to be seen.
Something in her eyes darkened, but she quickly brushed aside whatever had bothered her for half a second. “Not at all. I mean, I did enjoy listening in on your conversation, I admit, but probably not in the way you think.”
“I’m intrigued. Go on.” It was his turn to cross his arms, and he did so with a smile on his face, enjoying the easy banter with her. It had been a long time since he’d felt so tranquil in a woman’s presence, and even though he wasn’t willing to invest his heart in one again, what harm could there be in having a bit of fun? They were stuck in each other’s company for the night, after all. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the short time they had.
He expected June’s next words to be playful, flirty even, but instead they were serious.
“It’s just that...well, it sounds like your parents are very sweet. You’re a lucky guy.”
“Oh, June, you have no idea,” he said softly, trying to set the tone to light again. “My parents are many things, but sweet is not one of them.”
Her eyes crinkled at the corners and registered disbelief. “You’re bluffing. They sound incredibly sweet.”
“They are kind people, I’ll allow that. But—” he made a clicking sound with his tongue “—meddlesome to an unholy degree.”
He stood only inches away from her now, and the heat radiating in that small space was enough to warm the entire cold bakery.
“At any rate, I’m in debt to them for that alarm code, so I’m in no position to complain.”
“Goodness, me, too,” June added. “I think my butt was literally about to freeze off.”
“Wouldn’t that be a shame?” he quipped, the words popping out before he could reconsider.
June would have been justified in socking him a good one, but the thing was, he didn’t for a second regret the comment. It was true—the woman had a great ass—and he wasn’t afraid to admit it.
For a second, her pretty mouth hung open in surprise, and then it did something rather unexpected.
She smiled—a gorgeous, sexy smile—even a little naughty, he would say, and he couldn’t help but grin back.
They stood there like two teenage idiots on a first date until finally June gave a little cough. “Right. Food,” he said, more than a little sorry to see the moment pass.
Chapter Five
“Obviously no one’s here, so what are we going to do?”
Ethan pulled off his outerwear and made a motion for June to let him help with her coat. He plucked the garment from her shoulders and she was instantly grateful for the air that slid over her skin like cool water.
He’d gone and done it again—made her uncomfortably warm with that silky voice and those delicious brown eyes. Not to mention she was certain her heart would melt as she’d listened to his humorous but charming conversation with his folks.
June swallowed, willing the lump in her throat to dissolve.
She loved her own mom fiercely, but that had never stopped her from wanting more as a kid, from wanting a real family. A whole family. It was easy to admit that she wasn’t a kid anymore, that she should grow up and accept reality, but some wishes did not go away.
When her ex had deceived her, stolen every cent of the money she’d saved to start her own bakery, then topped that off by l
eaving her in the dust with a shattered heart, she’d thought more than once how comforting it would have been to have a sister. And yeah, she had good friends—not many that she kept in touch with, considering the long hours her job required, but a few close ones nonetheless. Her best friend, Katie, was always there for her, when she and her husband, Ryan, weren’t too busy with their kids’ many activities. It was just that sometimes she couldn’t help thinking how wonderful it would be to have someone she’d grown up with, someone who knew her history—who loved her deeply and unconditionally—to have her back when things got really tough. Really, really tough. Like you’re-on-your-back-and-someone-kicks-you-in-the-face kind of tough. That’s certainly how she’d felt when Clayton had taken everything she’d ever invested into the bakery.
And, it sometimes seemed, much more.
On the loneliest nights in her tiny apartment, without even a cat to keep her company anymore, June sometimes felt like he’d taken her very future from her. To her name, she had a rented apartment, a car she didn’t yet own and a job that paid only slightly over minimum wage. Nothing that really, truly, belonged to her.
Sometimes her whole life felt borrowed, as if someone could come collect at any time and she would have nothing left but the clothes on her back.
Of course, she would never admit that to anyone—not ever. She was June Leavy, the positive girl who’d grown up poor with a single mom who broke her back at multiple jobs to put food on the table but could never scrape together enough for a much-deserved vacation—all with a smile on her face.
Because if she didn’t smile, there was only one alternative. And even on her lowest days, feeling sorry for herself was not an option.
And then there was Ethan Singh, saving puppies and rocking her world during the biggest storm of her life.
If she didn’t watch herself, he might convince her that she was not a woman who no longer trusted men. Or, at least, he might make her want to try.
She gave herself a mental shake.
No way. She wasn’t going there again. She knew to stay away from a face like that when she saw one. Her ex had been a good-looking guy and she’d been the envy of all her friends, until he’d broken her heart into a thousand little pieces.
