“I wouldn’t want you to say that, Isabella, because as you pointed out, it wouldn’t be the truth. But I hope that we can move forward. I’ve missed my daughter even though we live only a half an hour apart. I do understand the distance between us; I deserve your cold shoulder.”
Isabella stood and rushed to her dad’s seat. He stood and wrapped his arms around her. She laid her head on his chest and inhaled the familiar scent of Old Spice. It was a scent she’d always associated with her dad and had avoided sniffing over the years. Now the smell comforted her as she shed the tears she should’ve let out many years ago.
“Is everything okay here?” Ethan’s voice penetrated her fog.
“Everything is fine,” her dad returned as he rubbed his hand over her back. “Isabella and I have sorted out a few issues.”
Squeezing her dad one last time, she pulled out of his hold and faced Ethan. His dark eyes were cloudy with concern, reminding her of his earlier remark about having her six.
She wound her arms around Ethan’s waist. “I’m fine, Ethan,” she murmured and ran her hands up and down his back. Slowly the tension drained out of him and his arms closed around her. Giving in to the urge that had been inside of her the second he touched her, she laid her head on his chest and sighed.
“I’ve never liked it when someone cries. I’m sorry for overreacting when I walked in.”
“It’s okay, and they were cleansing tears. Trust me.” Her breath hiccoughed out of her when his thumb swiped away the moisture lingering on her cheek.
Her heart fluttered in her chest and she melted against him even more. Going up on tiptoe she brushed her lips across his, before looking at him, making sure his attention was fully on her and not her dad who still stood behind her.
Once she had Ethan’s attention, she said, “I promise you I needed to cry. It’s been a long time coming. And I promise you that I truly am fine.”
His gaze was immovable, as though he was digging into the far recesses of her mind to reassure himself what she was saying was the truth. Whatever he saw, must have satisfied him because he nodded and dropped another kiss on her nose. “Would you like another beer, Eric?”
Her father barked out a laugh and Ethan’s lips stretched into an answering smile, encouraging her own to lift at the corners. “How about me?” she asked with a wink.
“Would you like one?” Ethan asked picking the small carton he must have placed on the ground when he walked in.
“Absolutely.”
While she might have sorted out some of the issues with her father and their relationship was on an even footing at the moment, they still had a long way to go. As she well knew, life could change in a heartbeat.
*
A few hours later, Ethan parked his car in her driveway. The rest of the afternoon had gone off so well, they’d ended up staying at her dad’s house for dinner.
When they left, he grabbed her in another sweet hug and whispered in her ear, “I love you, honey bee.” From memory that was the first time he’d ever said the words to her. She’d been too choked up to return the words, so she’d nodded instead. Now she wished she’d said something like me too to him.
“You’ve been quiet on the drive home. You doing okay?”
“Yeah, I am. Just processing everything that went on today. Dad and I made progress. We both have work to do, and I know I have to try harder than I have been.” She reached over and squeezed his thigh. “Thanks for coming today. I’m sure it wasn’t what you expected.”
“I was happy to be there. Although, I may wait before I introduce you to my family. After you meet them, you may kick me to the curb.”
She laughed and went to remove her hand, only to have Ethan lay his warm one over hers. Instinct told her he was only joking, but what if there was something bad about his family? Would they not like her because she wasn’t in the service? “Why do you say that? Should I be worried?”
He turned his hand beneath hers and entwined their fingers. “Because when I tell them I’m bringing home a girl for Sunday dinner, my parents invite everyone over. It gets loud, and they’re all big huggers. Also, I’m an only child; my parents think I can do no wrong. Which is totally right, of course.” He winked.
Isabella rolled her eyes. “If I can handle a room full of unruly fifth graders who think they know everything, I can deal with your family.”
“We’ll see.” He chuckled, lifted their co-joined hands, and placed a kiss on her fingers.
Her breath caught in her throat and desire for Ethan simmered to life inside of her. Being with him tonight, kissing every inch of his body would be the perfect way to end the evening. “Do you want to come in?” she asked, breathless from the merest of touches.
“I’d love to, but I can’t. I need to get back home, I have PT first thing and it’s better if I’m home.”
*
“Back to the real world, huh?” she tried to joke, but it fell flatter than a pancake.
“Unfortunately, and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to see you this week. We’ve got a lot of training exercises to go through because I’ll be deploying again soon.”
And there it was, the two words she hadn’t wanted to think about or let enter her mind—deployment and training. Words she couldn’t avoid if she wanted to move forward in her life with Ethan by her side. And she did, but it was so easy to cling to what made her comfortable, even if it was unhealthy. To fall back into the safety of thinking the worst would happen to those she cared about.
The reality of the situation was, their relationship was so new, and even with the support of her dad and the people she’d meet on the weekend, could she and Ethan really survive an extended absence after only knowing each other for a few weeks?
A hand closed around her head and pulled her gently toward him. Resisting the lure was useless; she wanted to be as close to him as she could. “We’ll be fine, Izzy. You don’t know how much I want to be able to take you inside and worship you. But I do need to get back home.”
With one of her hands still tangled up in his, she placed her free hand on his cheek. “It’s okay, I understand.” And she did, even if she didn’t want to. She closed the gap and kissed him, hoping to convey all that she was feeling through her kiss.
His lips moved over hers, eliciting a moan from her. His tongue delved into her mouth deepening the kiss. She didn’t know how long they were connected but the need to breathe had her pulling her lips away from his.
“Let me walk you to your door,” he murmured.
“I’d like that.”
With another peck on her lips, he released her and opened his door. He was around her side of the car in a flash. A few moments later they were standing at her door, her key in her hand.
“Thank you for today, Ethan. I’m glad you came with me.”
“As I said, I had a wonderful time. I like your dad.”
She smiled. “He likes you too.”
“Phew,” he responded wiping his hand across his forehead in an exaggerated movement. “That’s a relief.”
“Oh, please, there were times you two completely forgot I was in the room when you started talking guns and stuff,” she teased, punching him lightly on the arm.
He captured her hand and tugged her so she fell against his chest. “I never forgot where you were, Izzy. You’re unforgettable to me.”
His lips captured hers again in a fierce, erotic kiss. Spindles of desire entwined around her heart and she groaned against his mouth while grinding her lower body against his growing erection.
“Are you sure I can’t tempt you to stay? Even for a little bit?” she asked.
“God, I wish I could say yes, but I can’t.” He tempered his rejection with another evocative kiss, she wouldn’t be surprised that one day she’d climax just from his lips on hers.
The reluctance to end the embrace between them wasn’t fake, she felt it as much as he did. Taking a deep breath, she inserted her key in the lock. Before she could
twist it open, Ethan’s warm hand closed over hers. “Let me.”
He twisted the key and opened the door, stepping over the threshold before her. “What are you doing?” she asked, trying not to get her hopes up that he had changed his mind about spending the night with her.
“Making sure your house is fine.”
“Seriously? Didn’t we already have this discussion when you left? I don’t need you to do this, Ethan.” Isabella grabbed his arm to halt his progress. Normally if she went out she’d always leave a light on in case it was dark when she got home. Because she hadn’t expected the lunch with her dad to trail into dinner, she hadn’t bothered to leave one on. “You do know I come home to an empty house all the time?”
“Yes, but that was before I knew you. Now that I do, I’m going to worry every time you come home.”
“Well, this isn’t going to work for me. But how about I send you a text every time I get home so you know I’m okay?” Compromise was everything in a relationship.
“That would make me very happy.” He looked at his watch and groaned. “I really need to go.”
He swept her close again for another kiss.
“You’ll never leave if you keep doing that,” she said breathlessly a few minutes later.
Ethan chuckled and smoothed a hand down her back. “You are simply irresistible, Isabella Knowles.”
“Likewise, Ethan Masters, but I won’t be blamed for you having to do an extra hundred push-ups because you were dragging your ass at PT.”
“Oh, you wound me.” He winked at her and turned to walk to her door.
Isabella followed behind, dragging her feet because she really didn’t want to say goodbye to him. He got to the door and opened it, waiting for her to catch up with him.
“I’ll try to call when I can,” he said and dropped a kiss on her nose.
“Sounds good.” With one last lingering look, he turned on his heel and headed to his car. So this was what it was going to be like, watching him leave whenever he was deployed. Following his retreating back as he walked onto a plane or into a car. It was going to be hard, but she’d do it.
Chapter Thirteen
Ethan glanced at his phone, trying to see if he could get any signal. The chances of that happening were going to be slim. They were doing a training exercise in the middle of nowhere Texas. The sun was beating down unrelentingly on his back. Sam was panting beside him and all he wanted to do was sink into the coldest vat of water possible. That wasn’t going to happen for another three days.
“Put the phone away, before the chief master sergeant sees you. I can’t believe you didn’t hand your phone over,” Zeke hissed.
“You can’t tell me you haven’t been trying to get signal?” he retorted.
“Well, yeah, but Anna’s about to have our first baby. I like to think if I get caught, I’ve got a justifiable excuse. You on the other hand, don’t.”
Zeke was right, but part of him needed to let Isabella know everything was okay. This was his first away training assignment, and given her past history with her husband, the need to reassure her was strong. It had been almost a month since their weekend together. They’d gone on a few dates and he’d spent as much time as he could with her and in her bed.
Just thinking about her lying sprawled across her sheets, her hair spread over her pillow, her lips parted, tempting him to taste them, had his body twitching against his pants.
“This is the first time I’ve been away from Izzy for any length of time without contact.” No way could Ethan tell Zeke about Isabella’s first marriage and what happened to her husband. He couldn’t help but worry about how she was dealing with him being away. He’d met her friend Meredith and she would be there for Izzy if she needed support. So would her father. “I’m worried that’s all. I know you probably went through this when you began dating Anna.”
Zeke ran a cloth across his sweaty forehead. “Yeah, but I know Anna said she’d keep in touch with Isabella, let her know she wasn’t alone while we were away. That’s what Patricia did with Anna, so Anna now wants to pay it forward for Isabella.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it.” He suspected as much but didn’t want to assume Anna and the others would be there for Isabella.
“Hey, you know we all look out for each other, that includes our women. Come on, we’re being summoned.” Zeke canted his head to the left and Ethan saw his superior officer signaling them to come over to him.
“Let’s go, Sam,” he said, and his partner stood up ready for her next instruction from him. “Thanks for the chat, Zeke, I needed it.”
“Anytime.”
Once they reached the chief master sergeant, he looked up and zeroed in on Zeke. “Hopkins, I’ve just received notification your wife has gone into labor. Seeing as we’ve done the major training drills today, I’m granting you permission to go to her. A helo has been dispatched and is set to arrive in thirty minutes.”
The color drained from his friend’s face and Ethan relinquished his hold on Sam to steady the man.
“Fuck, I’m about to become a dad.” There was an incredulous note in his voice and Ethan laughed.
“Yep, sure sounds like it. Congrats, man, that’s awesome.”
“I don’t know if I can do this. What sort of dad am I going to be?”
“An awesome one, so stop fucking about and get your shit together so you’re ready to go when the ’copter arrives.”
Zeke swallowed and nodded as a hint of color returned back to his face. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“When am I ever wrong?” Ethan joked.
That got an eye roll from his friend. “All the fucking time.” Zeke then turned to the gathered men and yelled, “I’m gonna be a fucking dad.”
Everyone laughed and wished him well. A tinge of envy spiked through Ethan. Prior to meeting Isabella thoughts of becoming a father had been a far off dream. Now that he had, he couldn’t get pictures of Isabella round with their baby, out of his mind. Her lying in a hospital bed clasping a tiny bundle, her eyes alight with joy and glistening with tears.
Damn, he wanted to make those images come true. The bigger question was, would Izzy want this—with him?
*
Walking into his house, Ethan dumped his pack on the ground and leaned back against the door, closing his eyes. Exhaustion lined every single muscle and bone in his body. All he wanted to do was take a shower and collapse on his bed. He’d received a phone call from Lieutenant Colonial Blue when he arrived back at base, asking him if he’d made any decisions about his reenlistment and promotion. He’d been avoiding thinking about it and he hadn’t spoken to Isabella either. He needed to talk to her soon. He didn’t understand his reticence in bringing the subject up.
Yes you do. You’re worried she’s going to ask you to give it all away and you don’t want to.
He sighed, he wasn’t up for a mental argument, no matter how much truth there was in his internal thoughts.
Later.
He took a deep breath and held it.
What?
He took another deep breath. Nope he hadn’t been imagining it, he could smell wildflowers. The same scent he always smelled when he was with Isabella. She’d only been to his house once, and that was a couple of days after the weekend they’d first made love. He’d spent most of his time at her place because Caleb was still seeing Amy.
The only reason he was smelling her scent was because he was tired and she’d been on his mind most of his trip. It was amazing he’d got through his exercises; his mind hadn’t been totally focused on the job.
“Hey, soldier boy.”
Now he was imaging hearing her. He really was tired. With a sigh, he pulled himself away from the door as he opened his eyes. His step faltered when he clapped eyes on the vision in front of him.
And what a vision it was. No way was his Isabella standing in the hallway of his house. It just wasn’t possible, because he hadn’t told her when and what time he’d be returning, and she didn
’t have a key to his house.
Just to make sure there weren’t any doubts, he rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again there she stood, all beautiful in one of the maxi dresses she liked to wear in summer, her blonde hair curled over her shoulders and a big smile on her face.
“Airman, not soldier boy.”
“Well, then, hey, airman.”
Ethan was half convinced he’d fallen asleep standing up. “You’re real?”
She laughed and glided toward him. “Very real.”
Ethan reached out to clasp her hands when she went to hug him. “God, Izzy, as much as I want to hold you, I’m covered in dirt and shit and stink to high heaven.”
A serene smile crossed her face. “I don’t care. I missed you.” Seconds later she closed the distance and kissed him soundly on his lips. Groaning, Ethan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him.
Every night while he was away, he dreamed about holding her. Kissing her the way he was kissing her right now. Reality was so much better than dreams.
His body hardened with every passing second their lips roamed over each other. He’d like nothing more than to lay her on the hardwood floor and ravish her, but he really didn’t want to transfer any of his five-day trip on her. Pulling his lips away, he rested his chin on top of her head. “Now this is a welcome home I could definitely get used to. How did you know when I would be getting home? How did you get in?”
Isabella laughed and then her nose crinkled. “Boy, you weren’t wrong, you really do stink.”
“Hey.” He took a step away, colliding with the front door again, and held up his hands in a surrender motion. “I warned you, but you said you didn’t care.”
She smiled another soft smile and raised her hand to rest it lightly against his five-day growth. “It was worth it, but I think you need to take a shower. And I need to check dinner. When we’re eating, I’ll answer all your questions.” Going on tiptoe she kissed him on his nose, before turning and striding down the hallway, her skirt swishing around her ankles. She might be covered from the tops of her breasts to her ankles, but damn, it was sexy as sin. He knew exactly what lay beneath that fabric and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her.
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