Saved by Love (Willow Valley Book 3)(15)

"Ethan," she said with a quiet moan as he placed a line of hungry kisses down her neck to her collar bone.

A passing car blared its horn, and he was dimly aware that they should probably tone it down. But having her so pliant and responsive to his touch made it hard to think. Ethan felt every muscle in his body scream in protest as he fought for control.

"Abby." His voice was husky as he pulled away and looked down at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen, and he didn't think she could look any more appealing than she did at that moment as she lifted heavy-lidded eyes to his.

He groaned and lowered his forehead to hers. "You're going to make me want to throw you over my shoulder and haul you back to my apartment like a caveman if you don't stop looking at me like that, and I think we've already made it to the top of the gossip column for the week."

She giggled and bit her lip, but didn't shy away from him. That was progress.

"While the idea does hold some appeal, I'll save you the trouble and stay on my own two feet."

Ethan lifted his head to look at the sky and ran a hand over his face as he let out a ragged breath. "Let's walk." He was still coming down from the intensity of that kiss. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that?"

She kept her hand in his as they walked, and Ethan felt a rush of relief. He hadn't thought that through—at all. A bad habit of his. He was half afraid that she would take off, considering how skittish she had seemed the other day. He only meant to give her a teasing kiss. Instead he'd wanted to drag her to the ground in the middle of the park. He didn't think a woman had ever made him completely lose his senses like that.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I do believe that was a kiss. Based on the skill with which you did it, I'd say it wasn't your first rodeo, either."

When she grinned at him, Ethan laughed. She had so many different facets to her personality and he couldn't wait to discover each one.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Seriously, though, I have to say I'm a little confused. When I saw you earlier, you looked like kissing me was the last thing on your mind."

Her eyes darkened momentarily, but she shook her head as if to clear it of the memory and met his gaze head-on. "First of all," she held up a finger, "kissing you has been the only thing on my mind since the other night—"

"Whoa, wait. What?"

She ignored his question, lifting a second finger. "Second of all, I don't know what I saw earlier. Maybe you can enlighten me?"

Ethan groaned in frustration this time. "You can't just say that, then change gears like that. I want to hear about how you've had me on your mind for the last two days."

With a jab of her elbow to his ribs, she said, "I think you are the one who brought up what happened earlier. So go on." She said it with a smile, so he knew she wasn't upset, but he still hated to spoil the good vibe between them by talking about what went down with Marissa.

He sighed and looked around at the trees that surrounded them on the walking trail. "Let's just say that was my ex. We haven't spoken in over a year. And the whole purpose of the scene she was trying to cause was that she was being manipulative because she's jealous of you."

Abby sputtered, her face a picture of comic disbelief. "Me? You're joking. Why would she have any reason to be jealous of me?"

Pulling her closer to his side and tucking her under his arm, Ethan mimicked her by holding up a finger. "First, you're the most gorgeous woman to set foot in this town in I don't know how long." She started to protest again, but he cut her off. "Second, you have totally and completely captured the attention of a certain sexy fireman, which apparently she doesn't like." He flashed a toothy grin. "Which brings us back to the more pertinent matter at hand. You can't stop thinking about me."

Abby laughed. "You're unbelievable."

Ethan thought it was the other way around, and he didn't know how he'd lucked out so easily at winning her over. Especially when he thought he was going to have to work for it. He almost hated to ask the next question, but he knew it would drive him crazy if he didn't.

"So, what changed?"

"What do you mean?"

He stopped walking and turned her gently by the shoulders so that they were facing each other again. "Everything. Two days ago you couldn't get up the stairs to your apartment fast enough. Now you're begging me to kiss you."

Her dark eyes widened. "Begging you? I don't think you put up much of a fight."

"You're evading the question."

She shrugged, and that wary look came back into her eyes for a minute as she avoided his gaze as well. Nope. He wasn't going to let her slide back into that shell again. He gently turned her chin so that she had to look at him.

Sighing, she said, "It's a long and complicated story. I don't really want to get into it right now. Just like you don't exactly want to spill your guts about your ex." He raised his eyebrows at that, and she looked at him pointedly. "Yeah, it's that obvious. How about we just agree to leave the past where it belongs for now?"

He thought he could do that. For now. "It's a deal. But that still doesn't tell me why you changed your mind."

"Maybe you're just that irresistible?" she teased.