Saved by Love (Willow Valley Book 3)(9)

His attention was diverted back to the women as he heard Abby say, "Oh no. Is everything okay?"

"What's going on?"

Lissa smiled regretfully. "Cassie has to get back home to the kids. We're going to have to cut our girls' night short."

Cassie shot her a dirty look, and Ethan wondered just how far Lissa was willing to go with her matchmaking efforts. He found out with her next words.

"Ethan, since you live in the same building as Abby, would you mind dropping her off?" If he hadn't known better, the smile on her face would have looked innocent.

"Sure, no problem—"

"No, I don't mind if you take Cassie home first—" Abby said at the exact same time, then narrowed her eyes at him.

"The thing is," Lissa said. "It just makes sense. I need to get her on home, and it would just be easier if I didn't have to drive back into town. Since you're headed to the same place..."

Ethan was sure Abby saw right through it too, but she just pursed her lips and nodded.

Cassie and Lissa got up and gathered their things. Cassie came to give Abby a hug and say, "I'm sorry. I hate that our night was shorter than planned, but I'd love it if you came out to the house some time. I haven't gotten to see you as much as I'd like."

Abby smiled. "That sounds good."

Then they were gone. Ethan turned back to Abby. "Would you like another drink? Something to eat?" Hopefully he could regain some of the comfortable vibe they'd had earlier.

"I'd really just like you take me home now."

***

Part of her wanted to kill Lissa for sticking her matchmaking nose where it didn't belong. The other part of her was doing flips that she was riding home with Ethan. That was the part she was trying desperately to suppress when she asked Ethan to take her home. Because if she was honest with herself, she really wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

It was ridiculous to try to deny the attraction between them. After spending time with him tonight, she could clearly see there was more there between them than just a basic chemical attraction, though that was undeniably strong. But they connected on another level too.

He totally fit her idea of a dream guy. And that scared the hell out of her. She wasn't ready for that. She hated the idea of being dependent on someone else. She'd been there, done that, and it had about killed her when it had ended.

Ethan walked over to Braden and said something to him, but Abby was barely listening. She was too caught up in thinking about what he asked her. If she wanted to go on a trip with him. He wanted to teach her to ski. The idea of it made her stomach jump with excitement, but on the edge of that excitement was terror. These kinds of gut reactions almost made her angry. Would she ever truly get over what happened to Derek enough to get back to who she was before?

Her younger self would never recognize what she had become. Paranoid, fearful, so cautious that it bordered on obsessive. And that didn't even begin to touch on the panic attacks.

Teenage Abby had wanted nothing more than to live a life full of adventure, go everywhere, see and do everything. Then she'd gotten married. And while she loved Derek, she could see in hindsight that she'd sacrificed who she was for him. They'd married so young that she'd never actually lived the life she wanted.

And now here was Ethan, seemingly everything she'd ever wanted in a guy, and she couldn't act on it. Or shouldn't. Not after making a promise to herself that she would focus on her. She didn't want to be that codependent girl anymore. She had a plan. She wanted to be strong. To find out who she could be now. And adding a guy into the mix wasn't part of that plan.

"Okay, all set." Ethan interrupted her thoughts with a hand placed softly on her shoulder. Almost tentatively. She knew she was running hot and cold with him, but he got to her so much that she kept forgetting herself.

She forced herself to smile and tried to adopt an easy tone. "What about Braden? Are you just leaving him here by himself?"

"You seem to forget—we all pretty much know everyone else in town. He'll find someone else to flirt with and be fine." He gestured toward the door. "After you."

Abby led the way out of the Old Gin, then stopped when they reached the parking lot. She didn't know which car was his.

Pulling out his keys, he pressed a button and a sleek red Porsche parked under a light beeped back at him.

"Seriously?" She should have known. If she had to bet on it, he probably drove well over the speed limit in that thing too.

Ethan flashed a lopsided grin at her, his eyes twinkling in the moonlight. "Would you expect anything else from your dream guy?"

She laughed in spite of herself. "Just keep it under the limit, Speed Racer."

"Why am I not surprised by that response?" he teased, but it made her think. Was she that easy to read? She didn't want to be as uptight as she was, but she couldn't seem to help it. And apparently it was obvious even to someone she'd only just met. She sighed as they walked toward the car.

"Hey, I'm teasing you." Ethan placed a hand on the small of her back, presumably to reassure her, and she felt a zing race up her spine. She was at the mercy of his touch. The entire time they'd been on the dance floor, then in such close proximity at the bar, she had been super aware of every movement, every brush of his fingers. Now it was all she could do to keep from sidling closer to him and letting him wrap his arm around her.