Darkest Journey (Krewe of Hunters #20)(53)

Terese smiled. “As I said, good to see the two of you together. Ethan, you get on back to your folks’ house now. They want me to move in there with them. One day, maybe. Not yet. I’m still strong and kicking. Now, get. You have a full day tomorrow.”

Ethan kissed her cheek, and Charlie did the same.

When they headed out to the car, Charlie still felt the same chill in her bones—and the hot flush in her cheeks.

But she was also smiling awkwardly.

“What?” Ethan asked.

“She’s the only person I’ve ever known who could put you in your place so perfectly,” Charlie said.

“What? I don’t need to be put in my place!” he said.

Charlie just smiled, but then the smile vanished as she realized that she was afraid. Of something. She didn’t know what. She also felt a strange nervousness, as if electricity were zinging along her nerves.

Terese knew. She always could read people. She knew how Charlie felt about Ethan.

But as for Ethan and what he felt...

She’d forgotten that she’d said she had to go to her own place until, just minutes later, he turned on to Dauphine.

“Here we are, so let’s go get your things,” he said.

She thought about what Terese had said to her about lying.

But this was not the time.

“I’ll only be a minute,” she said. “You can wait here, and I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go in with you.”

Of course he was. She was apparently never going anywhere alone again.

“Okay. That’s me to the left. Though I’m sure you already know that.”

He shrugged. “Charlie, your address isn’t secret. It’s listed online and in the white pages.”

“And even if it wasn’t, you would have known it anyway, right?”

“Probably. I am the FBI, after all.”

Both front doors opened on to Dauphine, with the building forming a U around the courtyard.

The front door led into a hall; the parlor and dining room were to the left, and a stairway on the right led up to the second story.

“Um, make yourself at home,” she said. “I’ll be right down.”

She was glad she’d left everything neat, and she knew she had nothing to be ashamed of in the way she’d decorated the place. It was filled with art, much of it done by local friends who displayed their work in Jackson Square. She had one friend who did wonderful charcoal sketches of famous actors and actresses, several of which were displayed on one parlor wall. As she hurried up the stairs, she figured she would grab a few more jeans and shirts, since she’d packed mainly casual dresses.

She had to get something else, too.

She dug into a drawer and had just slipped her quarry into her pocket when she turned around and was surprised to find that Ethan had followed her upstairs and was standing in the doorway.

“So you really did need more clothes,” he said.

“Of course.”

“I thought you just wanted to be with me.”

She hesitated, then threw a pair of jeans on the bed. “I really did want to see Terese,” she said.

“What else is real, Charlie?” he asked her.

She stood still, looking at him, then shook her head and said softly, “No matter what things look like, I know my father. And he didn’t kill anyone.”

He nodded and walked into her room.

She was really glad she hadn’t left it trashed.

She stared as he stepped closer, watching her.

Studying her.

And then he came straight over and drew her into his arms. His eyes barely met hers before he bent and kissed her, his mouth a seduction, the firm pressure of the kiss so unexpected that for a moment the sensations it aroused rippled through her, too strong for her even to think straight.

She didn’t pull away.

Instead she savored the kiss as his tongue parted her lips and warmth flooded through her in a rush that felt as powerful as the Mississippi. His hand cupped her cheek, and she wound her arms around his neck, returning touch for touch. She felt as if something, too long held back, had ripped free in a turbulent explosion. She didn’t want to think, she wanted to explore his mouth as he did hers, let the hot liquid fire of the kiss consume them.

And then, breathless and torn, they pulled back at the same time, but they didn’t break the embrace.

“Sorry,” he said softly.

She shook her head. “No...no... I’m an idiot. I’ve gone all these years remembering what I felt for you. It’s just...”

“You have the right to close the door, walk away. Maybe you should. I don’t think you ever understood how hard it was for me when I was the one who walked away. Maybe you should walk away, for your own sanity, or for...”

She laughed, loving everything she saw in his eyes. “For revenge? Honestly, Ethan, I think we’re both too old for that. But I’m afraid. I’ve had a life. I mean, I didn’t join a cloister or anything, but... I just never found anyone like you.”

He smiled and smoothed a stray strand of hair from her face. “I never found anyone remotely like you, either,” he breathed.

For a long moment they simply stood there. Charlie realized she was shaking. She had wanted him, dreamed about him, for years, and now...

Now he was holding her. Now he had kissed her.