39. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
KINSLEY
“ H ow did you manage to pull all of this off?” I ask, nuzzling into Ethan’s neck.
It took a moment to realize that there’s no engagement to cancel. That this was all a ruse to get me alone.
“You’d be surprised at what people are willing to do for a wounded police officer.” He chuckles. “Jill coordinated the false breakup with your mom. Beckett recruited the police force, and my brothers enlisted all those random strangers out there. The hardest part was getting you to commit to the cancel.”
I sigh. Initially, I turned the job down, telling myself I was done with that. No more engagement cancellations. No more breaking up relationships. But Caroline kept calling, promising this would be an easy letdown, so I reluctantly took the job.
“Today was going to be the last one,” I admit.
“For real?” His brows knit together. “How come?”
“Because you were right. Who am I to insert myself into a relationship between people I don’t even know?”
He shakes his head. “I was wrong. They need you. You give people what they don’t even know they need. Time and space to reevaluate their relationships.”
“And I piss people off,” I add.
Running a hand across my now healed cheek, he gives me a soft smile. “How about we talk about that later? We probably have less than ten minutes before we dock, and I’d really like to create an exit strategy so we can escape the crowd and spend some time alone.”
Lips lifting in a smile, I run my hand over the support sling Ethan has put back on. “Does that involve us getting naked?”
“It absolutely involves us getting naked.”
“Tell me again,” Ethan says over a carton of Chinese takeout. We’re sitting on my bed. He’s in a pair of black boxer briefs, and I’m wearing nothing but his blue dress shirt.
After we docked, and after a million hugs and congratulations, we escaped and headed back to my practically empty apartment.
“I already ended my lease. The moving truck will be here at eight tomorrow. Most of the stuff will go into storage, but I’ll take what I need to my mom’s house until I work out the details.”
“You mean until we work out the details.” He hits me with a mischievous grin. “You can store whatever you want, but you’re moving in with me. At least until we find a place you’re in love with.”
“Actually.” With my lip caught between my teeth, I move the cartons of food to the floor and climb on top of Ethan. Straddling him, I lean down and press my lips to his. “Did you really mean what you said about being willing to move anywhere I wanted?” He clasps my waist with his good hand and drags it up my torso, beneath the shirt, until he reaches my bare breast. He cups it and squeezes.
A small moan escapes me.
“I believe I said,” he groans, “we can move closer to a hospital.”
I try to glare at him, but the sentiment is lost when he pulls at my nipple, sending a flutter of sensations coursing over my body.
“And if I don’t want to move closer to a hospital?” I rub my center along his thick shaft.
Still clutching my breast, Ethan tilts his head back against the headboard and blows out a long, slow breath. I repeat the motion, this time pulling him free from his boxer briefs so he can feel how wet I already am. I drag him up and down my slit.
“Kinzie,” he grits out between breaths, his eyes rolling back. “We can move anywhere you want, but you can’t keep doing that. I need to be inside you.”
Licking my lips, I line him up with my entrance and slide over him, little by little, until he fills me.
“Mmm,” we moan in unison.
Slowly, I ride him. “What if I told you I already found a place?”
“I’d say take your shirt off and tell me all about it,” he growls, clutching my hip.
Heat pools in my belly as I slowly unfasten the buttons. Never in a million years did I think Ethan and I would have a second chance. But not because we weren’t a good fit. We’ve always been great together. When I asked him to fake date me, that only proved that point. I just didn’t think I’d ever find true love. All my adult life, I’ve been a glass-half-empty type of gal. The universe has thrown punch after punch my way, so I learned to duck and weave with the best of them. As a result, my heart hardened to icy steel. Who knew a second chance with Ethan would be just the thing to melt it?
“Maggie’s house,” I whisper into Ethan’s ear as my shirt falls to the floor. “I want to move into Maggie’s house. We found the paperwork.”