CHAPTER 23 #2
My stomach somersaults. My bones melt. Oxygen becomes optional.
“I, um…” I clear my throat. “I like you in your firefighter uniform.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I want to crawl under the table and never come back up.
Ethan’s grin is pure sin. “Good to know.”
Massimo swoops in with our plates, lowering them like sacred offerings. The smell hits me first, rich tomato, melted cheese, herbs.
I take one bite.
One bite.
And I’m undone.
A soft sound slips out, quiet, involuntary, sinful. My eyes flutter shut without permission.
When I open them, Ethan looks like someone hit pause on him. His fork hasn’t even made it to his mouth.
“Summer.” His voice is a low, strained warning. “Do. Not. Make that sound again. Not while we’re surrounded by people.”
My face flames. “Why?”
He leans in slightly, voice dropping even lower.
“Because now that I know what you sound like when something makes you feel that good…” His jaw flexes. “All I can think about is finding every way, every way, to make you make those sounds again. And if I start here…” He gestures faintly to the room. “We’ll get arrested.”
My heart stumbles.
“Oh.”
He shakes his head, frustrated in a way that feels dangerous and tender all at once. “You’re killing me. You’re so beautiful it’s driving me insane having this table between us.”
Words? Never heard of them.
“I can’t wait to hold you after dinner,” he says, voice softening but losing none of its heat. “To dance with you. Feel you close.”
My brain short-circuits. I toss back the rest of my wine in one swallow. Ethan’s smile curves slow and knowing.
He shifts the conversation, gently, intentionally, asking about Mia. My pregnancy. Her first laugh. Her favorite books. Her nightmares.
His interest isn’t polite. It’s real. Deep. Present.
Another wall inside me cracks and falls away.
And for the first time in a long time, I feel… safe.
◆◆◆
Midnight Rodeo is already buzzing when we pull up, music thumping through the walls, neon lights flickering like the heartbeat of the whole town. Ethan opens my door before I can reach for the handle, his palm warm when his fingers lace through mine.
Inside, the place is packed, dancing boots, clinking glasses, laughter rolling through air thick with whiskey, smoke, and Christmas garlands someone halfheartedly hung over the longhorn skull on the wall.
Penny, Cas, Jace, and Jude sit lined up at the bar. Dex moves behind it, bottles flashing in the warm glow as he shakes a cocktail, focused and smooth, the picture of quiet control.
As Ethan leads me through the crowd, I feel it, eyes. A prickle along my spine.
I turn, and yep, three women in tight dresses and hotter expressions stare at me like I’ve personally stolen their inheritance.
…okay. What fresh hell is this?
“My BFF!” Penny hops off her stool, her curls bouncing as she launches herself into my arms. I hug her back, grateful for her energy.
“Hey, Pen,” I whisper. Then lower my voice. “Uh… why are those women back there looking at me like I just kicked their dog?”
Penny glances, snorts, and rolls her eyes so hard I’m surprised she doesn’t fall over.
She links her arm through mine. “Girl, please. I already snatched up one of the most eligible bachelors in this town. And now you’re about to do the same.” She waves a hand. “Ignore them. They rotate their targets. They’ll move on to Dex, Jude, or Jace soon enough.”
Then she pauses. “Okay, maybe not Jude…he runs if a woman even tells him her name.”
We reach the bar just as Ethan turns toward me. The moment I’m close, he takes my hand like he’s been waiting all night.
“Give me your coat and purse. I’ll put them in Dex’s office.” His whisper is warm against my ear.
He slips the coat off my shoulders, fingers grazing my spine just long enough to light a fuse. He’s back seconds later, pulling me into his orbit like gravity.
“Been wanting to do that since you walked down the stairs,” he murmurs, his smile slow and wicked.
I loop my arms around his neck. “Good. I like that.”
He kisses me, just a soft brush of lips, then guides me to a stool between him and Penny. Before I settle, he hooks an arm around my waist and pulls me closer until our thighs touch. His hand slips into my hair, fingers circling at the base of my neck.
I could actually purr. In public. No shame.
His lips graze my ear. “I want you close to me at all times.”
Everything inside me melts.
“What can I get you two lovebirds?” Dex asks, lining up shot glasses.
“I’ll have a beer,” I say.
“Coke for me,” Ethan adds.
Dex raises a brow. “Coke?”
“Had wine with dinner,” Ethan shrugs. “Driving tonight.”
Responsible king. I’m obsessed.
“So…” I lower my voice. “Did you ever date one of those women?” I tilt my head toward the dagger-eyed trio.
Ethan follows my gaze and groans.
“No. But Shelly’s had a thing for me since high school,” he admits. “I never dated her.”
His attention comes back to me. “Why?”
I shrug. “Just the way they looked at us when we walked in. It’s nothing.”
His smile softens, warm, steady, grounding.
“Summer,” he murmurs.
He lifts my chin with one finger, guiding my eyes to his.
“I didn’t notice them,” he says quietly. “Because I only have eyes for you.”
Heat blooms everywhere.
“Okay,” I whisper.
And it feels like a promise.
The band switches to a slow country love song, warm, soft, dizzying, when Ethan rises from his stool. His hand cups my jaw, thumb brushing my cheek.
“Dance with me, Summer.”
Not a question. A gravity.
I nod, and he takes my hand like he’s afraid someone else might reach for it.
The dance floor is crowded, boots sliding, people swaying, laughter spilling around us, but when Ethan pulls me into him, everything else fades.
His hands settle on my waist, firm but careful, shaping me. My body fits against his like it was made for this, my softness against the hard lines of him, the steady rise and fall of his chest brushing mine.
He smells like winter air, cedar, and the faint sweetness of the bourbon he didn’t drink. Just Ethan. Just safe.
His lips touch my temple as we sway.
“I’ve been thinking about this all night,” he murmurs.
“What?” I whisper.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, really look.
“This.” His hand slides up my spine, fingertips brushing the zipper of my jumpsuit. A shiver races down my ribs. “Having you in my arms.”
My breath stutters. He says it like a confession, quiet, reverent.
I rest my cheek against his chest, letting myself sink into the moment. His thumb draws slow circles on my hip like he can’t stop touching me.
I look up.
His green eyes burn.
He exhales like the sight of me hits him in the chest. “You drive me crazy, Summer.”
My fingers curl into his collar. “Why?”
His soft laugh isn’t amusement, it’s disbelief.
“Because I’m trying to be a gentleman,” he says, brushing his nose against mine. “But every time you look at me like that, I forget how to breathe.”
Heat coils low in my stomach.
Dancing has never felt so close to kissing.
The song melts into another slow one, and he tightens his hold, one hand sliding up to cradle the back of my neck.
Then he kisses me.
Slow. Gentle. A searching brush of lips that steals my breath.
Then deeper, his hand guiding me closer, his thumb stroking the pulse beating beneath my ear. I feel like I’m dissolving into him.
Someone whistles. Someone cheers. Penny claps.
But Ethan doesn’t stop, not right away.
When he finally pulls back, his forehead rests against mine, breath warm on my mouth.
“God, Summer,” he whispers.
“I’m never letting you go.”
And I believe him.
We’re in the car when Ethan slows to a gentle crawl, the night pressing in soft and warm around us. He turns, and the dashboard light paints gold across his cheekbones.
“Summer.”
My name comes out of him like a confession. His eyes burn into mine, steady, asking, offering. “We can go back to the ranch, and I’ll walk you to your door, kiss you goodnight, and wait for morning like a patient man.”
His hand comes to my cheek, thumb brushing me like I’m something fragile and precious.
“But I don’t want to let you go yet,” he murmurs, voice low. “If you want… come over. We can talk, watch a movie… whatever you want, as long as I get to hold you. Whatever you choose, I’m good with it.”
Something inside me melts and clicks into place at the same time. Being with him feels like exhaling after holding my breath for years.
“I don’t want this night to end either.”
His answering smile is slow and warm, like honey sliding down the edge of a mug. He brings my hand to his lips, kisses it once, soft, reverent, then laces our fingers and places them on my thigh as he turns back onto the road.
We drive past the ranch, the gravel crunching under the tires, the moon glinting off the fields as the world near us grows quieter, softer.
When the trees part, his home appears.
A beautiful wooden house with a deep wraparound porch, wide steps, hanging ferns swaying gently in the breeze, warm golden lights glowing from the windows like it’s been waiting for us.
“Here we are.”
Ethan parks, cuts the engine, and gives me a smile that is all warmth and promise.
I take in the house, its wide beams, hand-carved railing, rocking chairs, and a wooden swing on the porch.
It looks like a place where love settles into the floorboards, where laughter echoes, where someone once dreamed of a family.
Ethan gets out, walks around the car, and opens my door like he’s been doing it all his life. His hand finds mine again, fingers curling around my palm like he’s afraid I’ll vanish.
We climb the porch steps. He enters a code, and the double doors swing open with a soft click.
Light floods the entryway, and my breath catches.
“Oh wow…”
The inside is even more beautiful, warm wood everywhere, tall windows, a stone fireplace stretching to the ceiling, leather couches, woven blankets, soft lamplight glowing like candle flames. It feels… safe.