Chapter 14 Zoe #2
Gah! I threw my phone down and then froze.
What the hell was wrong with me? I resisted the urge to run and check my appearance in the mirror.
It had been a long day, and I knew I probably looked a little worse for the wear.
But I would not start acting like an idiot all over a man.
While I had a stern little chat with myself, my belly clenched and I got flushed just knowing I’d be seeing Ethan any second now.
My phone buzzed and I tapped the speaker. It might not be him, so I needed to act normal.
“Yes?”
“Ethan Walsh is here to see you,” Jana replied cheerily.
I could feel the sly joy in her voice. I forced myself to play it cool because I knew he could likely hear me. “Thank you. I have a few minutes free,” I said, keeping my voice level.
The speaker clicked off and I stood and walked to the windows, restless and about to jump out of my skin.
I heard the door open and close with a click, but I forced myself to keep looking out the windows.
I didn’t quite know what to do about the effect Ethan had on me.
It was beyond ridiculous, and I was starting to feel more than a little foolish.
I was used to not noticing men, which was much easier for me.
Knowing what I knew of him, I knew he was accustomed to women throwing themselves at him.
I didn’t want to be as consumed as I was by my desire for him.
His footfalls were muted on the carpet, and I felt him come up behind him.
My body was drawn like a magnet to his—I could feel the heat of him before he reached me.
I jumped when his hands slid down my hips and he dipped his head to drop kisses along the side of my neck.
His touch was like a flash of fire roaring through me.
“So you’re not avoiding me, luv?”
Oh. My. God. How the hell was I even supposed to think I could get control of myself when this was how he greeted me? His question was a murmur against my neck, the subtle motion of his lips on my skin sending a prickle of heat down my spine.
I swallowed, wrestling mightily to get control of my body. It was no use. I melted against him when his arms slipped around my waist, one palm coming to rest just above the apex at my thighs. I could already feel the wetness between my thighs. All I wanted was to feel him inside me again.
“I must’ve missed your answer,” he murmured before he nipped at my ear, sending a ripple through me.
Sweet hell. I might as well have given up right then and there. I wanted Ethan so much it made me crazy. I clung to what little control I had and cleared my throat.
“I’m not avoiding you. I’ve just been…” My voice cracked when he slid a hand up and palmed a breast, lazily drawing his thumb back and forth across my nipple, which was taut and all but begging aloud to be touched. “Busy,” I finally managed on the heels of a gasp.
I scrambled to get control of my body, but then he slid his other palm down to cup my mound, exerting a subtle pressure over my clit. A little moan escaped, and there was nothing I could’ve done to stop it. “Ethan, you can’t…”
My words trailed off again. Really, what was I supposed to do? With his lips hot on my neck, his hands teasing me to madness and his hard, hot cock nestled against my bottom, I was pretty much a slave to him whether he knew it or not.
He lifted his head. “Can’t what?”
Before I managed to form words to reply—because it wasn’t easy with my brain all but mush—he reached up and deftly slid the pins out holding up my hair.
“You should wear your hair down more often,” he said, his voice gruff as he sifted his fingers through it and turned me in his arms.
I met his dark green gaze, and my heart clenched while my belly executed a slow flip. Somehow I managed to answer his question over the need roaring through my body.
“I thought you said I shouldn’t let anyone else see it down.”
His mouth curled at one corner, a devastating grin that pierced me through. “So I did. I’ve reconsidered. I’d like to see it down more often, so I don’t mind sharing.”
A laugh bubbled up. I should’ve been affronted, but I wasn’t. Not even a little. A buzzy joy rose inside to think he noticed me that much.
His grin stretched to the other corner of his mouth, his dimple making one of its appearances and sending my belly in another flip. His grin faded as his eyes dropped and he toyed with the ends of my hair.
“I only have a few minutes. We have a game tonight. I might’ve detoured a few blocks to see you.”
“Oh? You didn’t have to do that.”
His eyes swung back up to meet mine. “If I wanted to see you I did.”
I didn’t know quite what to say, so I stuck with the concrete. “If you have a game, when were we going to have dinner?”
Another half grin from him. “Ah. You are a woman of detail. Truth is, I meant to chase after you and pester you until you said yes. I lost track of what day was what.”
That teasing manner that came so easily to him. He was utterly unabashed at admitting he was chasing after me. Given he was a man who could probably have his pick of women, I didn’t know what to make of that. It made my insides feel funny and made me hot all over.
“Oh. Well then, I guess tomorrow works better then,” I managed over the pulse pounding in my ears.
“Unless you want to come to the game,” he said.
I don’t know why, but that startled me. His eyes were hopeful, and I found myself nodding. “Okay. I’ve never been to a soccer game. What time do I go?”
My answer seemed to surprise him as much as it did me. His eyes widened and then narrowed. “It’s football, luv.”
He seemed so affronted, I laughed, but then he slid a palm down my back to curl over my bottom, bringing me flush against him. The hard heat of his cock was impossible to ignore. He carried on as if we were having a casual conversation, while I thought I might melt on the spot.
“I’ll let it slide since you’re American. Anyway, the game’s at six. If you come around five, I can introduce you to Olivia. She’s Liam’s wife. She’ll take you up to the box with her. Any other way, and it might take some doing to get you in without a ticket this late.”
My eyes flicked to the clock on the wall above the door. It was four o’clock now. Again, my body seemed to be running the show. I was nodding before I realized it.
“Okay, where do I go?”
“Please tell me you know where the stadium is,” he said with a look of trepidation in his eyes.
“I know where that is. Give me some credit.”
He grinned again. “Right then. Go around back to the entrance there. I’ll tell security to look for you. I’ll do my best to meet you there, but it depends on a few things. I promise Olivia will wait for you. You’ll like her,” he said firmly.
I knew who Olivia was only because I’d seen her picture here and there in the media when she attended functions with Liam Reed, another one of the soccer stars on the team.
She was an orthopedic surgeon of all things, and the media had swooned over Liam falling for her.
I hoped I didn’t come across as a love struck idiot to her.
Maybe lust struck was the better way to put it.
“Okay. I can handle finding her. Don’t worry about me,” I replied.
Ethan was quiet for a beat, his eyes searching mine—for what I didn’t know. “Right then. I should be going.”
He said that, but he didn’t move. We stood there, pressed together with the air humming around us.
He muttered something and then his lips crashed to mine.
Inside of a millisecond, his tongue was tangling with mine.
I’d come to learn any kiss with Ethan was hot, wet and overpowering.
By the time he pulled away, I was flushed inside and out and on the verge of desperation.
I didn’t want him to leave. Not at all. Rather, I was wondering if we had time for him to sink inside of me.
He had far more control than I did and stepped away. The saving grace was the fierce need in his gaze. “Later,” he said curtly before turning and striding quickly out of my office.