Chapter 6 - Maren
Maren
We all fanned out across the brownstone, a search party for one very slippery houseguest. Sadie’s constant chatter carried down the hall as Adrian and I stepped into Ethan’s office.
He leaned against the corner of the desk, arms crossed, a smirk playing at the edge of his mouth. “Guess I’m your backup,” he said. “Or maybe I’m the danger.”
“Which is it?” I asked, crouching to check behind a low cabinet.
“Both,” he said with a wink. “Depends on how much you like playing with fire.”
I rolled my eyes. “So you’re backup, danger, and also fire. Sounds like too much for my heart to handle.”
Adrian chuckled, stepping closer to peek where I was looking. “Heart’s going to get a workout here anyway. Trust me.”
I crouched lower, peering behind the walnut bookshelf, and spotted something on the floor. My fingers closed around it.
“What’s this?” I asked, before I got a good look at it. His reaction made me take a second before handing it over.
It was a photograph of the three men, arms around each other, and a beautiful woman between them.
It could’ve been friends laughing into the camera, but something about how closely they pressed together gave me a totally different feeling in my gut.
The woman’s head was resting on Ethan’s shoulder.
Kind of. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was Adrian’s hand on her waist, but not his hand at her neck. That one belonged to—
“Just a photo.” He snapped it from my fingers and tossed it on the shelf without even looking. “You didn’t happen to see a newt back there, did you?”
I paused. “No. No newt.”
He gave a tiny shrug and, like it solved all problems, muttered, “Better go look somewhere else then.”
“But we haven’t even finished…”
Adrian was out of the office like his ass was on fire.
That’s when I knew it wasn’t just my imagination.
I walked back to the shelf and stared at the photo again.
It was definitely Miles’ hand on the mystery woman’s neck.
Heat bloomed low in my stomach, and I didn’t quite know why.
Something about the easy intimacy captured there.
Frozen in time. If she was their friend, she was a close one, that was for sure.
The hallway was quiet, and I went for the linen closet at the end. Inside, the walls were stacked with towels and blankets, neat enough to make me momentarily envious. The space was tight, just wide enough for one person to move comfortably. Or two if they didn’t mind breathing the same air.
“Coffee?” Ethan’s voice came from behind me.
I startled, and spun round to find him leaning casually against the doorframe, an extra cup of coffee in hand. When I failed to answer him immediately, he edged inside the closet with me. My pulse picked up without any warning.
“I take it he wasn’t in my office?” He placed my cup onto an open spot to the left of us.
I shook my head. My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth for some reason. No matter how hard I thought about words coming out of my mouth, all I could think of was how small this space was. How close to me he was standing.
The smell of fresh linens mixed with his woody scent and sent me flying.
Ethan’s eyes flicked toward the closet shelves, then back at me, and I caught the faint tightening in his jaw. “I just hope the little fucker hasn’t decided to crawl between my sheets.”
The tension of the moment seeped away with my soft laugh.
“You’re really scared of him, aren’t you?”
His own amusement had a telling quiver in it. “Never could get myself to like those things. Don’t tell Sadie I said that. Or that I’m scared shitless it’s gonna pounce at me from between the towels.”
Our arms brushed as I bent down to check one of the lower shelves, then I quickly straightened back up and turned to him. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe if it does.”
His eyes went wide. There was a brief pause as the air between us seemed to tighten, heavier than the closet walls themselves.
He shifted back instinctively, but the movement was minimal in the given space.
Still close enough that I felt the heat of him.
I couldn’t deny the spark of something. As ludicrous as that was.
He was my boss.
I was very freshly out of a break up.
And no, it didn’t matter how hot he was.
His posture stiffened as his gaze moved over the shelves. “If that thing’s in here, you have to promise you won’t judge me when I scream.”
I smiled, lowering my voice. “I told you… I’ll keep you safe.”
His eyes fell on the shelf behind me, and he gripped my waist. A jolt of electricity thrummed beneath my skin, and despite my silent lecture to myself, I instantly knew I was in trouble.
“What was that?” Ethan asked, blissfully unaware of the effect he was having on me.
“I— I didn’t feel anything.” A slight frown creased his brow as he glanced at me, and I realized my mistake. My face flushed with warmth as I hurried to save myself from further humiliation. “See. I mean… I didn’t see anything.”
A flash of fire streaked behind his eyes, unmistakable in the pools of blueish-gray. His hand was still on my waist for some reason. And for some reason, his head dipped a little lower. The dark, bitter coffee on his breath curled up my nose and made my mouth water. But not for the taste of coffee.
Then a piercing scream echoed from the kitchen—Sadie, or Emma, or both—and the moment shattered like glass. Ethan’s expression snapped back into urgent mode, and I followed his lead, abandoning the towels and stepping toward the hall, heart still racing.
We barreled into the kitchen, expecting to meet with a massacre. It was worse. We’d rushed into the moment before a massacre was about to happen. Adrian crouched low, broom in hand, eyes wide with a kind of wild determination.
“Don’t kill him! Don’t kill him!” Sadie screamed, waving her arms, nearly knocking over a chair.
I froze just long enough to take in the chaos: the broom ready to swing with a death blow, the girls flailing in alarm, and Miles’ urgent voice into his phone, “Animal control—yes, yes, we need someone right away—”
“You don’t call animal control for a newt, Miles!” Adrian barked, pointing his broom at the counter like a general commanding a charge. “It’s a newt!”
The room spun with early-morning pandemonium. Or maybe I was still coming down from my linen closet encounter with Ethan. Either way, I was buzzing. I stepped forward, hands raised, and let my voice cut through the noise.
“Okay! Everyone, out! Now! All of you!”
The yelling stopped (more from shock than obedience), and one by one, they left the kitchen. Until it was just Sadie and me.
With the room clear, I knelt beside her and rubbed her trembling arms. “See? I told you we’d find him. Look…” I plucked the newt from the wall and cradled him in my flat palm. “He doesn’t even look hurt. Probably the bravest newt I know.”
Sadie sniffled, clutching my sleeve like it was a lifeline. Her lips moved soundlessly as she counted what I assumed were his feet, because she stopped at four.
“Can I take him?” She smiled up at me, wiggling her little fingers in anticipation.
“Sure, you can.”
Sadie hesitated only a second before cupping Winston with hands that were surprisingly careful for a five-year-old. I watched her closely: how her fingers didn’t squeeze, how she kept him close but free, how her expression softened with awe instead of fear.
“You’re very good with him,” I murmured.
Sadie’s eyes widened a little at the praise, but she didn’t release her gentle grip. I smiled, stepping beside her. “I think he likes you.”
Her lip quivered, and she shook her head. “I love him. I don’t want him to get lost again.”
I knelt closer, letting my voice drop a little lower, calm but firm. “I know. But Winston has a family. Other newts who are waiting for him. They miss him. Just like we miss our friends when we leave. Like you miss your mom and dad. Don’t you think we should help him get back home?”
Her gaze flitted from me to the tiny newt, lingering on the delicate movement of his legs as he blinked up at her. Slowly, she nodded. I could see the understanding dawning, even if it came wrapped in reluctance.
Together, we carried him to the back door. Sadie stayed close, still holding him with care, and I guided her hands over mine when the little guy wriggled.
“That’s it,” I said. “You’re doing great, honey.”
Outside, sunlight hit his smooth back as she lowered him to the ground. Sadie let out a quiet breath, her shoulders easing. “Bye, Winston,” she whispered. “You’re my best friend.”
I wrapped an arm lightly around her shoulder. “Good job. You helped him go back to his family. That’s a big deal.”
“My heart hurts,” she sniffled, and I held her tighter.
I looked up, and saw that Ethan had been watching us this whole time.
Leaning against the porch railing, quiet, assessing, a slight sign of approval lifting the corners of his mouth.
A warmth spread through my chest that made the craziness of the morning dissolve into the background.
Taking space up front was the idea that I could actually handle this job.
That I might actually end up enjoying it.