Page 13 of Always Been You

Beside her, she heard Ethan agree and the two men stood and did the one-armed man hug. When they all sat back down, Ali's phone buzzed.

"It's the twins."

She answered it but wasn't able to hear out on the patio, so she excused herself. Kade waited a minute or two and then went to check on her.

The moment she and Ethan were alone, the energy shifted. The sun had set over the lake, and the numerous lanterns on the wooden patio lit up, giving it an ethereal glow.

"So, how long do you plan to continue stalking me?" Jess asked, hoping to catch Ethan off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"Your runs. I know that you go out of your way to come by my house."

She watched the corner of his eye twitch as the left side of his mouth pulled up in a half-grin as he lifted his glass and took a slow sip. When he set it down, he turned to her, leaning forward slightly. "It seems to me you care an awful lot about where I run."

Even though she was sitting outdoors on a patio surrounded by fresh air, it suddenly wasn't so easy to breathe. As she sat staring into Ethan's deep brown eyes, a phenomenon occurred that she'd never experienced before. Everything around her disappeared. She wondered if it was just her imagination or if the only thing that actually existed was the two of them.

"Ethan, I'm so glad I ran into you." Laura Lopez appeared beside their table and popped the bubble Jess had been floating in. "I was just speaking with Mrs. Dobrinski, and she said she's not going to be able to help you with graduation this year, and she asked if I would be able to."

"Oh, really?” He answered, somewhat surprised.

Jess tuned out as Laura gushed over how excited she was to help out. About five years ago, Ethan had started The Lake County Youth Outreach Program through the sheriff's department. He and several other officers mentored kids throughout the school year and then on Memorial Day they had a ceremony at the lake to celebrate completing the program. Several people, including Mrs. Dobrinski, volunteered to help out.

She tuned back in when she heard Laura thanking him profusely for walking her to her car a few nights earlier. She knew that Laura was pointing it out for Jess's benefit.

When she finally left, Jess heard herself say, "Wow."

"Wow, what?" Ethan turned back.

Jess shook her head. She hadn't meant to say anything out loud, but she'd never had that great of a filter.

"Nothing," she said, hoping he would drop it.

From the look on Ethan's face, she saw that that wasn't going to happen.

Ethan tilted his head to the side as he studied Jess. "Are you jealous?" he teased, but he wasn't sure he was wrong.

"Yep.” Jess’s answer dripped with sarcasm. “That's it. I'm jealous."

"Don't worry. I'll walk you to your car, too."

"That's not necessary."

The way she answered gave him pause. "You didn't walk here, did you?"

"In these shoes?" She looked at him like he was an idiot, but she didn't actually answer his question.

"Jess, did you walk here?" Lanterns was over two miles from her house. And it was dark. Ethan didn’t like the idea of her walking two miles in the dark.

"I'm not one of your perps."

"My perps?" Usually, when a civilian used television law enforcement terms, it irritated him. When Jess did it he found it adorable.

"Yeah," She crossed her arms in front of her. "You can't interrogate me."

"It's a simple question. One that I could easily figure out the answer to with a quick trip to the parking lot."

"My transportation, or lack thereof, is none of your business."

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