Page 29 of Always Been You

"Are your ears burning?" Ali asked with a mischievous grin.

"Ladies." A deep voice rumbled behind her and the sound sent her belly rolling like a tumbleweed in a desert.

Ethan's hand brushed along her lower back as he leaned in close to her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jess turned her head and did her best to appear casual, cool, and totally unaffected by the fact that Ethan's touch had just sent a shock wave of bliss through her. “I'm a little busy now."

She looked back to her friends for backup, but they’d scattered. In fact, the entire crowd had migrated to the other end of the pool. It was just her and Ethan.

When she looked up at him, she couldn't quite read what was going on behind his hazel eyes.

"What's up?" She heard the tension in her voice.

"You've been avoiding me."

"I have not. I'm just busy being a good hostess."

"Doesn't a good hostess mingle with her guests?"

"I don't know. It’s been a while since I was at finishing school."

Ethan stared at her and she felt her entire body heat from the inside out. Ali and Brynn might’ve been on to something. She was surprised that she wasn't spontaneously combusting. That’s when she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that there was no way she could go through with this ruse. She wasn't sure she'd survive a month of this kind of heat.

Ethan leaned toward her and she found herself holding her breath. Her mind was screaming; He's going to kiss you. Right here. In front of everyone! And the scariest part of that was, she wasn't doing anything to stop it. She even encouraged it by closing her eyes.

"Here." She opened her eyes at the sound of his voice.

Jess looked down and saw that he was holding a can of soda out for her. She was dazed as she looked back up at him.

The left side of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "You look a little flushed. I thought you might need to cool off."

She wasn't sure if it was the smugness in his voice or the general air of arrogance that sparked her actions. But a brilliant idea popped into her head. Without thinking about it, she stepped in closer to him, scrunched her nose, and said, "I don't think I'm the one that needs to cool off."

Then she lifted her hands, pressed them to his chest, and pushed.

In all the years that she'd known Ethan, she'd never seen him taken by surprise. Even when they were younger, he just had this way about him that made her think that he knew everything that was going on. Like he was in control of everything that was going on.

But as he flailed backward, it seemed he wasn't in control of anything. A huge splash of water rose up and garnered the attention of everyone at the party. Jess was laughing as Ethan surfaced. She wasn't sure if he was going to be mad, or try to get even, but she was wearing her swimsuit beneath her dress so if she ended up in the pool, she would be fine. She was always prepared for an impromptu dunk in the water whenever there was a pool party.

What she wasn't prepared for was seeing Ethan emerge from the water. He placed one arm on the side of the deep end and was up and out of the pool in a fluid, smooth motion that had every cell in her body coming to life. His dripping wet clothes were clinging to his body, and the sight made Jess weak in the knees. Literally. Her legs went limp beneath her, like a baby giraffe trying to stand for the first time, and she had to steady herself on the table beside her.

Ethan shook out his arms and ran his hands over his head and face. After scrubbing his face, his eyes locked on her and he began walking toward her like a predator stalking his prey. She braced herself for being lifted off the ground and tossed into the pool. She had it coming, after all.

But that didn't happen.

Instead, when Ethan reached her, he cupped her face with his large hands, tilted her head up, lowered his head and captured her mouth in the hottest kiss of her life. He smothered her lips with demanding mastery. Unable to do anything else, she gripped his shoulders, holding on for dear life as she parted her lips and gave him complete access to her mouth.

The moment their tongues touched, the smoldering heat flared to a roaring inferno. A needy sound came from the back of her throat as he claimed her with fiery possession. When he suddenly broke their kiss, she was dazed and breathless.

Somewhere in her consciousness, she heard the crowd cheering and another wave of panic filled her.

"Why did you do that?"

"I thought you might be having second thoughts." A satisfied grin spread on his face.

She had been. And after that kiss, she was having third, fourth, and fifth thoughts.

"I still don't understand why we're doing this." Ethan leaned over and whispered in Jess's ear.

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