Page 116 of One Touch

And right there, waiting to go in, was Ethan.

I stood next to him for a moment before he practically growled. “You smell like strawberries, Miss Lane.”

“I can’t help that,” I said, adjusting my dress while he gave me the dirtiest eyes I’d ever seen. “It’s just my natural scent.”

“I know it is,” he said, running his tongue across his lips. “I’m looking forward to catching up with you and that natural strawberry scent later.”

We’d spent the past few days apart, due to him training and me working at the store. I’d been desperately reading a bunch of bestselling horror novels, too, in a vain attempt to try to learn something about the genre before my interview with the agency. The main thing I’d learned so far was that I found horror novels scary. Like, really scary. Which, I guess, was a good thing?

“So, we’re . . . still gonna catch up?” My heart was pounding.

“Mmhmm. I don’t break my promises. Rules? Sometimes. Promises? Never.”

I looked around, making sure that nobody else was there, and then I leaned into him. His smell was intoxicating—spice and salt and a hint of smoke. His arm draped casually around my waist, fingertips tracing maddening circles on my hip. Everybrush of his skin against mine sent shivers racing down my spine.

“You look so good tonight, Lily,” he said, his eyes burning. “You really think you could wear this little black dress and have me not want to . . . catch up with you?”

“I wore it on purpose,” I replied, suddenly breathing deeply.

“Naughty girl.”

I wanted to taste him so badly. I slid my arms down to his muscular buttocks. I felt my core tighten with lust.

“Later on, I’m going to obliterate you.” His voice was breathy, hoarse. “Everyone else is here to have fun. I’m just here tohave you.”

For a moment, it felt as though he was going to lean in and kiss me. But, at the last minute, he pulled away and walked back toward the deck.

I stood by that bathroom for much longer than was reasonable, waiting for my pulse to come down.

After an hour or so at the boat, we docked at Goldharbor Bay.

The atmosphere was electric as we disembarked and split into two groups. The men headed to a whisky bar called Smoke and Sours, and us girls were off to a tiki bar on the beach. Despite the anticipation of what was in store for me later, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness as I watched Ethan walk off with his brother and friends, their laughter echoing in the twilight air.

“I haven’t been out like this in a long time,” Connie mused as we made our way to the tiki bar. “Sometimes, you can forget the way that other people live. There are probably people who come out like this every week.”

Connie wasn’t so much older than me—I think she was in her early thirties. But the fact that she had been a single mom for so many years meant that she must have lived a very different life to me.

“You feel like you’re missing out?”

She smiled, her eyes twinkling. “Maybe. How about you, do you get out much?”

“Nah. I’m more of a homebody. Although saying that, before I met Vlad, I was kinda dating a lot.”

“Exciting!”

“Exhausting.”

“You know, I’ve never really dated, as such. I had Scout when I was young and haven’t put myself out there since.”

“You should! Tinder makes everything easy.”

“It’s scary. I don’t know how to use it.”

“I can teach you. I’m very good at it. And you’re so pretty I could have people lining up for a date with you.”

“You think?”

“For sure. Although the pickings are a little slim around here. And you might end up with some of my old offcuts. Just don’t go for Vlad or anyone with ‘entrepreneur’ in their bio. Trust me on that. Oh, the same goes for guys with shirtless gym selfies as their main photos.”

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