Page 85 of One Touch

El pushed open the door. “Hello, you two! Great to see you.” She gave us both a big hug.

“Ava! Ava!” Two young voices cried out from inside the house, then Rhea and Lexi bounded out to greet us.

Meanwhile, Anthony was jumping up and down like a jack-in-the-box.

“He accidentally ate a couple of cookies this morning,” Elara explained. “Lucky they weren’t chocolate.”

“Accidentally?”

“Lexi fed them to him on accident,” Rhea said solemnly.

“Yeah. I thought I was feeding Dad.”

Cole’s voice sounded from somewhere inside. “I don’t look like a dog!”

The girls squealed with laughter.

“Come on, Ava, let’s go play!”

The kids scampered off.

“I’m so excited to have you here,” she said, giving me a dazzling smile.

“I’m nervous,” I admitted quietly.

“What? Why?”

I glanced over her shoulder. “Ethan and I had sex again,” I whispered. “Last night.”

“Wait, again?”

“We did it two days in a row. It’s against the rules.”

“Oh no! Naughty, naughty! So . . . are you in love now?”

“Well, no, b—”

She shrugged. “So don’t worry about it!”

“It’s a slippery slope, though.”

“What does Ethan think about it?”

“We haven’t had a chance to talk yet.”

Just then, Ethan appeared from inside. “Hey,” he said, folding his arms and then unfolding them awkwardly. “You made it.”

I’d only been away from Ethan a couple of hours, but somehow, I’d forgotten what an immediate, powerful effect seeing him could have on me. He was still wearing overalls from the garage, and there were dark stains on them.

The fact that he was dirty really shouldn’t be a turn-on, right?

I felt his eyes linger on my red dress. Nervous about this dinner, I had chosen a power color to boost my confidence. As Ethan’s gaze traced the low-cut neckline and the skirt flaring out just above my knees, I started to wonder if I’d picked something a little too sexy.

“We made it,” I said, trying to seem as though I hadn’t just been talking about having sex with him.

There was a strange moment. Elara knew what me and Ethan were up to. Ethan and I knew thatsheknew. We all knew all about it. But now that the three of us were together, there was no way that we could discuss it.

“So, shall we head in?” El asked, a devilish smile on her face.

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