Page 165 of Wicked Fantasies

He scowled. “You are not. Are you telling me you don’t want kids?”

A pain shot through her heart at his question. She’d always, always wanted kids, but she’d given up on that dream long ago. “I wanted them, but Alex— According to him, it was never a good time. He was in medical school for years and then trying to build up the practice the years following that. Of course, by that time, unbeknownst to me, he was already looking ahead to the next wife.”

“I’m sorry, Rachel. Your ex sounds like a grade-A prick.”

She smiled sadly and shrugged. “That he is.”

“I want kids,” he said. She imagined him with a brood of boys, him wrestling with them in the living room, playing cops and robbers in the backyard with Nerf guns. Then she saw him sitting on the edge of a bed, reading a bedtime story to a little girl with dark hair like his. “I never thought much about it until I got shot. Now I think about it all the time.”

“You’ll be a wonderful father. Your kids will be the luckiest on earth.”

“Maybe.” He reached around her to turn off the water before helping her out. He dried her off before grabbing a towel for himself.

“Well, apart from the amazing sex, that was a pretty useless shower. I didn’t scrub one inch of my body.”

“I wouldn’t say it was useless at all. I love talking to you,” he answered. She had to agree. In just a few short minutes, she’d learned more intimate details about the man than she had in all the weeks of their budding friendship. She was shocked to discover how many dreams they shared.

“We’ll try it again in the morning.” He wrapped the towel around his waist. “I’ll even wash your hair for you.” She stared at him, trying to convince herself this night was truly real and not some elaborate fantasy she’d created in her mind.

Ethan was turning out to be very different from the man she’d thought him to be. It was disconcerting to realize her handsome playboy possessed a serious, thoughtful side. He’d never been as attractive to her as he was now, as he talked about falling in love and having kids. Suddenly there was a small part of her that was afraid to go to sleep, afraid she’d wake up in the morning to discover none of this had happened.

“There goes that head of yours again. Come on, Doc. Let’s get some sleep.”

Chapter Four

“Good morning, sunshine.”

Rachel opened her eyes and blinked hard against the bright light. She sat up as Ethan walked into the room with two cups of coffee. He’d put his clothes on, but had left his shirt unbuttoned so she had a crystal-clear view of abs she could bounce a penny on.

“It wasn’t a dream,” she mumbled as he handed her a mug of much-needed caffeine.

He shook his head with a big grin, seemingly pleased by her surprise at finding him there. “You sure are good for the ego, Rachel.”

She attempted to shake herself awake, shake herself aware. “Yeah, well, don’t go getting a big head about it or anything.”

“As well as for keeping a man grounded. You’re a woman of many talents and incredible beauty.”

At his words, she panicked. Oh shit. There he was looking like Mr. Universe and she was sitting in bed, naked from the waist up with morning-after hair and no makeup. She hastily put her coffee on the nightstand and looked for any piece of clothing close enough for her to lay her hands on.

Of course, it probably didn’t matter. Their night was over. The challenge completed. Prior to last night she would have been surprised to find him still in her apartment. Part of her would have expected him to simply leave a note saying thanks for the shits and giggles. Now that she knew him better, she knew he was enough of a gentleman to stick around and at least say his goodbyes in person. Her heart ached at the thought. She’d prefer the damn note.

“I need to get dressed,” she said at last.

“Okay,” he replied easily, sitting at the edge of the bed.

“I suppose you’ll be going then.”

“Going?” he asked.

“Yeah. I mean, the night’s over. I completed my dare. Thank you very much, by the way. So I guess this is the part where I say ‘It’s been fun’, right?”

He scowled. “You aren’t serious?”

“That it was fun?”

“I suppose we should get this part out of the way or the rest of this relationship is gonna suck,” he said.

She narrowed her eyes, wondering at his words and the sadness of his tone. “I don’t know what you mean.”

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