Page 167 of Wicked Fantasies

“And?”

“You,” she added with a smirk she hoped hid the despair closing in on her.

“Cute, Rachel. Real cute. Jokes work for you, don’t they? You don’t want to be serious, don’t want to handle any heavy stuff, so you laugh it all away. Does that help when you’re in bed alone at night?”

“I don’t have to stand here and listen to?—”

“Yeah, actually you do, because I’m not leaving this house until you see in that mirror what I see.”

“Is that right?” she asked, sarcasm dripping off her tongue. “And what exactly would that be, Ethan?”

“The hottest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. The funniest, sweetest, most compassionate woman I’ve ever met. The physical therapist who’s had me rock-hard and aching since the first damn day she made me do those stupid stretching exercises and the woman I’m going to make love to all day and most of tonight. We haven’t even scratched the surface on that list.”

“All day?” she whispered.

“And night,” he repeated.

“Oh my.”

He shook his head ruefully. “Hell, who am I kidding? I wanna fuck you every night and pretty much every day for as long as you’ll have me. So does that answer your question?”

She stared at her reflection in the mirror. He saw all that? She recalled her perusal of her face just the day before. All she’d seen was a woman in need of a dye job and with flabby upper arms. She studied her face again, looking at herself through Ethan’s eyes and suddenly the blinders of her pain, the hurt inflicted on her by her ex-husband’s infidelity, fell away.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen all that.”

“You’re living on an island, Doc, and you’ve burned down every bridge to the mainland.”

Had she done that? Yes, she had. Her gaze left her reflection and moved to his. She studied his dear, sweet face and realized he’d been building a bridge, trying to reach her since the first day they’d met. He’d offered her friendship and fantasy all rolled into one delicious package.

“Is this a bad time to say I’m sorry?” she asked.

He grinned. “I don’t want an apology, Rachel. I just want you to trust me. Believe the words that I say without always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“That’s not going to be easy for me, you know?” she admitted.

“All I want you to do is try.”

“I can do that. Ethan?”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Kiss me.”

He gave her a hot grin that oozed sexual intent. “Oh, I can do even better than that. Go lie down on the bed.”

“So,” she said, walking to the bed, “Indrani or the Lotus?”

“Both. They’re a nice complement to each other.” His answer was quick and sure as he pushed her to her back.

“You younger men, so greedy,” she teased.

“Lucky you,” he joked back.

“Lucky me.” She grabbed his unbuttoned shirt and tugged him toward the bed, pulling him down on top of her. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders as he captured her lips in a kiss hot enough to set the room on fire. “Why do you have so many clothes on?” she murmured when they broke apart.

“Mistake,” he replied between kisses. “Won’t happen again.” He rose briefly to shed his jeans and don a condom before leaning over her once more.

“You taste yummy,” she murmured, savoring the oddly intoxicating combination of toothpaste and coffee.

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