Page 53 of Cozy Girl Fall
“We might need to make a stop.”
She glanced over at him, surprised. “OK. Where?”
“The drugstore. We didn’t use a condom.”
She relaxed, re-focusing on the road as she took the turn that led away from the town and toward Ethan’s place. “I have an IUD, we should be fine.” His breath of relief made her laugh. “Sorry, I should have told you before.”
“No, no, it’s OK. I’m more relieved for you than anything else, I’ve heard Plan B can be unpleasant.”
She didn’t know herself, but she appreciated his concern nonetheless.
They pulled up outside of his house and Ethan jogged around to the driver’s side to open her door before she could step out. “What a gentleman,” she said, smiling.
“Just wait,” he said, voice full of promise that made her body perk up. He noticed and laughed. “You’re insatiable.”
“Don’t leave me to fend for myself for too long next time,” she groused and his eyes darkened.
“Noted.” Then he reached down and swung her up into his arms, bridal style as he opened the front door with one hand and for some reason it was thehottest thing she’d ever experienced. “How does a bath sound?”
“Like heaven.”
The water was hot enough that steam rolled off her skin as she relaxed back against Ethan’s soapy chest. It turned out that his bath was big enough for two, a fact she planned to capitalize on frequently.
“I’m worried,” she said softly, hating to ruin the moment but needing him to soothe the edges in her mind. “You told me I had till Christmas—”
“Penny,” his murmur was exasperated and she looked up at him with her head on his shoulder. “I was exaggerating. You haven’t actually been counting the days have you?”
“Well, I thought I had to make a decision before—”
“Are you happy?” His tone was calm and the gentle stroking of his hand against her stomach didn’t falter when she nodded. “Do you want to be with me?”
She swallowed but nodded again. “Yes,” she said hoarsely and his lips curved up.
“Then that’s all I need to know. Whether we stay here or we go elsewhere, we can work that out later. As long as we’re together.”
“But you have your life here, your family. Your work.”
He shrugged. “I’ll visit, and I can work from anywhere really.” The water sloshed gently as she shifted in his lap and he stilled her with a hand to her hip. “Ifyou’re not careful you’re going to—” He sighed and looked down and she smothered a laugh when she felt him, hard against her ass. “Never mind.”
Her smile faded slowly as the real worry she’d been battling rose up. Unable to push it back down, she voiced it. “If I did want to stay here, in Magnolia Springs, does that make me a failure?”
“Baby.” Ethan rubbed her shoulder soothingly. “Not at all. You can only make the best decisions you can with the information you have. Yes, you left before but you achieved what you set out to do. Maybe it wasn’t what you hoped it would be, and that’s OK.”
She nodded, aware that she’d never told him what had happened to bring her back here. “My boss was an ass,” she said, and began to explain the toxic work environment, the long hours and how it had left her no time to have any sort of social life. “But really, the tipping point came a few months ago. My boss was being featured in some article and he was being interviewed in the restaurant so we could all hear the conversation as we were doing food prep in the back. Well, the journalist asked about this one dish, a salmon en croute with a beetroot jus, and as soon as I heard her ask about it I couldn’t help but listen in. That wasmydish. I’d worked for months to perfect it and couldn’t believe that she was going to specifically mention it in the article. I thought it might finally be the break I’d been waiting for, my chance to actually get some real recognition for my work.”
“Oh wow, that would have been amazing, Pen,” Ethan’s voice was low, but there was definitely a note of pride behind his words.
“Well, yeah, itwouldhave been. But my asshole of a boss just flat-out lied. He claimed that it was his dish, thathe’dworked for months perfecting it, not crediting me at all. When I heard … I just lost it.”
“Understandable.”
“I love to cook. Being here and cooking for myself again has reminded me why I love it so much. But working in that restaurant … I don’t know. It’s not the same.” Her breath shuddered out of her as her secret hovered in the air between them. “I just don’t want to let anyone down,” she whispered and he turned her around so he could kiss her, his mouth a little wet from the water and steam and the smell of lavender bubble bath rising up in the air around them.
“That’s not possible,” he said, the confidence in his voice bolstering her. “I think you are brilliant. Talented and punctual,” he teased, “kind, and a little kooky. But nothing you could choose would let me, or anyone else, down.”
Relief flooded her at his words and she knew, instinctively, that he was telling the truth. Penny found herself swept up in a wave of emotion and, before she could stop herself, she rushed on, “You know, ever since I got home, I haven’t actually told anyone exactly what happened back in the city. I’ve been so worried that people would judge me for it, would view me as a failure forquitting, so I’ve been skirting around the details whenever anyone asked.” She paused, gulping down air to stem the tears that were threatening to spill over, before she went on. “But with you it feels different, Ethan. It always has, and I hadn’t realized how much I was missing it until you came back into my life. You’ll listen to me in a way no one else does, and I justknowyou’ll understand. I feel … I feel safe with you.”
“That’s all I want, Pen.You’reall I want.” He spoke softly, his words tender as he brushed a hand down her cheek. Her heart swelled with emotion as she held his gaze, knowing with a surprising certainty that this was something she couldn’t let go.Hewas something she couldn’t let go.
