Page 11 of Cozy Girl Fall
His usual flannel shirt was thrown over a rung on the other side of his ladder, no doubt drying in the sun like Penny’s gloves. He reached up to grab an apple a little higher than his head and she nearly whimpered when his top lifted to reveal the lower half of his taut stomach, abs bunching and rippling in a way that made her stomach swoop and bottom out somewhere around her heels. And—God have mercy on her—were thosetattooswinding darkly around the bottom of his ribs?
She wasn’t sure at what point she’d turned off her music to better admire Ethan, but her headphones were quiet and so she slipped them off to hang around her neck as she debated whether to run or hide before she was spotted ogling him.
“Nice moves,” he called and she froze, knowing that if he’d seen her prancing around, he’d definitely also seen her staring at him for much longer than could be considered polite. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t interruptyour drool-fest. Can I get you anything? A hose-down maybe?”
Taken aback by the jokey edge to Ethan’s words, Penny’s mind went totally blank as she struggled to think of something,anythingto say in response. After a few moments, she somehow found her voice and managed to force out a few words. “Yeah, right,” she snorted, trying to come across as nonchalant rather than flustered. “I was just watching your … technique.”OK, good, Penny. Now walk away.
His answering laugh was warm and she realized she’d missed the sound of it in the time they’d spent apart. In all honesty, she’d never expected to hear it again, even upon her return. And yet, Ethan had seemed indifferent to her the last two times she’d seen him. She wasn’t sure if she would have preferred anger to apparent ambivalence. “Hello again, Penny. If you’re not going to hide in plain sight this time, then maybe we could catch up a little?”
Her inhalation might as well have been a gasp for how taken aback she was, and then her breath caught in her throat and she began choking, coughing and spluttering like an idiot. Because of course she would.
Ethan rushed over, rubbing a soothing circle on the middle of her back and then tilted up her chin when her coughing subsided. “You OK?” he murmured and he was so close she could count the individual lashes surrounding his deep-brown eyes. How many timeshad he soothed her like this when they were younger? Too many to count, she was sure.
“Fine,” she rasped and then stared dumbly when he smiled. “You look different.”
The edges of his mouth curled, a familiar cocky look that had only grown hotter with age. “Ten years will do that to a person.”
“No, sorry, I just mean that you—you look good. Nice,” she corrected, flustered into adding, “healthy.”
He didn’t hold back his laugh as he took a step away, allowing some distance to flow between them. Not that it mattered. She could taste his sandalwood scent on her tongue and those big biceps were now close enough to touch—No touching! Off-limits!
“I am healthy, yes. And how are you? How long are you back for?”
She opened her mouth but again her voice seemed to have deserted her as only a squeak came out. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “I’m fine. Good. Nice weather now isn’t it. Great, even. Warm. Strange after all the rain, right?” Her laugh sounded odd, a little too fast and breathless, and she was rambling. “Maybe let’s just … put this back on,” she muttered, hurrying over to his shirt and tossing it to him.
He caught it easily and slipped his arms in the sleeves and honestly? It didn’t help. At all.
Penny squeezed her hands together tightly as she tried to focus on what he’d asked her. “I don’t knowhow long I’ll be back for yet, probably until Christmas at least.” She found herself strangely unable to mention that she definitely wasn’t staying in Magnolia Springs past the holidays, but she couldn’t dwell on that right now.
Ethan smiled and brushed his hair out of his face. “I bet your parents are thrilled.”
“And yours?”
“Well, I don’t think they know you’re back but …” His smile widened as he took in her blush. “They’re well, thanks,” he said finally.
“I saw Tasha the other day,” Penny blurted and he nodded, waiting for her to continue on and blinking when he realized that she was done speaking.
“Yeah, she mentioned it to me.”
“We’re going out again on Friday. Tomorrow,” she corrected and he nodded again, awkwardness rising up between them and she had the sudden, awful feeling that she was bugging him uninvited. “Well, I guess I should—”
“It’s nice that you and Tash are hanging out,” he said and her smile of agreement faltered when he hooked his thumb in his jeans’ pocket and met her eyes with an intensity that made her catch her breath. “Is this special treatment reserved for Tasha? Or can I get in on it too?”
She blinked at him. “In … on it?” Why was he being so friendly toward her? Shouldn’t he have been mad? Had she meant that little to him? Great, nowshewas the one who was mad.
The thud of his booted foot hitting the ground as he moved closer mimicked the jump in her heart. “Well, you saw Tasha and chatted, made plans … You saw me and tried to hide under your car.”
Penny frowned. “I wasnottrying to get under my car. I was just crouched down very close to it.”
His laugh sent skitters of heat across her skin as he stopped in the shadow of her body. “Just think about it, Pen.”
She bit back her grimace. The problem was that she couldn’tstopthinking about it. Him. Ethan had always known her better than she knew herself, and it seemed like that hadn’t changed. Sure, history lurked between them, but more than that washeat. Some spark that hadn’t faded away reigniting the embers at just the sound of his laugh.
“I thought you’d be mad at me,” she said, and it was true.
“Why?” He seemed genuinely confused and Penny wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “Is this about me buying you the coffee?”
“The coffee? No. I mean, yes, I wanted to thank you for it. But I mean about the way I left things before. When I left.” She tugged on her sleeve and fidgeted her boot in the grass near her foot.
