Page 40 of Cozy Girl Fall
If Penny had been a cat, her hair would have stood on end as she eyed Shelby. She’d tried to have a little empathy for Shelby after Ethan explained what had happened between them. It couldn’t have been easy loving someone who wished you were someone else and for the last few weeks she’d even felt bad for Shelby after learning how her relationship with Ethan had ended. But Shelby had taken it too far now; pulling a stunt like this was beyond desperate. Penny steeled herself to say something, but before she could get a word out, Ethan stepped in.
“Seriously? This crap is beneath you, Shel. We’vebeen broken up for over a year now, at some point you need to move on. I have.” Ethan sighed and Penny wished she could have felt happier that he was defending her, but the wrecked look on Shelby’s face made it hard to feel triumphant at that moment. “My place is closer, Pen. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He turned his back on his ex-fiancée without another look at her and tugged Penny away gently by the hand. “I came with Tasha, so are you OK to walk to my place? Or we can take your car but I figured you wouldn’t want to get the seats all sticky.” For some reason, tears swam in her eyes and he pulled them to an abrupt stop when he noticed, cupping her face between his palms as he looked down at her. “What’s wrong? Did I say the wrong thing?”
She shook her head quickly, blinking away the tears. “No, no. I’m fine. I’m sorry. It just bugs me that you have history with her and God knows how many other people in this damn town. It’s stupid, really.”
He smiled, the look gentle and a little amused as he wiped his now-sticky hand on his jeans. “I have more history with you than everyone else in this town combined.”
She sighed, slipping her palm into his and angling them in the direction of the footpath that led to the residential corner of town where Ethan lived. It was less than a twenty-minute walk that would have been OK on a regular day, but tonight she could feel whatever Shelby had spilled on her solidifying in her hair.
“Sometimes I just really don’t miss small-town life, you know? Everyone knows everyone and everything, and there’s always someone who wants to make small talk or that remembers you when you were a kid …”
Ethan chuckled. “I promise to never subject you to small talk.” She couldn’t help her giggle and he softened at the sound. “But really, Magnolia Springs isn’t all that bad, Penny. It’s where you met me, after all.”
Put like that, she couldn’t deny that maybe Magnolia Springs did have a few things to offer.
They walked in silence, the comfortable kind, the smell of the bonfire and sickly sweet alcohol hanging around them in an invisible haze, but they were far enough now from the fire to be able to see the sprawl of stars above them.
“Thank you for stepping in with Shelby. That couldn’t have been easy.”
He shook his head. “It was long overdue. I can handle her saying stupid crap to me, but that … It was too far.”
She squeezed his hand and he smiled, lifting it to his mouth to press a warm kiss to her knuckles that made her stomach swoop in response. The grassy path soon morphed into sidewalks and they crossed the road as they headed into Ethan’s neighborhood and, before long, approached his door. She was familiar enough with the front of his house at this point. They’d cooked together in the kitchen a couple times, eaten food at the dining table together, and made out on his sofauntil she decided it was time for her to go. But until now, she hadn’t been further back into his house than the living room.
Her boots unzipped easily and she handed her ruined scarf to Ethan who walked away to presumably throw it in the trash. Thankfully it had caught most of the drink, so her coat was only a little sticky and easily cleaned up with a wet wipe. The ends of her hair, on the other hand, were another matter. She would need to shower to get the sticky mess out of her hair.
“Pen?”
“Yeah?” she called back and slowly wandered toward the voice when Ethan didn’t respond. It felt silly to be nervous to approach. She’d been in his house so many times, so why did this feel different?
Ethan’s head popped out from behind a doorway down the hall and he arched a questioning brow at her when he found her standing still, hovering between the boundary line of the hall and living room. “You coming?”
“Um. OK.”
Her steps were short and hurried and she was a little breathless a few seconds later when she stood in front of him. A slow smile was taking over his face and she got the impression he thought she was funny for some reason.
His bedroom was plush, with more of the same cream walls he had in the rest of the house and one feature wall in a light greige that was echoed in the throw onthe end of the bed and the dark carpet. He’d turned on both of the bedside lamps and their muted light put her at ease as anticipation thrummed through her veins.
“What now?” she whispered and that smile widened into a full-blown grin.
“Well, I’d assumed you’d want to shower, but we can clean you up another way if you prefer.”
She gulped. “Oh?”
His hands fell to either side of her waist as he leant in close and she got a glimpse of the bedroom behind him. “Both options require you to wear a lot less clothes.”
Nowthatshe could get behind.
Like he’d seen the answer in her eyes, his laugh was low and made heat curl in her lower belly. His hands were gentle as he pulled her body against his and touched his mouth to hers, teasing her until she relaxed and sighed into the kiss.
He walked backwards, bringing her with him, and she was helpless to resist when his hands slid up to cup her jaw, tilting her head to the side so he could kiss her throat. Small nips and quick licks made her whimper and she felt him smile against her skin.
“Can I take this off?”
She nodded and he lifted her sweater deftly, slipping it up and over her shoulders, and then lifting the tank top she wore beneath up and over her head until she was left in her bra.
His eyes darkened and his hands twitched, like he was holding himself back from reaching for her. “I likethis.” He ran one fingertip over the lace that covered the plain black bra and she raised an eyebrow.
“It’s nothing fancy.” And it wasn’t, just one of her everyday bras, but he was looking at her like he would devour her if she asked, so she unhooked it and let it fall to the floor.
