Page 58 of Mess With Me
“Date,” he supplied.
She took a shaky breath. And then put as much cheer into her voice as she could while she babbled nervously. “Yes. Well, I better get going. I have a lot of cooking to do. I’m making white chicken chili for dinner and three loaves of pumpkin bread for my class tomorrow.”
He didn’t move, still close enough to make her want to throw herself at him. “It’s a nice place; dress would be good.”
She nodded in a jerky motion, waved him to the side and, as soon as he moved, she grabbed her cart and made a U-turn out of the frozen aisle, her stomach doing a jittery dance.
It wasn’t until she got home that she realized she forgot the ice cream.
Ethan rarely did the fancy-dinner thing. Not his style. But he needed Ally to know he was serious about her. Casual hookups didn’t get across that message. Not that he’d turn down hooking up with her. He just…dammit, if he was going to do this, he had to do it right. Full-on wooing. He’d never wooed in his life, but his foster brother, Zach, was a professor of anthropology and had shared some good stuff about dating based on real anthropological evidence and biology. He’d explained the dominant male was highly valued for a mate as protector and provider for the young. Dominant didn’t mean pressing the other person down. It was more like strength to fight off enemies and rivals, protect the family and bring home the gift of food. Though Ally brought her own food home and cooked better than he did. Whatever. It had made sense at the time. He was a cop, so he already had the protector thing down.
He peered in the bathroom mirror at the crappy knot in his tie and undid it again. If she understood him at all, she’d know what a big deal this fancy dinner was. He tied the knot again and then loosened it. He hated ties.
He finished getting ready, nerves making him tense and jumpy. He couldn’t remember being nervous about a date since he was a teenager on his first date. It felt like so much was riding on it. He was serious about Ally, had tried to be as straightforward as possible about that, but it still felt like any moment she was going to slip through his fingers. Like he’d turn around and she be flying off to Paris for a year as some movie star’s assistant or off to Japan to teach kids English or something.
But he couldn’t back off. Not when he felt so much. He thought about her a lot—her cheerful exuberance, her beaming smile, her grit, her luscious body, her softness. When he wasn’t with her, he couldn’t wait to see her again. And when he saw her, the whole world was brighter, sights and sounds sharper. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out. What the hell happened to him? He’d only known her up close and personal for four weeks. That was much too soon for…love. Had it finally happened for him? He’d never felt like this before, all out of sorts and wanting another person close so much. He suspected it was, but wouldn’t check in with anyone to ask. He’d just move forward like everything was normal.
Because if Ally didn’t love him back, there was no point in even thinking about it.
He loved her.
Fuck.
He’d never told anyone he loved them. And no one had ever said it to him. Would that bad luck streak finally end?
Or would he be waving goodbye as she left for some grand adventure?
He shrugged on the suit blazer. Enough thinking. Time for action. He marched out the door.
Ally was standing in a bra and panties, carefully applying mascara in the bathroom mirror, when the doorbell rang. Shit. He was early! She yanked the bands out of her two braids, tousled her hair into the kinky waves she’d been going for and then raced to her bedroom for her pink fleece robe. “Coming!” Now that she lived alone, she couldn’t count on her roomie to run interference.
She rushed to the door, peeked through the peephole, and yanked it open, a little breathless. “Hey, you’re way early.”
Ethan stepped inside, looking somber and serious in a navy blue suit. “I was ready. I don’t mind waiting for you. Take your time.” His gaze dropped to her bare legs, where the robe ended mid-thigh, and then traveled up to the gaping top that likely gave him an eyeful of cleavage. Finally, he lifted lust-filled eyes to hers.
Her body responded in kind with a throbbing pulse between her legs. She licked her lips, closed the distance between them and placed a hand on his chest. “Nice tie.”
“Ally,” he said in a strained voice.
“Eth,” she whispered.
They slammed together, mouths hungry, hands grabbing. She was frantic for him, pushing off his blazer, grabbing his shirt and lifting it from his pants, undoing his belt buckle, all while his mouth devoured hers. He kept kissing her, shifting her to the wall, pressing and grinding against her. She was wild to have him, lifting her leg and wrapping it around his, tilting her hips up in invitation. He slid a hand under her robe and cupped her between the legs, where she was already hot and wet. He kissed her harder, more demanding, and then tore his mouth away, his fingers hooked on the sides of her panties.
“Stop me,” he said.
She pushed his hands off and slid the panties down herself. Then she opened her robe and tossed it to the side.
He groaned.
The rest happened shockingly fast. He freed himself, lifted her and took her in one fierce thrust, her back hitting cool wall. She gasped at the sudden filling of her body and then there was nothing but his mouth on hers, his body pumping hard and fierce, the intense coiling of tension at her core, higher and higher. She broke the kiss, desperate for breath, and he held her by the cheek and jaw, his eyes hot on hers, his thrusts deep and incredibly powerful, like he held nothing back this time. He gave her everything, the hard and the tender, and she understood in that moment who he was. Tough on the outside, tender on the inside. But she couldn’t speak, could only hang on, panting and aching and completely overwhelmed. His hand slipped between them, stroking her rapidly, and she jerked and then exploded, the orgasm stealing her breath. He pounded into her and she just clung to him. His own release pulsed inside her moments later, bringing another wave of pleasure.
He leaned his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He lifted his head and smiled tenderly. Her heart squeezed painfully hard. He kissed her gently. “Sorry if I was rough.”
“I like it both ways, rough and gentle. It’s like you, tough on the outside, secretly tender on the inside. Right?”
