Page 48 of Whisper of Surrender (Whisper Lake 2)

“It was a couple years before I saw you around town. I only noticed you because of the oxygen tank. And then it was years before we actually talked to each other. I probably looked a lot different at twelve than I did at seventeen.”

That made sense but, she still had another question. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“You didn’t seem that impressed by my skills.” He grinned. “Seriously, though. I thought about it, but what was I going to say? ‘Hey, remember that time you thought you were going to die and you kissed a boy, you know that was me, right?’”

She couldn’t help but laugh when he put it that way.

His smile faded. “Honestly, Jess, most of the time you seem like you can barely stand me, I didn’t want to give you any more reasons to dislike me.”

“I don’t dislike you, I just…” How could she possibly tell him that she’d held a grudge against him and had secretly been in love with him for years but hated herself and him for how impossible her feelings were? “It’s complicated.”

“I’m just glad I got to redeem myself.”

“Redeem yourself?” Her left brow rose.

“By the pool, at your parents’ house. You can’t tell me you felt the same way about our second kiss that you did our first.”

All of these years, Jess had never even considered what her response might’ve done to the boy that she’d ambushed for her first kiss. To her, playing it cool had always been a defense mechanism. She’d felt vulnerable after telling him that she was going to die, that she was scared for her parents, and then she planted a big one on him. She’d needed to gain some control back. That kiss had rocked her nine-year-old world. Just like the one at her parents’ house had rocked her twenty-eight-year-old world.

She was considering letting him know that when she noticed that his eyes had fallen to her mouth and he was staring with an intensity that she felt like a physical touch. Her tongue ran along the seam of her mouth as tingles danced over her lips.

“Or maybe I need another shot at redeeming myself,” his low voice growled as he leaned toward her.

She closed her eyes in anticipation for the heavenly sensation of his firm, yet soft lips touching hers, but before that happened, her body jerked forward. She opened her eyes and saw that the carriage had come to a stop.

“I hope you folks enjoyed your ride.”

“We did, thank you,” Jess said, but in her mind she was thinking that they would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if he could’ve taken one more lap around the park.

Ethan got out and helped her down and asked, “Do you mind if we walk a little?”

“Sure.”

As much as she was looking forward to what might happen when they got back to the hotel, she didn’t want this night to end.

Ever.

***

Ethan had noidea how long he and Jess had been walking around the city. After the carriage ride, he’d wanted to give her some time to process what he’d told her, and he’d thought a walk would be the perfect thing.

But he hadn’t planned on ending up here.

“Ethan?” Jess’s hand rested on Ethan’s forearm, and he turned to see a concerned look in her gorgeous baby blues.

“Sorry, I just…I didn’t realize where we were.”

She looked around, and he could see that she was trying to get a clue as to why this place would be significant to him. She’d never be able to figure it out.

“This was the alley my dad found me in.” He’d never spoken about his unusual start in life to anyone. Not even to the counselor his grandma had forced him to see after his dad was killed.

“The alley your dad found you in?” Jess repeated as if she must’ve heard it wrong.

“Yeah.” He nodded and started walking again, Jess kept pace with him, but he noticed she slowed slightly when he told her, “I’m adopted.”

“This was my dad’s beat when he was a rookie. It used to be a lot different around here before it was gentrified. These buildings were all abandoned. They were flophouses and crack dens. My dad was rolling through in his cruiser, and he said that he had no idea what made him pull into the alley. In the six months he’d been on patrol before that, he’d never gone down there. But that night he did. And something told him to get out of the car, so he did.

“As soon as he stepped out, he said he heard a baby crying. So he started sifting through a pile of boxes beside a dumpster and found me at the bottom, wrapped in a dirty white T-shirt. I was a couple of days old.”

---