Page 46 of Whisper of Surrender (Whisper Lake 2)

If he had to bet he’d say that it was Mrs. Weathersby. She’d been in the parking lot when he and Kade left and had asked them where they were going in such a hurry.

Ethan heard the shower cut off. “I’ll take you to dinner when I get back in town.”

“I wasn’t really calling for you to take me to dinner.”

“I know, Nana.”

“Have fun. Tell Jess I said hi. I love you.”

“Love you too, bye.”

He disconnected the call and caught his reflection in the mirror. He was glad that he kept a Dopp kit and change of clothes in his truck. He’d learned early in his rookie days that the job wasn’t nine to five and he needed to be prepared to clean up anywhere.

After Kade and Ali had taken off, he’d rinsed off in the shower and put on fresh clothes, but he hadn’t taken the time to shave. He rubbed his chin. His schedule had been so crazy lately. It had been a few days since he’d taken a razor to his face. His grow out was somewhere between stubble and full beard.

“I like it.” Jess’s voice came from the direction of the bathroom.

He hadn’t even heard the door open, but when he looked up, there she was.

“The stubble,” she pointed toward his face. “I like it.”

Ethan would typically return the compliment, but when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out.

Jess had changed into a form-fitting black dress with white polka dots. It hugged her curves and accentuated the flare of her hips. Her hair was pulled off of her face, but there was some that fell loose around her shoulders. Her lips were a bright red and they were calling to him like a siren of the sea.

“You look….” He tried to put into words what he saw when he looked at her. Her beauty, her confidence, her essence was so sexy, so alluring, so magnetic. But he couldn’t find the right words to articulate the magnitude of her appeal.

She lifted her arms and spun around. That’s when he saw that the dress left her entire back exposed, showcasing several tattoos that complimented the slender slope of her spine.

“Wow,” he breathed.

He must’ve successfully communicated all that was behind that “wow” because a faint blush rose on Jess’s cheeks and she dipped her head. He’d never seen her shy before.

Every second he spent with Jess cemented what he’d always known in his gut. She was it. She was the one. She was his one.

---