Page 99 of Captivating Mr. Second Chance

Tracing his index finger across the swells of her breasts in a new sundress, one that Ethan had helped pick out, he shook his head. “No. But we need to go.”

She agreed and grabbed her purse before taking his hand, doing a quick double-check that they had the room key before closing the door to their room.

It probably wasn’t the brightest idea to go to Washington, DC, during the July Fourth weekend, but Laney wasn’t going to open her mouth about traffic when Ethan was so excited he couldn’t sit still. She had never been to DC, so when the opportunity came up, they agreed to make it a little mini-vacation.

Arlington, Virginia, was only a few miles away, although with the way their car crawled along, it wouldn’t surprise Laney if it would take hours. Ethan touched the GPS on his phone for the fifth time in the last two minutes, as if that would speed them up.

“Do you want to play a game?” she asked.

“A game?”

“Yeah.” She adjusted the air vents. “I spy or something?”

He huffed an agitated sound. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, okay. Did I tell you that Sam got a job?”

Ethan glanced her way, a hint of a smile on his face. “Yeah?”

Over the last few weeks, Ethan had been inducted into the group chat, now renamed4 Chicks and 4 Dicksand had taken to the group of boys like he was their long-lost friend. Needless to say, the girls adored him.

“In Chicago.”

“Oh, nice. So they’ll be close to Gem and Jason?”

Laney shook her head. “I think they’re still, like, three hours away from each other, but at least they’re in the same state.”

“But that means we could all theoretically be together with a three-hour plane ride, right?”

“Always thinking positive,” she said, running her hand along the back of his head.

“Making lemons out of lemonade.”

She leaned over to kiss his cheek, knowing exactly how much lemonade they were making and would continue to. For now, Justin was doing well with no signs of the disease progressing quickly, so they’d all drink up that lemonade like it was the best damn drink in the world.

She dropped her hand from his neck, and he laced their fingers together in his lap as she went off on a tangent about Bronte and Chris’s dog, Taco, getting lost the other day. They’d been out all day looking for him, and it turned out he’d been hiding under their bed the whole time. Then she gabbed on about sending Gem and Jason a gift certificate in case they needed anything for the new baby, who was due in two months. “So, what else can we talk about?”

He smiled over at her. “Why do we have to talk?”

“Because I’m trying to calm your nerves.”

“Did you ever think that the more you talk, the more nervous I get? You’re the one who’s babbling.”

“Babbling?” She feigned hurt. “I am not babbling.”

“You are,” he said, checking his mirrors before changing lanes to turn right. They were almost there. He absently kissed the back of her hand then let go of her fingers. “I need you to grab something from the glove compartment.” The GPS told Ethan to make another turn, their destination was on their left, and he leaned forward, his eyes on the street signs.

“What do you need?” she asked, opening it, not paying much attention as she pulled out random folded pieces of paper and crumpled-up receipts.

“There should be a box.” He parked the car and unbuckled his seat belt, turning toward her. He pointed to the corner of the compartment. “Right there.”

Laney ducked her head to see where he directed, and she sucked in a ragged inhale, her fingers curling around the small square box. Although she didn’t move. She couldn’t.

Next to her, Ethan shifted so close, his breath brushed against her cheek when he chuckled. “You scared?”

She dared to look at him. “Should I be?”

He put his hand over hers, and together, they removed the ring box from the glove compartment, and Ethan shut it with a quiet click. Then he unbuckled her seat belt and gently curved his palm around her cheek, his amber eyes shining big and round behind his glasses. “I know we haven’t really talked about this, but…” He shrugged, an embarrassed lilt slanting the corner of his lips. “At this point, I didn’t think we needed to discuss it, right?”

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