Kiss Me at Midnight(15)
Author: Diane Alberts

“You’d love it, I’m telling you. It’s warm and sunny almost every single day. And even though there’s no boardwalk where I live, I walk by the ocean every night before it gets dark. And when the sun sets over the Pacific? It’s breathtaking. All the colors and hues over the blue water…”

“It sounds amazing.” She smiled, picturing him walking along the water, the waves crashing at his feet. “Is the water warm?”

“Hell no. It’s cold as f**k.”

A surprised laugh escaped her. “But it’s always warm there. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“The water comes down from Alaska.” He traced a circle over her knuckle with his thumb. “So instead of the warm Bahamas current we get here, there’s only cold water out there.”

“Wow. I had no idea.”

“Me either.” He chuckled and smoothed his brown hair back from his forehead. “The first day I got there, I went running out onto the beach, my eyes on that blue water. I went charging full speed ahead into it, expecting warm, bathwater-temperature water. Instead?” He grinned down at her, his thumb still tracing circles on her hand. “I hauled my ass outta there faster than ever before.”

She laughed, pressing a hand to her stomach. “I can totally picture the look on your face, too.”

“I’m sure it said something like, ‘Holy f**k, that’s cold as getting blue balls on a winter night.’”

She laughed even harder. “Were they the same shade as your bowling ball?”

“Even worse.”

“Oh my God.” She shook her head, still smiling. “That sounds…painful.”

He cocked a brow. “You have no idea. I might not be able to have children after that.”

“Do you want to have children?”

He laughed, throwing his head back. “That’s not the point.”

She shook her head. “You wait. There will be a bunch of little Ethan’s running around some day.”

The smile slipped off his face, and he glanced away. “I doubt that.”

“Okay.” She hesitated, sensing something going on inside of him, but not wanting to pry. They approached the truck, and he led her to the passenger side, his fingers still entwined with hers. He opened the door for her. “Thank you.”

He kissed her forehead, closing his eyes for a second. “I missed this. It’s been fun, Ash.”

She gripped his arm and smiled at the old nickname. “Yeah, it has. But it’s not over yet. Save the sentimental shit for when you’re walking out the door.”

“Or better yet?” He spun her into his arms. “How about if we avoid it all together.” He held his hand up in front of his heart. “I hereby do solemnly swear to lay no sentimental shit at your door, so help me God.”

She grinned and raised her own hand. “I hereby so solemnly swear to keep my weak, feminine emotions bottled deep down inside of me, so help me God.”

“Amen,” he said.

He wrapped his arms around her and fused his mouth to hers, his tongue easily slipping inside her lips. She ran her hands down his back, then cupped his ass, holding on tight.

When he broke off the kiss, his breathing uneven, he dropped his forehead to hers. “Fuck, woman, what are you doing to me?”

“I already told you. We’re getting closure.” She snaked her hands around his body and rested her hand over his racing heart. She’d done that. Made his heart race with excitement. “Want to get some more closure at my place before you go home to your own bed? I promise I won’t kidnap you or give you a sleeping pill.”

He took a deep breath. “Well in that case, lead the way.”

Chapter Eight

The next afternoon, Ethan walked down the boardwalk and sank onto the bench. Alex was grabbing them a few beers, and then he would be off to join Ashley. He stared at the ocean, even though he wasn’t really seeing it. No, he kept seeing Ashley, right before he left her last night. Ashley, after he kissed her goodnight.

It had been a hell of a lot harder to walk away from her last night than it should have been. They’d f**ked twice, and he’d still wanted more. And even worse? He’d wanted to stay with her all night long. Wanted to curl up in bed with her and hold her in his arms.

That was some scary f**king shit right there.

As he’d left last night, she’d lifted her head and rested her temple on her palm. “You coming over tomorrow night for one hurrah?”

He’d hesitated, knowing that it wouldn’t make it any easier to walk away come Monday, but helpless to say no. Crossing the room, he’d bent down and kissed her gently. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. See you at six.”

And damn it, he wouldn’t miss it. He couldn’t.

He needed more of her before he boarded that flight.

“You awake over here?” Alex said.

Ethan started. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t even heard anyone come up behind him. “Yep, I’m not that tired.”

“With all those late nights you’ve been pulling lately, I figured you might have dozed off on me.” Alex handed Ethan a beer and sat down beside him. “Here. Drink up.” He held up his own bottle and clinked Ethan’s with his. “It’ll make you feel better, and you look like you need to feel better.”

Ethan took a swig. “Beer doesn’t take away the problem. It just hides it for a little while.”

“Hey, that works for me.” Alex shrugged. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” Ethan took another drink and set the bottle down. He could feel Alex’s eyes burning into him, so he shrugged. “I’m fine, man. I’ve just got somewhere to be soon, so there’s not much time for talking.”

“Who is she?”

Ethan didn’t even bother to deny there was a she. “Ashley.” He squared his jaw and watched the stormy ocean. “But you probably already knew that. Everyone in this town talks.”

Alex leaned forward. “I may have heard a rumor about you making out at the bowling alley with a hot, little number who happens to be Ashley, yeah. There’s gotta be a story there.”

Yet another reason he hated this town. You couldn’t fart sideways without Father Rick hearing about it and inviting you to come to confession Saturday afternoon.

“Not really.” Ethan took another swig of his drink. “We kissed. I left. And I’ll be heading back to Cali on Monday. So there’s not much to tell.”