Kiss Me at Midnight(2)
Author: Diane Alberts

And they never would, damn it, because Ashley was having hot and sweaty sex with someone else tonight. Someone who didn’t know who the heck she was or what she did for a living. Someone who didn’t know her at all.

Yeah. That would be perfect.

Then she’d be ready to tackle her new job as town doctor come January fourth. In the meantime, she was getting started on her New Year’s Resolution early…

To end her obnoxiously long dry spell.

And I’ll forget about Ethan once and for all.

…

When Ethan Pierce entered the crowded bar, he fought the urge to turn right back around and leave. Loud music and excessive amounts of alcohol had never been his scene, not even as a teenager. He preferred the quiet solitude of the beach at night, when everyone else was busy getting drunk and being sociable.

But it was New Year’s Eve and even though he despised this town with an unparalleled passion, certainly he could find someone at the bar to spend the evening with. Someone who didn’t expect more from him than he was willing to give.

And he was only willing to give the next few hours.

He had rules. Plans. And none of them involved settling down.

Never fall in love. Never get married. Never have kids. And never, ever stay more than a week in this godforsaken town.

Every time he came back home, he felt as if he took a step into a f**king time capsule, back to a time he never wanted to relive. A time when he’d been a stuttering, scrawny, shy, and insecure kid. But that was then. This was now.

He moved toward the bar, scanning the room for a potential partner for the evening. He hated spending New Year’s Eve alone—too many memories of an old high school rejection—so he had to move quickly if he was going to get someone in his arms by midnight.

The blonde by the left side of the bar looked promising, but she had already flirted with a guy who looked vaguely familiar. The brunette had gone out with his brother a few times, so she was out, and the black-haired girl had been a bitch to him in high school.

He might not be that stuttering geek he’d once been, but he had no interest in proving that to her, thank you very f**king much.

He sighed and walked to the opposite side of the bar. He hated this town and almost everyone in it. He needed to get this holiday over with, spend a little more time with his family, and then get the hell outta Dodge—and back to California come Monday.

But first…the girl.

Ethan tugged on his shirt collar. Why hadn’t he worn a pair of jeans and a T-shirt to this damn thing, instead of khakis and a dress shirt? Some things were not meant to be on a man like him—and a tie was one of them. There was a reason he was an I.T. man in a laid-back company.

His eyes landed on a strawberry blonde facing away from him. Something about her reminded him of a time from long ago—and the unwelcome memory hit him harder than a kick to the nuts.

He clutched the flowers he held in his hand so tight it hurt. White carnations, just like Ashley loved. They were so pure and clean. Like her. He had just turned eighteen, and it was time to be a man. Make a move. He was going to kiss her tonight, on New Year’s Eve.

He’d been planning it for months. He’d written her a note.

She would be here, waiting. And he’d tell her he loved her.

He crested the hill, swiping his sweaty palm over his jeans. His glasses slid down his nose, and he impatiently pushed them up. He’d tried to put in contacts tonight for her, but he’d ripped the darn things in half with his clumsy fingers.

He was such a klutz…but she didn’t care. She liked him anyway.

He still couldn’t believe it. Just like he couldn’t believe that tonight, he’d be doing the one thing he’d always been too scared to—

He froze in his tracks, his heart stopping.

Literally stopping.

Ashley was there all right, but she wasn’t alone. She was kissing Roger Hampton in their spot. In their special spot, on New Year’s Eve. His heart splintered into a thousand pieces. He stumbled backwards, tripping on his own, oversized feet. He fell flat on his ass, blinking back the tears in his eyes, and dropped the pristine white flowers in the wet sand.

All this time, she had been lying. Lying about not wanting a boyfriend. She wanted one, all right. It just wasn’t Ethan. He shook his head at his naivety, stood up, and bolted from the pain coursing through his chest.

He ran away from her, the image of her and Roger burned into his brain.

He was done.

Done.

He shook the memory off, rolling his shoulders in a circular motion. That was a time better left in the past. He’d been eighteen and stupid. He’d treated her badly afterwards, refusing to talk to her even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d been understandably hurt and angry.

After a while, she’d stopped trying to talk to him, and he’d never apologized. He had been an ass in the first degree. Years later, once he grew up, he thought about tracking her down and apologizing to her. By then it seemed too late.

And there was nothing he could do about it now, was there?

But he could find a woman who would make him forget all over again…and the one who eerily reminded him of Ashley looked to fit the bill.

He did love strawberry blondes, after all.

He approached the woman, his eyes taking in her gray sweater dress and black tights. She wore a pair of kick-ass red heels, and her hair flowed down her back in soft waves. She looked as if she was here for the same reason as him, judging from the way her head turned from side to side as she scanned the crowd, her foot tapping in impatience as she sipped her drink.

She watched all of the men, studying them before passing on to the next. As if she was analyzing them in the same way he was. And that was the sign he was looking for.

Game f**king on.

As he got closer, his shoulders grew more tense. She really reminded him of Ashley. Last he heard, she was somewhere in D.C. pursuing her dream of being a doctor. Just like she’d always wanted. So, why would she be here, in the same bar?

Easy. She wouldn’t be.

He was being haunted by the ghost of New Year’s past or some shit like that. He brushed aside the sense of foreboding creeping up his spine, and tapped her shoulder with a smile on his face. Leaning close, he let his chest brush the woman’s back and lowered his head to ear level. “Excuse me, but can I buy you a drink?”

She stiffened and turned around slowly, her hair tickling his nose. She smelled like flowers and like…like…her. A fist of desire slammed into his gut, almost making him fall back a step. The second he touched her, he knew.