Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
He smirked, but there was no cockiness to it. More like, he wasn’t sure how I was going to react, so he braced himself. At the same time, he got out of bed and folded down the duvet.
“Get under,” he instructed. “I’m gonna trap you under the covers so you can’t escape if you get mad at me.”
I had no idea what I’d be mad about. Overhearing a conversation—what conversation? Oh, wait. I had talked to Chloe right before Ethan showed up.
I switched positions and snuck under the softest duvet known to man.
“I saw the door was open when I passed earlier, and it bugged me,” he said. “I was ready to give you the business on safety when I heard you joke about breaking up Gray and Darius so you wouldn’t have to see me.”
“Oh no.” I smacked a hand over my face and cringed with mortification. “I’m so embarrassed, Ethan.”
“Okay, stick with that—and ignore the fact that I creeped on you,” he went on. “Obviously, I listened in. But then…”
And then. Yeah.
I peeked through my fingers, not too surprised to see the satisfaction in his expression.
“You overheard me telling Chlo that I was too hooked on a Quinn,” I stated.
He grinned and snuck under the covers too, right next to me. “You fucking bet.” He leaned in and kissed the hand that I refused to remove from my face. “Made my day too. I’ve been trying to get closer to you for a long time. But all those mixed signals you sent me…”
I groaned and buried my face in the pillow instead. “Don’t remind me. I’ve been acting all erratic.”
“Well. A bit hot and cold, anyway,” he chuckled. “How long are you gonna hide your face for?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
He shifted even closer and started pressing kisses to my hair and my shoulder. Meanwhile, one of his hands wandered under the covers, tracing my hip and down to my butt.
“I’m hoping the painkillers worked,” he murmured.
They must’ve. I was tired and a little sensitive, but the headache was gone.
“I feel better.” Unable to help myself, I snuggled into his arms and closed my eyes. I was too satisfied and content to let any embarrassment linger. More than that, I felt that I didn’t need to filter myself anymore. “I didn’t think I was your type,” I admitted. “Hence running hot and cold. I was trying to keep my crap together.”
He hummed and slipped an arm under my pillow. “My type for a good first impression is a beautiful woman with attitude. You have both in spades. The rest is chemistry.”
At that, I had to peer up at him. “You’re kind of incredible, you know that?”
He kissed me on the forehead. “I tried to tell people, and they just called me arrogant.”
I laughed and smacked his chest lightly—and I lingered there. I dropped my gaze to his chest and brushed my fingers through his chest hair. Maybe it hadn’t grown out fully yet.
“I like this,” I murmured.
He hummed again. “Yeah, I’ve gone through some changes too.”
“Trust me, I’m aware. I’m your latest Instagram stalker.”
He shook with a silent laugh. “I can live with that.”
I leaned in and kissed his chin. “I love seeing you comfortable. You’re more at ease now.”
He nodded minutely. “In retrospect, I’ve struggled for years to just fuckin’ unclench. I guess I finally reached my limit.”
“Type A personality or just overambitious small business owner?”
He weighed his answer. “It’s probably part of a longer story on a topic that doesn’t really qualify as sexy pillow talk. It involves years of having three brothers in the military, making an actual difference in the world, while I was waiting at home to set up rehabilitation routines for their battle injuries.”
But, ohhh! He couldn’t say something like that and expect me to drop it.
I eased my leg up his hip and tried to keep things light. “Does the pillow talk need to be sexy?”
Some of the heat from before returned to his eyes, and he moved his hand firmly up my leg, up my thigh, and leaned in to kiss me.
“Natalie, I finally have you in my bed. We can talk about my former issues another time.”
Have mercy on me, he made me feel downright giddy. Even more so when he rolled on top of me and tried to deepen the kiss. But, good sir, I wasn’t going to be derailed that easily.
“You make a difference too, you know.” I cupped his cheek and brushed my lips to his. “I hope you know that. You help people every day.”
He smiled ruefully. “I’ve made my peace with things, I promise. It was my problem, nothing that anyone else ever made me feel. My brothers and I love to give each other shit, but we have each other’s backs. I was the one who felt I had to assert myself somehow when Ryan came home with medals or Darius saved someone’s life.”