Dirty Sweet Cowboy

He leans forward, capturing my other wrist in his other hand, drawing me to face him completely. It’s gentle, but also inescapable. I couldn’t twist away if I wanted to .

“Say yes, Ava,” he says in a low, commanding voice. “I want to hear you say yes .”

I take a shuddering breath before speaking .

“Yes,” I whisper, somehow fearful, or perhaps just overwhelmed and panicked .

His smile is brilliant and sudden, cutting across his face like daylight coming through the clouds .

“That’s settled then,” he smirks, almost gloating. Sitting back in his chair, he draws out a cellphone and begins typing with his thumbs. I get back to eating, controlling myself from devouring every morsel .

We finish our breakfasts in silence. I sneak occasional glances at him through the fringe of my hair. He looks the same, but different. Thicker. More confident. Not just a cocky boy. A cocky man, now .

He accompanies me to my room so that I can change clothes. In the quiet hallway I swear my heartbeat is so loud it echoes off the walls .

My hand trembles on the doorknob for a few seconds while I try to decide what to say. Something flippant? Charming? I can’t think of a thing .

But before I know it, his hands are under my jaw, tipping my face toward his. His lips close over mine, turning me immediately to jelly. I kiss him back, stunned and shaking as my whole body pulses like in the dream, multiplied by a million .

Chapter 25

ETHAN

K issing her is like being caught out in a storm. An electrical storm, where all the hairs on my arms raise up, and I feel like something huge is about to happen. She melts into me, pliant and willing, her hands snaking through the back of my hair .

I force myself to set her back on the floor in front of her open door. She rocks back and forth slightly, her eyes slowly coming back into focus. Her lips are still open, gleaming with moisture .

“I’m glad you’re going to spend the day with me,” I tell her .

“No… I can’t,” she protests quietly, looking guilty. “I know I said I would but… There’s still two days left of the conference… I’m supposed to be — ”

“Finding a job?” I ask her irritably, annoyed by her change of heart. “And how is that going? Is it here? Do you think your future is downstairs ?”

“My future…” she pauses. “Well, but, it’s a process, Ethan,” she objects. I see her eyes narrow, feel that familiar resistance. I remember her as a sullen teenager, determined to get her way. For some reason, that image sort of thrills me .

“So you don’t have a job now, and I can almost guarantee you that any job you would find downstairs will be waiting for you tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. But I’m offering you something much better. Spend the day with me,” I ask her again .

She blinks fast, as though running through a series of mental calculations. She knows I’m right. It’s just a matter of time before she acquiesces .

“And Bea is—” she protests meekly .

I stroke her shoulder, running my thumb along the ridge of her collarbone. “I want to take you on my boat, Ava. I’ll give you seven minutes to change your clothes. Bring your bathing suit .”

Gently, I nudge her toward the door. She gives me a surprised, helpless glance before the door closes, separating us .

Leaning against the wall, slip my phone out of my pocket and thumb through my emails, checking for new issues, any roadblock to the afternoon I have planned. There’s nothing. Nothing I can’t handle anyway .

Some annoying little voice in the back of my mind wants to know what I’m doing, standing in a hallway, waiting for some girl. Nobody would believe this if I told them. I don’t generally loiter in hallways. I certainly don’t mark time while some chick does whatever she wants, taking as long as she wants .

This is not just some girl, right? Ava was number one on my to-do list at some point. Let’s call her… a loose end .

The door swings open again, and she stands there, smiling brightly with a canvas bag slung over one arm. Sunglasses push that tousle of caramel-colored hair back from her forehead. She’s wearing a red, flowered dress and str

appy sandals. The dress is a little bit see-through and I can make out the outlines of the darker colored bathing suit .

“Did I make it?” she breathes .

“You look… amazing,” I have to confess .