“Yes. Once in a great while I have bad dreams about being there, but not about you. You’re only a good memory now.”
Smiling faintly, he said, “Good. Even though being with me necessitated your plastic spoon escape route?”
Willow smiled. “Yes. I have no regrets about us. I regret that my father ruined everything, but… never being with you. Those are some of my favorite memories.”
His fingers had drifted to her shoulder by that point. “I’m pretty fond of them myself,” he offered. “I’m only sorry we don’t have more.”
“Me too,” she murmured, the rise and fall of her chest a little more pronounced as his fingers danced across her collar bone, dipping lower and skimming the top of one breast. Willow’s head fell back a little and she closed her eyes, exhaling shakily when his hand moved lower, lightly cupping one of her breasts through her shirt. He bent his head to place a little kiss on her shoulder.
“Did you wear this because you thought I’d like it?” he teased.
Biting back a smile, she replied, “No comment.”
“You were right,” he told her, his hand moving across her stomach. He felt her body respond, the muscles in her abdomen contracting as his fingers moved down further, flirting with the hem of her skirt, teasing her thigh.
Willow sighed, her hand moving to rest on his thigh. Desire ran right through him at the mere weight of her hand, and suddenly he didn’t care how many months it had been since he’d seen her—he wanted her, right then, right there.
“I’ve missed you,” he murmured, leaning in closer to drop a little kiss against the sensitive skin on her neck. Needing to reposition, he dropped his arm to her waist and pulled her across his lap so she straddled him, her long hair falling in his face.
Closing his eyes, he nuzzled against her neck, his mouth moving hungrily as one hand remained anchored on her hip, one moving over the curve of her ass.
“Wait,” Willow said, pushing back, chewing on her lower lip. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” he said, easing back. “I’m sorry. Too fast?”
There was tension on her face as she looked off to the side, then back at him. “I didn’t think you’d be single.”
“You said that already.”
If she looked even a little more anxious, she would be wringing her hands.
“Do you not want to…?”
“I’m not single,” she blurted.
That was like a splash of ice water to the face. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, grimacing. “I should have… mentioned that before.”
Considering she was currently straddling him and he was already aroused, he sort of wished she had.
Honestly, he didn’t have a damn clue how to respond to that.
“To be fair, since you checked up on me before, I actually thought you might know. I—My parents—That’s kind of how I got my car privileges back.” She grimaced. “That sounds bad, I just mean—”
He briefly raised his hand to gesture her to stop. “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I haven’t seen you in… I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she said quickly. “It’s just… like I said, I don’t cheat.”
“Unlike me,” he stated, nodding his head.
“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “That’s—I didn’t say that.”
Ethan shifted slightly and Willow took the opportunity to climb off of his lap. She perched awkwardly on the edge of the couch, that time facing him.
“I wasn’t talking about you, I was just…”
“But you were thinking it,” he replied, his voice level.