Little Emma had unwittingly given Ethan and Sadie more time to think. To look at every angle of what might happen and really decide if this was what they wanted—oh boy, she really wanted it. And she hoped he did, too.
“Okay, we’ll...”
“Talk about this,” he finished for her.
Nodding, she walked out of the kitchen, headed for the stairs and Emma. Ethan was right behind her and she was almost surprised that he was willing to do his part in taking care of the baby.
But a bigger part of her was wondering if their “talk” would turn into something else.
* * *
A few days later, they were already settling into a “routine.” One that Ethan had never wanted. Having an infant in his house was unsettling enough, but seeing Sadie every day and every night was harder to deal with than he’d imagined. He’d been thinking about that kiss for days. Wanting more, knowing he shouldn’t have it.
And still, he knew exactly what he wanted.
Sadie.
Funny how a few days could change everything. And this was one change he could completely get behind. Sadie was living in his house, in the room across from his. He’d tasted her and hadn’t been able to sleep since for thinking about it. About her.
Neither of them had talked about it since, but the tension was there and building. Need pumped through him with a vengeance almost constantly, and damn it, it showed no signs of fading away. If anything, his desire for her had only grown since that one seductive kiss.
Five years. Five years he’d worked with her, known her and had never guessed what he might find if he kissed her. Just as well, he told himself. If he’d had any idea at all, he would have fired her years ago and seduced her on the spot.
Shaking his head, he tried to turn his mind back to work, but it was surprising how little the Mother’s Day marketing campaign interested him at the moment. “Which is why you need to concentrate on it.”
There were too many damn distractions in his life right now. They’d interviewed two would-be housekeepers and neither of them were right for the job. He and Sadie were bringing Emma to the in-house day care every day, but that couldn’t keep going on. Ethan wasn’t going to be driving a child back and forth to work every morning and evening. He needed space. Time to think. He needed his life to get back into order.
As much as he wanted Sadie, as much as he wanted this day to be over and the two of them alone together back at the house, Ethan knew that being with her would open up all kinds of problems. What if she took sex the wrong way? What if she expected a relationship? What if she started looking at the two of them plus the baby as a family? No, he wasn’t going down that road again.
He’d tried marriage once, completely screwed it up and had learned his lesson. He was no good at it. He liked his space and wasn’t interested in being seen at the “best” parties, either. His ex-wife had made it plain when she walked out that he was less-than-stellar husband material.
When they married, Marcy had thought marrying a billionaire would mean great trips, big parties, celebrity friends. But that wasn’t Ethan, and she hadn’t bothered to hide her disappointment. He hadn’t fought the divorce. What would have been the point? Marcy had been unhappy, so why try to keep her where she didn’t want to be?
Besides, that brief marriage had taught Ethan an important lesson. He was better off on his own. He didn’t like failure and so had no plans to set himself up for another disaster. He liked women, but he didn’t want one permanently. Not even one who could make him feel what Sadie had.
As much as he burned to have her—under him, over him; didn’t matter, he wasn’t picky—he’d seen Sadie’s eyes when she looked at the baby. When she held Emma, Sadie got a soft look about her, as if she were wrapping herself emotionally around that child. She clearly wanted kids. A marriage. A family.
What he wanted could be solved in a few hot, steamy nights.
“That does it,” he muttered, and lunged out of his chair. He couldn’t keep thinking about this. About her. It would drive him even crazier than he was feeling at the moment. Walking to the bank of windows behind his desk, he stared out at the ocean, hoping the view would ease the knots tightening inside him. He pushed one hand through his hair and wasn’t the least bit surprised when Sadie’s image rose to the front of his mind again.