by Amelia Shea
Grabbing his waist, she reached up on her toes and crushed her lips against his. He gasped in her mouth and braced his hands on her shoulders. For a brief second, she thought he’d push her away. Her tongue poked out and swiped his bottom lip before delving deep, gliding against his tongue. His hands gripped hard and she was pulled deeper into his body.
Her body heated, her core trembled, she was kissing Ethan and, oh God, he was kissing her back. For a fleeting second, she thought this might be a pity kiss. She pulled back from him slightly and his mouth followed hers, not allowing her retreat. He wanted this, too.
They were locked in a passionate kiss. His hands dug into her hair, trailing down her spine, sweeping over her ass. She couldn’t get enough of him or the kiss. Her hands wrapped around his waist pulling him into her, one hand gliding up his hard chest to his neck, curling her fingers through his hair. His hair was soft, just as she had always imagined it. Her legs strained on her toes. Losing balance, her body shifted to the side. He wrapped his arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her body up to him. All the while, their lips fused together in a frantic desperate kiss.
She breathed a soft moan and he countered with a deep groan. Their bodies slammed together, she could feel his erection against her core. He rubbed his body against hers and she felt the wetness between her legs. Even through layers of clothes, her body yearned for him.
His cock was hard and that thought yanked her out of her haze. That wasn’t for her. He was just in the office with Nina getting a blowjob. That hard on was for her, not Emory.
Emory wiggled hard against him and turned her head, ending their kiss. Her hands on his arms pushed him back and they separated. The always perfect Ethan looked disheveled and raw.
She stepped back, straightening her spine. Emory’s voice was composed and even, almost void of any emotion. All traces of vulnerability were gone. “Now I’m done…try and forget this conversation.”
She spun around and pounded down the hall. Passing by the kitchen, she grabbed her bag from the living room and started to the door. She was about to lose her shit, her throat threatening to close up, her body shook and eyes welled up.
She passed by some of the Garrison family but refused to make eye contact. She was through the front door and down the first step when she heard Roxanne’s worried voice behind her.
“Em, Em, what’s wrong, where are you going?”
Emory stopped, looking down. “I gotta go.”
Roxanne appeared in front of her on the step below and clasped her hand.
“Em,” she whispered. “What happened?”
Tears fell from her eyes when she met Roxanne’s stare.
Shaking her head, she said, “I walked in on your brother and Nina.”
Roxanne gasped.
“Yeah, and then we had a fight, then…God, I don’t know what I was thinking. I kissed him.”
Roxanne’s eyes widened.
“Stupid, right? So fucking stupid. I want to kick my own ass right now.” She snorted, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
“Em,” Roxanne whispered, her hand squeezing Emory’s.
“I need to go, Rox.” Her voice hitched, trying to catch her breath. “I really just need to go.”
“Okay. Um…let me talk to Dad, I’ll tell him something came up and we’ll go.”
Emory shook her head. “No. What I need is for you to go in there, make some shit up about why I had to leave. But I need to be alone. I just need to be away from everyone.” She whispered, “Okay?”
Roxanne didn’t say a word. She rose to the step Emory was standing on, pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back, soothing her. Roxanne knew the depth of her love for Ethan. She knew exactly what Emory had lost tonight.
“You call me, let me know you’re good, okay? I mean it, I don’t hear from you in an hour, I’m leaving to come look for you.”
Releasing Roxanne from the hug, she nodded and headed down the stairs to her car.
*
Ethan stood in the empty living room in front of the bay window. The curtain blew back from the breeze coming through the open window. He couldn’t hear their whispers but he watched Emory shake her head then wipe her sleeve over her eyes. The sight of her tears had again been like a dagger through his heart.
The last thing he’d ever want to do was exactly what he had done. He hurt Emory. Unknowingly he had broken her heart. What the hell just happened? She was in love with him? She was waiting for him to notice her? His tense body inched closer to the window, raising his head slightly. Roxanne stepped up to Emory, embracing her in a hug, comforting her.
Ethan stepped away from the window. His first instinct was to go outside and make things right with her, but how? He didn’t even know what the hell to say. There was such confusion running through Ethan’s mind. Of course he knew Emory had a crush but that was a long time ago, when they were younger. Right? Everything she had just said to him in the hallway blindsided him.
“Ethan?”
He turned away from the window, glancing over his shoulder. Nina was standing behind him looking completely calm and unscathed at the situation. His jaw clenched. Stupid fucking mistake. One moment of poor judgement had sparked this night to go straight to hell. And for what? A blowjob. He was not only disgusted with himself but disappointed that he could be so stupid to have anything to do with Nina.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Ethan stared at her. He was brilliant at reading people and right now, he was seeing Nina for exactly what she was. A bitch. Behind her faux concern, he could see her amusement. She was taking great pleasure in Emory’s pain.
How he had let this woman slip into his life was a mystery to even him. It was never anything more than flirting, then her relentless quest of seducing him. He gave in, he figured they would both get out of their tryst what they wanted. Orgasmic release, temporary companionship. Nothing more.
She stepped closer to him, resting her hand on his chest. “Emory, sweet girl, is she okay?”
Ethan clamped his jaw, his face tense and hard. His hand reached up, clasping her wrist and pulling it away from him. He walked back into the dining room, taking his seat and waited on Roxanne to come back inside. When she did, minutes later, she refused to make eye contact with him.
He spent the entire dinner wallowing in his own guilt and confusion.
Three hours later, after everyone had left, he made his way down the hall to her room, knocking softly before entering.
Looking up from her bed where she was studying, she shook her head, “Not now, E, I gotta get this done.”
He took a breath, closing the door behind him. “Rox, I didn’t know.” He felt like a dick using that as an excuse.
She looked up at him. “Well now you do so just let it go.”
Let it go? Emory just professed her love for him, kissed him and he was supposed to just let it go? Was that even an option?
Ethan walked to the end of her bed, waiting for her to look up again from her book. She didn’t.
“I’ll talk to her.”
That got Roxanne’s attention, her head jerked up from her book and she glared at him, “No, you will not.”
“Rox…”
“Ethan, listen to me, okay? Let it go.”
Ethan crossed his arms, growing annoyed with Roxanne. How was he supposed to let this go? He wasn’t sure he wanted to let it go. He’d taken notice, unknowingly to her, years ago. Of course, he never acted on it. But he noticed.
Ethan shook his head, scowling. “You expect me to let it go, everything she told me, about being in love with me? I’m just supposed to pretend that didn’t happen?”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Can’t do that, Roxanne. She was hurt, crying, I can’t just let this go.”
“Do you love her Ethan?”
“Of course, I do, she’s Emory.”
Roxanne shook her head angrily. “But you don’t love
her the way she loves you, E. There’s nothing you can do to make her hurt go away. I know you care about her, so do what’s best for her right now and let it go. Forget everything she said, forget tonight ever happened.”
He knew what she was saying. If he didn’t love her the way she loved him, it wasn’t fair to Emory. But he needed to talk to her.
Roxanne kept her head down, eyes on her book. She didn’t need to say it, he understood, she wanted him to leave. This was a hard position for his sister to be in, and he didn’t want to make it any harder for her.
Ethan walked out of Roxanne’s room. Leaning against the closed door, he rested his head back. He was supposed to forget.
Her words replayed in his head. She was in love with him, she waited for him to notice her. The defeat and sadness in her tone when she said, he’d never seen her.
Closing his eyes, he could almost feel her lips pressing against his, could inhale her scent. Her small hands gripping his waist firmly, pulling him into her soft body. He hadn’t had time to think when she kissed him, he only felt, her tongue drive into his mouth, stroking his. His heart beat faster envisioning his hand on her ass pulling her into his hard cock, rubbing against her core. She had retreated slightly but he followed her, not wanting to release her from his hold. Tasting her, something he’d thought about too often. The reality was better than any fantasy he’d imagined.
Then her final blow to him—daring him to forget everything, her confession, the kiss.
Ethan prided himself on being smooth and always in control of every situation, nothing threw him off balance. Until now.
Banging his hand back on the wall, he opened his eyes and pushed off down the hall.
This wasn’t over. He’d let her have her time, give himself the time to process everything. One thing her knew for sure—he was not going to forget anything about Emory.
* * * *
9 months ago
As usual, Roxanne was dominating the dinner talk with wedding details. Emory sat at the end of the table listening to her best friend decide the fate of Sadie and Stone’s wedding. Sadie was too sweet for her own good. Roxanne had taken over. Emory smiled to herself. Damn, she loved her best friend.
Emory looked around the table. The men looked bored and T, as always, looked irritated. However, something was a little different about him. There was an ease to him she’d never seen before. She looked past him to his new girl, Cassie. That was the reason. Emory didn’t miss the kiss he gave her when he took his seat. Good for T, he deserved a good girl like Cassie. Appearance-wise, there were no two people more opposite than them. T was huge, all muscles and tattoos, shaved head, dark eyes, and a hard face. Gorgeous in a scary, bad boy way, and contradictory of Cassie with her tiny stature, white blond hair and big blue eyes, who looked like she belonged on a princess cartoon. But somehow they looked right together, Emory thought, smiling.
Emory purposely averted her eyes from Ethan. Just looking at him made her blood boil and her heart ache. She’d done her best to move on but her heart was still holding on. She cursed that damn heart every day and her mind wandered to the image of Ethan Barrett.
This was the first time in months she’d been in the Garrisons’ house. Strange to say, considering she practically lived there as a kid. She used to come over for every dinner and most holidays but now she made sure that if she came over, Ethan wouldn’t be there. Unfortunately, he went to most things so Emory had to come up with a reason to cancel. If Roxanne knew, she never said anything. But Emory knew better than to try and get out of this dinner. Her presence was required as bridesmaid.
“Doves, Sadie…we can have them released after you guys say the ‘I do’s’,” Roxanne blurted and then wrote down something in her notebook.
Emory covered her mouth, trying to hold in her laugh when she heard Sadie mutter, “Hell no!” under her breath.
Bogs looked over at Emory smirking, his right dimple showing. He must have heard it, too. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. She was surprised he didn’t chime in with a retort. Aside from being known for his boyish good looks of light brown hair, amazing hazel eyes, and of course, his panty-dropping dimples, he was a smart ass. A trait she respected and loathed.
“Did you and Darla have a big wedding, John?” Sadie asked.
Emory looked over at John at the other end of the table. His elbows rested on the table and he gave Sadie a warm smile. He had a way of looking at you and immediately you felt at ease. He had done it with Emory as a kid and a few times as an adult. John was the perfect dad. Emory remembered many days as a kid, wishing that John had been hers.
“No, just us, our family, and close friends. Weddings back then were different. Simple. I think marriages today get so caught up with the wedding day; people lose sight of what the day really means. The first day of the rest of your life with your partner. Weddings are wonderful but in the big scheme of things, it’s just a day. But a marriage, well, that’s forever.” A small sad smile played on his lips. “If you’re lucky.”
The table was quiet. They were all thinking of Darla, John’s wife and their mom. Her death still hit them all so hard, Emory included. Emory watched the somber faces. She even spared a glance at Ethan. His eyes were drawn down to the table, his body still.
Darla’s death three years ago left a hole within the Garrison family. If not for her and John, everyone at that table would have had very different lives. Emory hated to think what life would have been like for them if John and Darla hadn’t come along and saved them. If they hadn’t come into her life and without even knowing it, saved her.
“Well, I think, I’m going to excuse myself. I have to run over to Fuller’s farm. Promised I’d help him out.”
“But, Daddy, it’s almost eight.” Roxanne was concerned.
“No timeframe on helping out a friend.” He winked at her, grabbed his plate and strolled into the kitchen.
Emory moved her napkin onto the table. She was done for the night. She was left with sadness over the talk of Darla and she had spent enough time ignoring Ethan. It took a great amount of effort to purposely avoid someone, especially him. She was tired and ready for this night to be over.
“I’m gonna introduce Pearl to your dad at the wedding,” Emory’s head shot up to see Sadie with a mischievous gleam in her eye aimed at Stone.
“The waitress?” Ethan questioned, his brows scrunched. His voice took on a condescending tone.
There weren’t many traits of Ethan’s that Emory didn’t love but this was certainly one of them.
“Yeah, she’s great. Lots of fun, attractive, I think they’d hit it off.” Her tone was excitedly hopeful. It was sweet that she’d want to set John up. She had mixed emotions about it herself. There was no woman who could compare to Darla, Emory didn’t care how great she was, but she kept her mouth shut.
“I don’t think so,” Ethan said while taking a bite of dessert.
“Why not?’ Sadie brushed her long brown hair away from her pretty face and leaned on the table.
He looked up at Sadie. “She’s a waitress.”
Emory rolled her eyes. Oh God, Ethan, just the hell up! It was a well-known fact that before Sadie came to Houston she was a waitress.
“And?” Sadie’s tone had changed from excited to slightly annoyed. She squinted at Ethan and Emory saw her back go rigid. Emory’s eyes widened. The shit was about to hit the fucking fan at full speed!
“E.” T growled a warning which Ethan chose to ignore.
“Sadie, my dad is a businessman, a professional. What would he have in common with a waitress?”
“I was a waitress, Ethan.” Sadie folded her arms over her chest and glared at Ethan. What a pompous prick! She knew her anger toward Ethan was coming from somewhere personal but he was still acting like a dick. It was time Ethan was put in his place.
“Sadie, I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying.”
“Then, why don’t you explain i
t, Ethan?” Emory sweetly suggested. She raised an eyebrow at Ethan in challenge.
“Yeah, man, why don’t you fucking explain it?” Stone bit out through clenched teeth. He rested his elbows on the table folding his hands in front of him, his body stiff. Stone was pissed! His usually vibrant green eyes glared at Ethan and his gorgeous face hardened and turned a darker shade of red. Emory could see the tension in his neck. Looked like Ethan was digging his own grave at the dinner table. Emory couldn’t help but smirk and join in on the roasting of Ethan.
“And talk slow so all us ‘un-professionals’ can understand you,” Emory sneered. Ethan turned his head slowly and glared at her, his blue eyes darkening. Yeah, take that, Ethan. Ha!
“Ethan?” Sadie called to him, grabbing his attention away from Emory. “Explain what you meant, because I don’t understand why a kind, sweet, fun woman like Pearl wouldn’t be a great match for your dad, who is equally kind, sweet, and fun.”
Ethan took a deep breath and tossed his napkin on the table. Roxanne shifted in her seat and Emory knew what was coming. Her best friend hated fighting especially amongst her brothers. She was going to try to mediate the situation before it got any worse. Good luck with that, bestie!
“Sadie, I think what Ethan means is that your friend, Pearl, isn’t what my dad is used to. She’s not like my mom,” Roxanne calmly reasoned.
Sadie turned her glare to Roxanne. “How would you know, you’ve never even met her, Rox. And Ethan didn’t say anything about her character, he said ‘because she was a waitress.’”
“Well…her moral character does come into play, too,” Ethan quietly said.
Emory almost lost it and burst out laughing. Ethan was questioning someone else’s morals?
Sadie whipped her head to Ethan, who looked to Stone.
Stone scowled at Ethan. “You’re an asshole.”
Sadie turned on Stone. “You told him? Why, why would you do that?” Sadie’s fury was now directed at her fiancée.
“Babe, I mentioned it in conversation. And I didn’t say anything bad about her. I know she’s your friend.” Stone glared at Ethan and sat back in his chair. “It came up and I shouldn’t have fucking said anything to him.”