Kiss Me at Midnight (Entangled Flaunt)

by Alberts, Diane

  She wanted to believe him so damned bad. But how could he have come to this conclusion so fast? It seemed way too fast and sure for a man who spent his life avoiding this town and everyone in it. She shook her head. “I don’t believe you. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, believe it. I can prove it, too. I’m not scared of this town anymore, or what they say about me. I’m not scared of anything, if you’re by my side.” He looked over his shoulder and then started backing up toward the stage, crooking his finger at her. “There’s a lot of people from high school in this room. The same people that tormented me. Agreed?”

  She followed him despite the warning bells screaming in her head. He said all the right things, but would he follow through with these promises? That was the question. “Yeah…?”

  “The old me never would have drawn attention to myself in front of them. The old me would’ve faded into a corner, or left as soon as he saw the people he hated so much.” He grinned at her. “But the new me? The one you brought to life with only a few short days at your disposal? He says fuck it, I’m gonna prove to my girl that I’m not scared anymore.”

  Her jaw dropped when he jumped up on the stage and whispered something to the DJ. “Ethan, get down from there,” she hissed, her cheeks heating. “You don’t have to—”

  “Oh, but I do.” Ethan looked down at her, the mic in his hand tight, and cleared his throat. “Hello, everyone. I’m Ethan Pierce, which most of you will recognize. You may or may not have shoved me into a locker or a trash can at some point in my life…” He grinned and held his hands up. “…but don’t worry. That’s not why I’m up here. We don’t have a Carrie situation on our hands.”

  Ashley buried her face in her hands, then motioned him down from the stage. “Oh my God, get down from there.”

  “Nope.” He grinned down at her, but his eyes showed a different story. He was nervous, but he was doing this anyway. “Anyway, I’m up here because I love that girl down there, Ashley Hanes, and I was kind of a jerk to her…more than once. I refused to be myself and let her in, and in doing so, I pushed her too far away. So much so that she doesn’t want to let me back in. So, I’m going to prove she should give me a chance by singing her a song. But I apologize in advance, because I suck.”

  Ashley held a hand over her mouth. Wait, he loved her? What was he doing up there, then? He needed to come down here and kiss her and then she could—

  He cleared his throat again. “And Ashley? When I’m done, if you can stand being with a man who sings like me, well then…” He pointed at the clock on the wall. It was just shy of midnight. “Kiss me at midnight. Show me you can maybe love me, too.”

  He nodded to the DJ, and the music started up. She recognized the song right away as a Chris Daughtry song. Within seconds, Ethan was signing about being wrong and wanting to spend his life laughing with her by his side.

  He was right.

  He was awful…but it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.

  She laughed when he held a long, off-key note, covering her mouth even as tears came down her face. This right here was love. Someone clapped when he did a little dance move, right up on stage in front of everyone, and the whole bar erupted in applause. Ashley burst into laughter, shaking her head at him when he crooked his finger for her to join him on stage.

  No way in hell she was getting up there. She wasn’t drunk enough.

  “Kiss him, sweetie,” a man yelled from the far corner of the bar.

  “Yeah, kiss him!” Rhiannon shouted.

  “Put him out of his misery,” another guy yelled.

  “He loves you,” another girl yelled.

  Ashley laughed. “Okay, okay.”

  She climbed the steps to the stage, her heart racing when the entire bar erupted into loud applause. She stopped right next to him, just as he held the last note in a pathetic imitation of Chris Daughtry, but it sounded perfect to her. More than perfect.

  “Okay, enough torturing the bar,” she teased. She grinned at him, and he cupped her cheeks, the mic still in his right hand. As he swiped the tears away with his thumbs, she closed her hands around his wrists. “I can’t believe you did that.”

  “But can you forgive me for being a coward?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Because I love you so damned much, and I’m not running this time. I promise you this. I will not run or push you away or revert to being the man I’d become without you. My f-feet are firmly planted, and I won’t waver from my course.”

  She grinned and nodded, tears blurring her vision even more. “I love you, too. And I believe you now.”

  “Y-You love me?” he asked, his eyes wide. “Are you sure?”

  She laughed. “Yes, I’m sure. It’s kind of something a girl knows, Ethan.”

  “Holy shit.” His whole face lit up, and he practically vibrated with happiness, and well, the old Ethan was back. But he was even better. This Ethan was the sweet guy she’d once known, but he had confidence and a whole lot of life experience behind him now. And he loved her. “I’m the luckiest guy on earth.”

  She rested her hands on his chest, right over his thumping heart. “Then we make a great pair, because I’m pretty damn happy, too.”

  “Well, then…” His hands fell to her hips, and he hauled her closer. “Kiss me already. It’s gotta be you, to make it official.”

  The bar, which had been silent, broke out in applause again. Someone shouted, “Yeah, kiss him!”

  Ethan shot the crowd a cocky grin…and then she kissed that grin right off of his face.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ethan returned her kiss, his whole body unbelievably alive and in tune to her. When she leaned closer, her nails digging into his chest, he broke the kiss off with a sigh. He wanted to explore this new feeling of love a little bit more, but not here. Not in front of the whole bar.

  That was something best done behind closed doors.

  He pulled back and grinned down at her. “To be continued,” he whispered, kissing the tip of her nose. Then he turned to the bar and said, “Thank you very much. We’ll be on our way now, if you don’t mind.”

  There were a few catcalls and drunken suggestions of what they should do next—which he had every intention of following, thank you very much—as he led her down the stage.

  “Wow, they’re really into this,” Ashley whispered, forcing a smile. “Quick, head for the door before they make you sing again.”

  “I doubt they want to hear that again,” he called over his shoulder, leading her out the door and into the cold winter night. As soon as they pushed through the doors, he pulled her into an alley and hugged her close, unable to believe she was giving him another chance.

  He probably didn’t deserve it, but he’d take it anyway.

  “I’m s-sorry…I’m sorry I left you.” He closed his arms around her, holding her as close as he could possibly manage. “I’m sorry that I almost did it again, and I’m sorry that it took me so long to—”

  She kissed him, quick and hard. “It doesn’t matter anymore. We don’t need to talk about it anymore. All that matters is you’re here, and you’re not running anymore.”

  “Absolutely not. I already called my work. They agreed to let me work remotely.” His hands flexed on her lower back. “I can stay. No, I want to stay here with you.”

  She bit her lip. “But are you sure? I don’t want you to do something that will make you unhappy. We could do long-distance. Try it out for a bit and see how it goes.”

  “We’ll have to do that for a little while. I’ll have to close up shop over there and move. But I already know that being without you will make me unhappy.” He shook his head and hugged her even closer, loving her for caring about him enough to try and make the best choice for him—not the best choice for her. But he wouldn’t let her do that. They were a team, and teams stayed together. “I’m not leaving you again. I already made that mistake once and almost made it a second time. I’m not going to do it again.”

  “Well, if
you’re sure…” She smiled up at him. “Then I’m not going to argue.”

  His eyes darkened, and he closed the distance between them, his tongue sweeping into her mouth without delay. She pushed him back against the wall, her teeth nipping at his lip, and pressed her body against his. His stomach clenched with need, and his heart twisted with happiness and love. So much freaking love.

  By the time the kiss ended, he clung to her hips desperately. He smiled and dropped his forehead to hers. “Let’s go home. But first…”

  He ran his thumb over the line of her jaw, kissing her tenderly. He slanted his mouth, capturing her fully. She pressed him against the wall even more, clearly craving control tonight, and he’d give it to her. He’d give her anything she fucking wanted.

  No questions asked.

  He broke off the kiss. “Race you home?”

  She bit his lower lip, applying just enough pressure to sting a tiny bit. “We’re too old for that, aren’t we?” She dropped his hand, backed up a few steps, and then took off running, calling over her shoulder, “But the first one home gets to be on top.”

  He laughed and gave chase, yelling at her from behind, “Cheater.”

  “Not true,” she called back, grinning at him over her shoulder. “I’m smaller. It’s only fair.”

  He easily caught up to her and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder. As he sprinted the last half of the block to her house with her hanging limply in his arms, he couldn’t stop smiling. It was like a medical condition he never wanted to be healed of.

  This was life. This was living.

  And he was never going back to the man he’d been.

  He was where he belonged. He was home.

  With her.

  Epilogue

  New Year’s Eve

  One Year Later

  Ashley laughed at something Roger said, but honestly didn’t hear a single word. Her mind was on Ethan. It was New Year’s Eve, and they were in the same bar they’d been in a year ago. Only this time they were together.

  And she couldn’t wait for her kiss at midnight.

  Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around. It was Alex. “Yeah?”

  “Can I steal you for a minute?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Ashley smiled at her friends. “I’ll be right back.” Once they walked a little bit away from the group, she cocked her head and asked, “What’s up?”

  “I have a note for you.” He shoved a yellow piece of paper under her nose. “Ethan told me to give this to you.”

  Her lips curved into a smile. “Again?” She took it, her heart pounding in her ears. After stealing a quick glance at Alex, she opened it but didn’t read it. “What’s going on?”

  Alex gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Read the note, and you’ll find out.”

  She opened the piece of paper.

  Ashley,

  Meet me at our spot. You have to kiss me at midnight to make it official.

  Ethan

  She smiled and gave the note back to Alex. “Thank you.”

  She headed for the front door, but he stepped in her path, his cheeks red. “Uh. You have to go out the back. It’s, uh, quicker. Yeah. Quicker.”

  “No, it’s not.” Ashley blinked at him. “It makes much more sense to—”

  “Just go out the damn back.” Alex placed his hands on the back of her shoulders and guided her toward the back door, his grip gentle but insistent. “Trust me, okay?”

  She shot him a look over her shoulder. “Why are you—?”

  “Dude,” Alex muttered. “Just go.”

  Still shaking her head at his odd behavior, she stepped through the doors…and into a whole other world. The air was freezing cold, as it should be on New Year’s Eve, but there were white carnations everywhere.

  Her breath escaped her in a little whoosh, fogging up in the air in front of her, and she froze. She spun in a slow circle, taking it all in.

  It was as if she had stepped into a greenroom of sorts, or a fairytale land, and there were flowers everywhere. “Hello?”

  “A-Ashley,” Ethan called out from somewhere to the left. He cleared his throat and added, “I’m back here. Follow the flowers.”

  Heart racing, she headed that way, following the trail of flowers he must have laid out for her. She swallowed hard and rounded the corner—to the sight of Ethan on bended knee.

  She covered her mouth and closed the distance between them, each step bringing her closer to the love of her life. “Ethan?”

  He grabbed her free hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her knuckles gently before holding onto her fingers. “Ashley, I l-love you.”

  She licked her parched lips. “I love you, too.”

  “Sometimes, I feel like I have spent my whole life loving you. And that’s because I have. Ever since you walked into Pre-Algebra wearing a pink shirt, an adorable braid, and a smile…I’ve been yours.” His fingers flexed on hers. “We m-might have not been together every day, but I gave you my heart years ago, and I never took it back. I want to wake up next to you every m-morning, and hold you in my arms every n-n-n-night.”

  He broke off and closed his eyes, obviously taking the time to form his words for her. She kept silent, giving him all the time he needed.

  He opened his eyes again and caught her gaze. “We have so much love between us. I know we can be one of those old couples, rocking on the porch of our beach house and w-watching the sunset. I know we can do that and be here together in thirty years, celebrating New Year’s together and kissing each other at midnight every single year. The question is, do you agree?” He pulled the ring from behind his back and held it out. After taking a steadying breath, he asked, “Ashley, will you m-marry me?”

  Ashley pressed her fingers to her mouth, shaking from the emotion overwhelming her senses. This had to be the most romantic, perfect proposal to ever happen—and it was no surprise it came from her Ethan. She just stood there, taking it all in. Memorizing every single small detail that she could, from the roses on the ground to the champagne waiting off to the side to the way the moonlight lit his hair.

  Finally, once she’d committed it all to memory, she nodded. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  He let out a breath of air and stood, a smile lighting up his face. His arms wrapped around her, and he swooped down on her lips, kissing her with all the love and promise of their life together. He broke off the kiss, resting his forehead on hers. “Happy New Year, my love.”

  She laughed happily, the tears streaming down her cheeks made of pure happiness. “Happy New Year.”

  “Now give me that hand.” He caught hold of her left hand and lifted it to his chest. As he slid the ring onto her finger, his hands trembling, he never looked away. “I hope you like this one. Alex helped me pick it out.”

  “I love it. It’s perfect.” She twisted her hand, admiring the princess cut diamond set on white gold twinkling up at her. “You’re perfect.”

  His eyes were on her, soft with love. “I feel like the luckiest guy on earth right now. What did I ever do to deserve you in my life?”

  “You loved me.” She rested her hand over his heart. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

  “Time for a toast.” He grabbed the filled champagne flutes off of the bench and handed one to her. “To us and a lifetime of happiness.”

  “To us,” she echoed. They touched glasses and smiled. After taking a sip, they sat down on the bench, hands entwined. “Last New Year’s, we got together. This New Year’s, you asked me to marry you.”

  “Mmhm,” he murmured, tracing little circles on her hand and kissing the top of her head. A smile tugged at her lips. “What are we going to do next year?”

  He rested the champagne flute down and turned to her, his brown eyes so rich and deep and happy. “How do you feel about a wedding? We could get married on the thirtieth, and spend New Year’s Eve on our honeymoon. Maybe somewhere warm…”

  “Like the Bahamas,” she said when he trailed off. A vis
ion of them lying out in the sand, with fruity drinks in their hands, hit her. “Or maybe Hawaii.”

  He grinned at her, and then kissed her nose. “So a winter wedding it is?”

  “Yep.”

  “It’s a date,” he murmured.

  She set down the champagne and climbed onto his lap, straddling him with her dress falling on either side of her hips. She pressed down against him, sighing at the jolt of pleasure the movement sent through her veins. “How long do you think we have before someone comes out here…?”

  “With Alex standing guard?” He leaned in, stopping when their lips were almost touching but yet not quite in contact. His hands gripped her hips, and he arched his hips into her, rolling his erection against her clit. “Long enough…”