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  “Come on! You can’t guess?”

  I grinned and shook my head.

  He matched my grin and whispered near my ear, “Taylor Anderson.”

  Taylor Anderson? Shocked, I gasped and pulled back to gauge the expression in his way too flirtatious eyes. No way!

  Ethan grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him again. I could barely make out his hushed tones. “Think about it. It’s perfect. Who else would know Cassidy as well as he does? Besides he’s totally got the dough to blow on something like that without even blinking.”

  “But why?” I turned closer to whisper in his ear. “He has Chloe.”

  I felt his hand clutch my other one. “But what ifTaylor secretly likes Cassidy?”

  Secretly likes—? “Yeah, right!”

  “Wasn’t it Taylor who first tipped off Chloe in the first place when that Blake guy was going after Cassidy?”

  “Yeah but—?” I gasped. “No, way! You really think so?”

  He moved back a little. “Well, I figure the only other person it could be, is Chase.”

  Chase!? “Nope. I think you’re right. I think it’s definitely Taylor. It makes perfect sense.” I decided to ignore the memory of Taylor smiling when he told me about Chloe’s Christmas present. It had to be Taylor. There was no way I was even going to think of Chase falling for Cassidy.

  He downed the rest of his juice in a quick gulp. “Okay, here’s the deal. I’m gonna walk over and refill my glass. When I come back, I’ll walk up to her and say the name Taylor Anderson. You tell me if she blushes, okay?”

  I smiled and yanked my hands away. “No, you can’t.”

  “Watch me.” He smirked.

  “Ethan,” I yelped as his chair scraped across the tile when he stood. “You’re incorrigible.”

  He grinned wickedly down at me and winked. “I know.”

  Once he had made it over to the juice dispensers I felt brave enough to give a peek in Cassidy’s direction. She had twirled her napkin so tightly around her finger the tip of it had gone purple. Claire was still talking nonstop but neither of us had a problem zoning her out. At least, Cassidy pretended to be listening. I knew better. She couldn’t have been more aware of mine and Ethan’s behavior if a bright spotlight had descended over our heads and a whole slew of flame throwing hula girls danced behind us. Dang.

  Frantically I watched Ethan beam as he approached our table—juice in hand. With another quick wink at me, he bent over Cassidy, and as promised, whispered in her ear. Cassidy did blush. And worse than that, she refused to look over at me. Actually she was looking everywhere other than where I was sitting. I had a strange suspicion as he swaggered over to our side that Ethan had said more than the words, Taylor Anderson. Just as I was getting ready to ask him about it Taylor and Chloe arrived with Madison and Carson close behind.

  “Speak of the devil!” Ethan chuckled as he sat down next to me again. He nodded in Cassidy’s direction.

  She quickly turned her head away, as Chloe approached the table.

  “Ethan! Emmalee! How are you guys?” she beamed her pretty smile at us.

  “What took you so long?” Claire asked her older sister.

  “Sorry guys, it was my fault!” Madison laughed as she dodged Carson’s hand. “I forgot to set my alarm. I was still asleep when they came to pick me up.”

  “Yep.” Carson determinedly wrapped his arm around her waist. “Just like Sleeping Beauty.”

  “So did you kiss her and wake her up?” Ethan teased his brother.

  “Yeah right!” Madison laughed again and patted Carson’s arm. “He’s not that brave. Carson knows if he ever stepped a foot into my room I’d kill him!”

  “That’s if your Dad doesn’t get to him first!” Chloe chuckled.

  “Yeah, sometimes I’m a whole lot smarter than I look, lil bro.”

  Ethan threw his head back and laughed. “That one was too easy! I can’t do it! You left yourself wide open with that remark! Hehe! There is so much I could throw back at you right now, but—”

  “But you’re gonna be nice instead?” offeredTaylor, before he turned toward Cassidy and said, “Hi, Cass.”

  “Hi.” It looked like Cassidy wished she could die right then and there.

  Taylor frowned at her for a moment before walking over to Claire and sat down on her other side. Chloe followed and asked, “Hey, Claire. So what did you order?”

  As I took another swallow of my juice Ethan leaned in close to me again. “I bet that’s why Taylor mentioned this date to Cass and Claire. He wanted me to invite them, without it looking suspicious.”

  I nearly spit the juice across the table. How cow! Ethan’s logic was making more and more sense the longer I thought about it. “You think so?” My eyes looked into his charming emerald orbs. They danced mischievously back at me. It’s like there’s something he knows that he isn’t saying. “What?” I grinned up at him, not able to stop myself. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Instantly Ethan’s face transformed into complete innocence. “Looking like what? I’m not looking like anything.”

  I chewed on my lower lip while I studied his eyes.

  Ethan widened them and moved closer so I could have a better look. I almost smacked him away—he was slightly too close for comfort—but just then, I caught a knowing hesitant spark deep within his cheery façade. “You know something. Out with it,” I demanded.

  For a split-second I saw shock register across Ethan’s face which he quickly masked into feigned surprise. “What, moi?” he chuckled. “What could I possibly know? I don’t even live here remember?”

  “Don’t give me that! Come on. What is it? There’s something you want to hide, I can tell.”

  Ethan smirked smugly at my smile and shook his head slightly before tapping mine. “It’s all in your head blondie,” he whispered and moved even closer toward me.

  I swallowed and tried not to focus on his lips. The problem was his eyes were too close. “How do you expect me to believe that?” My eyes fluttered from his again.

  “Trust me.”

  “Trust you?” Instantly Chase’s warning from the night before came rushing back to me. My eyes flew back to Ethan’s and locked. “What do you mean?”

  He sobered up a bit and studied the furrowed brow between my eyes and then looked straight at me. “Emma?”

  “Yeah?” I whispered back, completely unaware of anyone else around us.

  “Can I—can I tell you something?”

  “What?”

  “Will you promise not to—”

  Cassidy’s glass dropped onto the table. Orange juice splattered everywhere.

  “Oh my gosh!” she gasped, “I’m so sorry! Did that get on anyone? Please tell me my juice didn’t spill on anyone! I’m such a klutz!”

  Taylor was next to her and mopping up the mess before she’d even finished talking. Ethan grabbed his napkin and mine and quickly slopped up the excess juice heading toward us. I saved what I could of the silverware and menus, but it wasTaylor’s murmured words to a mortified Cass that caused us both to pause and look at each other.

  “Don’t worry, everything’s fine,” he said. We all spill our drinks. It’s no big deal. Now come on and smile again. You have the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen, now let’s see it.”

  The Anderson charm seemed to have a positive effect on Cassidy. With another blush and quick duck of her head, she smiled slightly. Taylor’s finger titled her chin up until she caught his gaze. Then Cassidy really smiled. Taylor was right. It was a very pretty smile.

  I heard a ragged intake of breath next to me, and I realized Ethan must’ve caught it too. Man, who knew Cassidy Hart could actually rival the Bradford smile?

  “Thanks for breakfast. It was um, very enlightening.” I smiled at Ethan as he walked me up the steps to my house.

  “Yes, it has been.” He seemed to be in the same pensive mood he’d been in since Cassidy spilled her drink at the restaurant.

  I tried
to shake him from it. “So do you have any plans for today?”

  “Plans?” Ethan looked over at me as we approached the door. He stared at me a moment and then seemed to check himself. “Yeah, actually, I’m helping Carson on a couple of four-wheeling tours he’s got booked this afternoon. I—uh, I would invite you along, but—”

  I laughed and asked, “You’re not brave enough to face my mom?”

  “Something like that.” He grinned. I was happy to see it was a much more normal grin this time. “So what are your plans?”

  I smiled and pretended to announce something uber cool. “My day is going to be fabulous! I’ve got Georgia, Chase’s little sister, coming over to play with my new puppy.”

  “Your new puppy?” Ethan’s eyes sprang to life. No doubt thinking of countless jokes he could do with a puppy.

  “Yep.” I held my hands behind my back and swayed to and fro. “Cassidy’s not the only one who got a surprise present yesterday. Chase had lil’ Clementine brought over for me while we were at the movie.”

  “Wow.” Ethan rocked backwards, imitating my pose with his hands behind him. “It seems like the Anderson boys were full of all sorts of surprises last night. First Cass and now you. So now I have to wonder what sort of claim they’re trying to stake here.”

  I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing. “Claim?! You think Chase is staking a claim? On me?” Hehehe! “You couldn’t be farther from the truth! That poor guy can’t even stand me most of the time. Besides, I’ve been promised a puppy since before I knew he’d returned home. I’m sure he was just—more than likely—getting the lil’ rascal out of his house, so he didn’t have to take care of it for me anymore.” My giggles died abruptly when I saw the look on Ethan’s face. “What?” I nearly gasped. “What is it?”

  He walked toward me so quickly I instinctively took two steps back before I bumped into the front door. He followed. “Ethan?” I gulped, not sure what to make of the gleam I saw in his eyes.

  “Is there something wrong with Chase being interested in you?” he asked slowly and distinctly.

  “I—uh…?” I trailed off lamely. No.

  He took another step closer. “Do you believe it’s impossible for a guy to be attracted to you, then? Even an older guy?”

  Immediately I was reminded that Ethan was two years older than me. All of a sudden my throat went dry. I swallowed.

  His hand rose up and softly brushed a few tendrils of hair off my brow. “You’re a very beautiful girl, Emmalee Bradford.”

  “I-I am?” For Pete’s sake! Can I act like a bigger loser? Of course, I know that I’m beautiful. Sheez. Now it sounds like I’m fishing. I winced and closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see Ethan smile at the blush I could feel rising to my cheeks.

  I felt his warmth as he moved in closer to me. His mouth seemed to be just millimeters from my mine. My eyes flew open. His mouth was millimeters from mine! Oh my gosh! Is he going to kiss me?

  “Emma, stop me. Please,” his lips whispered a fraction above mine. “I don’t know what’s happened to me. But I can’t—I can’t kiss you. Please—?”

  I had heard enough. With a shove to his chest I sent him backwards. If I would’ve thought about it I may have stayed long enough to hear his reasoning, but I didn’t. Instead, I barged through my front door and slammed it shut behind me. The nerve! Urgh! What moron puts a girl through that psychological meltdown without kissing her? With a disgusted sigh, I stomped up the stairs to my room and to Clementine—determined to forget all about the very annoying Ethan Franklin.

  Chapter 20

  “How was Heaven when you left it?"

  It didn’t help that Chase and Georgia were super cute and very friendly later that afternoon when they came into my room to visit the puppy. For some reason I just wasn’t in the mood to be entertained by them. It took every bit of effort I had to be charming back and even that attempt failed.

  “You’re a grumpy-grouch today,” Chase annoyingly observed as he handed Clementine back toGeorgia. They were both sitting on the floor. “What happened to make you all, ornery?”

  Ugh. “Ornery?” I arched a brow and sat up on the bed. “Like I’m some old grandpa? That’s the best adjective you could come up with?”

  Chase raised his hands in mock-surrender and leaned his back against the wall. “Hey, I just call it like I see it.” He had the gall to chuckle at my expression.

  The dork.

  “So what happened?” he persisted.

  Everything. “Nothing,” I tucked my feet up underneath me. “Why are you so positive something has happened? Can’t I have a bad day, just like everyone else?”

  Chase searched my face for a moment and then lowered his gaze watching Georgia ruffle Clem’s ears. I thought I would be lucky enough to have him drop the subject, but, as usual, I wasn’t lucky. His blue eyes practically pierced me with their intensity when he looked back up. “No. You don’t have bad days.”

  I smirked back at him until I realized he was serious. “Come on, Chase, I have bad days just like everyone else. You know? Waking up on the wrong side of the bed—”

  “Not without a reason.” He brought his knee up and wrapped his arms around it. “Are you trying to tell me you had a bad dream last night?”

  What? “No.”

  “Then something happened on your date.”

  Yeah, your brother started hitting on Cassidy and Ethan’s a— “Nothing happened.”

  “You’re sure Ethan didn’t try anything? He didn’t kiss you, did he?”

  “Ugh!” I threw a pillow at him and he deftly caught it with one hand. “What is it with you and your paranoia about Ethan kissing me? Sheez! Give me a break, okay? He didn’t kiss me. He wouldn’t kiss me. He doesn’t want to kiss me! You got that? I’m sure no matter how many dates the guy takes me on, it’ll still be the same. So stop worrying. For some reason, I’m some random freak of nature to the guy anyway. He got like a centimeter away from my mouth and then panicked and totally begged for me to shove him away. Gee. Imagine that? The first guy—ever—who doesn’t want to maul me. You should be praising the guy for his ability to withstand my temptation!” I threw the other pillow at him for good measure. He caught that one too—and for a second just stared at me.

  Good! I’ve acted like such a weirdo I’ve made him speechless.

  “Emma?” Georgia’s worried tone snapped me out of my tirade.

  Great. I forgot she was here. I tried to make my voice sound calm. Instead it came out strained and forced. “What, sweetie?”

  “Don’t be so sad, cuz that boy didn’t wanna kiss ya. I bet lots of other boys’ll want to.”

  “Uh—” I was floored. Talk about feeling like an idiot. I can’t believe I lost it in front of her. “Georgia, don’t worry—”

  “Huh, Chase? Lot’s of boys’ll wanna kiss her, huh?”

  His eyes flew to mine. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “Even you wanna kiss her, don’tcha?” Georgia’s pretty eyes blinked innocently up at her older brother.

  Oh my gosh! I wished I could escape, and I could see I wasn’t the only one. I had never seen Chase so uncomfortable before. I decided to save him. “Of course, Chase wants to kiss me. Just like he wants to kiss you.” I smiled at his raised eyebrows. “I’m his sister too, didn’t you know that?”

  “You are?” Georgia’s mouth dropped wide open. “Nuh-uh, You’re teasin’ me, aren’t ya?”

  Chase leaned over and tousled her blonde curls. “Yep, Em’s teasin’ you. She’s not your sister and she’s wrong anyway, I’d never think of kissing her like that.”

  Sure. Just plunge the knife in deeper. It’s a good thing I wasn’t in love with the guy, or that would’ve really hurt.

  For the rest of their visit, I opted to keep my grumpiness to myself. Instead, focused completely on helping Georgia teach Clem some new tricks—which wasn’t easy, but kept the awkwardness of Chase at bay. I’ve never felt relief like I did when they finally left. Except then, i
t kept the rest of my day wide open to worry about Ethan Franklin…

  So okay, I know I’m selfish sometimes but Ethan’s odd behavior really got to me. It wasn’t that I was madly in love with him or something. Far from it. But he didn’t have to treat me like I had the plague, or something! What’s the big deal about a stupid little kiss anyway? Did he go on some spiritual-cleansing Tibetan Retreat and pledge himself to be some Monk? Like, what gives? Seriously.

  So honestly, you know what it really was? Honestly? It was me. I was used to calling the shots. Yep. Me. I was used to being the one who kicked guys to the curb—if you catch my drift. Like, why do you think I’d perfected my left hook anyway? Duh, to keep rejects like Elton off of me. So that’s what I don’t get. Why isn’t Ethan crawling all over me? Am I supposed to run after him and feel challenged now? Like is this some stupid reverse psychology thing? Because if it is, he can take his monkish psychology major and shove it!”

  “Emma? Your cell’s ringing. Are you gonna answer it?”

  “Huh?” I stared blankly up at my mom a moment and then over at my purse as it chirpped merrily at me. “Oh, thanks.” I climbed off my bed and walked over to the purse. By the time I had it answered my mom had already left the doorway. It was Hannah.

  “Hey, Emma! I was wondering what you’re up to later tonight?”

  “Anything, if you’re involved.” Relieved, I smiled into my phone.

  “Well, my mom and dad are heading down to Albuquerque for a get-a-way. I was wondering if you wanted company.”

  “Yes! That would be awesome. Oh, and bring your skirt, Mom promised Dad we’ll be headin’ back to church again.”

  “Really? You guys haven’t gone for, like, a while now. What’s with the sudden change of heart?”

  “No, change of heart really. We’ve always meant to go, just haven’t gotten around to it. You know Zack’s games and all. But, now that he’s gone and Dad totally got all into his ‘thankful for God’ speech at Thanksgiving dinner—mom became guilt-crazed—and low and behold the heathens are headin’ back to church.”

  “Wow!” she whispered. “That’s actually kind of cool.”