by Nora Roberts
Curled up much as her daugher was inside. One fist bunched near her cheek, her breathing slow and deep and even. He gave in to his weakened knees and sat down beside her, waited for his heartbeat to return to something approaching normal.
He sat, listening to the clothes flap on the line, to the water lick the eelgrass, and to the birds chatter while he wondered what the hell he was going to do with her.
In the end, he simply sighed, rose, then bending down gathered her up into his arms.
She stirred in them, snuggled, made his blood run a little too fast for comfort. “Ethan,” she murmured, turning her face into the curve of his neck and inciting the bright fantasy of rolling over that sun-warmed grass with her.
“Ethan,” she said again, skimming her fingers along his shoulder. And making him hard as iron. Then again, “Ethan,” only this time in a squeak of shock as she jerked her head up and stared at him.
Her eyes were dazed with sleep and bright with surprise. Her mouth made a soft O that was gloriously tempting. Then color flooded her cheeks.
“What? What is it?” she managed over a stomach-churning combination of arousal and embarrassment.
“You’re going to take a nap, you ought to have as much sense as Aubrey and take it inside out of the sun.” He knew his voice was rough. He couldn’t do anything about it. Desire had him by the throat with gleefully nipping claws.
“I was just—”
“Scared ten years off me when I saw you lying there. I thought you’d fainted or something.”
“I only stretched out for a minute. Aubrey was sleeping, so—Aubrey! I need to check on Aubrey.”
“I just did. She’s fine. You’d have shown more sense if you’d stretched out on the couch with her.”
“I don’t come here to sleep.”
“You were sleeping.”
“Just for a minute.”
“You need more than a minute.”
“No, I don’t. It’s just that things got complicated today, and my brain got tired.”
It almost amused him. He stopped in the kitchen, still holding her, and looked into her eyes. “Your brain got tired?”
“Yeah.” It nearly shut off entirely now. “I needed to rest my mind a minute, that’s all. Put me down, Ethan.”
He wasn’t ready to, not quite yet. “I saw your car about a mile down the road from here.”
“I called Dave and told him. He’s going to get to it as soon as he can.”
“You walked from there to here, carting Aubrey?”
“No, my chauffeur drove us in. Put me down, Ethan.” Before she exploded.
“Well, you can give your chauffeur the rest of the day off. I’ll drive you home when Aubrey wakes up.”
“I can get myself home. I’ve barely started on the house. Now I need to get back to it.”
“You’re not walking two and a half miles.”
“I’ll call Julie. She’ll run down and pick us up. You must have work to do yourself. I’m . . . behind schedule,” she said, desperately now. “I can’t catch up if you don’t put me down.”
He considered her. “There’s not much to you.”
The shimmer of need wavered into annoyance. “If you’re going to tell me I’m skinny—”
“I wouldn’t say skinny. You’ve got fine bones, that’s all.” And smooth, soft flesh to cover them. He set her on her feet before he forgot he intended to look after her. “You don’t have to worry with the house today.”
“I do. I need to do my job.” Her nerves were a jittery mess. The way he was looking at her made her want to take one flying leap back into his arms and also made her want to hightail it out the back door like a rabbit. She’d never experienced such a dramatic tug-of-war on her system, and could only stand her ground. “I can do it quicker if you aren’t underfoot.”
“I’ll get out of your way as soon as you call Julie and see if she’ll come by and get you.” He reached up and brushed some dandelion fluff out of her hair.
“Okay.” She turned, punched in numbers on the kitchen phone. Maybe it would be best, she thought wildly as the phone started to ring, if Anna didn’t want her around after she got home. It seemed she couldn’t be with Ethan for ten minutes anymore without getting jumpy. If it kept up, she was bound to do something to embarrass them both.
SIX
Ethan didn’t mind putting in long hours on the boat at night. Especially when he could work alone. It hadn’t taken much persuasion for him to agree to let Seth camp out with the other boys in their backyard. It gave Ethan an evening alone—a rarity now—and time to work without having to tune in to questions and comments.
Not that the boy wasn’t entertaining, Ethan mused. The fact was, he was firmly attached to Seth. Accepting Seth into his life had been natural because Ray had asked it of him. But the affection, the appreciation, and the loyalty had grown and solidified until it simply was.
But that didn’t mean the kid couldn’t wear down his energies.
Ethan kept it to handwork tonight. Even if you felt awake and alert at midnight, the odds were you’d be a bit sluggish, and he didn’t want to risk losing a finger to the power tools. In any case, it was soothing to work in the quiet, to hand-sand edges and planes until you felt them go smooth.
They would be ready to seal the hull before the week was out, and he could start Seth on sanding the rubrails. If Cam dived right in on dealing with belowdecks, and if Seth didn’t bitch too much about working with putty and caulk and varnish over the next week or two, they’d do well enough.
He checked his watch, saw that time was getting away from him, and began to put away his tools. He swept up, since Seth wasn’t there to wield the broom.
By quarter after one, he was parked outside of the pub. He didn’t intend to go inside anymore than he intended to let Grace walk the mile and a half home when she clocked out. So he settled back, switched on his dome light, and passed the time reading his dog-eared copy of Cannery Row.
Inside, it was last call. The only thing that would have made Grace happier would have been if Dave had told her that all she needed to get her car up and running was some used chewing gum and a rubber band.
Instead he’d told her it would cost the equivalent of three years’ worth of both, and then she’d be lucky if the old bucket ran another five thousand miles.
It was something she would have to worry about later; at the moment, she had her hands full dealing with an overly insistent customer who was stopping off in St. Chris on his way down to Savannah and was sure Grace would like to be his form of entertainment for the night.
“I got me a hotel room.” He winked at her when she stooped to serve his final drink of the night. “And it’s got a big bed and twenty-four-hour room service. We could have us a hell of a party, honey pie.”
“I don’t do a lot of partying, but thanks.”
He grabbed her hand, pulled it just enough to throw off her balance so she had to grip his shoulder or tumble into his lap. “Then now’s your chance.” He had dark eyes, and he aimed them leeringly at her breasts. “I got a real fondness for long-legged blondes. Always treat them special.”
He was tiresome, Grace thought as he breathed one more beer into her face. But she had handled worse. “I appreciate that, but I’m going to finish up my shift and go home.”
“Your place is fine with me.”
“Mister—”
“Bob. You just call me Bob, baby.”
She had to yank to get free. “Mister, I’m just not interested.”
Of course she was, he thought, sending her a smile he knew was dazzling. He’d paid two grand to get his teeth bonded, hadn’t he? “The hard-to-get routine always turns me on.”
Grace decided he wasn’t worth even a single disgusted sigh. “We’re closing in fifteen; you’re going to need to settle your tab.”
“Okay, okay, don’t get bitchy.” He smiled widely and pulled out a money clip thick with bills. He always salted it with a couple of twenties o
n the outside, then filled it with singles. “You figure what I owe, then we’ll . . . negotiate your tip.”
Sometimes, Grace decided, it was best to keep your mouth firmly shut. What wanted to come out was vicious enough to get her fired. So she walked away and took her empties to the bar.
“He giving you trouble, Grace?”
She smiled weakly at Steve. It was just the two of them working now. The other waitress had clocked out at midnight, claiming a migraine. Since she’d been pale as a ghost, Grace had shooed her out and agreed to cover.
“He’s just another of those gifts to womankind. Nothing to worry about.”
“If he’s not gone by closing, I’ll wait until you’re locked in your car and headed home.”
She made a noncommittal humming noise. She hadn’t mentioned her lack of transportation because she knew Steve would insist on driving her home. He lived twenty minutes away, in the opposite direction. And had a pregnant wife waiting for him.
She cashed out tables, cleared them, and noted with relief that her problem customer finally rose to leave. He paid his $18.83 bar bill with cash, leaving $20 on the table. Though he’d managed to monopolize most of her time and attention for the past three hours, Grace was too tired to be annoyed at the pitiful tip.
It didn’t take long for the pub to empty. The crowd had been mostly college students, out for a couple of beers and conversation on a weekday night. By her calculations they’d turned about ten tables no more than twice since her shift had started at seven. Her tips for the evening weren’t going to make much of a dent in the new car she would have to buy.
It was so quiet, they both jumped like rabbits when the phone rang. Even while Grace laughed at their reaction, the blood drained out of Steve’s face. “Mollie,” was all he said as he leaped on the phone. He answered it with a stuttering, “Is it time?”
Grace stepped forward, wondering if she was strong enough to catch him if he keeled over. When he began nodding rapidly, she felt her smile spread wide.
“Okay. You—you call the doctor, right? Everything’s ready to go. How far apart . . . Oh, God, oh, God, I’m on my way. Don’t move. Don’t do anything. Don’t worry.”
He dropped the phone off the hook, then froze. “She’s—Mollie—my wife—”
“Yes, I know who Mollie is—we went to school together from kindergarten on.” Grace laughed. Then because he looked so dear, and so terrified, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. “Go. But you drive careful. Babies take their time coming. They’ll wait for you.”
“We’re having a baby,” he said slowly, as if testing each word. “Me and Mollie.”
“I know. And it’s just wonderful. You tell her I’m going to come see her, and the baby. Of course, if you just stand there like somebody glued your feet to the floor, I guess she’ll have to drive herself to the hospital.”
“God! I have to go.” He knocked over a chair on his way to the door. “Keys, where are the keys?”
“Your car keys are in your pocket. Bar keys are behind the bar. I’ll lock up, Daddy.”
He stopped, tossed one huge, electrifying grin over his shoulder. “Wow!” And was gone.
Grace was still chuckling as she picked up the chair and replaced it upside down on the table.
She thought of the night when she had gone into labor with Aubrey. Oh, she’d been so afraid, so excited. She had indeed driven herself to the hospital. There’d been no husband there to panic with her. There’d been no one to sit with her, to tell her to breathe, to hold her hand.
When the pain and aloneness had been at its worst, she weakened and let the nurse call her mother. Of course her mother came, and stayed with her, and saw Aubrey into the world. They cried together, and laughed together, and it had made it all right again.
Her father hadn’t come. Not then, not later. Her mother had made excuses, tried to smooth it over, but Grace had understood she was not to be forgiven. Others had come, Julie and her parents, friends and neighbors.
Ethan and Professor Quinn.
They’d brought her flowers, pink and white daisies and rosebuds. She had pressed one of each in Aubrey’s baby book.
It made her smile to remember, so when the door behind her opened, she turned with a chuckle. “Steve, if you don’t get going, she’ll . . .” Grace trailed off, experiencing more annoyance than fear when she saw the man step inside. “We’re closed,” she said firmly.
“I know, honey pie. I figured you’d find a way to hang back and wait for me.”
“I’m not waiting for you.” Why the hell hadn’t she locked the door behind Steve? “I said we’re closed. You’ll have to leave.”
“You want to play it that way, fine.” He sauntered over, leaned on the bar. He’d been working out regularly for months now and knew the stance showed off his well-toned muscles. “Why don’t you fix us both a drink? And we’ll talk about that tip.”
Her patience dried up. “You already gave me a tip, now I’ll give you one. If you’re not out that door in ten seconds, I’m calling the cops. Instead of spending the night on your big hotel bed, you’ll spend it in a cell.”
“I got something else in mind.” He grabbed her, shoved her back against the bar, and ground himself against her. “See? You had it in mind, too. I saw the way you’ve been eyeing me. I’ve been waiting all night for some action.”
She couldn’t get her knee up to ram it against what he was so proudly pushing against her. She couldn’t get her hands free to shove or scratch. Panic started as a tickle in her throat, then spread like a hot flood when he shot a hand under her skirt.
She was preparing to bite, scream, and spit when he was suddenly airborne. All she could do was stay pressed against the bar and stare at Ethan.
“You all right?”
He said it so quietly that her head bobbed up and down in automatic response. But his eyes weren’t quiet. There was rage in them, so primal and primitive that she shuddered.
“Go on out and wait in the truck.”
“I—he—” Then she squealed. It would embarrass her to remember it later, but it was the only sound that came out of her tight throat when the man rushed at Ethan like a battering ram, head lowered, fists clenched.
She watched, staggered as Ethan simply pivoted, jabbed once, twice, and flicked the man off like a fly. Then he bent, grabbed the man by the shirtfront, and hauled him up on his rubbery legs.
“You don’t want to be here.” His voice was steel with dangerously sharp edges. “Because if I see you here after the next two minutes, I’m going to kill you. And unless you got family or close personal friends, nobody’s going to give a damn.”
He tossed him away, with what seemed to Grace no more than a twist of the wrist, and the man crashed into a table. Then Ethan turned his back as if the guy didn’t exist. But none of the stony fury had faded from his face when he looked at Grace.
“I told you to go wait in the truck.”
“I have to—I need to—” She pressed a hand between her breasts and pushed up as if to shove the words clear. Neither of them looked as the man scrambled up and stumbled out the door. “I have to lock up. Shiney—”
“Shiney can go to hell.” Since it didn’t appear that she was going to move, Ethan grabbed her hand and hauled her to the door. “He ought to be horsewhipped for letting a lone woman lock up this place at night.”
“Steve—he—”
“I saw that sonofabitch go flying out of here like a bomb was ticking.” Ethan intended to have a nice long talk with Steve as well. Soon, he promised himself grimly as he pushed Grace into the truck.
“Mollie—she called. She’s in labor. I told him to go.”
“You would. Damn idiot woman.”
The statement, delivered with such bubbling fury, stopped the trembling that had just begun, cut off the babbling gratitude she’d been about to express. He’d saved her, was all she’d been able to think, like a knight in a fairy tale. But the thin, romantic mist that had
been shimmering over her still-reeling brain evaporated.
“I’m certainly not an idiot.”
“You sure as hell are.” He whipped the truck out of the lot, spitting gravel and knocking Grace back against her seat. His rare but formidable temper was in full swing, and there was no stopping it until it had blown itself out.
“That man was the idiot,” she shot back. “I was just doing my job.”
“Doing your job damn near got you raped. The son of a bitch had his hand under your skirt.”
She could still feel it, the way it had groped at her. Nausea bubbled up to her throat and was ruthlessly swallowed down. “I’m aware of that. Things like that don’t happen at Shiney’s.”
“It just did happen at Shiney’s.”
“It doesn’t draw that kind of clientele usually. He wasn’t local. He was—”
“He was there.” Ethan swung into her drive, hit the brakes, then shut the engine off with a hard flick of the wrist. “And so were you. Mopping up some bar in the middle of the goddamn night, by yourself. And what were you going to do when you were done? Walk almost two damn miles?”
“I could have gotten a ride, except—”
“Except you’re too stiff-necked to ask for one,” he finished. “You’d rather limp home in those mile-high heels than ask a favor.”
She had sneakers in her bag, but decided it wouldn’t help to mention it. Her bag, she remembered, which was back at the unlocked pub. Now she would have to go back first thing in the morning, get her things, and lock up before the boss checked.
“Well, thank you very much for your opinion of my failings, and the lecture. And the damn ride home.” She shoved at the door, only to have Ethan grab her arm and yank her back.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going home. I’m going to soak my stiff-neck and my idiot-brain and go to bed.”
“I haven’t finished.”