She was still staring at him. “After that day you saved me outside the locker room, you never said a word or even looked at me...”
Oh, he’d looked plenty, before and after. Only, he’d learned to be more sly about it after the friggin’ incident over the dress. “I saved you? When did you get so dramatic?”
She turned away and fixed her gaze on the road ahead, arms crossed in front of her. “You did save me,” she said softly. “You were my hero.”
Grinding his teeth, he stepped on the accelerator. Kept his attention on the road, wishing like hell he hadn’t brought up the coat or the past. He’d been such an asshole.
“You were popular. Everyone liked you. You don’t understand what it’s like to be different from everyone else and be thrown into a new environment with no friends or...or anybody who’s willing to give you a chance.” Sophie sighed. “Or pull you aside and explain why everyone thinks you’re nothing but a dork.”
The sadness in her voice made his gut clench. “I promise you those girls didn’t think you were a dork,” he said, reliving the anger and shame.
He should’ve broken up with Ashley that very day. She and her spiteful followers had been mean to Sophie, and who knew how many other girls. All because he’d looked one second too long and Ashley had felt threatened. But he’d put up with her random cruelty because she gave great head. Yeah, some hero.
Sophie surprised him with a laugh. “You don’t have to say that, Ethan. It was a long time ago. I’m over it. If anyone calls me a dork now, I’d just put them in a body cast.”
He looked over and saw her flexing her left biceps. He relaxed enough to smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Excellent idea.” She slumped back and blew out a breath. “Okay, I have to say it... You can’t claim to have noticed me now, not when you basically treated me as if I were invisible back then. Why didn’t you ever talk to me after that day?”
“Well, for one thing, I had a girlfriend.”
“Um, yeah. Ashley. I know. Anyway, I said talk to me, not ask me out on a date.”
“That’s the other thing. You were a lot younger than me.”
“Guess what? The math hasn’t changed.”
Ethan shook his head. “Okay, I’ll say this...being sarcastic doesn’t do you any favors.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that before,” she murmured sheepishly. “I’ll try to remember.”
How was it that he could feel this comfortable with her? She said what she wanted without holding back. And he said whatever he said, and they just moved on, no sweat. Go figure. “You were fifteen. I was eighteen. At those ages it mattered.”
“I see your point.”
He opened and closed his mouth. Hell, he needed to think about what he was willing to admit. Or whether telling her anything would make her feel worse.
“Just so you know...” She pulled her legs up and hugged her knees. “I thought you deserved better than Ashley. She was a total bitch. But I respect your loyalty and that you didn’t mess around with other girls.”
“Look, Ashley was...” How should he put this?
“Hot. I get it. You were probably thinking with your dick,” she said, and Ethan had to laugh. “How long after graduation were you guys together?”
“We broke up that night.”
“No way.” Sophie lowered her feet to the floorboard. “There was that big party at what’s his name’s house.”
“Justin.”
She’d turned in her seat so she was facing him. “What happened with Ashley?”
“She had one of her tantrums because I complimented her friend Shannon.”
“Huh. I always thought they were BFFs.”
“So did everyone else, including Shannon.”
“Ashley didn’t break it off, though. She was too crazy about you.” It wasn’t a question, but Sophie was obviously waiting for an answer.
He stretched his neck to the side to loosen a kink. “I couldn’t take it anymore. She was a little drunk at the party and tried to use it as an excuse, but I knew that was bullshit. Like you said, I was thinking with the wrong body part.”
“Wow. See? I was so far out of the loop I hadn’t even heard about it. Had to be pretty big news.”
“I don’t know. I was so glad to be done with school I stayed out of the loop myself.”
“Why? You must’ve had decent grades, since you weren’t on the need-a-tutor list like most of the jocks.”
“I never really considered myself a jock.”
“Yeah, you kind of were. You and the quarterback were the two hottest guys in school.”
“Says you.”
“Said a whole locker room full of girls every friggin’ day. It got pretty annoying.”
“Glad I didn’t know.” He was straight-up serious. It would’ve been embarrassing. “Some of the guys I hung with thought you were hot.”
She stayed quiet a long time, and then she turned back to face the windshield.
He swung his attention between her and the road. “What?”
“I don’t understand why you feel the need to lie. I mean, yeah, if I think about those days too much, I can get cranky. But I’m good with my life.”
“Do you know why Ashley and her posse destroyed your dress?”
“Because she’d worn the same one a week before I started at Wattsville. So?”
“That was enough to piss her off,” he said. “But there was more to it. She overheard me telling the guys that you looked better in the dress. And two of them agreed.”
“Why would you say something like that?”
“It was true.” He saw lights up ahead and hoped it was Blackfoot Falls.
“You actually said that I looked better?”
“Swear to God.”
Her laugh was nervous. “That’s crazy. Ashley had the biggest boobs in school.”
“Not all guys like big breasts, Sophie.”
“You sure?”
Ethan smiled. “Yep, pretty sure I know what I’m talking about.”
She stared at him in silence for almost a minute. Who knew what was going on in that head of hers? But it gave him time to recall last night, her standing there braless in a T-shirt while he’d been handcuffed to the bedpost. Sophie fell into the perfect category. He’d had a sample feel less than an hour ago and he was itching for more. His foot automatically pressed down on the gas.
They were getting closer to the lights.
Lord, please let this be Blackfoot Falls.
“I think I like you even more now,” she said finally.
Considering that he hadn’t gotten to know her in school, and it had been years since he’d laid eyes on her, it was odd how she already wasn’t surprising him much. It was that comfort level and familiarity he’d been feeling with her. She wasn’t flirty, and she didn’t try to dress sexy, which was kind of sexy in itself.
“I had fantasies about you,” she said. “When I was a kid.”
“Uh, do I want to hear this?”
She adjusted the seat and leaned back. “After you rescued me, I felt really special. I mean, you even loaned me your jacket and told those girls to back off. And they did. Ashley and Shannon gave me the stink-eye, but that was it. Then I heard that you’d stepped in before. For other kids who’d been bullied. Like Arnie. So I knew I wasn’t so special after all.”
“I’d never gotten in between girls before.”
“Really?”
“Nope. The rest of the guys thought I was nuts.”
“You were brave. And noble.”
More than the words themselves, the conviction in her voice made him feel like crap. “I hate bullies just about more than anything, but what I did had nothing to do with being noble.” Guilt had played a big part.
“Can we leave it alone?” he slipped in quickly when he saw by her body language she was ready to beat the issue to death.
“Okay.” Sophie smiled. “Remember this moment. So you know I can be reasonable.”
Ethan held in a laugh. “We’re about two minutes from the inn. Have you eaten since breakfast?”
“No. You?”
He shook his head. “I guess we should get something in our bellies.” Now that he thought about it, he was hungry. He just hadn’t wanted to waste time eating. After they turned onto Main Street, he reached for her hand. “We can hit the diner, or pick up something to eat in the room.”
“I vote for the second option,” she said, lacing their fingers together.
“Sounds good. I want to shower first, though.”
“I can pick up the food. And we should make it an early night, since we might have a lot of driving to do—”
He brought her hand up and kissed the back. “I think we can forget the early night.”
“You’re probably right,” she said, her voice a husky whisper.
“I know I am.” He resented having to release her because he needed both hands on the wheel. After he pulled up to the curb, he slid an arm behind her shoulders. He leaned in just as she turned her head.
“This is the diner,” she said, and then turned back to him. “I thought—” She blinked, her confused expression fading as she realized he’d been about to kiss her.
He brushed his lips across hers. “What did you think?”
“That you would shower while I got takeout.”
“Or...” He zeroed in on that sweet spot at the pulse in her neck. “We could shower together,” he whispered.
Her throaty moan hit him low in the belly. “Who needs food?” she murmured, turning to meet his lips.
Ethan felt her tongue slip into his mouth. She practically climbed over the console, which he was seriously tempted to rip out. People strolled down the sidewalk past the truck. Half of them probably rodeo fans, trying to peer through the darkened windows. What the hell was wrong with him? He should’ve driven them straight to the inn.
He promised himself he’d do just that, in a minute, probably two. Sophie tasted like heaven with a scoop of sin. Her heat filled the cab and fogged the windows. He wanted her so damn bad it was messing with his head. From her pouty lips to her untamed hair and curvy body, they all did it for him. Those soft brown eyes, though, they got to him the most.
It had taken him months to blot out the image of her the day he’d slipped his jacket over her shoulders. She’d looked so small, her dress in tatters, but she hadn’t cried or uttered a single mean word. She’d just looked up at him with so much trust and gratitude that he hadn’t deserved. Afterward he’d nearly busted a hand punching his metal locker. Fixing the big dent he’d left had come out of his own pocket.
After that he’d avoided her as much as possible. Arnie had retrieved the jacket from her the next day. Once Ethan left for college the memory had started to fade and eventually disappeared.
When he realized his hand had slipped down to her breast, he tried to cool down the X-rated kiss. Sophie wasn’t interested in complying, so he forced himself to pull back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, then jerked a look at the center console under her left knee. She sank back into her seat, ducked her head and swept a gaze down the sidewalk.
“Yep. Too many people around.”
“Oh, jeez. Well, they don’t know me, but most of them probably recognize you. Sorry.”
“I’m not.” He drew the pad of his thumb across her lips. They were puffier than usual. From the kissing. He wanted more of that. Leaning forward got him a firm hand to the front of his shoulder.
“We should go,” she said, laughing. “As in right now. Before we get carried away again.”
“Honey, we haven’t even gotten warmed up yet.” He turned the key. The engine made a god-awful grinding noise.
Heads turned. They both cringed.
Fine way to learn the truck had been idling all along.
He shook his head, and Sophie laughed.
The drive to the inn would take three minutes tops. He doubted he could make it.
11
SOPHIE GRABBED THE room key from him and unlocked the door. She laughed when she felt his hand mold to her backside, then quickly sobered and huffed. “What did I tell you? No touching until we’re...”
He gave her ass a light squeeze and smiled.
Oh Lord. He wasn’t listening, so why had she bothered? She practically shoved him inside the room before their neighbors from down the hall caught up with them.
“Wait. Okay? Just wait.”
“Why?”
She turned away from him because she couldn’t think straight while staring into his darkened blue eyes. But Ethan put his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. There was no missing his very insistent erection. So avoiding his gaze wasn’t working at all. She was beginning to think nothing would.
He kissed the side of her neck and then trailed his lips to the slope of her shoulder. She closed her eyes, wondering if he knew what he could do to her with only a look, a smile, a brush of his lips.
It was humbling to accept that she was defenseless when it came to Ethan. In the past five years she’d made progress. She could honestly say she hadn’t thought about him much. She’d stopped monitoring his standing with the tour. If a rodeo was televised, she’d sometimes watched him. But she hadn’t gone out of her way.
But after only twenty-four hours in his company, she could no longer deny the cold, hard truth. Once an addict, always an addict. And when this was all over, and she and Ethan again went their separate ways... Well, God help her. The road to recovery was going to be infinitely harder this time.
With a sigh, she pushed aside the silly notion that she could save herself some pain by walking away now. No chance of that happening.
She turned around in his arms and pulled on the front of his Western-cut shirt. The snaps came apart easily. He yanked her top up and over her head. Her peach-colored bra distracted him while she pushed his shirt open, exposing well-developed pecs.
He slipped the bra strap off her shoulder, then bent his head to kiss the narrow strip of skin he’d uncovered. The light touch of his lips on flesh that had never been sensitive before almost sent her through the roof.
She went for his belt buckle and he reached behind to unclasp her bra, which he seemed determined to get rid of. Except she was equally interested in unzipping his jeans. Their arms momentarily tangled. Then it became a free-for-all with shirts, boots and socks flying everywhere.
Sophie couldn’t contain her laughter, intensified by Ethan’s impatient battle with her snug jeans. He was still wearing his Wranglers and wouldn’t let her near the zipper while he struggled to get her jeans down, making it only as far as her hips.
“Peel, don’t pull,” she said, then yelped when he picked her up and dumped her on the bed.
His piercing gaze took her in, starting with her hair and eyes, before locking on her breasts. “You’re perfect,” he whispered, the gravel in his voice a turn-on all by itself.
“Take off your jeans,” she said, her eyes feasting on his strong chest and muscled shoulders, on the flexing and release of his pecs. His skin was still tanned, no sleeve lines, nothing along his low-riding waistband, which made her wonder about a whole bunch of things. Like what she was going to find under those jeans. “Please.”
He leaned over and touched his tongue to her left nipple. The light contact sent warm pleasure flowing through her body. His mouth was hot, and so was the hand he used to cup her other breast. So she didn’t understand why she was shivering. Or why she couldn’t seem to stop.
Ethan took the hard tip into his mouth and gently sucked
while he eased the jeans down to her thighs. She put a hand on his shoulder, and with the other she strained to reach his zipper. He intercepted her, using less effort than it took to swat a fly.
But he got the message to hurry it up. In seconds he’d pulled off her jeans, leaving her in skimpy peach panties that seemed to fascinate him. She sat up, but he gently forced her back down and put his mouth on the tiny triangle of silk. His warm breath breached the material and sparked a fire inside her.
“Dammit, you’re killing me,” she murmured, afraid she was going to have the quickest orgasm in history.
He lifted his head. “I didn’t want to rush you,” he said, and slipped a finger under the material. With a sharp intake of breath, he pushed his finger intimately between her lips. “Jesus, you’re wet.”
His patience evaporated, replaced by a fevered haste. He stripped off her panties, dropped them right there on the floor and scooped her into his arms.
Startled, she hung on to his neck. “Where are—”
They reached the bathroom. The very small bathroom with its tiny shower. He set her on her feet and turned on the water.
“I don’t know about this,” she said. “It’s going to be a tight squeeze.”
“Luckily I’m very good at that.”
Sophie looked at him and laughed. He held a hand under the spray, the other one rested on the curve of her butt and in his eyes, amusement and pure want warred for dominance.
He slipped his arm around her waist, pulled her against him and kissed her. “The water’s warm,” he murmured against her lips.
“Are you planning to shower with your jeans on?”
“Nope.” His kiss was slow and thorough, and with her breasts pushing against his bare chest, she was never going to stop shivering. He broke the kiss. “You’re going to get under this warm spray while I take off my jeans.”
“Hurry, or I’ll use up all the hot water.” She stepped inside the narrow stall. It was almost too small for two people. They’d have to be careful—
Sophie found the soap and turned to see if Ethan was getting out of his jeans. He’d unzipped them but was just standing there watching her. It was startling. She’d never been watched like this before, and her first instinct was to yank the shower curtain closed all the way. But it was made of clear plastic, and this was Ethan. It was kind of hot knowing those hooded eyes were focused completely on her.
This Kiss (Made In Montana Book 12) Page 11