“There’s no story from what you heard downstairs. Nothing politically related, anyway.”
“Everyone has family crap. It’s required if you’re a human being.” Ethan stepped forward and swung the chair around, straddling it like a horse—slowly—and crossed his arms over the back. The junction between her legs reacted with a traitorous clench and warmth. She refused to acknowledge it.
“Including you?”
“I don’t have a family. I’m exempt.”
“Didn’t you say your father was in Chicago?”
“He’s not my family.”
Audrey nodded. “Yep, including you.”
“I take it there’s a lot of history from what happened downstairs.”
Audrey shrugged and held the glass in one hand, cradling it between her fingers. “Everyone has a black swan in the family.”
The man’s eyes studied her for several moments, and the feeling of intrusion took over again. Like an unwilling patient being examined by a curious doctor who just started worrying about how his pokes and prods could hurt. Another heartbeat later, as they continued to stare at each other, his gaze took on an entirely different characteristic. Whether it was his deeper breathing or the moisture on his lips thickening, with the corners of his mouth turned up a hair, suddenly all she wanted was for him to stay right where he sat. Legs spread and hot pheromones dripping from his gaze. Her T-shirt tugged against her nipples, now starting to ache. Heat built inside of her body, though from the wine or his presence, she couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. Just as long as he kept looking at her. Testing the limits without questions.
He took a long sip from the glass. It could have been vodka, or possibly gin, but there was no smell to it, only a few feet from his penetrating stare. Water was the best guess. Why just water? Guys like him probably lived on beer or Coke and rum.
The great watcher licked his lips, deliberately, taking his time in conjuring up his next move. But unlike her body’s responses, she wasn’t going to make it easy on him.
“I take it the right place at the wrong time ended in someone’s death. And perhaps that was also the last time you were here.”
Audrey kept her eyes on his face, trying to capture a glimpse of gloating that he was sure to reveal. But her only answer to his affirming face was more silence.
“Two for two. Which would explain the name change. To hide whatever happened here.”
“I never said I was hiding.”
There he goes again. Making assumptions of the most unimportant details.
Journalists were all the same.
Don’t trust him, Audrey. He’s out for the story, and not you.
“There’s obviously a lot of pain there. Your brother called you a murderer. How does that make you feel?”
Disappointed, hurt, unloved.
All of the above she wanted to admit, and had to her therapist over the years. But not to the journalist. If the human with a heart ever showed up in Ethan’s place, she’d probably spill everything.
“To be honest, nothing I wasn’t expecting. I
hoped
for something more sibling-like, but I’m not surprised.” Audrey sat on the comfort of her bed, hoping a brace could offer some kind of support, anything to get her mind off how damn hot this wolf looked.
“You said Adam was the protective type. I don’t think calling your sister a murderer is very protective.”
“He
is
protective, just not of me. Not anymore, anyway.”
“What causes a brother to lose that instinct for his sister? For you?”
“I know what you’re targeting.” Audrey’s eyes narrowed in on him. “And you’re not going to find the answers you’re looking for. You said you’d leave my family out of this.”
Adam let out an annoyed sigh and uncrossed his arms, now gripping the sides of the back of the chair. “We’re not talking about your family. We’re talking about you. So let’s cut to the chase. What exactly is everyone talking about? What happened?”
“You’re the journalist. Why don’t you dig it up for yourself?”
“You know I’m going to. This is me asking for your side of the story.”
“What’s the point? You’ll write the worst image of history, whether it’s true or not. So why should I help you?” Fire raged in her stomach, as well as her mind, knowing the calm and collected Audrey Allen was losing it with this too-handsome-for-his-own-good reporter sitting in her favorite chair sprinkling gasoline on kindling embers.
“Because you need my help for your campaign. Because you’re the one with the most to lose.”
“Like you have nothing to lose.”
“Nope. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Neither did I.”
The gleam in his eyes could burn cities to the ground. And enflame a passion more raw than anything Audrey had ever felt.
“I don’t have a grudge against anyone,” Audrey continued. “Well, except the media, because of this very reason. And I’m not going to let you hurt anyone in this town by scrounging for more scandals.”
Ethan’s eyes flared and his mouth dropped open, stealing the breath from her lips.
“You’re not going to let
me
hurt…after what they did to you today?” His voice turned angry and biting. “After what they said? How can you protect them?”
Though he hadn’t moved from the chair, his presence doubled and his face turned darker, more primal. The change was awing and intimidating. Why was he so passionate? Almost defensive.
“Adam isn’t the only protective one in my family.” Audrey stood from the bed and placed her wine glass on the dresser. The hair clip was her next distraction. Her next way of
handling
things, as she twirled her hair above her neck and secured it to her scalp.
Like a jaguar, Ethan silently slipped from her favorite chair and stopped only an inch from her face. His warm breath singed her lips as he pinned her to the spot with his gaze, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her palms grew sweaty and her knees weakened. Somehow she forgot to breathe with those sea-gray irises holding her in place.
“I’m going to find out the truth, Audrey.” His silky voice conflicted with the dagger-like words. Just as the desire in his eyes conflicted with the very purpose of his presence. “When I do, you’ll
want
to spill everything to me then.”
His lips parted and his gaze moved to her mouth. The inch between them became a millimeter. If only her mind wouldn’t let her care anymore, she’d let her body loose. Explore every wild thought in her mind.
“
If
you find out the
whole
truth, I won’t have to spill anything. To anyone.”
His gaze moved back to her eyes and suddenly she found her own lips parted. A tender touch slid through her fingers, shooting tingles up her arm and into her chest. Ethan’s hand inched up to her wrist, where the full heat of his palm lightly closed around her arm. Instinctively, he pulled her against him and her waist moved against his hips, their mouths still barely a hair a part.
His grip moved from her wrist to her waist, both hands, and pressed further. The thickening against his pants grew harder, longer, and unmistakably hotter. Her core sparked and a red flame pooled in her groin. Just once, she wanted to let that side of her take over and quench it. Their hips ground against each other and their lips, hot and anticipating…
Thump.
A muffled laugh filtered through the door.
Ethan frowned and glanced down to the non-existent space between their bodies. And his raging erection. Audrey couldn’t catch her breath and realized the thump wasn’t from either of them.
She glanced to the door and recognized the repeated muffled laugh as Adelaide’s. And then a much deeper “Shhh” followed.
Audrey flattened her hands against Ethan’s chest, his chest strong and hot, and then clenched his shirt in her fists. His breathing quickened under her fingers and he squeezed her hips harder. As if he refused to let her go.
So damn close.
She pushed away from him, as if space were her only salvation, and then moved to the door. A few steps later, she was down the hallway and ready to knock on Adelaide’s door, when muffled whispers came through again.
Two voices. One she recognized, and the other not at all. “Keep quiet, Brace. Gimme your shirt.”
Adelaide’s playful whisper to the enigmatic “Brace” stopped her breathing. The hot arousal lingering in her body chilled instantly. Painful memories filled her mind.
Not again.
Audrey knocked lightly and didn’t wait for a response. She opened the door and caught Adelaide kneeling on her bed wearing boy shorts and a pink lace bra. An adolescent wannabe body builder Brace stood at the end, wearing even less. Shock filled the boy’s face, too stunned to cover his naked self, while fear filled Adelaide’s eyes as she held Brace’s T-shirt.
Before anyone could make a sound, Ethan moved behind her and witnessed the teenaged hormone exploratory session.
“Oh shit,” he murmured.
“Oh shit,” Brace repeated.
Not again.
Audrey sighed as the only means to keep from groaning aloud and having her parents hear the commotion.
“Brace,” Audrey snarled. “You have thirty seconds to get your clothes on and get out of this house before my father sees you. Addy,” her fierce gaze flickered. “We need to talk. Now.”
On the verge of tears, Adelaide nodded, covering herself with her arms.
Audrey closed the door and waited, as she heard movement around the room on the other side.
“Relax. They’re just kids,” Ethan whispered behind her.
“Exactly. She has no idea what fire she’s playing with.”
Ethan giggled. “That was hardly fire between his legs. More like the Oscar Meyer Weiner whistle.”
“This is serious,” she hissed.
“All right, I’ll admit it wasn’t smart to try that in her parent’s house full of guests, but it’s not like they’re the first teenagers to bump uglies upstairs. I did worse at his age.”
Audrey’s eyes narrowed on him. “Oh, I have no doubt. Which is exactly why you should keep your butt out of this.”
“Give them a few minutes.” His voice darkened a shade. “Let’s finish what we had starting in there.” He lifted his hand to cup her cheek and her face burned.
“Go back to your room.”
“Fine,” he groaned. “But talk loud so I can hear you through the wall.”
Chapter Fourteen
It didn’t take long for Audrey to sober up after catching her sister on the verge of sex. A perfect glass of wine wasted. But the next conversation would surely instigate the hangover headache several hours ahead of schedule.
Adelaide curled herself up on the window seat peering out the same window that Brace had crawled through only fifteen minutes earlier, anxious for their tryst. The pink cotton robe wrapped around her torso down to her knees, and through the tears she couldn’t control, her eyes raged.
Sitting on Adelaide’s bed didn’t appeal to Audrey at the moment. Particularly not after what she just witnessed. So she sat on the other side of the window seat, careful not to invade her sister’s personal space. Well, not as much as she already had.
The box of tissues was her first peace offering. Hopefully it would ease a little of the tension before Audrey asked questions to which she probably didn’t want to know the answers. Adelaide plucked a few tissues and wiped her face, clearly fighting hard to hold back more tears.
“I take it this wasn’t the first time.” Audrey kept her voice soft, but wouldn’t let her sister make the mistake of thinking she wasn’t serious by using the same look of competition she used in debates.
Sniffles filled the room as Adelaide refused to look at her sister. A moment later, she shook her head. “Are you gonna tell Mom?” Adelaide’s voice cracked through the sobs buried in her chest.
Audrey pursed her lips. “I
should.
” She really should. No one had warned her that moving too fast at this age could cause immeasurable heartbreak. Not that she would have listened. Which worried her the most, knowing Adelaide possessed the same stubbornness.
And then her sister rested her eyes on Audrey’s face, burning rage through her pupils. “I don’t think you should be allowed to, since you just burst in here without permission.” Each word grew louder, as much as she was willing to prevent being heard by their parents.
“I understand you’re upset. You should be,” Audrey replied calmly. Never raise your voice in an argument, or match the venomous tone. Audrey had learned the hard way it made things worse. Even if the argument Adelaide used was flawed and juvenile, she couldn’t dismiss them. She chose her next words carefully, and spoke slowly. “But you have no idea what fire you’re playing with.”
Adelaide glared out the window and wiped her face with the tissue.
“Were you using some kind of protection, at least?”
“Uck! You really want to have this conversation?”
“Would you rather have it with Mom?”
“No!”
“Well, then you get me.”
“You were my age not that long ago. You understand what this is like. Why aren’t you on my side?”
“Because I know
exactly
what you’re going through, and I’m trying to help you not make the same mistakes.”
Adelaide closed her jaw and stared wide-eyed at her sister. The sympathy built in Audrey’s chest as Adelaide wiped away more tears with the wadded tissue. Audrey had hoped she wouldn’t have to reveal the details of her past to Adelaide, who was only a toddler when everything happened. But her sister was in the dangerous realm of repeating history. How could she let Addy suffer the same anguish if she had the power to prevent it?
“You were too young to understand what happened to me, but I know you loved me. Just as I love you. Because I love you, I’m telling you that you should be more protective of your childhood.”
“I’m sixteen, I’m hardly—”
“But you are still a child, Addy.” Audrey touched her hand, which Adelaide pulled away. “You wear adult dresses in those pageants, wear stage makeup, and give adult answers, but inside you are still a
child.
You have so much life ahead of you to make those decisions. Don’t sacrifice what little childhood you have left.”
“I’m not sacrificing anything. I’m on the pill, so I can’t get pregnant. And I love Brace. I’ll lose him if we stop.”