Page 67 of Banter & Blushes #1
ETHAN
I never should have waited for Mia at her school. Should have just left and never thought about her again. That would have been the smart thing to do because then the whole issue of my team moving to another city wouldn’t be an issue.
And a major one because Mia is even more amazing up close. Besides being beautiful as hell, she’s vibrant and intelligent, and her sarcasm makes me laugh. And I think she loves the hush puppies at the Turtle Tide more than I do.
When our server asks if we’d like dessert, I shake my head. “No, thanks. We have other plans for that.”
The guy cocks an approving brow at me, making me realize how that came across, but before I can say anything, he’s gone.
And Mia’s eyes are two definitive question marks.
“That really sounded suggestive, didn’t it?” I bet my face matches the bottle of ketchup sitting on the table.
She finally blinks, but a hint of a smile plays at her lips. “Perhaps.”
I shake my head. “That’s not what I meant. I have a little surprise planned if that’s okay.”
“Depends on where this surprise of yours is supposed to take place.”
“The beach.” I point at the window toward the purple and pink sky casting iridescent light over the ocean beneath. “Feel like watching the sunset?”
Her blue eyes sparkle with pleasure. “Sounds romantic.”
I can’t help but grin sheepishly. The woman totally has my number, literally and metaphorically. All she has to do is smile, and I’m toast.
“That was my plan. Just need to make a stop at my car first.”
After I retrieve the small cooler and chairs I picked up for tonight, we head back toward the restaurant to a path that runs alongside to the beach beyond.
Mia seems startled when I take her hand in mine as we walk to the shore, but she holds onto me as if we’ve done this a thousand times before. Everything between us feels that way, as if we knew each other in another life or something.
I set up the chairs in the soft sand above the water’s edge so we can savor the sunset about to unfurl in saturated pinks and purples with steaks of iridescent blue.
A seagull caws as it flies past, punctuating the rhythmic sound of the waves lapping the shore.
I pull out a small platter of chocolate-covered fruits and a bottle of sparkling cider from the cooler, closing the lid so it serves as a table between our seats.
Mia tips the bottle toward her to look at the label and twitches a brow up.
It’s weird how I can almost read her thoughts. “I figured you’d probably prefer nonalcoholic since it’s a school night.”
“Good call.”
We sit in comfortable silence for a time, watching the sun dip lower. When I notice Mia’s not eating or drinking anymore, I brush her hand. “Let’s take a walk.”
Like me, she rolls her pants up above her knees and jumps up, but her slacks unfold and hit the sand, causing her to pout in the most adorable way.
I unroll my jeans. “There.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.” I hold out my hand, and it feels like the Fourth of July when she slides her palm against mine.
The sun is about to kiss the water, and that’s all I want to do with Mia—kiss her. And hold more than her hair this time, too. But the niggling in my gut won’t let me until I come clean about my future.
As we reach the shoreline, I stop and take both her hands. “Mia, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“That sounds very serious,” she teases.
“It kind of is.”
“You have another girlfriend?” She’s joking, but I hear an edge in her voice.
I snicker. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
“Great comeback.”
“Do I get bonus points?” I draw her closer because she’s so hard to resist, even with the truth about my team’s potential move sitting on my tongue like a sour grape. Her sweet floral scent weaves through me, leaving a permanent mark.
“Definitely. I have stickers in my bag, too, if that helps.” Mischief dances in her eyes, driving me crazy .
Her lips are there for the taking and I could, easily, but not until she knows what I’m facing and can decide if she wants to pursue something.
I take a deep breath. “There’s a chance they might move my team to another state.”
Her brows bunch over concerned eyes. “Who’s they?”
“The owner of the team.”
“She didn’t mention anything like that to my friend, Sophie, when she did the interview.”
“I think it’s still a secret. I only know because one of the guys overheard our GM talking to someone on the phone about it.”
The sparkle in her eyes dims. “So, you’re telling me this can only be a summer fling?”
And there it is, the third goal of my hat trick to win her heart—to convince her this isn’t just a brief flirtation. Something that would have been a lot easier if the situation with my team wasn’t looming over us.
“No, not at all. Quite the opposite.” I resist the temptation to pull her against me because I don’t want to influence her decision.
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone so fast before, Mia.
But I don’t intend to start something with you that doesn’t have a future.
If my team moves, I have to move with them. ”
She studies me for a moment, then surprises me by closing the distance between us and pressing a kiss to my lips. “I think you deserve an entire sheet of stickers.”
I laugh softly. “Why?”
“Because you are the kindest, sweetest man I’ve ever met.”
“I think I’d rather have another kiss.”
“That can be arranged.”
But I stop her when she tries to kiss me again. “If we do this, we might regret it later.”
“Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?”
I cup her face, falling for her more and more by the second. “Is this love?”
The warmth flooding her blue eyes washes over me like the waves lapping at our feet. “I’d like to find out, Ethan.”
The sincerity of her tone rocks me. “And if I have to move?”
“We’ll figure things out.”
I lean in and kiss her, starting soft, just a brush of lips, before deepening it with a need that catches me off guard. And she meets me every step with her own.
She’s right.
Whatever comes, we’ll figure it out.