way.” He gave her a wry look. “I was still deep in denial about where we were headed.”
She stepped closer and rested her hands against his chest, right above his thundering heart. “That’s very sweet, but you’re the romance, Ethan. Just you. That’s all I need.”
Encouraged, he scooped her into his arms, drawing a startled look.
“Seriously?” she said, though there was a smile spreading across her face.
“Scared I’m going to drop you?” he said, more lighthearted and confident than he could remember being for ages.
She snuggled closer, obviously putting her trust in him. “Not for a second,” she told him.
When he reached his room, he regretted again the lack of ambiance. The decor hadn’t much mattered to him. It was clean and the bed was big and comfortable. Right now it happened to be bathed in moonlight, so that, at least, was something. He settled her on the chocolate-brown comforter, loving the way her dress hiked up to reveal those long, shapely legs of hers. He’d been captivated by those legs for a while now.
“You’re ogling my legs,” she teased.
“I am,” he said unrepentantly. “Haven’t been able to get them out of my head since the day I walked into Cora Jane’s kitchen and found you there in nothing but my old football jersey. It’s not an image a man forgets.”
“How do you know that was all I was wearing?”
He grinned. “I knew,” he said, opting not to reveal the glimpse of bare bottom he’d caught. “A weaker man would have hauled you upstairs right that second.”
“And you’ve held out for a whole two weeks,” she said. “I’m awed by your strength of character.”
“Well, it’s been shot to blazes now,” he said, taking off his jacket, then loosening the collar of his shirt before settling on the bed beside her.
“Come here,” he said, rolling her on top of him, loving the weight of her, the way her curves fit his body.
He cupped her face in his hands, studying the way her eyes darkened with anticipation, the way the tip of her tongue moistened her lips. “How could any man resist you?” he murmured.
“It would take a saint,” she remarked, the teasing note back in her voice.
“Then you’ve got the wrong guy,” he said, giving himself over to sensations he hadn’t experienced for far too long.
And even as he rediscovered passion, he found something unexpected, the pure joy of abandoning all pretenses and falling head over heels in love. Amazingly, it felt nothing at all the way it had when he’d been involved with Lisa. As good as that had been in the beginning, this was a thousand times better, and not just because he felt this soul-deep connection, but because it felt easy, as if he’d spent a lifetime waiting for exactly the right woman and had finally found her.
* * *
Knowing what was at stake—Ethan’s unmistakably fragile self-esteem—Samantha had worried herself sick on the ride to his house. She had to get this right, had to prove to him that he had everything to offer.
In the end she discovered that her worries had been for nothing. They came together as if they’d been made to connect in this way, with surprising abandon and loss of inhibitions. Making love with him was magical, surpassing every fantasy she’d ever had. Even the potentially awkward moment when he’d removed his pants and revealed his prosthesis had passed in a comfortable blur, overshadowed by the sensations he was able to stir in her with a simple caress here, a long, slow stroke there.
“Oh, sweet heaven,” she said breathlessly, falling back against a stack of pillows. “That was...” Words failed her.
“Amazing?” Ethan supplied from his position on his back beside her. He lifted himself onto his elbow and studied her. “Or am I wrong?”
“Oh, no,” she said. “You are definitely not wrong. Amazing sums it up. So does incredible. Maybe mind-blowing.”
“Don’t go overboard,” he said, though he was smiling.
“Not going overboard,” she assured him. “I promise.”
There was a flicker of relief in his eyes. “I thought it was pretty darn good, too.”
“Pretty darn good?” she said indignantly. “I’ll accept magnificent, nothing less.”
He laughed. “Magnificent, then. I guess we can scratch one worry off that very long list of mine.”
“Oh?”
“Sex is not going to be a problem for us.”
“Oh, no,” she said fervently, then regarded him curiously. “What else is on that list of yours? I thought the fact that I’m here in your bed meant you’d crumpled it up and tossed it away.”
He hesitated.
“Come