eagerly. “As long as you’re right here in my bed, anyway.”
“Just what I was thinking.”
* * *
“We really didn’t think this through,” Samantha said as Ethan drove her back to Cora Jane’s at midday on Sunday. She glanced down at her maid of honor dress and the strappy, high-heeled sandals she was holding in her lap. The dress was a little the worse for wear, and hardly suitable daytime attire anywhere other than a wedding. The shoes, pretty as they were, weren’t made for comfort.
“Afraid everyone’s going to wonder what you’ve been up to?” Ethan inquired, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Oh, they’re going to know exactly what we’ve been up to,” she lamented. “They’re likely to give us a rousing cheer.”
“Think Cora Jane has a shotgun lying around?” he asked, suddenly sounding a tiny bit more nervous.
“If you’re lucky, it’s still locked in the closet,” she told him.
“And your father? What’s his reaction going to be?”
She frowned at the question. “You know, I have no idea. He was never one of those dads who waited up for us to get home from dates. I don’t think he’s especially protective. Then, again, he’s done a lot the past few days that’s taken me by surprise.”
“So he’s the wild card,” Ethan said, nodding. “I’ll do a preemptive strike.”
Samantha laughed despite the awkward situation. “Exactly how do you intend to pull that off?”
“I’ll tell him my intentions are honorable,” he said.
She shook her head at once. “Oh, no. Bad idea. Honorable intentions tend to lead straight to the altar, at least in their view. We do not want to set them up for a huge disappointment just to save your hide today.”
“It’s something to consider,” he argued.
Samantha stared at him incredulously. “What is? Marriage? This from a man who didn’t even want to have sex with me this time yesterday?”
To her annoyance, Ethan laughed. “Oh, I wanted to have sex with you,” he said. “I just didn’t want any messy, emotional complications.”
“What do you think marriage is?” she asked. “A few hours ago, weren’t you still thinking of that as the messiest emotional complication of all?”
“Can’t deny it,” he said. “I’ve given it some more thought. Maybe we should just go for broke.”
“Boy, I must be much better in bed than I thought,” she muttered under her breath.
“You’re amazing in bed,” he confirmed. “But it’s not about that.”
“Then it’s about a transformation worthy of some sci-fi film,” she said. “Nobody changes their entire belief system that quickly.”
“I don’t know that it was that quick,” he argued, sounding perfectly sincere. “I think it’s been coming on since the instant I realized that I was attracted to you. I fought it tooth and nail, but here we are. Maybe it’s time to stop fighting.”
“It’s the maybe I find worrisome,” she said. “I know you’re the kind of man who wants to do the right thing, but I’m not some starry-eyed teenager whose virtue you’ve stolen. We were equals in that bed last night. There are no expectations today, not from me, and definitely not from my family.”
“Well, since there are a half dozen people peering out of various windows in the house, maybe we should table this conversation till later,” he suggested, nodding toward Cora Jane’s.
Sure enough, Gabi was positioned in an upstairs window overlooking the driveway, Wade right behind her, a smirk on his face. Cora Jane and Jerry were the fascinated observers from the kitchen. And standing together at the French doors in the living room, to Samantha’s shock, her father and Sophia Grayson, of all people, seemed to be regarding them with amusement.
She kept her focus on that unlikely duo. “I think I’ve just spotted the answer to our prayers,” she said. “My father and Sophia. If we walk inside and I go on the offensive about what they’re up to, we can forestall the inquisition about us.”
She was about to step out of the car when Ethan stilled her with a touch. She turned back to him. “What?”
“Do you really want to throw the spotlight on them? Your dad’s been alone since your mom died. This thing with Sophia—if there even is a thing—could be the best thing that’s happened to him. Why stir up trouble just to take the heat off us?”
She knew he was right, but his thoughtfulness was certainly inconvenient for the two of them. “Do you have a better idea? Other than avowing your undying love, that is?”
He smiled. “Let’s just go in there, face the music