Playing For Her Heart - Megan Erickson Page 0,46
you okay?”
He met her gaze. “You’re a grown woman, and I can’t tell you what to do. I wish you hadn’t had to sneak around. That wasn’t what I wanted for you.”
She laid her hand on top of his fist. He relaxed it and opened his fingers, palm up. She clasped it. “We didn’t sneak around because of you, not really. I haven’t been ready to commit.”
“And how’s Grant handling all of that?”
She smiled. “He’s the one who pushed me into opening up about this. I pushed him away but I’m hoping when I get my head sorted out, I’ll be able to get him back.”
Ethan nodded, squeezing her hand, then let it go to eat his sandwich. She did the same.
“Sydney is a firecracker, isn’t she?” Ethan asked.
“Yes, she’s wonderful. Was Grant married to her mother or…?”
Ethan shook his head. “One-night stand from college. The woman was going to give her up for adoption, but Grant said he’d care for the child. Sometimes I’m sure he wants to smack himself for that decision, but he’s never regretted it.”
“She adores him.”
“As she should.”
When lunch was over, Chloe cleaned up. She caught Ethan staring at the picture on the refrigerator, the one of Samantha, him, and Chloe. She knew it had taken a lot out of him to talk about their sister today. He rarely did, and she didn’t push. Although she was starting to think maybe she should, because Ethan wasn’t doing any better at his grief than she was.
“I’m going to visit Mom and Dad,” she announced. “Leaving later today.”
He was staring out the back door again, hands in his pockets. He didn’t respond.
“Would you like to come?” she asked.
Even though she knew his answer, she held out hope until he shook his head.
“Maybe you could call them?” she suggested softly.
He turned to her then, eyes filled with sorrow before he threw down the shutters. “Drive safe, Chloe. Are you staying with them or at a hotel?”
It was hard for her to stay in that house, the one she’d grown up in with two other siblings. “At the house, I think.”
He nodded and walked toward the door. “Please let me know when you get back into town.”
She followed him. “Are you going to say anything to Grant?”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob, then turned around. “No, I don’t believe I will.”
“It was hard for him, I know. He didn’t like not telling you. But it was my decision as much as his.”
Ethan smiled slightly. “I understand. We’ll see if Grant comes to me. Something tells me he will.”
Chloe doubted it. She’d left Grant standing in a parking lot. If he never talked to her again, she wouldn’t be surprised. But at least he’d given her the push she needed to change something about her life, even if he wasn’t there for her on the other side.
Chapter Twelve
Grant admitted this was a little over the line. Dipping into obsessive territory. He wasn’t driven by a lustful desire to claim Chloe or anything crazy like that.
He cared. He was worried. And he missed her.
He couldn’t stop thinking about finally getting the chance to be with her—really be with her. The glimpse of her heart he’d gotten during her interaction with Sydney and with him at the coffee shop wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He wasn’t willing to give up.
And that’s why he stood outside Ethan’s door, biting his lip raw and holding two foil-wrapped burritos in one hand. He knocked and heard a deep voice from inside answer. “Come in!”
He opened the door and shut it behind him. A vision of Chloe dancing around in Ethan’s kitchen flashed through his mind and he shook his head quickly.
Ethan was in the living room, reading a book. He laid the worn paperback on the table beside him and leaned back in his recliner. Grant lifted a burrito toward Ethan, who shook his head. Grant shrugged and took a seat on the couch.
“Sydney says hi,” Grant said.
“Yeah? Why didn’t you bring her over?”
Grant took a bite and swallowed before talking. “I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something.”
Ethan’s expression showed nothing. “About Gamers?”
Shit, why was this so hard? He’d been tempted to take a dick pic before he came, just in case that was the last time he’d ever have his genitals intact. “Uh, no, it’s personal.”
Again, no movement on Ethan’s face. The cold bastard.
Grant took a deep breath and set the burritos aside. He wasn’t as hungry as he’d thought.