Shake The Frost (Crystal Lake #6) - Juliana Stone Page 0,24

on the gentle swell of her belly, his charms were ramped up to another level entirely. There was a possessive glint in his eye, and in answer, something inside her woke up.

She liked the way he looked at her.

Like he was starving and she was the only thing on the menu. Mouth dry, she stared at him in silence, not really knowing what to do or say or how to react, because inside, she was shaking and nervous and…excited and scared.

She thought back to that night when, in desperation to connect and feel something more than the pain they shared, she practically threw herself at him and they’d made love. She thought of the feeling of him inside her, the way his eyes darkened…and the look of disgust on his face, or whatever it was he’d felt, when it was over.

Heart pounding, she watched as he cleared his throat, his eyes once again on hers. “I knocked, but you didn’t answer.”

“It’s okay,” she said quickly and scooped up the pink sweater to hold in front of her. “I’m trying to figure out what to wear.” She had bikinis skimpier than her undies.

He didn’t reply for the longest time, and all that electricity in the air began to burn. Her skin felt as if it were on fire, and her nerves jangled like Mexican jumping beans. When he finally spoke, his voice was so low, she barely heard him.

“I’ll wait in the living room.”

Emily didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until Ethan left, and she had no witnesses to the deep blush that erupted across her cheeks and heated its way down her neck to her chest.

What the hell had just happened? She looked at herself in the mirror, noting the still-pink cheeks and glassy eyes.

It must be pregnancy hormones, she decided. Best not to read too much into any of it. Emily counted to ten and, once her heart had slowed a bit, grabbed a pair of jeans from her cupboard and pulled them on before cutting the tags from the pink sweater and slipping it over her head. She donned a pair of knee-high soft brown boots and grabbed a matching brown leather bag from the cupboard. She tossed in some gloss, tissues, and was all set. After one last look in the mirror, she headed for the foyer.

This was a business dinner to discuss their situation. Nothing more. Her hormones were going to have to obey, and that was that.

Ethan stood in front of the window in the living room, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, his tall frame bathed in shadow, Bilbo at his side. Neither one of them heard her enter the room, though when Emily reached for the bin on the counter and grabbed a treat, the dog turned with a bark.

She tossed Bilbo his snack before looking up at Ethan. His expression was shuttered, and she shuffled her feet nervously.

“I’m ready,” she said, pasting a smile that felt like plastic to her face.

“We don’t have to go out. We can stay here and order in if you want.”

The thought of being cooped up with Ethan in her home with all this stuff between them almost had her flying out the door.

“No,” she replied quickly. “I’m looking forward to getting out.” She grabbed a pale gray wool coat from the closet, and the two of them headed out into the cold November night. She waved to Mr. Bugle, who was shoveling his driveway, though there wasn’t nearly enough snow on the ground to warrant the effort.

“I think he’s more interested in your company than his driveway,” Ethan said, nodding to the elderly man as he backed out of Emily’s driveway.

“He checks in on me. Makes sure I’m good. I think he feels like he’s filling some kind of role on account of Mom being in Florida and, well, my sperm donor has never been in the picture.”

“That’s good.” Ethan glanced her way. “To have someone check in on you.”

She turned up the music, and the two of them spent the next thirty minutes talking about nothing that mattered. All polite like. As if they were discussing the weather, which they did, among other things.

It was weird. Disconcerting. This wasn’t them. Since when did Ethan care about the weather or the top 100 country songs of the year? By the time Ethan parked and escorted her up the steps to La Luna Grille, she was wishing she’d said no to dinner and stayed