The Art of Ethan

Excerpt:
“Are you afraid of heights?” This woman was making him crazy. Usually he can’t get a woman to stop talking. Now, he’s being shut down by the ice princess.
“I’m sorry?” She could feel his eyes burning more heat into the side of her face, so she turned and fell into those deep brown pools of chocolate. They were dancing with light as he squinted from the sun, causing little lines at the corners. She was drowning in a sea of chocolate. Death by chocolate, is there any other way to go?
“You’re holding on to that bar like you may fall out of the seat.” His gaze didn’t waiver. Her eyes were spinning with colors making him insane.
Her white knuckles were showing. He began to think maybe she was afraid of something. Maybe even him. No, he wouldn’t believe that. He was gruff last night, but he was a nice guy. He was pretty sure he was anyway. “I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think we’re going to exceed five miles an hour in this thing.”
“Oh, I just.” She let go and nervously played with her purse strap. Damn that smile. Ouch that hand. “I ugh…”
She was interrupted by the tour guide’s voice coming over the speaker. Thank you.
Damn. Ethan wished they had sat there a moment longer. She was about to talk, and he liked her voice. It was soft except when she was angry; then, it was stronger, demanding. He wondered how it would sound in the bedroom. Would she be soft and timid or demanding and in control?
The bus started up with a loud rumble. All the passengers gave the guide their full attention. It was packed up top and more than half full on the bottom. The Red Hat Society had planned an outing on this day. Ladies wearing red and purple were everywhere. The guide knew Grace’s mother. Of course, she also knew Mitchell’s. So, by nightfall everyone would know Grace had a new man in her life, even if she didn’t really.
The frustration gave way to a real thought. Everyone would see her with Ethan. They would think they were a couple, and the Patterson’s would hear for sure. Mitchell’s mother would have a fit, cow that she is. Grace took a deep breath. She felt relaxed and comfortable. Why shouldn’t she? This is her home town, not his. She turned to Ethan, who was trying to see the house on the opposite side of the bus that the guide was talking about.
His shoulders were like mountains; muscles ripped beneath the T-shirt, and Grace had to grip the strap on her purse to keep from touching them. She had never met a man she wanted to touch so badly. The contact of his leg still pressing into her made her want to grab his thigh, too. She shook her head trying to shake those thoughts away, but it didn’t work.
“You know, we should go out for dinner tonight,” she said confidently. Out where everyone can see us together.
He turned immediately. The ice princess is melting?
“What do you think?” She watched the light bounce around his eyes. Her gaze dropped to those kissable lips. She couldn’t help but to lick her own.
“This is my vacation. I’m up for anything.” Ethan noticed the soft pink tongue slide across her lips, which looked delicious, glossy, and he wanted to taste them, too. “What did you have in mind?”
“Local fare, I’ll let Megan choose since she hasn’t been home in awhile.” That seemed fair.
“Actually.” Ethan had explored this town at six this morning when he snuck out for a jog. “I think the Net House looks good.”
“How would you know?” Grace could feel that eyebrow raise her forehead again. Suspect. The man was definitely suspect.
They shared a quiet moment.
Before he could answer, the guide’s voice focused attention on the next spot, the graveyard. Appropriately the moment ended. Ethan seemed genuinely interested in the tales of the soldier buried standing up and the little girl in the rum keg. Grace had heard the tales so much she knew them by heart.
“That’s heavy,” he said as the bus began to move again.
Grace simply nodded.
Ethan liked the little town. It was quiet and full of older people as far as he could tell. Her neighbors were on the porch when he started out for his jog almost scaring him to death when they said hello. He looked around again taking it all in, trying to focus on anything but Grace. He was spending too much time and effort on this woman, yet the feel of her leg beside his, the smell of her hair drifting over him with each slight breeze pulled at him.
They sat in silence for the rest of the tour. The only thing Grace thought of was his leg, the fabric of the cargo shorts, and the muscle that flexed beneath them periodically.
Once the big red bus pulled back in front of the Historic Association, the red hat ladies began to exit. Ethan didn’t budge.
“My, my,” one woman said as she glanced at Ethan and exited.
“Well, Grace McPherson is that you behind this, fine young thing of a man?” Mrs. Mary Beth Jane, head of the society and principle at the elementary school stopped in the aisle holding up her crew of ladies and a couple tourists.
“Hi, Mary Beth. This is Ethan, a friend of mine.” The woman had three first names. Surely, she knew a man named Jane would cause her to have three first names. Grace looked toward Megan and Chase. Megan was pointing and mouthing ha-ha at her. “And you remember my cousin, Megan.” She pointed at Megan, and everyone turned, even the tourists. “That’s her fiancé, Chase. They’re all in from New York to visit.”
“Well, that explains why we never saw this handsome devil before.” She winked at Ethan, who just smiled and bowed his head. “You have fun this summer, Grace. I hope to read that book when you get back from vacation, ya hear?”
Mary Beth Jane gave Ethan the once over and patted him on the shoulder as she walked away. “Oh, to be young again.” Her voice trailed.
Grace just sat there in disbelief. He really does have some kind of power over women. No, it must be the heat.
The red hat ladies filed down the isle and said their hellos and goodbyes. Grace was embarrassed by all the winks and eyebrow lifts the ladies not so discreetly shared. A few actually touched him, brushed against his shoulder or arm as they passed. It was insane. Ethan just smiled and waved like he knew them, not fazed in the least.
If there were any chance of this being a quiet week, a chance to meet her cousin’s fiancé and his family, that was now over. This would be the talk of the whole town. Ethan would be the talk of the whole town. Though it wasn’t true, they would assume he was with her. That brought a huge smile to her face.
Grace stood on the sidewalk next to Ethan, smiling as wide as the day was long. Chase helped Megan down from the bus. How she got around in those shoes just boggled Grace’s mind. Then, a thought came, Megan would probably have her bridesmaids in stilettos as well. Her toes curled in pain.
“Is that an art gallery?” Ethan asked as he began walking away from them toward the building. He hadn’t noticed the building early this morning, but sure enough it was a little gallery. Tucked right behind the Historic Association in what was once a house. He needed a distraction from Grace, and art would definitely do it.
“Yeah,” Grace’s voice trailed off as she watched him walk away. “So.”
He looked just as good from the back as he did from the front. His brown hair was short with longer layers on top that seemed to stick out in different directions.
It wasn’t a purposeful mess. Instead, it looked like he just rolled out of bed. That thought sent the image of him in her bed through her mind again. Damn if she didn’t like that view.
“We’ll never get him out of there.” Chase headed for the inside of the Historic Association. “Let’s see what else we can do.”
Grace was again the third wheel in Megan’s life. She trudged on behind her cousin and Chase. She could have followed Ethan, but she needed a chance to breathe and regain her focus. She could always find her center around any other man, yet anytime she concentrated too hard, he just invaded her thoughts.
They stood in front of the brochure rack, and Chase sorted through what he thought would be good for the rest of the day. Grace could have told him, but she wanted him to see for himself. They were guests after all.
Once outside they headed for the grounds tour.
Chase had the map in hand though both Grace and Megan could have walked it blindfolded. Ethan caught up with them and hip bumped Grace almost knocking her over. He smiled and stuck his tongue out at her. She was startled, and a jolt of lightning hit her in the groin. He wasn’t chasing women away; no, he was electrifying them. She had to ignore it.
“Hey, why didn’t you follow me?” Ethan was surprised to realize she wasn’t right behind him. First, she ran away. Then, she didn’t talk to him. Now, she didn’t follow him. If he had a confidence problem, Grace would have taken a good chunk out of his ego. Good thing he didn’t.
Grace bumped him back sending him a staggering pace or two. He was awfully playful for a man, who was supposed to be throwing thunder and lightning to rid women from his life. He felt like an old friend, comfortable and fun, but she never wondered what old friends looked like naked. From the second she saw Ethan, that was all she wondered.
“Been there, done that. I don’t follow strange men around.” Grace knew she sounded like a little goody two shoes, but being proper was all she had as a defense.
“You let strange men sleep in your bed.” Damn if that bed didn’t make him dream of her all night. Wrapped in her scent, it left him wanting to know what she’d feel like wrapped in his arms.