I swallowed, heat rising, and leaned into him, pressing a kiss to his lips. It wasn’t soft or hesitant, but full of the day’s exhaustion, the thrill of being here, and the way my chest felt as though it had been holding something in for too long. His hand came up to cradle my neck, tilting my face into his. The kiss deepened, his tongue rolling over mine with long, purposeful strokes. My fingers tangled in his hair, letting the quiet charge of the room take over me.
I pulled back just a fraction, and Ethan’s hand lingered on my jaw. “I’m glad you didn’t take the job.”
I forgot how to breathe. He wasn’t supposed to say that. Not after pushing me toward a life somewhere else and pretending like he didn’t care either way.
“You are?” I searched his face, half-convinced I’d imagined his moment of unguarded vulnerability.
The answer was in his eyes. Staggering honesty. And when his thumb brushed the corner of my mouth, I knew whatever this was… it wasn’t pretending anymore.
He leaned in, but the kiss my lips tingled for didn’t happen, because the abrupt thunder of footsteps on the stairs made us all jump. I whipped my head around, tension snapping into stark awareness. Miles shot off the couch, his hands covering the telling signs of a bulge in his pants while also trying to come off totally natural as he leaned against the doorframe. Adrian chose to stay seated, and pulled a scatter cushion into his lap instead.
I hadn’t moved yet, heart hammering, skin tingling with the memory of Ethan’s lips against mine.
“Why are you out of bed?” Ethan asked, voice still thick with a trace of lingering lust.
Will took a second to catch his breath, then said, “Emma’s not in her bed.”
“What?” It couldn’t have been more than half an hour since I’d tucked them in.
He shook his head. “I went to the bathroom and the door to their room was open, so I saw her bed when I walked past. She’s not there. Or anywhere upstairs.”
22
Ethan
“She can’t be gone.”
“She’s gone.”
“She’s probably just hiding somewhere.” I breathed through the threat of panic, and begged Will with one look to tell me what I wanted to hear. “Did you check the linen closet?”
This time he didn’t bother saying anything. Probably because it would be the same thing he’d been repeating.
“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Maren was already moving, faster than me, and I followed her to the staircase, heart hammering in my chest. Will stayed rooted to the spot, and hiked his thumb in the direction of the girls’ room upstairs.
We stopped right at the threshold and took a breath. Sadie was still sound asleep, and we didn’t want to go barreling in there and scaring her.
Her backpack was gone. Every little scrap of craft paper, her markers, the glitter glue she loved. All of it. My stomach dropped. I could hear Gabe’s voice in my head, talking about how he could never forgive me. Sissy tearing into me for not keeping her little girl safe.
Miles and Adrian appeared in the hallway at the same moment I processed it. Miles had his phone out before I could even breathe. “I’m calling the cops,” he said, voice tight.
“Not yet.” Sadie had begun to stir, and I waited for her to open her eyes. “Sadie? Sadie, sweetie, wake up.”
“Uncle Ethan?” Her voice was thin and weighed down with sleep.
Maren stepped closer, her hands gentle as she scooped Sadie into her lap. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” she murmured. Her voice had that calm I’d seen her use a hundred times with the kids, but now it was anchoring me too. “Did Emma say anything to you about going for a walk tonight?”
She frowned at Maren, and then Emma’s empty bed. Her lip trembled. “Where’s Emma?”
“She always does this,” Will said quietly. He stuck with Adrian just outside the bedroom. “Whenever she’s mad at Mom or Dad. She runs off. But… she never goes far.”
I clenched my fists. Never goes far. That was supposed to help, right? But knowing Emma’s stubborn streak as I did, I felt a cold knot of dread tighten.
“I’m calling the cops,” Miles said again, and disappeared down the hall.
“I don’t understand.” Maren looked as stunned as I felt. “Why was she mad? I thought she was fine after we talked things out.”
Will shrugged.
