“Well. A bit hot and cold, anyway,” he chuckled. “How long are you gonna hide your face for?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
He shifted even closer and started pressing kisses to my hair and my shoulder. Meanwhile, one of his hands wandered under the covers, tracing my hip and down to my butt.
“I’m hoping the painkillers worked,” he murmured.
They must’ve. I was tired and a little sensitive, but the headache was gone.
“I feel better.” Unable to help myself, I snuggled into his arms and closed my eyes. I was too satisfied and content to let any embarrassment linger. More than that, I felt that I didn’t need to filter myself anymore. “I didn’t think I was your type,” I admitted. “Hence running hot and cold. I was trying to keep my crap together.”
He hummed and slipped an arm under my pillow. “My type for a good first impression is a beautiful woman with attitude. You have both in spades. The rest is chemistry.”
At that, I had to peer up at him. “You’re kind of incredible, you know that?”
He kissed me on the forehead. “I tried to tell people, and they just called me arrogant.”
I laughed and smacked his chest lightly—and I lingered there. I dropped my gaze to his chest and brushed my fingers through his chest hair. Maybe it hadn’t grown out fully yet.
“I like this,” I murmured.
He hummed again. “Yeah, I’ve gone through some changes too.”
“Trust me, I’m aware. I’m your latest Instagram stalker.”
He shook with a silent laugh. “I can live with that.”
I leaned in and kissed his chin. “I love seeing you comfortable. You’re more at ease now.”
He nodded minutely. “In retrospect, I’ve struggled for years to just fuckin’ unclench. I guess I finally reached my limit.”
“Type A personality or just overambitious small business owner?”
He weighed his answer. “It’s probably part of a longer story on a topic that doesn’t really qualify as sexy pillow talk. It involves years of having three brothers in the military, making an actual difference in the world, while I was waiting at home to set up rehabilitation routines for their battle injuries.”
But, ohhh! He couldn’t say something like that and expect me to drop it.
I eased my leg up his hip and tried to keep things light. “Does the pillow talk need to be sexy?”
Some of the heat from before returned to his eyes, and he moved his hand firmly up my leg, up my thigh, and leaned in to kiss me.
“Natalie, I finally have you in my bed. We can talk about my former issues another time.”
Have mercy on me, he made me feel downrightgiddy. Even more so when he rolled on top of me and tried to deepen the kiss. But, good sir, I wasn’t going to be derailed that easily.
“You make a difference too, you know.” I cupped his cheek and brushed my lips to his. “I hope you know that. You help people every day.”
He smiled ruefully. “I’ve made my peace with things, I promise. It was my problem, nothing that anyone else ever made me feel. My brothers and I love to give each other shit, but we have each other’s backs. I was the one who felt I had to assert myself somehow when Ryan came home with medals or Darius saved someone’s life.”
I supposed that made sense. For the longest time, I’d envied my sister’s big family. She had her boys and ran her own bed-and-breakfast, while I’d…wandered aimlessly, trying to get my own business off the ground.
I combed my fingers through Ethan’s hair, and he closed his eyes and rested his forehead to mine.
“I’m looking forward to learning more about you, though. Just so you know.” I kissed him quickly. “But obviously not right now. The pillow talk needs to be sexier. This is starting to become embarrassing.”
He smirked and flashed me another heated look. “I know the perfect fix for that, because I need you again.”
Sweet Jesus, yes, let’s go.
