EthanEthan felt oddly nervous as he prepared for his day. He'd woken up that morning in a great mood, and he knew it had to do with the fact that he was going to see Laura that evening. He checked his watch. He had two meetings before it would be time for his date, and it felt like too long and yet not enough at the same time.He stood at the foot of his bed with his dinner suit laid out on across the comforter. He held three ties in his hand, trying to figure out which one would look the best. Usually, he left this kind of decision up to his secretary, but he was on his own today.He held up the blue one. It looked nice, but he wasn't sure if the gold one gave a better impression. He wondered which color Laura liked better and wished he had a horse tie. She would like a horse tie.A knock on the door to his hotel suite pulled him from his thoughts. He set the ties down and went to open the door. Peeking through the peephole, he could see Craig waiting for him. He smiled and opened u
Laura“It'll be okay, Dallas. I promise,” Laura told her brother as she rubbed his back. “You're doing great.”He nodded weakly and continued to vomit what little was left in his stomach into the toilet. Laura kept rubbing his back and making soft words of encouragement until the little guy curled up in a ball on the floor.“I don't feel good, Laura,” he said weakly. If that wasn't the understatement of the year, she wasn't sure what was. His little cheeks were flushed, and he looked absolutely miserable.“I know, sweetie,” she said softly, pulling him up into a hug. “Let's rinse your mouth out and then we'll go join your sister on the couch. Then we can watch a movie.”Dallas nodded weakly, letting his sister take him to the sink. “A new movie?”“Sorry, we just have the old ones,” Laura said, turning on the water.“Okay.” He didn't even try to whine about it. That's how Laura knew he was absolutely miserable. Dallas reached out and washed his hands and took a small sip of water into
LauraBeing very careful not to wake the small humans, Laura slipped off the couch. She gently put Ivy's head on a pillow and tucked her in while Ethan did the same for Dallas. When they were done, they both headed into the kitchen to wash their hands. Laura had them do it twice, just to be on the safe side.While she was microwaving their food, Ethan went to the bag of DVDs and pulled out something. She wasn't sure what it was until she turned around and found that he had a little candle on the center of the table. It flickered and cast a warm light on the small wooden table.“You didn't have to clear the table,” she said gently, bringing the food over. It was still in the paper take-out containers, but she didn't want to do dishes.“Yeah, but where else would we eat?” he asked. She could see he'd neatly stacked all the bills, homework, and art projects on one of the empty chairs. “Next time, I really do want to bring you someplace nice, but for now, would you join me for a candlelig
LauraLaura scrambled out of her chair and sprinted across the room. She didn't even care that she knocked her chair over or that she was fairly sure her fork hit Ethan in the face. She had to get to Dallas in time. Time moved in slow motion as she reached for the Halloween bucket and managed to get it into Dallas' lap just in time.She was about to sigh in relief, but Ivy started making the same gurgling noise. She turned, sure she wouldn't make it in time to find that Ethan already had the bucket under her and was holding back her long red hair.Ethan cuddled Ivy close, unconcerned for his nice pants or shirt. His lovely green tie was thrown over his shoulder, reminding Laura of a cape. He was certainly Ivy's hero as he cuddled her close and comforted her.It was so domestic and so laughable at the same time. She smiled at him, even though he was too busy to see it. If he wasn't here, she wasn't sure what she would have done. If nothing else, she would have had a mess to clean up. S
EthanEthan walked toward the familiar barn with both excitement and a little apprehension. He was excited because he was going to see Laura, and after last night she was the only thing he was able to think of. She had filled his dreams, and he had woken up needing a cold shower. He couldn't wait to see her.However, horses were not his thing. He liked dogs and cats. Horses were too big and unpredictable. He had never been riding and had this terrible prediction that he was going to make a fool of himself.He should have asked if they could go climbing. Or dancing. Or anything else besides horseback riding. He sighed and coughed as he took in a big mouthful of manure-smelling air. Laura loved horses. If he wanted to be with her, he was going to have to get comfortable around them.She was worth it, so he stood up a little straighter and put a smile on his face as he entered the barn.The smells of sunlight-warmed hay and horses, with the metallic tang of metal and leather for accent,
LauraLaura led as they took the back way home to the ranch. She couldn't stop smiling. This was going better than she'd hoped. It made her glad that she was on her horse in front of Ethan, that way he didn't have to see the goofy smirk that was plastered on her face.“Slow down there, cowgirl,” Ethan called out.Laura glanced over her shoulder to see Ethan a little way back on the trail. His smile was just as broad as hers as he held the reins. His horse was carefully navigating the rocky path, but apparently wasn't going fast enough to keep up with her.“Whoa,” she said, pulling on her reins.Her horse came to a stop in the middle of the trail, and they waited for Ethan to catch up.“Come on, slowpoke,” she shouted. “Don't be afraid of a few rocks.”“If the horse is afraid of them, then so am I,” Ethan called back. “Besides, I'd really rather not fall off. That would be ugly. You don't want to see me cry. I'm a really ugly crier.”Laura laughed at his comment as she watched Ethan tr
LauraIt must have been loud enough for Ethan to hear because he leaned in as soon as she had finished speaking. His lips touched hers as he gently pressed toward her. A soft moan eased up and out of Laura’s throat while a fire ignited inside of her.It wasn't their first time kissing, but this was ten times better than the first. Something about it was more intense, more meaningful. There was more to it this time.The kiss started out beautiful and slow, with Ethan teasing his lips against hers. It was a perfect and meticulous dance. Laura would pull away just a bit, causing Ethan to lean into her. Then the roles would reverse, and he'd do the same to her. Soon, their tongues were darting in and out of each other's mouths, twisting and wrestling while their hands drifted all over one another.Laura couldn't get enough of him. Now that the ice had been broken, she wanted to dive in head first. Whatever had made them want each other a year and a half before was there again, and back in
Laura“Kids, the pizza's here!” Laura called out, heading to her front door. She grabbed the money she'd left on the counter to give the pizza guy and opened the door.Except, instead of a pizza delivery person on her front step, it was Ethan holding several boxes of pizza.“Pizza delivery, ma'am.”“What are you doing delivering pizzas?” she asked, hand on her hip and smiling. “The car business not paying you well enough?”He laughed. “This way I get to see the neighborhood,” he teased. “I intercepted your pizza coming up.”“I see that,” she said. She looked past him to see the delivery car drive off. “Did you pay him?”“Maybe,” he replied with a shrug. “Maybe I just stole them.”She smacked his shoulder and held the door open for him to come in.“I thought you were going to be late. I didn't order you a pizza,” she said. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The kids would be so excited to have a surprise visit from Ethan, but she felt bad she didn't order enough food for