Chapter Twenty-Three
You were there,” Ethan said from where he lay beside her in the snow.
Skye turned with her tongue out catching snowflakes, and nearly swallowed it as his hazel eyes went soft and warm. It was a look she saw a lot when they were together. One that made her go all warm and gooey inside. She didn’t appreciate him making her feel that way now.
Who was she trying to kid? No matter how much she fought against it, Ethan O’Connor would be making her feel warm and gooey until the day she died. She’d just have to get used to it. Once her heart finally stopped its excited pitter-patter, she asked him what he was talking about. Good job, she thought, when her voice didn’t come out all breathy and needy and sad.
“You were at my mother’s. You heard what Bennett was going to do, and you left because you thought I’d have a chance to win if you weren’t by my side. You left to protect me.” He stood up and took her hand. “Annie and Lily, it’s time to go inside.” He helped Skye to her feet and held her gaze. “And it’s time you and I talked.”
“We wanna play outside. We’re going to build a fort, right, Lily?” Annie gave her sister a nudge.
“Oh, yeah, we’re staying outside. You go inside with Uncle Ethan, Auntie Skye,” Lily said with an exaggerated wink at Ethan.
“Okay, but stay where we can see you,” he agreed as he dragged Skye toward the front steps. Ushering her into the house, he shut the door. “Start talking.”
“Would you mind if I get my boots and coat off first? Thanks to you, I’m a little cold and wet,” she said, taking off her hat and gloves.
“Yeah, I remember when I used to make you hot and wet,” he muttered, shoving his jacket into the closet. “Dammit, Skye, because of your misguided attempt to protect me, we’ve lost a month together.”
“I resent that. It wasn’t misguided,” she said, ignoring her sex-starved body’s response to his “hot and wet” comment as she stripped off her jacket.
“And I resent you vanishing in the middle of the night, for leaving me a goddamn note”—he backed her against the wall, caging her in—“that broke my heart, for—”
“I broke your heart?”
He took her face in his hands, his eyes searching hers. “How can you even ask me that? I loved you, Skye. I loved you, and you left me.”
“You didn’t love me. You loved Kendall.”
His brow furrowed. “What are talking about? You are Kendall.”
She shook her head and tried to move out from under him, but he wouldn’t let her escape, pressing against her with his hard, warm body. “Yes, you are,” he said.
“No, I’m not. I pretended to be Kendall because you loved her. It was Kendall you needed, not me. I’m the one who lost the election for you, Ethan. Me, not Kendall.”
“You should’ve told me how you felt. I loved you, Skye. It was always you I loved.”
“Whenever you told me you loved me, you called me Kendall, not Skye.”
“You’re starting to piss me off, cupcake. I—”
“And that’s another thing—up until today, you haven’t called me cupcake in months. Today was the first time—”
He cut her off with a frustrated sound in his throat then dipped his head and devoured her mouth. Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her off her feet, carrying her through the house with his lips fused to hers. Her dreams hadn’t done him justice. Somehow she’d forgotten how he could steal her senses, turning her into a boneless mass of quivering desire with a simple kiss. Actually, it wasn’t so simple. It was a long, hard kiss filled with so much passion her toes curled in her socks.
She held back a disappointed groan when he lifted his head, pushing something away with his foot. He dropped onto the couch with her sprawled over him. “You. I love you, Skylar Davis O’Connor. You and our baby.” He moved her onto his lap. Once he got her settled, he placed his heavy hand on her stomach. “I missed my wife and our baby.”
She covered his hand. “You married me because of the baby.”
“You married me because of Moriarty.”
“Hold that thought.” He raised his hip to dig his buzzing cell from his jeans pocket. “It’s Gage,” he told her and took the call. He didn’t take his eyes off her while he spoke to his best friend. She skimmed her fingers along his jaw, amazed that only yesterday she thought they were over and now it looked like they had a second chance. If he could forgive her, then maybe they could make this work. She wouldn’t have to worry about being someone she wasn’t, not anymore. There would no longer be supporters and constituents to please and pacify.
The baby kicked, and Ethan blinked. Skye smiled at the surprise in his eyes. Her smile faltering as she realized it was because of her that he’d missed out on that. Missed seeing the impression of a foot or small fist move across her stomach.
He lifted his chin as if to say What’s wrong?
She shook her head, then laid it on his chest, listening to the strong, steady beat of his heart.
“Don’t worry about us,” he said, stroking her hair. “I’ll have the girls call you when they come inside. Yeah, we’re good. No, we haven’t scarred them by fighting in front of them. Might by making out in front of them.” He laughed. “Yeah, right, as if they haven’t caught the two of you. Okay, we’ll see you in the morning.” He disconnected and leaned over to put his cell on the coffee table. “Roads are bad. They’re holed up in a motel in the next county for the night.”
She lifted her head and looked out the window at the big, fat flakes falling heavily from the sky. “Maybe we should call the girls in.”
“Two minutes. I want to know what you were going to say, and I want to kiss you again before they come in.” He slid his hand under her sweater, caressing her stomach as he held her gaze. “But before we do either of those things, tell me about the baby, how you’re feeling.”
“I’m good. We’re both good. It’s weird, though, every time I lay down, she goes crazy. The only way I can get her to settle down is to sing ‘Wild Horses.’ ”
“Maybe she knew something was missing. Maybe she missed my hand on your belly when you went to sleep,” he said, stroking her stomach with his long, strong fingers.
It was true. He’d always slept with Skye tucked against him, his big hand resting on her stomach. A heated shiver quivered up her spine as he continued to stroke and caress her. As though he sensed her reaction, he smiled. “You missed me, too, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. I didn’t want to leave, Ethan. I—” She sighed when Lily and Annie called out loudly—“We’re inside now”—and slammed the door.
“They’re well trained.” Ethan laughed, giving her a quick kiss and gently easing her off his lap. “But don’t worry, cupcake, we’ve got all night to talk.”
With the heated look he gave her, Skye wondered how much talking he intended to do. But no matter what he planned, no matter how much she wanted the same, they were finishing this conversation tonight. This time, she planned on being totally open and honest.
* * *
Ethan O’Connor was one very sneaky man. Somehow, without Lily and Annie noticing, he managed to touch Skye every five minutes and kiss her senseless every chance he got. Now she was thinking that talking was overrated. They were all sitting around in their pajamas—well, Skye and the girls were, at least—watching Jack Frost.
Ethan had been trying to get them to change the channel for the last thirty minutes. “Seriously, how can this be a Christmas movie? The dad died. All right,” he said when the three of them gave him a look, “I know when I’m not wanted. But you wait, in about ten minutes, you’re going to be very glad I’m here.” He waggled his brows, patted Skye’s thigh, then got up from the couch and walked toward the kitchen.
Her gaze followed him, unable to take her eyes off his firm behind, the way those well-worn jeans encased his muscular thighs. She turned back to the TV. She had to get a grip or at least distract herself. “Wow, look at him go,” she said as Charlie Frost skated down the ice.
“I didn’t know you liked hockey, Auntie. Annie loves it now ’cause Trent plays. He has a game on Thursday. You should come with us.”
Annie released a dramatic sigh. “Lily, I already told you, you can’t come.”
“You’re not the boss of me, Annie. It’s a free world. I can go if I want. I like hockey, too, you know.”
“You can come watch me and your dad play, Lily,” Ethan said as he returned to the living room. Skye eyed the marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate bars, and metal skewer he carried with trepidation.
“That’s not real hockey,” Lily said. “You just play for fun.”
He set his stash on the fireplace ledge. “What are you talking about? We’re a real league.”
Annie snorted. “Yeah, an old-timer’s league.”
“You play hockey?” Skye asked. Though he did have the body of athlete, he seemed more cerebral than athletic. She just thought he’d been blessed with amazing genes.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” he said as he sat beside the fire, stretching out his long legs. “I was MVP last game.”
“Jack said it’s ’cause they felt sorry for you.”
“I scored the winning goal. Jack’s mad we beat his and Sawyer’s team. You know, Sawyer, ex-captain of the Colorado Flurries, a professional hockey team. Yeah, that’s who we beat.” He shook his head while threading marshmallows onto the skewer. “Careful, or I won’t make you a s’more.”
Annie opened her mouth, and Skye caught her eye, giving her head a subtle shake. He obviously wanted to do something special for the girls, and she didn’t want to disappoint him. They’d have to figure out a way to hide the fact that they would not in this lifetime eat marshmallows.
“Okay, I’m not going to let your doubts about my athletic prowess stop me from treating you to the best dessert bar none. Get over here.”
Behind Ethan’s back, the girl’s held out their hands as if to say What do we do now? while Skye silently indicated she’d handle it. “Umm, smells good,” she said, positioning herself a foot or so behind him, waving for the girls to do the same.
Ethan glanced over his shoulder as he knelt in front of the fireplace, holding the skewered marshmallows above the low flame. “You sure I can’t change your mind about chocolate? You don’t know what you’re missing. All right,” he conceded when she shook her head, “I’ll give you extra marshmallows.”
“Mm, yum,” she said, trying not to gag.
He grinned, looking so adorably sweet, that she knew she’d made the right decision. She edged the leather magazine holder closer as Ethan gingerly slid the bubbling, browned marshmallows onto the graham crackers he’d prepared beforehand with a piece of milk chocolate. “It’s a little hot, so wait a minute before you eat it, Lily.”
Lily rubbed her tummy. “It looks so good, Uncle Ethan. Thanks.”
He smiled and tweaked her ponytail then turned to thread more marshmallows onto the skewer. “You’re next, Annie.”
“Can’t wait,” she said, putting both hands around her neck, being sure to stay out of Ethan’s line of sight. Lily handed Skye her plate. She dumped the s’more in the magazine holder, covering it with papers as she gave Lily back her empty plate.
“You can’t be finished already,” Ethan said to Lily as he handed Annie her s’more.
“Yep, it was the best. Way better than Daddy makes,” Lily said.
She’s got her uncle’s number, Skye thought.
Ethan grabbed a couple more marshmallows out of the bag. “Cool. I’ll have to tell him you said so.”
“Ethan, you have a problem,” Skye said. “You might want to talk to someone about your compulsive need to compete. You’re setting a bad example for the girls. Just remember, Annie and Lily, everyone’s a winner.”
Annie was about to give Skye her plate, when Ethan turned to them. “Don’t listen to her, girls. She’s living in Fairyland. Competition is a good thing. Without it, we’d be living in the Dark Ages. Nothing better than a little competition to make you aware of your strengths and weaknesses.” He looked at Annie’s plate. “They’re better warm, eat up.”
She nodded and put it to her mouth, tossing it to Skye as soon as he went back to toasting his marshmallows. “You know…” he began as he turned, then his gaze jerked from Skye to the s’more she was dumping in the magazine holder. “Really… really,” he said, taking the s’mores from underneath the paper, holding them up as if they were evidence in a murder trial. “What the hel… heck? I—”
“We didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but we can’t eat them,” Annie said.
He looked at them, lifted the s’more to his mouth, and took a big bite. “These are frigging awesome.” Skye pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. He waved the half-eaten s’more at her. “What are you teaching these girls? This is perfectly—”
Lily grimaced. “Marshmallows are made from the skin and bones of animals.”
He looked from the s’more to Lily. “They are not.”
“Are too,” said Annie.
“All you had to do was tell me you didn’t want them,” he said in a grumpy tone of voice, gathering up the bag of marshmallows. “I wouldn’t have wasted my time.”
“We won’t think worse of you for eating the s’more, Ethan. It’s a personal choice. Here, I’ll clean up. You watch the end of the movie with the girls.” Skye took the bag from him, bending down to pick up the rest. “Honestly, go ahead and eat them,” she said as she straightened, pressing the s’mores into his hand.
He stood up, handed them back to her, and said low enough that only she could hear, “Chance was right. You really are a pain in the ass.”
She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “But you love me.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said, lightly swatting her behind as she headed for the kitchen. The warm glow of happiness that enveloped her dissipated a little as she thought back to his earlier comments. She hadn’t realized until today how competitive Ethan was. It’d been amusing earlier when they were competing over gingerbread houses and snowmen. Probably because he’d looked so irresistibly sexy, and it’d been nice to be able to have fun and laugh together again.
But now she realized, as competitive as he was, he wouldn’t give up on his political career. No, he’d regroup and, with Claudia’s help, run again. Skye had been fooling herself. Drying off the skewer, she placed it in the bottom drawer, wondering how she could’ve been so stupid getting her hopes up. There’s no way Ethan would give up on his dream. And with Claudia and Liz egging him on, Skye would be right back where she started.
“Okay, movie’s over. Time for you two to go to bed,” she heard Ethan say.
The moment of reckoning was upon her, she thought, as she headed for the living room. It was now or never. Watching Ethan laugh with Annie and Lily as he carried them to their bedrooms, she wished she could choose never.
“You okay?” Ethan asked Skye after they’d tucked the girls into bed.
“I’m good, just a little cold.” It wasn’t a lie, but she doubted the goose bumps breaking out on her arms had anything to do with the blustery winds and snow battering the living room window.
“We’ll sit by the fire,” he said, grabbing a couple of pillows and the throw off the couch. Once he had them set up and had wrapped Skye in the red plaid blanket, he went to make her a cup of tea.
Christmas carols played on the radio, setting the scene for a perfectly romantic evening. And she was going to ruin it, just like she’d ruined his career. She stared out the window, the snow so heavy she could barely make out the mountains in the distance, wondering if she could let it go. Maybe this wasn’t something they had to talk about now.
“What are you thinking about?” Ethan asked. He handed her a mug as he settled himself in behind her, and drew her into his arms.
She smiled her thanks, then said, “Us. I didn’t expect this. I didn’t think today would turn out this way.”
He brushed his lips across the top of her head, linking his hands over her stomach. “Neither did I, but I’m happy our best friends took matters into their own hands and set us up. But if they hadn’t, I’m pretty sure Nell would have.” He laughed. “She has a book deadline, remember?”
“I thought it was funny when she wrote Maddie’s and Grace’s stories, but I don’t think it’s so funny now.” She put down her mug, tipping her head back. “Ethan, I’m not joking. You have to stop Nell. Send her one of those cease-and-desist letters.”
“Why? I bet our book will outsell Gage’s and Jack’s. We’ve got way more going on than they do.”
She buried her face in her hands and groaned. She couldn’t believe him. “Yeah, Grace and Maddie are normal. You’re the one with the crazy wife. I’ll turn into a joke on late-night television. Everyone will feel sorry for you. The man who married the woman who destroyed his dream.”
“What I have is an incredibly passionate wife who gives a damn and stands up for what she believes in. And, cupcake, you didn’t destroy my dream. If you would’ve given me a chance, we could’ve handled Bennett together. We didn’t lose by much, and we made inroads in what was a predominantly Democrat district.”
“You deserved to win, Ethan. You should’ve won, and if it wasn’t for me, you would have. That’s something I’ll always regret. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. I’m sorry, sorrier than you’ll ever know.”
“If it wasn’t for you busting your butt on the campaign trail, I wouldn’t have had half of those votes. You did that, Skye. You were amazing. You worked as hard as anyone to get me elected, and even though it was unnecessary and somewhat misguided, you made the ultimate sacrifice, and that’s something I’ll never forget.”
“Thank you, but in the end, I’m still responsible. Can you honestly forgive me?”
He sighed, turning her so she faced him with her legs straddling his hips. “I want you to listen to me, okay?” She nodded and he continued, “The only thing that matters to me is that you’re here now. That you love me, and that we’re going to raise our baby together. Having a family was as much my dream as being a senator. All that political stuff, that came from my dad. It was more his dream than mine.”
“I don’t understand. Your mom showed me your scrapbooks. She told me—”
“I know what she told you. She doesn’t know about my last conversation with my dad. She doesn’t know I told him I’d changed my mind.” He stared out the window before returning his gaze to hers. The raw emotion she saw in his eyes took her aback. “I loved my job as ADA. I felt as though I’d found my calling. When I said as much to my dad, he was furious. He told me I was throwing everything he’d worked so hard for away. If I would’ve backed down, given in, he’d be here now. Instead, I told him if he wanted it so badly maybe he should run. He had a fatal heart attack only hours after that call.”
She searched his face and didn’t like what she saw. “Ethan, you’re not responsible for your father’s death. You know that, don’t you?”
He held her gaze. “But I am. He’d never been sick a day in his life.”
“You listen to me, Ethan O’Connor. He had a heart attack. You didn’t cause it. I’m sure if you asked your mother there’d been signs—”
“No, I’m not talking about this with her. It would kill her if she knew. She’d never forgive me.”
“But, Ethan—”
“Skye, I’ve never told anyone about this, not even Gage. I’m trusting you to keep this to yourself. Promise me you won’t say anything to anyone.”
Seeing the pain his guilt caused him, she wasn’t sure it was a promise she could make. “This isn’t healthy. You need to talk to someone. Talk to Paul. Please, he’ll keep your confidence, and he out of anyone will know if your dad had health issues that you were unaware of. Because, Ethan, I’ll guarantee you that he did.”
“No. This goes no further than us.”
“Okay.” She reluctantly gave in, realizing that for now, there was no way she would change his mind. But somehow she had to banish the sorrow from his eyes. She angled her head. “So, what you’re telling me is that I saved you. I saved you from making the biggest mistake of your life.” She gave him a long, passionate—and she hoped—healing kiss, then lifted her head and smiled. “I’m your hero, Ethan O’Connor.”
He shook his head with a laugh. “What you are is a gorgeous fruitcake.”
“Hey.” She lightly swatted his chest. “I’m not a fruitcake.”
“I love fruitcake, and I love you,” he said, swallowing her “I love you, too” with one of his off-the-charts, toe-curling kisses.
Minutes into their hot and steamy kiss, there was a loud bang. The lights flickered, then went out. “Wow,” Skye said, lifting her head to look around the room. “I’m impressed. I knew your kiss packed a wallop, but I didn’t think it was strong enough to knock out the electricity.”
Once he stopped laughing, he said, “I’m going to make a couple of calls, check to be sure it was the storm that caused the outage. And then, cupcake, I’ll take you to bed and show you just how powerful I am.”
“If we were alone, I’d race you to the bedroom, but we’re not. Annie and Lily—”
“—are asleep, and I’m pretty sure Gage and Madison—”
“Uncle Ethan, Auntie Skye, I can’t see anything. What happened?” they heard Lily call from her bedroom at the same time as a bright flashlight shone in their faces.
“It’s okay, Lily,” Annie said. “I’ll come get you. We’ll camp out by the fire with Auntie Skye and Uncle Eth. They’ve got it all set up.”
Lily yelled “Yay!” at the same time Ethan groaned.