"I was referring to your height," Ethan said with a smirk.
"Oh." Anah couldn't help grimacing. If that were the case, then he had every right to call her 'little'.
Ethan glanced at the book Anah was holding. "Still not done?"
"Just three chapters to go," she answered.
"I read him, too," Ethan commented.
Anah was pleased, thinking it was a good omen if they had the same taste in books. "Really?"
Ethan was amused. "Do I look like I don't read?"
Anah choked. "Don't put words in my mouth," she protested.
"Then what did you mean?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Just...you..." Too late, Anah realized she shouldn't have bothered correcting him, since the truth was open to even more misunderstanding.
Ethan smirked again. "Can't think of a lie, can you?" He reached over the counter to ruffle her hair. "It's fine," he said generously. "You'll see soon enough that I'm more than just a pretty face."
With Ethan even punctuating the outrageously vain claim with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrow, Anah could only choke, torn between laughter and exasperation.
Ethan was fighting back his own grin. The look on Anah's face was priceless. She appeared almost sick actually, as if she was unable to stomach the amount of vanity in his words. He was just about to remark on this, too, when they both heard the door of the meeting room at the back suddenly open.
Anah saw the mayor's secretary poke her head out of the meeting room. "Calling Mr. Ethan Blackwood!"
Ethan glanced over his shoulder and saw Frankie frowning at him. "In a minute."
"Mayor O says now, Mr. Blackwood."
Ethan turned to Anah. "You heard the tyrant..."
Frankie rolled her eyes. "I totally heard you, too."
But Ethan pretended not to hear this and flashed Anah a brief smile instead. "I'll see you around then?" Ethan began walking backwards. "I'd have loved to spend more time talking about books—-" Frankie snorted loudly at this, which Ethan ignored even as Anah couldn't help giggling. "But duty beckons..."
Back inside the meeting room, Ethan was bemused to find the other members of The Hartland Initiative gazing at him with interest. "What?"
Instead of answering, everyone instantly became busy, with Oliver Winterbourne, the town mayor, suddenly finding something to ask his secretary while the others rifled through the daily reports as if their lives depended on it.
Ethan shook his head as he returned to his seat. Crazy motherfuckers. He picked up his own copy of the day's agenda but was unable to concentrate. Instead, he found himself remembering Anah's expression when he referred to himself as a pretty face.
She really was an intriguing little thing, Ethan mused. She was like a little sister he never knew he wanted, and for the rest of the summer, he found himself indulging his explicable whim for her company.
He liked how quiet she was without being shy. Most people mistook her for the latter, but Ethan had sensed from the start she wasn't what everyone thought, and his time with her proved that. The kid simply didn't believe in speaking unnecessarily, but it didn't make her any less friendly - or troublesome - when she was so inclined.
When he was with Anah, it was hard to remember she was just sixteen and almost a decade younger than his twenty-five years. He could talk to her about anything, and in times when there wasn't anything to talk about, her presence alone settled the disquiet inside of him. If someone were to tell Ethan she was an enchantress in disguise, he would've been half-inclined to agree, with how Anah practically had him under a spell.
ETHAN WASN'T ALONE in thinking that magic was afoot. Anah, too, found her instant connection to Ethan puzzling, but more than that, she couldn't help feeling anxious as well.
While she was pretty much an open book to anyone, the same couldn't be said for Ethan, who only occasionally shared bits and pieces about himself. Although she had spent most of the summer in his company, all that she knew of him could barely fill an entire page.
Of his family, she knew that his parents had died early in a helicopter crash, he had twin older brothers, and that while he was a third-generation Wyomite, he had also spent a few years with his English mother's side of the family while studying in Oxford.
Of his individual life, she knew even less. Several times, she had been tempted to ask Farica de Konigh, the beautiful blonde who co-owned the Redwood Cafe, if she knew anything about Ethan's past. But she always chickened out in the end, with Anah unable to shake off the feeling that the less she knew about the women Ethan dated, the better.
With only a week to go before her internship ended, Anah started feeling increasingly melancholic about the thought of being parted from Ethan. Although she read books to enjoy a temporary escape from reality, she was actually as pragmatic as they came, and one thing she had never tried to fool herself with was where she stood in Ethan's life. The man saw her as a little sister he could dote on, and she had learned to accept this. She might never become Ethan's girlfriend, but she could at least confidently say she was somewhat special to him. Or so she thought...until the day she visited Ethan's flower shop and saw the sign posted on its window.
TEMPORARILY CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Anah was shocked. Did this mean Ethan was gone, just like that? He had...left without saying goodbye? This time, she didn't hesitate to run down to the cafe and ask Farica about it, and the older woman was visibly reluctant as she confirmed Anah's worst fears.
'I'm sorry, Anah, he flew out this morning. I'm not sure when he'll be back.'
And that was when Anah realized how mistaken she was.
She was not special to Ethan at all.
Chapter Two
Before heading back home to Texas, Anah was given a chance to enjoy one last vacation in Wyoming.
