Samantha held out her hand. “Friends, right? We have a deal.”
Ethan took her hand in his. She couldn’t help noticing that his grip was strong, his fingers long and slender. It was the sure and steady hand of a surgeon.
“We have a deal,” he said.
He was awfully slow to release her hand. When he did, his eyes were troubled.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“Ethan, I thought being straight with each other was an implied part of our bargain,” she scolded.
He gave her a rueful look. “I have this odd premonition that we’ve just made a fool’s bargain.”
“Oh?”
“I’m thinking that unless we’re very, very careful, we’re going to blow this whole friendship thing to smithereens,” he said direly.
Samantha had to fight to hide the laugh that bubbled up at his unmistakable frustration, because the truth was, on some level, that was the best news she’d heard in a very long time.
4
“So, when are you seeing her again?” Greg asked Ethan as they drove back to the clinic. There was no mistaking the spark of mischief in his eyes as he spoke.
Ethan frowned at him. “No idea what you’re talking about,” he insisted.
“You and Samantha. Don’t even try to deny that something happened when the two of you were out on the deck. You came back looking like two cats that had managed to dine on some very tasty canaries.”
“What a lovely analogy,” Ethan commented. “You obviously have a poet’s way with words.”
“Not exactly the point,” Greg said. “Let’s stick to the accuracy of my assessment. When are the two of you getting together again?”
“Whenever circumstances dictate,” Ethan said irritably.
Suddenly Greg’s eyes lit up as if he’d just discovered the secrets of the universe. “And you’re not happy about waiting for those circumstances to roll around, are you? Oh boy, I knew it! You’ve got the hots for her.”
“Once more you’re demonstrating your way with words,” Ethan grumbled. “I do not have the hots for anybody. Turns out she’s a nice woman, not at all what I expected.”
“Beautiful, too. Do not try to tell me you didn’t notice. Otherwise I’m going to have to check your vital signs the second we get back to the clinic.”
“I noticed,” Ethan said tightly. “Will you please drop this?”
“I’m thinking I probably shouldn’t,” Greg said cheerfully. “I’m thinking you need me to be a thorn in your side, a burr under your butt, as it were, until you finally get back in the dating game.”
“Dating is not a game I want to play,” Ethan claimed, though he was clearly not convincing his friend. He’d been happily protecting his heart for a good long time now. He saw no reason for that to change. The last time he’d taken a risk on love, it hadn’t worked out so well.
“Ah, but sometimes life just comes along and gives you an unexpected chance to reach for your heart’s desire, ready or not,” Greg said. “A smart man seizes those moments.”
Ethan scowled at him. “Heart’s desire? Game? Which is it? How exactly do you see this going?”
“What I see isn’t important,” Greg insisted. “What do you see? And do not try to tell me you’re oblivious to the possibilities.”
“I see disaster waiting to happen,” Ethan said with a level of frustration he hadn’t felt in months, maybe not even years. Shouldn’t he have a better grip on his own blasted destiny? Surely it was just a matter of willpower. If he wanted to resist Samantha, he could do it, the same way he’d avoided every other entanglement since Lisa had so unceremoniously dumped him. Of course, it didn’t help that his friend refused to let the matter drop.
“Because you’re not really attracted to her?” Greg persisted.
“No,” he bit out.
“Because you don’t think she’s attracted to you?”
He recalled the look that had simmered between them more than once on the deck. Whatever she’d said about friendship, she was interested in more, no question about it. Was he insane for not taking her up on it? After all, it wasn’t as if she’d be around for long. Her life was elsewhere. They could indulge in a satisfying two-week fling, no harm, no foul. Greg would certainly approve. Boone probably would, too, though he might get a little protective since Samantha was about to be his sister-in-law.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s attracted to me or not. We’ve agreed to be friends, period. We are not succumbing to the pressures of the meddlers, you included.”
Greg stared at him incredulously. “Whose dumb-ass idea was that?”
“Hers,” Ethan said. “I agreed.”
Greg shook his head sorrowfully. “I always thought Lisa was the idiot. Now I’m wondering if you’re one iota better.”
Ethan frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“This gorgeous woman, who’s had a thing for you for like a million years, has been delivered practically into your arms and you’re content with friendship.” Greg shook his head. “It’s pitiful, man. Just pitiful.”
Ethan was beginning to think maybe his friend was right, but that didn’t mean he intended to do a single thing to change the rules he and Samantha had just negotiated. There was safety in following those rules. There was the peace and serenity he’d claimed he wanted for years now.
And, sadly, there was total, unrelenting boredom, he admitted only to himself.
* * *
Samantha was pacing the floor with Daniella Jane, who was impatiently and loudly proclaiming that it was dinnertime. Even with the baby’s cries echoing in Samantha’s head, she felt this incredibly fierce tug as she held her niece.
“Come on, sweetie,” she murmured soothingly. “Don’t let your mommy walk in the door and get some crazy idea that I’m a terrible aunt. Settle down. Dinner is on its way, I promise.”
Dinner, of course, was tied directly to Gabi’s arrival. She was still nursing the baby. Normally she kept Daniella Jane with her at the gallery for that very reason, but she’d taken a visible deep breath and agreed to let her daughter come home with Samantha an hour ago. It had definitely been
