It Started with a Snap by Piper James

Chapter Ten

Ethan

Iwas testing the window unit when I heard Ember clomping back up the wooden staircase. My back stiffened as I tried to ignore her presence, turning the dials and knobs on the a/c like I was actually adjusting it. I wasn’t. I was stalling for time.

I felt terrible about kicking her out of her place, even though I knew, logically, it had to be done. She didn’t have a choice, and somehow, I ended up feeling like the asshole that took her choices from her. Plus, I was pretty sure she didn’t have the extra money to spring for a hotel after that little slip of the tongue she had earlier.

She was going to say she was barely making it as it was when she cut her words off mid-sentence. So, not only was she going to have to close up her business for several days, she was going to have to pay for a room at Red River’s shitty motel. And I knew it was shitty, because my brothers and I had stayed there for a few weeks when we first got to town.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face Ember. She was putting Kane in his crate on the floor, bent at the waist with her delectable ass in the air. My breath hissed through my teeth. The short, flowy skirt she wore rode up as she bent over, revealing a good portion of her thighs.

“Shit,” I breathed, and she straightened suddenly, spinning around to face me.

My eyes darted away, but not quickly enough. Fuck. Taking a couple of shallow breaths, I turned my gaze to her face. One blonde brow was arched, but thankfully, she didn’t say anything about my staring.

But being caught checking out her ass made what I was about to say a hundred times harder.

“You can stay with me while the building is being fumigated.”

“Uh, no thank you,” she said, her voice flat and toneless.

“Come on, Ember. I know you hate me, but my house is big. You’ll barely see me, and it’s better than staying at the damn motel.”

“Not necessary,” she said, turning toward her closet.

I watched her pull down a duffle bag before pulling a few shirts off the hangers and stuffing them inside. I just stood there, twiddling my thumbs while she proceeded to ignore my presence. When she pulled open a drawer and plucked out a handful of what were obviously panties, my gaze darted away, and I scrubbed a hand across the back of my neck.

“So you’re just going to be stubborn and uncomfortable for days?”

“No,” she said, then turned to look at me with a perplexed expression. “Why would you want me to stay with you anyway? You can’t stand to be around me.”

Not true. Not true at all.

Ignoring my internal voice, I said, “You’re my sister-in-law’s best friend. Belle would murder me if I let you stay at the Red River Motel.”

“God forbid,” she said sarcastically, adding an exaggerated eye roll. “Could you be any more snobby?”

“I’m not snobby,” I argued, my face heating with anger. “There’s no reason for you to stay at a motel when I have a perfectly good house with plenty of room.”

“Oh, I get it,” she said, narrowing those blue eyes at me. “You think if I stay with you, you might get some. You know, because I’m so slutty and all.”

“What? No,” I exclaimed, physically stumbling back as if she’d slapped me.

“Jesus Christ. Don’t look so appalled. I was joking,” she said, heaving a deep sigh. “And I don’t need a place to stay. Dakota and Noah practically ordered me to stay at the ranch. So you’re off the hook.”

With those words, she spun around and resumed packing. I stared at her stiff back for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what just happened. If you’d asked me five minutes ago, I would have told you there wasn’t much this woman could do to shock me anymore, but I was wrong.

Ember saying I would take advantage of her situation to try and get into her pants was…crazy. And insulting. What kind of fucking man did she think I was?

But she said she was kidding. I tilted my head, studying the stiff set of her shoulders and her jerky movements as she shoved the last of the clothes she needed into her duffel bag. Then she stomped to the door that led to the small bathroom. There was definitely anger rolling off her.

Why was she mad? I was the insulted party, here. Kidding or not, she took my good intentions and dragged them through the mud. I was trying to be nice. To extend an olive branch and help her out of an already difficult situation. For her to even infer I had less than respectable intentions…

A vision of her bending over in front of Kane’s crate, that skirt riding up to show off her delicious thighs and my body’s reaction to it flashed through my mind. I might’ve been able to lie to her, but I couldn’t lie to myself.

I wanted her.

But there is no way in fucking hell I would take advantage of her situation to try and act on my desire.

“I have some errands to run,” I called out. “I’ll be back tonight to meet the exterminators for the inspection. They’re coming at six, so be ready.”

Without waiting for a response—because I knew I’d be waiting an eternity for it at this point—I turned and stalked out of the apartment. My footsteps clomped down the wooden staircase, my anger and confusion making me careless.

Halfway down, a loud snap echoed through the narrow stairwell. I skipped down a couple of more steps and stopped, turning back to look at the damage. The step was still intact, but there was a large crack in the wood.

Great. Just fucking great.

“Be careful coming down the stairs. One of the steps is cracked!” I shouted up toward Ember’s apartment before turning and jogging the rest of the way down, cursing quietly the whole way.

That woman might’ve been infuriating, but that didn’t mean I wanted her to get hurt. I made a mental note to add the staircase to my list of repairs and stormed out of the boutique.

Out in the muggy Texas heat, I paused and took a deep breath. I couldn’t figure out how she kept getting under my skin like that. Of the four Perry men, I was the calmest. The most level-headed. The one most likely to see to the heart of a matter and find the easiest and most logical resolution.

But five minutes with Ember Moore turned me into someone I didn’t even recognize. I became erratic and emotional. My patience thinned, my temper became short-fused, and the filter on my mouth completely disappeared.

Add into all that my uncontrollable physical attraction to her, and I was a fucking mess. I didn’t even like her. How could my body want her so much?

I’d never been one for casual hookups and meaningless sex. I’d had a few relationships in Los Angeles, but I’d always tried to go about them the right way—ask a woman out, go on a few dates, then, if things were going well and we actually enjoyed being together, we’d take it to the next level.

And seeing as how I hadn’t dated since before we left L.A., I hadn’t been with a woman in…shit. It had been nearly a year and a half.

Jesus. No wonder I was so fucking wound up around Ember.

I walked to my truck and climbed inside. Pulling the door closed behind me, I cranked the engine and turned on the air conditioner. Leaning forward to put my face in the stream of cold air, I sighed.

Maybe it was time I started dating again.