pleased when he saw his choice met with approval.
"Hungry?"
"A little." She wondered if she'd be able to swallow a crumb around the
delight in her throat. "It's just so nice to be here like this, with
you."
"I should've taken you out before."
"This is perfect. There hasn't been much time for this."
"We can juggle some time." And it wasn't so bad, he discovered, wearing
a tie, eating in a place surrounded by other people. Not when he got to
look at her across the table. "You look rested, Grace."
"Rested?" The laugh bubbled out, making him smile uncertainly. Then her
fingers squeezed his affectionately. "Oh, Ethan. I do love you."
the sun dipped lower, and the candles were lighted as they sipped wine
and enjoyed a perfectly prepared meal served with flair. He told her
about the progress of the boat, and of the new contract Phillip had
finessed.
"That's wonderful. It's hard to believe you only started the business
this spring."
"I'd thought about it for a long time," he told her. "Had a lot of the
details worked out in my head."
He would have, of course, she thought. Thinking things through was
innate with Ethan. "Even so, you're making it work. Really making it
work. I've thought about coming by dozens of times."
"Why haven't you?"
"Beforea If I saw you too often or in too many different places, it
worried me." She loved being able to tell him, to watch his eyes change
when she did. "I was sure you'd be able to see the way I felt about
you--how I wanted to touch you, and have you touch me."
The blood hummed in his fingertips as they grazed hers. And his eyes did
change, just as she'd wanted, deepening as they stared into hers. "I'd
talked myself out of you," he said carefully.
"I'm glad it didn't stick."
"So am I." He brought her fingers over, touched his lips to them. "Maybe
you'll come by the boatyard one of these days, and I'll look at youa
and I'll see."
She angled her head. "Maybe I will."
"You could drop in some hot afternoon anda" His thumb cruised lazily
over her knuckles. "Bring fried chicken."
Her laugh was quick and easy. "I should've figured that's what really
attracted you to me."
"Yeah, it tipped the scales. A pretty face, sea-goddess eyes, long legs,
a warm laugh--they don't mean much to a man. But you add a nice batch of
southern fried chicken, and you've got something."
Delightfully flattered, she shook her head. "And here I was thinking I
wouldn't get any poetry out of you."
His gaze skimmed over her face, and for the first time in his life he
wished he had a talent for composing odes. "Do you want poetry, Grace?"
"I want you, Ethan. Just the way you are." With a long, contented sigh,
she looked around the restaurant. "And you add an evening like this now
and thena" She shifted her gaze back to him and grinned. "And you've