Page 28 of Lovestrung

The month had gone by so fast, I could hardly believe it.

Everything was ready, but I wasn’t entirely sure if I was. All the time and planning that had gone into this adventure had finally caught up with me, and now, this was it. The moment when I spread my wings. I didn’t know if I’d come back a changed woman – that sounded rather melodramatic to me – but I was absolutely sure that I’d have the time of my life.

I was putting the final touches on my makeup when the doorbell rang. Mama and Dad wanted to throw a farewell party for me, and since Gramps couldn’t drive and I’d sold my Mini Cooper a few days ago, hosting it here seemed like the best choice.

“Pippa, your parents are here!” Louisa yelled from below the stairs.

I flicked a stray lock of hair back in my ponytail and grabbed a pin to keep it together.

“Coming!” I shouted back.

Louisa had started to build a home for herself the past month, and I was beyond grateful that we’d hired her. She had taken up one of the guest rooms next to Gramps so she was close by if he should need her at night, and she’d been dropping by a few hours every day. Those had been a godsend, given me the time I needed the past few weeks to get my last preparations sorted. She was wonderful, plain and simple.

I hopped on one foot, then the other, toward the bedroom door, trying to get my shoes on, but just as Ethan entered my room, I tripped on the carpet.

I shrieked as I prepared to face plant right in front of him, but lucky for me, he had great reflexes. His eyes widened as he jumped closer, grabbing my arms and pulling me into his embrace to break my fall.

“Ooof,” I huffed against his chest, accidentally taking a long sniff of his scent and ready to swoon at his feet.

“Please tell me you’re not planning on bringing any of those death traps with you?” he breathed against my temple.

“That would be true, I’m not.”

“Good.”

“I’ll be buying several of them and then ship them home instead,” I chuckled.

The exasperated sigh that came from his mouth teased my skin, sending shivers down my spine, but before I did something very foolish like melt into his arms or – heaven forbid – took another long sniff of his shirt, I lifted my head and met his eyes.

The amusement mixed with frustration I saw in them was a surprisingly good look on him. One I wanted to imprint on my memory and pull up whenever I wanted to the next year.

“What?” I teased him. “I’m a woman, and the Italians, especially, know everything there is to know about fashion. Point me in the direction of a store that sells shoes, and I’ll be there in a flash.”

“I see.”

He took a step back and I eased out of his embrace. Gosh, he looked good – black T-shirt stretched across his muscled chest, black jeans and brown boots.

Damn it. He looked even better since the last time I saw him, but I raised my head and hoped he couldn’t see the effect he had on me reflected in my eyes. But he didn’t meet my gaze. Instead, I found him trailing his eyes down my body, and I put my hands on my hips, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.

“You look good.” He smiled at me. “Got some more meat on your bones since the last time I saw you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Gee, what a way to make a woman feel special, talking about her weight. Smooth, Ethan. Real smooth.”

He frowned at me.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

I grimaced.

“Yeah, I do. I’m sorry.” I looked down at my feet. “Guess I’m still a little embarrassed everybody else but me could see I was headed in an unhealthy direction.”

I felt more than heard him move closer, but when he placed a hand on my cheek, my heartbeat skipped a beat.

“Hey.” He pushed at my chin and I raised my head. He leaned down until we were so close, I was having a hard time breathing at his proximity. “I’m glad you listened. You look beautiful, Penelope.”

For once, his slip didn’t matter. All I kept hearing was that he thought I was beautiful.