His Wild Blue Air

Day 3

"Well, otherwise you won't!" he exclaimed.

She nodded sagely. "You're right, I won't." He was about to start speaking again but she stopped him. "And then there's the fact that I have a job that I'm supposed to be on my way to right now and will most likely be late to because you won't stop pestering me. Seriously, get out of my way already!"

"What, that 'books' job?" he quoted.

She glowered at him. "Yes, Ethan, that 'books' job."

"Well, I want to know what that 'books' job is."

She smiled at him as she patted him gently on his cheek. And then as she gently removed his hand from her door, she said, "Sweetheart, you ever heard of the song You Can't Always Get What You Want?" Without delay, she pulled it closed and pushed down the lock.

She waved at him as he stared at her through the window, mouth ajar and eyes blank. He seemed as if he could hardly process what had just happened. She waved at him with a pretensive smile and pulled out of her garage, leaving him standing there all bundled up.

She winked at Dog who was panting at her, staring her in such a way that she was sure he was proud of her. She then turned back to the road. Since she already knew the path like the back of her hand, she let her mind wander.

Ethan Boyd was intriguing. Very intriguing. Honestly, it had been four years since she'd built the cabin and god knew how many guests she'd had, she'd never encountered one like Ethan Boyd.

He never seemed to have a plan. He was rich, alright - or else he wouldn't be able to afford her rates. He was always tagging behind her like a puppy dog and she wasn't sure if she found that annoying or endearing. Probably both. Plus, he had absolutely no tact whatsoever. He asked whatever was on his mind and normally, she adored this kind of people - except when the questions were targeted on her, then she absolutely didn't love them.

She stopped at the traffic light and absently smoothed her hand over Dog's hair.

She just wasn't ready to let anyone else know her past, especially a stranger - a stranger she was hopelessly attracted to and intrigued by, but a stranger nonetheless.

***

Unbelievable, Ethan thought as he considered the wide space where the garage door had been.

He couldn't believe she did that. He couldn't believe he let her do that. It was simple. She didn't even trick him. He just foolishly let her take his hand off because he was too astonished by the electric he felt surging through his skin when she patted him on his cheek and touched his hand. To be honest, he had felt that electricity since last night, he just refused to acknowledge it.

He was brought back to real time when a gust of wind stung his skin, alerting him to the alarmingly cold temperature of the morning. He hurried to close the garage door. He only went inside after he'd watched the door slid close completely.

He pulled off his coat and beanie lazily and followed Skylar's rule by putting them all back in the walk-in closet. And then he sat down on the armchair, the heater having been turned on by Skylar this morning. He stared out the window, at the whites on the trees and the shades of blue in the sky. The snow had long since stopped.

He had no idea what to do.

He allowed his mind to flash back from the moment he'd woke up with a clear mind yesterday morning. His lips twitched at the remembrance of his first meeting with Skylar; well, his first official meeting with the woman.

She was intriguing as ever.

He couldn't deny it. He liked her. He had known her in less than 48 hours and he already liked her. And in a non-platonic way. It was definitely more than platonic, judging by how he let his mouth loose last night by telling her she was beautiful - he was still slapping himself mentally for that - and how he always found himself smiling when he was seeing her - except when she was leaving alone to bore to death.