Free Exposed by Kaylea Cross

letting his gaze roam downward, over her throat.
    The pulse in the side of her neck beat hard against her skin. He wanted to taste that fragile skin. Rub his nose up the column of her neck, taste that soft spot and feel her shiver in his arms. When his gaze trailed lower over her chest, he saw that her nipples were hard points against her bra beneath the cream blouse where the jacket gaped open.
    Marisol snatched her hand back from his wrist and cleared her throat almost guiltily as she took a step back and drew that regal air about her like a cloak. She gave him a stiff smile, a soft blush staining her cheeks. “It was good to see you. I’ll definitely call you if anything happens. Now I’ve got to get back to work.” She walked past him out of her office without another word.
    Ethan watched her go without trying to stop her. She could try to pretend nothing had just happened between them but they both knew better. And she hadn’t seen the last of him. Not by a long shot.
    He wanted to see her again, soon, so she wouldn’t have time to distance herself from him again. Because there was something more between them now than just a shared history and two decades of friendship. That spark had been real and he wasn’t going to let her pretend it hadn’t happened.
    Next time he saw her, he intended to pick up where they’d just left off.

 
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
    Good lord.
    In her mother’s kitchen, Marisol shifted her grip on the overfull, still-warm casserole she’d just pulled out of the oven. “Think you made enough tostones ?” she called out in a dry tone.
    “But Ethan loves them,” Vero, her nine year-old niece said from the kitchen table where she was studying for the last spelling test of the year.
    “Yes, I’m well aware,” she murmured, fishing in the drawer for a piece of aluminum foil to cover the fried plantains with. “You can come over and say hello with me if you want.”
    Mama Cruz had invited them all over for the barbecue. After another long day at work, Marisol needed a break. Spending time at the Cruz house wasn’t exactly a hardship, even if she felt a little awkward around Ethan now, especially after that almost-kiss yesterday in her office.
    She’d gone back and forth about it several times since then, alternately congratulating herself for keeping from making a disastrous mistake by kissing him, and wishing she’d gone for it. She wasn’t interested in a fling or a one-night stand, and as far as she remembered, that’s all Ethan had ever wanted from a woman.
    Vero shook her head and sighed dramatically. “I can’t. It’s gonna take me hours to learn these words.”
    Hours to a nine year-old roughly translated to about fifteen minutes, in Marisol’s experience. “Well if you change your mind, I’m sure abuela will take you across the street later once you’re done.”
    “Can’t,” her mother called down from upstairs. “We’re going to meet Paulina at the park with her granddaughter in a little while.”
    “More plantains for me, I guess,” Marisol said, coming around the table to wrap her arms around Vero from behind and kiss the top of her head.
    The little girl tipped her head back to look at her. “You’ll say hi to Ethan for me?”
    “Yes. I think he’ll be in town for a few days yet, maybe more, so you might get to see him still.” Vero had only met Ethan a couple of times over the past few years when he’d come home to visit, yet that hadn’t prevented her from developing some sort of crush on him. Marisol empathized. The man had a way about him that made it impossible for a woman to forget him.
    “Good.” Vero’s face lit up with a big smile. “Will I see you later too?”
    “Probably not tonight, but maybe tomorrow night if I don’t have to work late. I’ll try my best, okay?”
    “Okay.” Apparently satisfied, Vero turned back to her spelling.
    Marisol slipped on some oven mitts and picked up the casserole dish. At the kitchen doorway