Page 28 of Fight Or Flight

Ethan’s throat went dry. He was staring. He knew it. But he couldn’t look away. “Mmm . . . actually, it’s sort of pulling to the side.”

She twisted around to look. The motion pulled the dress even more, revealing the whole side of her boob.

“It’s a good look,” he breathed.

The second the words came out, he regretted it. But it didn’t stop the smirk that formed on his face.

When he finally forced his eyes to her face, she looked as if she was going to slap him. Her breath was coming at a frenzied pace. He wasn’t sure whether she was angry, scared, annoyed, or on the cusp of a panic attack. Probably all the above.

“I have to get out of here,” she said, eyes darting around the room to see whether anyone was looking.

Taking pity on her, he shrugged off his jacket and swung it over her shoulders. His brain returned once she was covered again. “Come on.”

He led her across the ballroom, through the door, and into the foyer. It was empty of people, but there was a round table in the centre of the room with all the succulents he’d planted lined up in rows on it. He paused at the table and picked up one of the spiky little plants. “Here.”

She stared down at it, then looked up at his eyes. “That looks like a plant.”

He rolled his eyes. “It is a plant. They’re the favours. Take it home.”

She reached out, took the plant, and set it back down on the table with a clunk. “I don’t think you’ve completely grasped how being homeless works. I only own what fits in my suitcase.”

He stared at the rejected little plant on the table. “So you’re not staying in Mapleton?”

“Of course not.”

“Is Chelsea?”

“No. We’re selling.”

Ethan’s eyelids dropped closed for a moment. This was his worst fear come to life. The property she now owned had serious effects on his project. Not to mention, most of the snakes were on it. “Why?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you care? You have the pond. We would never try to take it from you.”

“I care because if the land were to go to developers, it would be detrimental to my project. The watershed in the area has to be protected. Plus, the snakes have a bit of a PR problem. If there are people around . . .”

She straightened herself, then glanced at the door before her cool stare landed on him. “Look, I have already sacrificed my sanity coming here for Elizabeth. I’ve sacrificed my job to stay here for Chelsea. I will not sacrifice my future and my goals for some Godawful snakes. I have a job lined up in Australia starting next month.”

“Could you just keep the house? Maybe one day you won’t want to live out of a suitcase anymore.”

“I will never live in this town again.”

Ethan stared at her, trying to figure her out. In all likelihood, she was single, and she obviously moved around a lot for her job. But that was a separate and almost unrelated issue. The real issue was that she hated Mapleton. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t about to do a deep dive into her reasons.

“Fine. Then could you at least sell it to a family?”

“I can’t imagine there are many families interested in a ramshackle twelve-bedroom mansion sitting on snake-infested land, so . . .”

“So . . . you’ll wait until one comes along?”

“No,” she said. “We’ll sell it to the first person to make us a decent offer.”

Ethan huffed out a breath. He figured this would be the case, but now he had confirmation. He was incredibly annoyed that he’d spent the last half hour dazzled by her smile and mesmerized by her soft skin and forgot how selfish and cruel she was. He’d sworn up and down after leaving Lindsay that he’dnever let a pretty face drive how he felt about someone again, yet here he was.

She took a few steps toward the door, then paused. “I realize this is a bad timing, but is it okay if I take your jacket? I’ll get it back to you.”

Ethan gave her a half-lidded look of annoyance before realizing this would actually be good. He would have to see her again, and in the meantime, he could pull himself together and figure out how to talk her into protecting the land.

“Sure,” he said, straightening his back and plastering on a smile. “Not a problem. You have a good night.”

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