“You mind?” Beau asked, startling Ethan. He hadn’t seen or heard the man approach.
Yes. Yes, he did mind, thank you very much. Shaking his head no, he moved closer to the edge, trying to leave enough space between them so that he didn’t risk touching him.
“Mom. Dad,” Travis began, sitting on the arm of the sofa directly across from his father’s chair. “We all got together this year,” Travis continued, gesturing to those who were in the room, “and decided to get you something we hoped you would enjoy.”
“Are you saying they don’t usually enjoy what we get them?” Zane asked, making everyone laugh.
“Only what you get them,” Travis said seriously, causing Zane to scowl at him.
Ethan watched from across the room, doing his best to ignore the tantalizing scent of Beau’s cologne, and the heat of his body just a few inches beside him.
This sucked.
Truly sucked.
Ethan forced himself to focus on Travis and not on Beau. He knew he wasn’t successful, but he had to at least pretend. There was no way in hell he was letting Beau know just how affected he was by his nearness.
Travis handed his parents an envelope, then took his seat back on the arm of the couch and put his arm around Kylie.
“Go ahead,” Curtis told Lorrie as he looked up at her.
Their mother smiled, looking around the room, and before she even opened the envelope, Ethan could see a sheen of tears in her eyes. Crap. She was going to get emotional, and that was the last thing Ethan needed at the moment.
In fact, the only thing he needed was air. Lots of air.
Outside air.
Fuck. Was it getting hot in there? Did someone turn on the heater?
“Oh…” Lorrie squealed. “Oh my goodness!”
“What is it, woman?” Curtis asked gruffly, reaching for the envelope she had a death grip on.
“Holy sh –”
“Dad!” Kaleb yelled, laughing as he interrupted his father’s curse.
“Sorry,” he replied with a mischievous grin, still reading the card that had been inside the envelope. “Is this real?”
“It’s real,” Travis confirmed.
Ethan knew what his parents were looking at. Every single person in the room knew, including Beau. They’d all pitched in to buy their parents a cruise. An Alaskan cruise to be exact.
His parents weren’t world travelers, but it wasn’t a secret that his father had always intended to take his mother on an Alaskan cruise – the one and only trip she had ever dreamed about – for their honeymoon. Needless to say, that trip had never happened. Aside from never being able to afford to go when they were married, with seven boys to contend with over the years, his mother always said they never had the time to go.
Well, Ethan knew they had the time to go now.
He met his father’s stare, noticing the glassy way his eyes shimmered as he searched every one of their faces.
“Merry Christmas,” Kaleb said, causing a succession of several to follow.
“This is wonderful,” Lorrie said, her voice soft, her eyes moist. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“We figured you could both use some time away from us,” Zane offered with a huge grin.
“That is not why we got it for them,” Sawyer said as he smacked Zane on the back of the head.
“Whatever.”
Ethan glanced down at his hands, noticing his palms were beginning to sweat. Seriously, the room was getting hot. And Beau’s intoxicating scent wasn’t helping. He needed to…
Without saying a word, hoping his parents would understand, Ethan stood up and then made a beeline for the front door. He needed some air. Just a little.
As soon as he was outside, the dizziness subsided. He inhaled deeply, letting the chill in the night air soothe his overheated lungs. He followed the wraparound porch to the side of the house, not wanting to encourage company should one of his brothers come out to check on him. He wouldn’t be able to explain himself if they did. Hell, he didn’t even know what was wrong with him.
“You ok?”
Ethan groaned, unable to stop himself. The deep, rich baritone of Beau’s voice was the most erotic thing he’d ever heard, and right then, in the state he was in, he couldn’t stop himself from reacting to it.
“Fine,” he responded breathlessly, hoping like hell Beau didn’t come any closer.
Fuck.
He was moving closer.
Closer still.
“Stop,” Ethan pleaded, backing up against the wall. “Turn around and walk away.”
Beau didn’t move, but Ethan didn’t look at him. He didn’t want to see those intense brown eyes, or the beautiful, sculpted lines of his jaw. Didn’t want to notice the immense size of his body or wonder what it would feel like against his.