Open Heart One Shots (Choices)

Falling in Love

Summary: Cassie knows protecting her heart from Ethan is a lost cause. Set after the opera scene in book 1, chapter 12.

Cassie Valentine was falling in love with the tall, dark, handsome man beside her. Ethan Ramsey had enthralled her from the first moment she laid eyes on him.

What about him made her heart yearn for love so powerful it conquered all? The kind poets waxed melodically about. One that lasted for a lifetime and beyond.

Light from a street lamp cut a swath through the windshield, momentarily brightening the close quarters of the front seats of Ethan's luxury sedan. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ethan's fingers grip and flex around the steering wheel as he took a right turn at the intersection.

The low sound of a classical concerto drifted from the speakers. The melody was hauntingly beautiful and sad, reminiscent of the doomed romance in the opera they'd just attended. It reminded her that not everything was written in the stars.

Alessandra and Damarion weren't the only ones condemned to a life of loneliness, never to realize their love because pride and circumstances kept them apart. Some relationships just weren't meant to be, no matter how much one could wish otherwise.

And yet, every time she bounced back, he pulled her back down.

Before that night in Miami, she made a promise to herself to move on with her life. But the longing in his blue eyes and the ache in his gruff voice whenever he let his guard down was her undoing. And, in a single moment, with the sound of waves crashing in the background and the feel of his arms tightening around her, she fell all over again.

Tonight was no different. Cassie remembered how he held her hand during the performance, quietly comforting her when she needed it. The way he gently wiped a tear from her cheek, his breath catching at the sparks rising where skin touched skin.

No matter how much Ethan said otherwise, she knew they weren't wrong for each other. She might have initiated the kiss in Miami and tonight, but he wasn't immune to the attraction between them despite his denials.

"You know how complicated this is," he said from behind her as she stared holes into the patterned wall of the private box.

Cassie turned around because hiding her emotions made her feel like a coward. His eyes pleaded with her to understand, but she couldn't pretend anymore.

"It's not complicated, Ethan. Not for me."

When he raised a hand to brush a lingering tear from the corner of her eye, she leaned into it, savoring the feel of his touch. That was all it took to break through his barriers. With a curse, he pulled her into his arms. His stubble was rough against her skin, but the kiss was soft and tender.

She heard the groan deep in his throat as he closed the distance between them. His hands ran through her hair, and her arms circled around his waist. Their bodies fit together like they always were intended to become one.

And then the house lights came on, chasing away the shadows where their hunger for each other thrived, replaced by the stark light of reality.

The distance from the opera house to her apartment building was short, prolonged only by his measured adherence to the speed limit and traffic lights conspiring to keep them together for a while longer.

Cassie's heart sank as the ride came to an end. He pulled up outside her building, the engine running as he switched the gear to park. She felt his eyes on her, the poignant silence stretching in the darkness, and wondered if he regretted the kiss tonight, just like he had all those months ago in Miami.

And she knew it would break her heart if he said the words that confirmed her worst fears. So, she wouldn't let him, she told herself resolutely, and opened the car door.

"We are so much more than you let us be," Cassie whispered morosely, unable to let it go as she exited the car.

A wave of longing crashed over him at hearing his innermost thoughts coming from her lips. He swallowed against the lump in his throat, frozen as denial and apprehension resurfaced. The slamming of the passenger door shook him out of his daze.

"Cassie, wait!" Ethan called out urgently, reaching to open the driver's side door. But he was too late.

Stricken at the moment lost forever, he watched dejectedly as she jogged up the steps, stopping only to unlock the street door, and disappeared inside.

He stared into the darkness, wishing for her to return, but he knew it was pointless. He checked the rearview and side mirrors and pulled out into the light traffic on the quiet residential street.

Ethan told himself it was better this way. He was an attending. She was an intern. Unsavory gossip aside, he couldn't be the reason she failed to become the amazing doctor he knew she had the potential to be.

When he stopped at the next red light, he inhaled deeply, and the lingering scent of her floral perfume hit his senses. For a lone second, Ethan asked himself who he was kidding. He was sinking deep, and there was no rescue in sight.

Then the light turned green, the driver behind him honked impatiently, and that solitary reflection of surrendering to what could be vanished into the darkness as if it had never been.