Tempted To Touch

•||3||•

“Dammit!” Irish jumped back as the shelve crashed to the ground bringing a bunch of flowers with it.

She bent down and looked at the mess then ran her hand across her face unaware of the smudge of dirt she left on her nose.

The bell over the door sounded and she looked up and saw Ethan watching her with a concerned expression.

“What happened?” he asked crouching down next to her.

“Huh, I um… I was uh…” she stuttered embarrassingly.

Ethan chuckled and whipped the dirt from her nose.

“You're cute. Step back, let me get all this cleaned up.” he ordered

“No!” he looked at her, eyebrow raised. “I mean, I can handle this. Can I help you with something?”

“My mother sent fruits over for you. I left it on the chair on your porch. I heard the crash and came to investigate.”

“Oh thank you, I'm alright.”

“Iris?”

She finally stopped rambling and looked at him.

“Yes?”

“Go get cleaned up and I'll fix the broken shelve.”

She opened her mouth to argue then stopped when he took a step towards her and pinned her to the counter with his body.

“The more you fight me, the more I'll make your body quiver for me in places I'm sure you didn't know could quiver.”

Irish swallowed and gasped when he lifted his hand and stroked her cheek.

“Ethan what are you doing?” she asked in a breathy tone.

“Don't tell me it's been so long you've forgotten what it feels like to have a man touch you.”

“You're not a man! You're a boy. A...your mother would have a cow if she walked in and saw us.”

She saw something flash in his eyes and knew she was in trouble.

“I can assure you I'm not a boy. I'm twenty five years old and I don't take kindly to the jab. Maybe I should prove to you how much of a man I am.”

She held back a moan as he moved his growing manhood against her side. Even through his jeans and her dress she could feel it's strength.

“I knew I would be tempted to touch you the moment I saw you.” he said in a husky tone that proved she wasn't the only one affected.

“No Ethan we can't.” she pushed by him and hurried out the door and headed for her house.

As she leaned against the brick wall outside the shop she tried to calm herself down. Ethan was right about one thing, it has been years since she had been looked at by a man much less desired by one. He was making her feel feminine, something she hasn't felt since forever. The way he looks at her really made her feel as beautiful as he said she is.

“Iris you alright?”

Just like that shame and guilt crashed down on her. She turned to face Hannah who was standing by the fence with her gardening tools.

“Um yeah, I just needed to get some air. I had a little accident in the shop.” she explained

“Oh dear.” Hannah exclaimed “Is everything alright?”

“The screw in one of the shelves must have come loose and the whole thing crashed and took some of my best flowers with it. Um Ethan is fixing it.” Iris explained

“Good, you keep him and make him help you with whatever handy work you need.”

Irish did her best not to blush.

“I'm about to go into town to do some grocery shopping. He's only been home less than a day and already my pantry is halfway empty.”

“OK I'll see you later.” Iris replied

She waited until Hannah disappeared back into her house before she let herself back into the flower shop. Ethan sent her a smirk over his shoulder as he caught her staring at his bare back, he had removed his shirt while he worked.

“Like what you see?”  he asked

Iris narrowed her eyes at him which made him chuckle. He stood up and dusted his hands on his jeans then turned to look at her. She stared at his abs on full display and wondered what they felt like to the touch.

“If you're going to look at me like that, don't expect me to behave.” he warned playfully, though the look in his eyes said he was very much serious.

“I wasn't…”

“Tsk tsk, lying now are we.”

“Ethan you have to…”

“I have to what? Kiss you? Touch you? Taste you?...don't mind if I do.”

He lowered his, she knew she shouldn't but she couldn't resist. He leaned in a little closer, their foreheads touching. Dear god, she couldn’t fight against the thoughts that were going through her. His very smell was flooding her senses now.

His lips brush hers. Not innocently, like a tease but hot, fiery, passionate and demanding. She wants to pull away before she loses herself but she can’t seem to…In this minty moment, her senses have been seduced and she can no longer think straight.

She was momentarily confused when he suddenly pulled away from her and turned to  face the shelf. When the bell over the door sounded and Hannah walked in with a pitcher of lemonade Iris was glad that at least one of them had still been in tune with their surrounding.

“Iris dear you look flushed, you should reconsider having the air conditioner installed in here. Maybe Ethan can do it for you, my son is really good with his hands. Anyway here's some lemonade, I'm off to town. I should be back in a few hours.”

Irish sagged against the counter in relief but when Ethan strode over to her and pulled her into another heated embrace, she knew the lemonade would be long forgotten, at least for a few hours.