“Don’t bother,” Ethan Blake said with a faint smile. “If I take your car, what are you going to drive?”
“This lady happens to own two cars,” Laurie Norton replied proudly, tossing him the keys.
Ethan caught them and gave her a thumbs-up. “Rich and reckless—gotta love it.”
“You really won’t stay a bit longer?” she asked.
Maybe it was the emptiness of the apartment, or maybe she just didn’t like how quiet it felt when he wasn’t there. Either way, Laurie felt a strange reluctance as he prepared to leave.
Ethan smiled. “No, thanks. My grandma used to tell me, ‘When a man’s out in the world, the first thing he needs to learn is how to protect himself.’”
“Get lost!” Laurie laughed and threw a cushion at him.
Ethan ducked out of the way, chuckling, and drove off in her Porsche.
His next s
