“Sounds like a decent compromise.”
“I guess.” He grinned. “She never said how much I had to dock her checks, so I figure about a dollar a week should do it.”
“And what does my father think about all of this? You never did tell me what he said during your meeting.”
“I told you it went fine.” Ethan shrugged and smiled shyly.
“Vague.” I poked him in the shoulder. “Spill it.”
“He likes my idea,” Ethan said. “He even said he’d help us come up with the business plan and letter of intent for the real estate people and city planning commissioner.”
“Ethan, that’s fabulous!”
“He gave me a big lecture on appearance, though. Said I needed to ditch the piercings and start dressing like a businessman. I tried to explain the meaning behind it all, but I don’t think he gets it.”
“I’m not sure he ever will,” I said. “I do think he appreciates your dressing up for meetings at his office though.”
“He commented on my shoes.” Ethan laughed. “I told him Chucks were expensive as well as comfortable, but he just made a face like he was sucking a lemon.”
“I know that look.”
“Andrea said I looked like one of those models in the department store ads.”
“You do.” I smiled. “So, your friends are still accepting you even though you have money?”
“Yeah. I’m kinda surprised, but now that they know, I feel bad for not telling them before.”
“You are a fabulous guy,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “They already knew that. Are you going to bring them here? Show them your place?”
“Maybe after you get settled in.” Ethan looked around at the mayhem of boxes. “It’s kind of a mess right now.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tight against him, placing soft kisses on the top of my head. It wasn’t going to be easy, and I wasn’t deluding myself into thinking that it would be. Even though Dad had reluctantly accepted Ethan, I was going to take continuous flack for being with him even when he did shave and put on a nice suit.
Zoey had discontinued her jokes, and Presley had changed the tone of hers to light-hearted ribbing, but I still got a lot of grief about Ethan’s age. I wasn’t going to pretend that I didn’t care what they thought. I hadn’t come that far just yet, but Ethan meant more to me than they did, so whatever they were going to dish out, I was going to take—for him.
His hands ran up into my hair, and he pulled my face to his, his
lips and tongue stroking my mouth, my chin, my throat. As my body began to respond to him again, I noticed something I had never felt before in my life—not with any man—a sense of deep, serene calm that came over me, held me, and caressed my mind as much as Ethan’s hands were caressing my body. I relaxed completely back against his chest and just felt.
“Oh…Ethan…I love you.”
My teeth sank into my lip, and I could feel my heart rate and breathing accelerate as the calm instantly disappeared, and the serene feeling was replaced with horror. My hands started to shake as I tried to figure out what in the hell I had just said. I mean, I knew the words. I knew what I meant, and I knew the implications of speaking them aloud, especially after only knowing each other such a short time. He could bolt. He could bolt right now. All of this…all of this could be for nothing if I had spoken too soon.
“Ashlyn,” Ethan said, placing his hand on the side of my face and making me look at him. He trailed his fingers up and down my cheek and gave me that cocky, shy half smile. “Get that panicked look off your face, baby. I knew how I felt about you the moment I realized I wanted to make you French toast. I knew I didn’t want to just make it that morning—even that first night you were here. I knew I wanted to make you breakfast every day for the rest of forever.”
He brushed my lips softly with his, back and forth, the cool metal from the rings starting to feel like home as much as his arms did when he wrapped them around my waist and held me tight.
“I love you, Ashlyn.”
Tilting my head a little, I looked up into Ethan’s eyes, and he gave me the full-fledged, double-barrel smile that lit up my existence. Inside my body, it felt like my heart was swelling up, like his gaze was enough to complete me. As I brought my lips back to his, I knew whatever we faced in the future, we were going to face it together. I had been so closed for so long, it felt good to finally let someone completely and totally inside again. Maybe it wouldn’t be perfect, and maybe some things were going to be tough, but for once in my life, I wasn’t going to do what everyone else expected. I wasn’t going to do what other people thought I should. For once, I was going to do what was right for me—for both of us.
Carpe diem.
~~The End~~