by Louise Bay
Nobody had told the shivering bodies in the park that it was cold and time to go home. People were scattered across the benches as if it were the middle of the summer. I grinned at a couple who looked like they were having an argument, but were still holding hands.
The laces of my running shoes loosened and when I glanced down, my left shoe had come untied. I stopped at one of the empty benches to fasten it, more aware of my heavy breathing once I’d stopped running.
“Ethan?” A female voice I half-recognized asked.
I looked up to find Clarissa, one of the Hamptons set, walking toward me. I stood and kissed her on the cheek. “Hi Clarissa. Not seen you in a while.”
“No, not since the summer. How are things? How’s work?”
“Yeah, good,” I replied pushing my hands through my hair.
“How’re Mandy and Andrew?”
“Yeah, they’re fine. I saw them last night. And you? What are you doing downtown? Don’t you live uptown?”
“You remembered,” she said, smiling at me as if it were a secret. We’d fucked a few years ago. It had been a one-time deal but we ran in the same circles and we bumped into each other here and there. “I was just having drinks with friends and I wanted to walk through the park before I got a cab home. I love it at this time of night.”
I nodded. “It’s one of my favorite places.”
“You could see me home if you wanted? I have an excellent single malt back at my apartment,” she said.
My stomach flipped at the thought. “I’m with Anna. You met her right?”
“Oh yeah,” she said. “The girl from the Hamptons. I remember her I think. But she’s not here now and,” she glanced down at my left hand and then back up at me, “I don’t see a ring.”
I stepped back from her. “There doesn’t need to be a ring, Clarissa.” I looked at her because I wanted to see her understand what I was saying. “There doesn’t need to be a ring.” I repeated. “Have a good night.” I headed out of the park.
And there it was. The answer I didn’t know that I’d been looking for. I didn’t need to marry her. I wanted her forever and a ring wasn’t what was going to guarantee that. I would just have to work hard every day to convince her to stay. I could do that.
I checked my watch. It was gone ten. Too late or too early to call her, but a darkness had been lifted from me. Just because she didn’t want to get married didn’t mean that I couldn’t convince her to spend the rest of her life with me. And I wanted that life to start as soon as possible.
Chapter Thirteen
Anna
I needed to find a quiet corner of the airport to call Ethan, he’d just texted me, asking me if I was around. He still didn’t know I was flying over. I wanted it to be a surprise. In the end I went into the Gucci shop and pretended to be thinking about buying a handbag. Hopefully, Ethan wouldn’t guess where I was.
“Hey beautiful,” he answered. His mood had shifted this week. Things were definitely better but I wanted to be there to make sure. I was eager to start our forever together.
“Hey handsome. What are you doing? Why aren’t you sleeping?” It was first thing Saturday morning in London, so he was up late.
“I will in a bit. I just need to finish off sending some emails.”
“Sounds like a wild Friday night you’ve got going on there, Mr. Scott.”
He chuckled on the other end of the phone.
“What are you doing? Are you out with Leah tonight?”
“I’m shopping and then I’m hoping for an early night.”
“I’m going to take you to bed early every night when you get here.”
“Is that a promise?”
“It’s a guarantee.”
“I’ll hold you to it. What are you up to tomorrow? Do you have plans?” I’d not even told Mandy I was coming, so Ethan could be out for the day when I arrived at around noon his time Saturday.
“Work. I’ll go for a run. Then I thought I might call the realtor.”
“Realtor?”
“Estate agent, whatever you call it. To see what the market’s like. In case you decide you want to move.”
“I love your place Ethan.”
“Our place. I want us to live in our place. You’re not a houseguest. I ordered you a credit card as well.”
“You did not.”
“I did. What’s mine is yours.”
“I’ll take your penis—that’s all I need.”
“You’re sick.”
“You love me.”
“I do. Can I call you tomorrow? I need to finish this and then sleep.”
“Of course. I love you.”
“I love you.”
I hung up, grinning like a fool.
My smile didn’t fade once on my journey across the Atlantic. I would be back soon enough, to pack up and say my goodbyes but for now, I was headed toward my future.
Even the glum taxi driver who smelled of fried chicken and looked like he hadn’t washed his hair since 1987 couldn’t dampen my mood. He hauled my case onto the pavement, or sidewalk as I would have to get used to calling it—and didn’t offer me any change. Whatever. I was here and I was grateful.
Ethan
It was coming up to lunchtime and I was still going through emails. I’d managed a run and a shower, but apart from that it had been all about work for me. When Anna got here, I wanted to make sure I had enough time for her, especially in her first few weeks. I hoped work calmed down a bit.
My phone started to buzz and my girl’s picture flashed up.
“Hey, beautiful,” I answered.
“Hey, yourself. How was your morning?”
“Crap. All about work. How was shopping. Did you buy anything? Hang-on someone’s banging on my door. Jesus, is the doorman asleep? Who the fuck is bothering me?”
I swung the door open and my jaw hit the fucking floor when Anna looked back at me. “Hey, if I’m carrying bagels and coffee am I still technically bothering you?”
“What the fuck?” I grabbed her and put my arms around her.
“Can I put this coffee down so I can hug you properly?” she mumbled into my chest.
I released her and she handed me the coffee as she started to maneuver two huge suitcases from the hallway.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I heard you needed a houseguest?”
“Anna,” I warned her.
“Well, I thought we agreed I’d move in, so I’m moving in.”
“You’re moving in?”
“Yup.”
“Now?”
“Unless you’d prefer me to get a hotel?”
I realized I was standing in the doorway. “Let me get those,” I said, passing her the coffee back so I could get her bags.
“Are you here for good? Have you finished work?” I asked as I pulled the two concrete laden suitcases into the apartment.
“Yes, I finished yesterday. Paul told me on Tuesday. It’s been killing me not telling you, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I can’t think of a better one. But I wish I’d known. I could have planned something.”
“Like what? A ‘Welcome to New York’ banner?”
I raised my eyebrow at her and hoisted her over my shoulder and carried her into the bedroom as she squealed. I threw her back onto the bed and pinned her arms to the bed.
“I’ve missed you,” I said looking at her.
“I’ve not been gone a week.”
“I’ve still missed you. I’m sorry I was grouchy when you left..” It was all fine now. I hadn’t quite got up the nerve to take the ring back. Maybe I’d send Rory. But I understood now that her marrying me wouldn’t change her commitment to me and our life together.
“I’m glad,” she said. “Can we take a shower? I feel yucky after the flight.”
I bent down and placed soft kisses along the seam of her lips, from one end to the other. Before I’d quite finished, she opened her mouth and our tongues crashed togeth
er.
I pulled away from her and off the bed. “Get in that shower. I have one more email to send and I’ll see you in there in two minutes.
I charged into the study and re-read the email that I’d been drafting before I got the call from Anna. I made two small changes and then sent it off, racing back to the shower, hoping to find Anna naked and wet in all senses of the word.
“Get in here,” she called from the cubicle. “My boobs are super dirty.”
I grinned and pulled off my t-shirt and pants.
“God, you’re so fucking perfect,” I said as I stepped into the shower and ran my eyes up her body.
Her hands slipped around my neck, “I want a little less conversation and a little more action,” she said as she grinned at me.
“I warned you about the quoting Elvis thing, Miss Anna,” I said as I backed her against the wall of the shower and dipped my fingers between her legs.
“Ethan,” she cried as I started to circle her clit with my fingers with the exact amount of pressure that I knew drove her wild. Her hand found my cock and her eyes slid down between our bodies. “I want you inside me, Ethan.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. I cupped her ass and lifted her against the wall and shoved myself right into her.
“Fuck,” she screamed and her fingernails dug deep into my flesh. “I forgot. Even though it’s been less than a week, I forgot how big you are.”
Jesus, she knew just the right thing to say and I twitched inside her. She squeezed in response.
“Are you ready to be fucked so hard, beautiful?” I pulled out and her mouth formed a perfect “O” and then I slammed into her, pushing her farther up the tile. Her heels digging into my ass, urging me farther, deeper into her.
“Faster, Ethan. I need you.”
I was lost from that moment. The sounds of the water sloshing between us, our skin slapping together, her breathless cries were all muted by the blood rushing through my ears as I fucked her relentlessly.
She pushed her hands through my hair as my mouth attached to her breast and I bit down hard. As my teeth sank into her flesh, she began to come apart underneath me, silently, breathlessly. I felt so powerful, being able to do that to her body, and do it so quickly. The thought pushed me over the edge and I emptied myself into her.
“You make it so good baby,” she said, sounding sated and fatigued as she pulled her legs from around my waist.
“You sit while I wash your hair,” I offered.
She sat on the shower bench and grinned at me as I shampooed and conditioned her hair and then took a sponge and rubbed her whole body from her neck to her toes in small circles.
“Can you do that every morning before work, Mr. Scott?”
“You’ll have to earn it,” I teased.
“I’ll do anything you ever ask of me. Anything,” she said. She sounded serious, more serious than the conversation warranted.
In response I kissed her lightly on the lips. She sat on the bench as she watched me quickly wash myself and turn off the shower. I wrapped her in a towel and gave her another for her hair. She looked at me seriously as I pulled a towel around my waist.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Shall I find you a comb?” I asked, looking around and then bending to open the doors of the vanity. As I stood, something caught my eye, a smear on the mirror. Except that it wasn’t a smear. I looked again. It was the words “marry me” created by the steam on the mirror.
My heart started to race and I was pinned to the spot. Had I written that? No. I didn’t understand. I used my hands to steady myself against the sink. I couldn’t turn around as the realization of what was happening crept over me. Her front pressed against my back and her arms snaked around my waist.
“Hey,” she mumbled into my back. “Turn around.”
I took a deep breath and turned in her arms. She tilted her head to look at me. “Is this what you want?” I asked.
She nodded. “I want you forever. I want to make you happy.”
“Who told you? Mandy?” I asked. This wasn’t a coincidence.
“I didn’t do this for any reason other than because I want to be married to you.”
I groaned. It was what I wanted to hear but I knew it wasn’t the whole story. “Anna, I know you don’t want to get married.”
“I would have said yes. If you had asked me at New Year’s. I would have said yes.”
“Don’t bullshit me.”
I walked her backward into the bedroom, our arms wrapped around each other.
“No bullshit, I would have said yes. I could never say no to you, Ethan.”
“But you don’t want to get married. You told me that night that you didn’t want to. If my memory serves me correctly, your exact words were ‘It’s not like we’re getting married or anything, god forbid.’”
“Shit, is that what I said?”
I nodded. The words were etched onto my brain.
She pulled at me so we were both lying face up on the bed. “It’s how I’ve always felt.” I froze, not wanting to hear any more about how she didn’t want to marry me. “It’s how I felt right up until I heard you had been planning to propose.” I didn’t move, couldn’t move. “I’ve never wanted the big, white wedding. I’ve never been one of those girls. The thought is horrifying to me. And I’ve never associated marriage with anything particularly happy. My parents seem to be together because they have to be, rather than because they want to be. I’ve seen so many people divorce or waste time in unhappy relationships. I don’t want that. But when I heard you were planning to ask me, I realized that’s not us. We’re not unhappy and I don’t believe we ever could be. As long as I don’t have to wear a huge white dress and parade down an aisle, I want to marry you. I want to marry you because I want to be with you forever and I want the world to know but even more than that, I want to make you happy and if that’s what it takes, then I want it too.”
I found my voice finally. “This can’t just be about what I want, Anna.”
She lifted herself up onto her elbow so she was looking at me. She put her hand across my chest, across my heart. “I want to make you happy. That is good enough reason for me to say yes. I’d do anything for you Ethan. But actually, I want it for us, too. I want to tell the world you’re mine and I’m yours. I never thought I would feel like that but it’s different with you. I never expected to be lucky enough to have what we have.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?”
“I’ll marry you, since you asked so nicely.”
She grinned at me. “Do I get the ring? I hear it’s awesome.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Oh, I get it. Jewelry can be very persuasive, huh?”
She prodded me in the ribs. “I’ve done the hard bit. I asked the question. I think I deserve a reward.”
I pushed her back against the mattress, and slid my lips across hers.
“Maybe I took it back?”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “Did you?”
“Come on.” I slipped off the bed and pulled her up. “Put some clothes on.”
I handed her her robe that she’d left from the last time she was here and I pulled on my boxers and took her hand.
She trailed behind me as we made our way down the hall to the study. I lifted her to sit on my desk and then I sat down on my chair.
She looked at me expectantly. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her.
“Gimme, gimme,” she said, her fingers grabbing at the air.
I leaned forward and opened the bottom drawer of my desk to reveal a red leather ring box.
Her eyes widened as we both peered into the drawer, alternating glances between each other and the box.
Eventually I grabbed the box and put it on the desk next to her.
She wiggled off the desk and onto my lap. “Show me.”
Slowly, I opened the box, revealing the ring that I’d carefully chosen for her. My heart was th
umping through my chest.
“Wow.”
“Wow?”
“It’s huge.”
I kissed her neck. “I know, but simple right? I didn’t think you’d want anything too fussy.”
“It’s perfect. I couldn’t have, wouldn’t have picked better myself. Did you rent it? I’m going to be really upset if this is another Pretty Woman tribute, because I’m not giving it back,” she said.
“You like it?” I asked her, genuinely concerned.
“Are you serious?” She started wiggling her fingers in front of me. I chuckled and reached for the ring and slid it onto her left hand.
It fitted perfectly.
She looked between me and the ring. I couldn’t see anything but her beautiful face.
She was so fucking perfect, and she was going to be my wife.
Playlist
Love Song
The Cure
Out is Through
Alanis Morrisette
Loving Me For Me
Christina Aguilera
As
Stevie Wonder
Kissing You
Des’ree
Manhattan
Tony Bennett
Thinking Out Loud
Ed Sheeran
Acknowledgments
2014 was an amazing year for me. At the beginning of the year I had no idea that I would be on my fifth title by its end. Faithful wasn’t written and I was about a third of the way through Hopeful. I’ve learned so much and made so many amazing new friends. The energy and enthusiasm of all of you that have read what I’ve written propels me forward in 2015 – I hope it brings you all health and happiness.
The blogging community is so incredible and you guys have been so good to me. ‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem to go far enough.
To all of those that spread the word about my books - thank you for all your support and encouragement. You will never know what every like, share, retweet, +1 and comment means to me.
Thank you Megan Fields, Jules Rapley Collins, Claudia Dornan, Laura Hutton, Lucy May, Jacquie Denison, Barbara Campbell, Vicky Marsh, Laura Hutton and Mimi Perez Sanchez. You girls are the best.
Thank you to all those authors that I’ve met virtually. I love the support there is in the indie-author community!