Chapter 25

25

Madeline

After a marathon night on Friday of sex and long conversations about some of the things we've done in life, Ethan leaves Nashville early Saturday. We exchange many texts over the weekend and he calls me both nights for more long conversations.

Monday morning rolls around and I wake at five a.m. to a string of texts from him.

Ethan: Miller, I'm gonna need a photo today.

Ethan: Scratch that. I need a video.

Ethan: Fuck it, we need to Facetime sometime today. {Preferably when you've got enough time to say filthy stuff to me and show me your tits.}

If this isn't the second-best way to wake up, I don't know what is. The first being waking up with Ethan's arms wrapped around me.

Me: Proud of you, Black. You're finally getting the hang of secret messages.

I snap a photo of myself before leaving my bed and send it to him. He told me last night how much he loves me without makeup. I'm taking that to mean he's into natural beauty, which my first-thing-in-the-morning look is, so I figure he may enjoy this photo.

I'm still on my way to the bathroom when his reply text comes through. The giddy feeling I always get at the sound of his text notifications is a feeling I hope to keep experiencing every time I receive one of his texts.

Ethan: Fuck, you're beautiful.

One simple text and my knees go weak and butterflies take over my stomach.

Me: What are you doing?

It's six a.m. in New York, so I'm thinking he's maybe in his gym.

Ethan: Staring at your photo.

Holy god, I don't think I can go on with this living in separate cities thing.

Me: Is it leg day?

He switches to a call, which, of course he does because he really kinda hates texting, and I love this.

"Just an FYI," I say with a grin he can't see, "I don't have time now to show you my tits and say filthy things to you."

"I have no doubt." His voice is deliciously gruff. "What time is Bossy McBossy due to arrive?"

I burst out laughing. "She will love that. She'll be here in an hour."

I hear his smile when he says, "You sound happy."

"I am. I woke to grumbly texts from you telling me you miss me without telling me you miss me. And now you're making up fun nicknames for my assistant. That's everything a girl needs to be happy."

"Grumbly is inaccurate."

"It really isn't." I lean against the bathroom vanity. "Are you happy today?"

The phone goes silent, and while I don't think we've lost our connection, the silence has me wondering. "Ethan? Are you still there?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking that I've never had a woman ask me that."

"Well, this woman is."

I hear another smile when he says, "I'm happy." And then some more grumbling that I am so here for, "But I'll be happier when you give me a time for when we can talk longer."

"Oh, I didn't realize there'd be talking on that call. I thought it was gonna be all about tits."

"Dirty talk, Miller. Keep up."

I could talk to him for the entire day and it still wouldn't be long enough. "You didn't tell me if it's leg day."

"It is. I've just finished in the gym."

"Are you still wearing your hot-quad shorts?" Thinking about those shorts and his quads makes me even happier.

"Yeah, and I could be convinced to send you a photo of them if you give me a time for our call tonight."

Oh my. My man really wants to spend time with me.

"I won't get home until around eight tonight. I'll call you then."

"Eat dinner first and take your bath. I'll be up late."

"I could call you from the bath."

"No, I'm gonna need to see all of you, spread out on your bed. Call me after your bath."

His desire for me is intoxicating and I'm all breathy when I say, "You're looking for a show?"

"Baby, I'm always looking for a show. But what I don't think you realize is that you smiling at me through the phone is a show to me."

I'm going to need so many stolen moments throughout today to revisit this conversation and the way he's making me feel. "Right," I gather myself, "what I'm taking from this is that I don't really need to show you my tits tonight or talk dirty to you. I just have to show up and smile at you."

"That's all you ever have to do, Maddie. The rest is a bonus."

This man.

He has no idea how good I'm going to make it for him tonight.

Tuesday morning is an earlier start for me than Monday. Four thirty a.m. to be precise, and I hate that I agreed to wake up at such a hideous time for a work thing. Ethan's waiting text helps shift my grumpy mood.

Ethan: I'm canceling my dinner plans tonight. I need another FaceTime.

I reply before taking a shower.

Me: You can't cancel. It's a charity gala and you're a guest of honor.

I take my shower, checking my phone pretty much as soon as I step out of it to see if he's replied. That's how much I crave him.

Ethan: I fucking hate galas.

Me: I see you're grumbly again today.

Ethan: I'm not looking at you, Miller. That makes me grumbly.

Me: I feel the same way. I'm not sure about long-distance relationships.

Ethan: I'm sure about them. They shouldn't exist.

Me: I can try to rearrange my schedule. I may be able to free up a day early next week if that works for you. I'll come to you this time.

Ethan: No, don't fuck with your schedule. I've just gotta get through this week of work here. The company is messing me around, wanting me to commit to more than I agreed to when I sold to them. I should be free by next Monday. Tuesday at the latest.

Me: It's not fair to you to be the only one to change your life for us.

Ethan: I don't give a shit about fairness. You're flat out with work at the moment, so it makes sense for me to travel if I can.

Me: I really got lucky when I met you. Thank you for being so cool about my work.

Me: I'll miss you tonight.

Our FaceTime call lasted for two hours last night. There was no dirty talk or boobs involved. We talked about ourselves and our lives for the entire two hours.

Ethan: The gala planners will wish they never invited me by the time I'm finished there.

I get to sleep in on Wednesday. Well, to six a.m. I also get a phone call from Ethan, which is what wakes me because my alarm was actually set for seven.

"You should know up front that I'm not a morning person, Black." I answer his call still half asleep and a tiny bit grumpy about being woken. But let's face it, I'd take a call from this man at any time of the day and be happy about it.

"We're long past the up-front stage of this relationship, Miller. I feel like I've been duped here."

I laugh and sit up in my bed. "You've known me a week. When exactly did the up-front stage end?"

"I've known you eleven days and anything before the first time you begged me to fuck you was the up-front period."

"Begged is an exaggeration."

"You're the unreliable narrator in this relationship, not me. Begged is entirely accurate."

I laugh again. "I am so not the unreliable narrator."

"You told me you're not a morning person, yet you've laughed twice already. I've also known you to wake ready to wrap that filthy mouth of yours around my cock. I'd say you're good in the morning and that your version of events cannot always be trusted."

I have never met a man who did banter so well. "Okay, so let me state the facts again. Before I met you, I was not a morning person. You make mornings fun." He makes everything fun.

"Fuck, I wish I was there with you."

"I do too. How was the gala?"

"It was long. I gave them some cash and bought my way out of there early."

"Oh my god, you did not!"

"I did. I would have given it to them earlier in the night so I could have made it home in time to call you before you fell asleep but Kristen talked my ear off and I couldn't leave."

Ethan's told me about his new sister-in-law and I know it's important to him to get to know her and build a relationship. I love that he chose to talk with her rather than leave the gala early to talk to me. I like that family is his priority. "Who knew you could be such a grumblebum. I know you would have welcomed every minute of that conversation with her."

"A grumblebum? I see you and Leigh have been sitting around making up new words."

"It's an Aussie word. I picked it up when I was there on tour. It's pretty much perfect for you this week. You're being very cantankerous."

"Tell me we're FaceTiming tonight."

"I'll be finished with my bath by seven."

"Thank fuck. And Miller?"

"Yeah?"

"Put a pair of those granny undies on for me tonight."

Me: I hate today.

Ethan: It's 5am, Miller. How can you already hate today?

Me: Because I won't get to talk with you on the phone today.

Me: I also hate my publicist for making today such a long day.

Me: And I hate Leigh for conspiring against me with Judy to make today happen.

Ethan: Anything else on that hate list?

Me: I hate running.

Me: I hate the gym.

Me: I hate my trainer.

Me: I hate that pizza is bad for me.

Me: And I hate that tomorrow is Friday.

Ethan: What have you got against Fridays?

Me: Nothing.

Ethan: Is this part of the conversation going to make sense anytime soon, baby?

Me: It should be Tuesday tomorrow. Next Tuesday to be exact.

Ethan can't get here until then and it feels like a thousand years away.

Ethan: I'll be on a plane tonight.

Me: No, don't do that. I won't get home until around midnight and then I have to be back up at four tomorrow morning. And you've got work tomorrow too.

Me: Shit, I have to go. Bossy McBossy has arrived xx

I drag myself through Thursday. A breakfast, six interviews, a lunch, and a dinner later, I arrive back at my hotel at 11:45 p.m. I kick my heels off before the door of my suite even closes behind me, muttering, "I hate you," as I fling them far and wide. They killed my feet today; tomorrow, I plan to buy ten pairs of flat shoes. Once I've got the heels off, I yank my dress over my head and discard it while muttering, "I hate you too."

I'm halfway into the living room of my suite, wearing only my panties and bra, when Ethan's deep voice startles me. "I don't know, Miller, I really fucking like that dress."

I jump, my hand going immediately to my heart as I look at him. "Jesus, Ethan. You just shaved years off my life." He's sprawled on the sofa watching me intently and damn, even in my exhausted state, I swoon at how sexy he is. "Why are you here?"

He gets up and comes my way, all swagger and hotness, and I wish I looked as good as he does at this time of night after a long-ass day. "You told me you needed me."

I frown. "I told you not to come."

He snakes his arm around my waist, his eyes still firmly on mine rather than my half-naked body, and pulls me to him. "Before that, you told me what you needed."

Still frowning, I grasp his shirt while leaning in close to inhale his scent. God, he feels good, smells good. "I'm pretty sure that before that, I just spent a whole lot of time complaining."

His eyes are still on mine. Intensely focused on me. "I read between the lines."

I stare up at him, blinking as my brain finally gets her shit together and figures out what he's saying. As she does this, my heart starts getting her shit together too, and I suddenly feel a whole lot breathless.

Ethan read between my lines.

I grip his shirt harder. "I know you weren't finishing work until seven tonight, so that means you must have gone straight to the airport, and I also know that you have to start work tomorrow at eight, which means you'll have to be up early for that flight." My heart is being so extra right now, racing so fast I'm sure she's skipping a lot of beats. "And I'm so exhausted that I will pass out the second I find my bed, so pretty much, we're gonna spend our time together asleep. This was a lot of effort for that." No one besides my mother has ever gone to this much effort for me.

He grazes his thumb along my jaw. "It really wasn't, and I'm not sure why I didn't think of it sooner."

My eyes go wide. "You say that like you would do it again."

His gaze has dropped to my lips. "I will." His eyes meet mine again as his hand slides into my hair. "I'll be back tomorrow night."

"Oh my god, Ethan, this is crazy talk."

"Why? I want to see you and I can make that happen."

"You can see me on your phone."

"I can't get my hands on you that way." He bends his mouth to my neck to press a kiss there before saying, "I like sleeping next to you, Miller. Let me."

I'm stunned that he would do this, but more than that, I'm happy he's here. Giddily, stupidly happy. And if I thought I'd already fallen for him, I had no idea I could fall further, but I have. I am so deep in this with him.