Page 31 of Lost Without You
Unfortunately, the romantic moment was broken by the sound of a ringing phone. Ethan’s. His body tensed up as he reached over and picked it up. Uh oh. She had a feeling about who was calling, but didn’t want to ruin their happy bubble.
“I’m going to have a shower and give you some privacy,” Rachel gave him one last kiss and wandered off to the bathroom.
Just before she turned on the shower, she heard Ethan answer the phone and she knew exactly who it was given the change in his voice.
His ex.
A nagging doubt rushed to her mind, but she put it firmly away. Everyone had baggage of some sort and she wasn’t going to worry over it now. And she wasn’t going to let her feelings for Ethan get waylaid by anything—not the investigation, not her family, and certainly not his ex-wife.
She stepped under the steaming spray and grabbed the bottle of body wash. Pouring a generous amount of the lavender-infused gel into her palm, she worked the lather over her skin, taking a deep breath and letting the scent calm her. Suddenly the glass door swung open, and Rachel gasped in shock as Ethan slid in behind her, taking the bodywash and helping her finish the job. The feel of his wet, naked skin against hers had her thinking about all the dirty things they could get up to in the steamy enclosure.
“Everything okay?” she asked cautiously as he leaned in and kissed her shoulder.
“I told Lara to stop calling. We have nothing more to say to each other.”
Rachel turned and glanced up at him. “And what did she say to that?”
“She yelled at me and hung up. It’s the same old routine and I’m done. I blocked her number. I don’t want to talk about her anymore. She’s my past,” he sighed and pulled Rachel in closer. “You’re my present.”
He claimed her mouth, a devouring kiss that left no doubt where his attention was at.
Two orgasms and many, many kisses later, they finally emerged from the shower and got dressed. Rachel and Ethan had one afternoon without appointments, so they made the most of it by eating and walking their way through the city like tourists. First, they had a late brunch of huevos rancheros in Greenwich Village, and afterwards a long walk in Central Park. Then they grabbed a cab over to the Empire State Building. Rachel got Ethan up to the outdoor viewing deck and despite his nerves, he couldn’t deny the view from the 102ndfloor was spectacular, especially on a clear day.
They walked around town for a while and had a late supper at a Cuban bistro on the Lower East Side, relaxing to the sounds of a Latin jazz trio. To top off the day, they were now seated at a popular dessert bar, sharing a hot fudge sundae, while Rachel laughed at Ethan’s discomfort as she made loud, appreciative noises. She was a chocoholic, so it just couldn’t be helped.
“We need to get back to our hotel. I can’t take any more of your enjoyment.” Ethan glared at her and shifted in his seat, but the look only made her laugh harder.
She couldn’t deny that teasing and joking with Ethan was almost as good as the soft touches and lingering stares they shared.
“I’m just expressing my honest reaction. I can’t help it,” Rachel smiled innocently as she spooned in another bite of luscious strawberry ice cream and warm fudge brownie. She closed her eyes as her tastebuds lit up and let out a loud moan again. “God, so fucking good.”
“I’m begging you, please don’t sayfuckingor make that noise again, Rachel,” Ethan whispered as he leaned closer, his hot breath tickling her ear and making her shiver. “I mean it, I will carry you out of here right now, caveman style, and not give a shit if anyone stares.”
She giggled and turned her head, so their mouths barely brushed. The spark of heat in Ethan’s eyes reflected her own. “I don’t think that’s a good idea given everything I’ve just eaten but go ahead, take your chance.” She winked and he growled but took her mouth again in a sultry kiss that left her with no doubt about the effectiveness of her teasing. “But before we take off, I need to buy a bottle of their chocolate sauce.”
“Only if I get to drizzle it on your gorgeous body and lick it off,” Ethan turned and gently bit her earlobe.
God, that was good. She couldn’t think when he touched her like that. What were they talking about? Oh, yeah, chocolate.
“Great minds think alike,” she whispered and was about to reach for the last spoonful when Ethan took it and guided the mouthful to his lips instead.
“Hey, no fair.” She pouted.
“Payback, sweetheart.” He winked as he enjoyed the last bite.
“Maybe I won’t buy any sauce,” she smirked as his smile disappeared.
“Now that’s just mean,” he murmured as he kissed her again.
It was sweet but the dessert had nothing to do with it. It was all Ethan.
“Let’s settle up and call it a night. We’ve got a tough meeting in the morning.”
Rachel tensed up for the first time today. She wasn’t looking forward to that conversation with her family, but it was what it was. She wasn’t going to let some corrupt assholes stop her. Sometimes you had to make the difficult choice, and this was one of those times.
A half hour later they were back at the hotel, heading upstairs. He held her hand as they walked down the hallway to her suite.
“I have a question for you,” Ethan asked.