"Yes."
"Marcus is history," he added in a no-nonsense tone. He liked that she didn't hesitate when she murmured her agreement.
With a groan, he gathered her in his arms and hugged her, so tight she let out a soft cry of protest even as she laughed softly and happily.
They didn't say much else after that. They didn't need to. She had to get back home and he needed to meet up with the band for a recording at one of the commercial studios the band used when they worked together. Ethan knew they'd have left a hundred messages since last night when he'd left the club unannounced, but he didn't care about that either. He felt reluctant to leave their perfect little bubble here, but reality awaited.
He saw her staring at her phone, which she'd unearthed from her bag once she'd finished getting dressed. The look on her face was the first unpleasant expression he'd seen in several hours.
"Marcus?" Ethan said with a tightened jaw as he shrugged into his own black coat.
"Yes," Mandy said with a deep sigh. "Looks like the business trip got cut short and he'll be back today. From his text, he wants to see me. It's almost as if he suspects that something's wrong."
"But nothing's wrong," Ethan said firmly, moving closer to her and cupping her face. "You and me are the one thing that's right, right now. Marcus is the problem, not us. How are you going to fix him?"
She stared up into his piercing, no-nonsense gaze. "I'll tell him it's over. I'll … I'll tell him about us. He deserves that much."
"You're right," Ethan said, kissing her temple lingeringly. "You won't regret this, I promise. This is right. I believe that more than I've believed anything in a long while."
"I believe it too," Mandy said, breathing deeply as she rested her cheek on his broad chest. He asked if she could meet him for dinner later and she agreed. But then she asked him to drop her off at her parents' house instead.
Fifteen minutes later they were on the road again, headed back to the main part of the city. Ethan's hand kept linking with hers and lifting it to his lips for a kiss. She kept smiling at the romantic gesture. She'd given him the address to her folk's place, which was an attractive semi-detached home surrounded by obviously well-loved rose bushes.
"I'd better dash in now before any of my sisters recognize you. They're your biggest fans and they love the band, too. Tiffany is eighteen and has a poster of you over her bed – the one where you wore the stylized wings, bare-chested and dressed in nothing else but a pair of tight black leather pants."
"A bit racy for an 18-year-old's bedroom wall, I'd think," Ethan teased before he became serious. "I would love to meet your family. You want me to come in with you?"
Her lips twisted ruefully. "Not this time. But soon. I'll be glad to show off my mother's cooking since it's way better than mine. That's my major flaw, you know. I can't boil an egg to save my life, though I do manage a mean Caesar's salad."
Ethan had chuckled and leaned in to kiss the side of her head. "You have no flaws, not to me. See you soon, baby."
She'd smiled, kissed his lips quickly, and then left Ethan watching her make her way to the front door. He made sure she was safely inside before he started the car up and drove away, his heart already aching because of their separation. Damn. After several hours of immersing himself in her molten sweetness, his crush hadn't ebbed. It had only intensified. Ethan knew he was in deep trouble already, but he wasn't about to run away from something this real. Maybe in the past he'd have chosen to walk the other way to keep out of the way of romance, fidelity, or a continuous relationship. But his Mandy was making him feel ready to try out all three.
"For heaven's sake, Ethan, are you even here?"
Ethan blinked out of his thoughts and focused his attention on their manager. They were using a big-time studio for the recording of one of their latest singles. He just realized he'd spent far too much time with his head in the clouds thinking about the hours he had spent with Mandy and how he couldn't wait to get her all to himself again.
"We need to wrap this up before another artist shows up in an hour for her own studio time," their manager rumbled. "I'm not paying $2,500 an hour so you can daydream the time away."
Ethan shoved his fingers through his hair and sighed, shouldering his bass guitar
Jaime was nursing a beer from the cooler when he came forward to sling a leather-clad arm around Ethan's neck. "You've got it bad," Jaime said sagely, resting his forehead on Ethan's for a moment in a commiserative gesture. He sighed deeply. "It's that hot little fashion stylist, huh? You're in over your head, ace."
He pulled back, but not before ruffling Ethan's hair with a grin. "Enjoy it. However long it lasts," Jaime said. They'd known each other since college, where they'd been friends before deciding to drop out and form their band with another pal, the drummer Henson.
"This isn't some fling with a time slot," Ethan said gruffly, frowning. "This is it, man."
"Is it?" Jaime asked with a cocked brow. "You're infatuated with the sweet girl; that's obvious. But you've been in love like maybe … once in your life. You don't know how to handle strong emotions. You aren't ready, Ethan. There's a whole world out there to explore and you wouldn't want to do it with your heart tied down. Believe me, I know. I've been there. So enjoy it. But no expectations, okay? I don't want you to get hurt – and then the girl – she doesn't need that kind of pain either, being loved and dumped by a rock star. You really care? Then spare her that."
Jaime nodded good-naturedly and thumped Ethan's back before striding to where Henson sat with the sound engineering guy at the consoles. Ethan expelled an angry breath. He hated it when people thought he wasn't mature enough emotionally to handle a real relationship. Jaime was the only one Ethan would allow to talk to him like that. But even if Jaime was right, it was too late. Ethan and Mandy had already happened. And he wasn't about to regret a moment of it. In fact, he was already looking forward to more. The future could take care of itself; for once in his life, Ethan was going to do things step by step. For the first time, he saw a relationship he could work at, the way he worked at his music or painting till he got it right. He would get him and Mandy right no matter the cost, he vowed as he finally focused on the recording set.
Chapter Eight
What have I done? Mandy asked herself the question all day and still couldn't come up with the right answer. In twenty-four hours, her universe as she knew it had changed.
Lying on the covers of her old bedroom in her parents' house, she went over the past several hours. Ethan's phone call and apology, then driving down with him to his secluded mansion. Seeing his beautiful house, his private inner studio. And then suddenly, she was flat on her back with his tongue fluttering over her secret folds. His thumb in her virgin crack. Whoa. Then being taken so hard with her bent over the kitchen island while he filled her again and again with that delightfully thick and long cock of his. He'd hammered her g-spot into submission and she couldn't seem to stop twitching each time she remembered the many angles he'd taken her.
Mandy had never imagined sex could be like that, and for those few hours, she'd surrendered to a side of her she'd never believed existed. She'd been bold, sassy, and sexy. It was like having a different personality drawn out by her equally daring lover. You couldn't stay meek and repressed around Ethan. Not with the way she loved making him groan; seeing his gorgeous face crease with ceaseless lust. It made her body sing whenever he was hard and ready for her, eager to sheathe his rampaging steel pipe in her smoldering core.
To avoid facing Marcus for now, she'd come here rather than go back to her place, where he could very well be waiting since he had a key. She'd checked his missed calls, messages, and voicemail. I'm back, darling. Missed you too much and business was a drag. Hoping we could spend the weekend together. Where are you and why aren't you picking up? Are you angry with me over the unexpected trip? I'm sorry.
Mandy closed her eyes with a grimace. She was the one who should be sorry. She'd done what she'd said she'd never do: she'd betrayed Marcus' trust and had given into Ethan's demands. But she had no one to blame for her decisions; it had been her choice to make and she wouldn't think back on the right and wrong of it. She'd simply face Marcus with the truth and see how he took it. But only when she was ready.
Just then, her younger sister, Melanie, who was two years older than Tiffany, burst into her room.