“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.