“What are you going to do if your daddy ever finds out about your exploits?” Presley asked Zoey.
“Confess?” Zoey shrugged and took a drink of her vodka. “I’m not ashamed of it. I doubt he’d really want to know the details, and he shouldn’t really care until I actually find someone I want to bring to holiday dinners. I don’t see that happening any time soon.”
My mind conjured up a fantasy of Ethan sitting at my father’s table on Christmas Eve, twiddling the rings in his lip as Dad carved the ham. The scene was too ridiculous to consider, so instead, I thought of just Ethan and me in his apartment in front of a grand Christmas tree on Christmas morning. I saw Ethan smile as he turned over a small, wrapped box before leaning over and kissing my cheek.
The image was a comfortable one. It felt safe, secure, and right. In my heart, I knew he would be grateful even if he hated the gift itself. He would probably even tell me he hated it, and then would laugh, kiss me, and tell me how glad he was that I was there with him.
Yes, he had tattoos. He had piercings. He had—for heaven’s sake—brain damage. My father would love his money and family name but would never get past his appearance. My friends would think he was hot but never get past the age difference.
And none of that shit mattered, because it was Ethan.
“What are you smiling about?
” Presley asked. She narrowed her eyes at me.
“I have to go,” I said. I stood up, grabbed my purse, and headed toward the door.
“I’m your ride!” Presley called out, reminding me.
“I’ll get a cab!” I called back. “I owe you for the drink!”
I flagged down a nearby taxi to take me back to my place, jumped into my own car, and headed straight for Ethan’s apartment.
Chapter 14—Escalate
I hadn’t really thought this through.
Without Ethan’s keycard, I couldn’t enter the parking garage. I drove around the block a couple of times, trying to decide what I should do.
“I should have called first, obviously,” I muttered to myself.
I didn’t even know if Ethan would be at his penthouse apartment. He’d told me he didn’t spend much time there. If he was home, I had no way of knowing if he would be alone, considering he had Josh Frazier living there at least part of the time. He’d been upset, and he could have decided to join his friends in the slums to help cheer him up. What would he tell them about me?
I hadn’t thought about that either.
What if, at this point, he was angry with me and didn’t want me to come back? I hadn’t responded to him last night or all day today. He’d had plenty of time to go rescue some other girl in heels who needed a ride.
No, Ethan wasn’t like that. Just because I’d been burned by Cole didn’t mean Ethan would do the same thing. Ethan was nothing like Cole.
I slowed down in front of the Marquis Apartment complex, wondering if they had a valet available. My building didn’t, but this place just might. There wasn’t any kind of valet stand that I could see though I did notice a doorman next to the entrance, speaking with a resident. I rolled down the window to call out to him when someone else appeared by the driver’s side window.
“Ashlyn, right?” Josh Frazier leaned over and smiled as he looked in at me.
“Um, yes, that’s right,” I said, stammering a bit. “Good to see you again, Josh.”
“Are you here to see Ethan?”
“Well, yes, but I wasn’t sure where I should park.”
“I’ve got the key,” Josh said. “If you want, I can take your car to the garage, and you can just go in the front door. If you aren’t comfortable with that, I could walk around to the garage entrance and have Henry let you in. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Why don’t you just ride with me?”
“That works, too.”
Josh ran around to the right side of the car and settled into the passenger seat. I checked for traffic before pulling away from the curb and heading back around to the entrance of the parking garage.
“I thought you might still be there,” Josh said with a grin. “Ethan hasn’t been answering his phone.”