“Why is your stomach so hard?” Mia complains.
“He could get another woman if he wanted.” I finish what Max was about to say before Mia cut him off. Ethan isn’t only handsome; he’s filthy rich and can probably have any woman he wants.
“That’s not true! You’re one of a kind. Could you get another one of me, Maxwell?”
“Never,” he responds instantly.
“He could be her other half,” Mia says whimsically, believing in soulmates and true love. I never have before, but Max and Mia have swayed my opinion a tiny bit. They fell in love in no time at all.
“As always, my wife is right.” Poor Max gives. Now he has two pregnant women to deal with.
“You think Ethan will be okay with you moving in next door?” Mia carries on. I close my eyes and let her because it's nice to live in this fantasy Mia is making for a little while. I’ll face reality later. Or I guess whenever he shows back up.
6
Ethan
I pop open the locks on my car doors when I see him coming. The streets and sidewalks are empty at this time of night. He pulls up right in front of my car, making it clear that he is here to talk to me.
“Give us a minute,” I tell my driver, who nods before stepping out of the car as Maxwell Kennedy slips into the backseat of mine, letting the cold air in with him. My eyes flick up to her window, wondering if she’s cold. Wondering if she’ll let me love her for the rest of time.
The building isn't in the best condition but it’s sturdy and I’m sure the heat is fine. I’ve been so focused on her I didn't pay enough attention to everything in her place. The temperature being one of them. Whenever she is close I tend not to be on my A game. She steals all of my attention and everything else ceases to matter.
Why did I leave again? That's right, to give her time. Even though she’s already had three months, it looked like my girl needed a little more. Especially now that she knows that I’m coming for her. I hope I made that sentiment clear to her. I pretty much banged her over the head with a club as though I was a caveman and claimed her as mine. I have no control over myself when she’s around. The need to have her as mine forever overtakes me.
I pull my eyes away from her window. The lights have been off for hours. Max hasn't said a word. He and I haven't shared much over the years. We run in the same circles but have never spent any time outside of that together. I have the utmost respect for the man. He isn’t dirty or sheisty like most of the businessmen. Both of us have the same motto when it comes to our business practices: work hard and keep our hands clean.
“Shouldn't you be home in bed with your wife?” I don’t mean for the question to come out filled with jealousy but it does, or maybe only I hear that. It's not about his wife but that he has one. I’d give anything to have Amelia as mine and in our bed. I sure as fuck wouldn’t be out at two in the morning if she was.
“I should be,” he spits back, sounding as pissed as I am.
“Your wife doesn't care that you’re roaming the streets at two am?”
“My wife never has to worry about where I am. I give her no reason to.” I give him a bored look. I can do this staring shit all night. I have nowhere else to be. From the look on Max’s face, he couldn't say the same. He wants to be home in bed with his woman. “I’m here because of my wife.”
Yes, his wife, Mia Montgomery—well, Mia Kennedy as of a few months ago—and my girl Amelia Clark are close. They became fast friends after they started working together at Remex Collection Agency. Mia no longer works there but Amelia does. I wonder if I should follow her to work in the morning or if I should ask her to go to breakfast. That might be moving things too fast, though. I remind myself that I’m supposed to be giving her space. Staying away from her is going to be almost impossible. I’m going to try to do the best I can but I make no promises.
“Does your wife like you taking long strolls around buildings? I hear that’s a thing.” I feel myself smile for the first time since I left Amelia alone in her apartment. My girl has a backbone. My smile drops when I think about the reason why someone like her would need one. I unfortunately read about her past when I dug into the information that I received on her.