by Lisa Lace
I look at him with concern. “You haven’t been yourself?”
“Of course not, Lily. I missed you.”
We arrive at Ethan’s office. Jennifer is sitting at a desk outside, her desk phone glued to her ear. She looks astonished to see me, then breaks out into a grin. She holds the phone over her chest a moment and whispers, “I’ll hold your calls!”
Ethan and I enter his office. He shuts the door, then turns to me. “I can’t believe you’re here. Did you come all the way to New York on your own?”
I nod. “I needed to see you.”
I step closer to him. He reaches out, taking hold of my arms. He’s staring at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
I stare into his ivy green eyes, imagining them staring at a canvas. “The painting was incredible, Ethan. I didn’t know you still painted.”
“I don’t. But it was the one image I could never get out of my mind.”
My heart flutters. Through all of my drama with Ethan, my one fear has been that his love for me isn’t real, or not strong enough for what lies ahead. It was always Ethan who left.
When I saw the painting, I knew. I knew he hadn’t come back only because of Vincent or a business deal. I knew he had always been thinking of me.
“What does it mean?” I ask him.
“It means I know what a fool I’ve been. I know that I made you feel used. I know that I kept going on and on about Vincent and New York and all these other things, and I never took the time to tell you I’ve thought about you since the day I left and without you, life has not been the same.
“I miss you, Lily. Before Vincent, before any of this, there was a hole in my life. I miss your smile and your eyes. I miss the reckless, crazy things you do, and how you laugh the whole time you’re doing them. I miss your big dreams, and how they always gave me hope that things could change. I miss your sweetness, your kindness. I miss everything about you, Lily Miller. I always have.
“I should never have left you, and when I came back, I should have done everything in my power to make you realize what you mean to me. If I could go back, I’d do everything differently. I would find a way to make you see you’re everything to me.
“I’m sorry for what happened, and the way I behaved. I love you.”
I let the tears fall from my eyes in streams. I look Ethan in the eyes as he speaks, and I know every word is true. “I love you too,” I say.
Ethan smiles. He pulls me toward him and kisses me deeply. I sink into his arms, my palms resting on his jaw, my knees growing weak. “Let’s make this happen, Lily. I want you more than I want anything else in this world. If you want me to close down Steele Industries tomorrow and move back to Arizona, I’ll do it. I should never have left in the first place.”
I laugh and shake my head. “That’s not what I want.”
“What do you want?”
I give a little shrug. “Show me New York.”
“You want to see the city?”
“Yes. Show me your world.”
He shows me everything. The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge. My favorite place is Central Park. I didn’t expect it to be this vast and green. It doesn’t feel like I’m in a congested city at all. I can imagine myself sitting here and painting the trees, the high-rise skyscrapers looming in the distance. It’s its own kind of beautiful.
All day long, I’m laughing.
Ethan is full of energy, holding my hand and pulling me from place to place, dipping underground to the subway, and running across busy streets to this site and that. We eat at his favorite bistro; we stop for coffee at his favorite café.
It opens my eyes to who Ethan is here. I could never have imagined him living in the city. My Ethan was always free. But as we held onto each other among the New York throngs, finding our way together through a never-ending city, I realize it is only the location that has changed—Ethan is the same.
“The great thing about New York,” he tells me, “is that anything can happen. You can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. Payson is beautiful, but it’s enclosed. Here, it feels like there are no limits.”
As I listen to him, my eyes are opening. As much as I like to think I’m adventurous and free-spirited, I’ve been living a closed-minded life in my tiny corner of the world.
The afternoon melts into a lazy sunset. The golden glow of the setting sun casts a haze across New York. We go to New York Harbor, looking out over Liberty Island and the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty standing tall.
Ethan buys me a hot dog from a stand, another reminder he hasn’t changed that much. I think of Vincent and all the luxury and grandeur in every gesture. I’d allowed myself to be caught up in fine art and yachts, and missed all his ulterior motives.
Ethan doesn’t hide behind his money. His gestures are perfect, ordinary treats and paintings done by hand. For a long time, I’ve held his mistakes over his head, and only seen everything he’s done wrong. But tonight, I realize he’s the most genuine person I know. I believe, more than anything, that he loves me.
I let my head fall against his shoulder. His arm is around me, and we stand, looking out over the statue. Ethan takes a bite of his hot dog, and a glob of mustard falls onto his lapel. I lick it off, and he laughs, his eyes sparkling. “That’s what I love about you, Lily.”
“What?”
“No airs and graces. You’re just a girl licking mustard off my jacket.”
I laugh and wrap my arms around him. He pulls me tight, holds me close. He’s strong, firm, and warm. I can feel how much he cares in how tightly he holds on.
“I like New York.”
He smiles. “You do?”
“Yeah. You’re right, it does inspire me.”
“I’m glad. I’m not expecting anything from you, though, Lily. I’m not taking anything for granted. I’ll still come to Arizona if that’s what you want.”
I shake my head. “No. I’ve been hiding there my whole life. Maybe it’s my turn to change. I want to move to New York. I want to be with you.”
Lily
It’s not the first time I’ve seen Ethan’s penthouse, but it’s the first time I’ve looked around at its marble walls and luscious décor and known that it’s my home.
All my things are in boxes in the living area. There’s not much, and they look so scruffy against all the polished glass and fine leather. It was a nightmare to get them to the top floor, but Ethan’s moving crew did most of the work.
Ethan comes to me and pulls me into his arms. We sway slightly. He kisses my forehead, a wide grin growing on his face. “This is it, Lily.”
I take a deep breath. “This is it.”
I can hardly believe it. I stroll from room to room, trailing my fingers against the wall and across all the expensive objects, trying to make it seem real.
Ethan stands behind me. “When all your things are unpacked, it’ll seem like home.”
I smile at him over my shoulder, then run to one particular box—a cat carrier. I open the wire door, and Biscuit runs out with a little mewl. I grin. “Now it feels like home.”
Ethan laughs. “You’re right. The décor has always been missing clumps of ginger fur.”
Turning to him, I take his face in both my hands and kiss him. “Thank you for making this happen.”
“Thank you for giving me another chance. I promise you, Lily, we’re going to be very happy together. We can do anything we want, go anywhere, be anything. The whole world is ours.”
I smile. “I only want to paint.”
“Paint what?”
“All of it! The city, the skyscrapers, Broadway, Central Park, the people. I’ve painted Rumsey Park from a hundred different angles. I can’t wait to capture a whole new world.”
“I know a lot of people in the art industry.”
I smile at him teasingly. “You’re going to use your connections to make me big and famous, huh?”
He grins and nibbles playfully at my earlobe as he hu
gs me from behind. “You don’t need my help. You’re talented.”
I break away from him and cross the room to pick up another item I brought with me, a rectangular package in brown paper. I open the portrait that Ethan painted and turn it toward him, grinning. “You’re not too bad yourself. Where can I hang this?”
Ethan chuckles. “Wherever you want.”
“Let’s swap this one out.” I walk over to the far wall where an original Pollock is hanging. “I never liked him anyway. Too messy.”
“You want to replace Jackson Pollock with Ethan Steele?”
“This one’s got more heart.”
Smiling, Ethan helps me take down the original. “I’ll send it back to the gallery.”
We hang up the portrait Ethan painted. It’s a bit strange to see a picture of myself up on the wall, but I want to see it every day. It’s not because I’m vain, but because I get a happy, fuzzy feeling every time I look at it and know the love that went into painting it.
“What did Jennifer say when you said you were taking time off to move me in?”
“She was thrilled. You know Jennifer loves you, and she thinks it’s about time I stopped being a moody bachelor.”
“How’s she finding the change at work?”
Ethan smiles. “She’s rising to the challenge, as I knew she would. She and Mitchell are a powerful pair. They’ll have the place running better than I ever could.”
“We don’t have to go, you know,” I say carefully. “I don’t need you to prove yourself to me again. I’m here, I’m staying. We don’t have to travel the world.”
“I made you a promise to travel a very long time ago. It’s about time I kept it. Besides, I want to go. For me. There’s a whole world out there, Lily. Let’s go have some adventures.”
I’m so happy I could burst. It was Ethan who brought up the idea of traveling again. This time, there was truly nothing stopping us. Ethan had started stepping back from Steele Industries before I even came to New York. He’d already decided that he wanted to enjoy life a little more.
Ethan is still putting everything in place, but then we are going to plan it all. Two around-the-world tickets and a tin of new watercolors to share.
“I bet it was hard for Chloe to say goodbye.”
I nod. “But she’s excited to come visit. We’ll have to give her the full VIP treatment. She’ll just die.”
“She’s welcome anytime.”
I go to the window and look out over the city. The sun is just starting to set, and it’s beautiful. The skyline has a silhouette made up of hundreds of buildings reaching for the sky. Down below, thousands of people walk quickly toward their dreams, living their own lives. I like to think of their stories, their struggles, their romances. This is a city of a million images, and I want to paint as many as I can.
I can see Ethan’s reflection in the glass, standing behind me. I run my gaze over his relaxed expression and unruly hair. Ethan is somewhere between the boy I once knew and a man I hardly know. I’m looking forward to getting to know this Ethan. Chloe was right when she said that no couple acts like teenagers forever. I wonder what this next stage of life has in store for us, how we’ll love each other differently now that we’re older.
Ethan wraps his arm around my waist. “I was starting to hate this city.”
“And now?”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” He spins me to face him, his hand slipping into my hair. He kisses me. I hold onto his back, pressing my body against his.
Ethan pulls off his shirt, revealing his firm and toned chest. I run my hands over the length of his broad shoulders, feeling the muscles flex as he reaches down to tear my shirt away, too.
He puts his hands on my waist, catching me in an intense kiss. His mouth parts mine, his tongue searching. I kiss him back hard.
Ethan reaches around and unclasps my bra. It falls to the marble, and I am exposed, my breasts visible before a breathtaking city view. He bows his head to my throat and kisses me from my collarbone to beneath my jaw, one hand pulling back my hair to expose my neck.
He’s so handsome. His hair’s longer now, a little stubble on his face, a smile in his eyes. He’s not the boy I remember; he’s a sexy man, just as kind and real as ever before. All mine.
He lifts me, and I wrap my legs around his waist. He kisses me as he carries me to the bedroom and presses me against the wall.
I trail one hand over his back, the other sinking into his hair. Ethan bows his head to my chest and sucks at a nipple, biting down gently, teasing sharp, sweet sensations from me. I slip down from his hold and fall to my knees on a soft, thick rug. I unzip Ethan’s pants and drop them to the floor along with his boxers.
He’s hard for me. I take hold of his thick, throbbing cock, closing my fingers around the base of his shaft. I close my lips around him, take him deeply into my mouth, and suck.
Ethan groans, his head falling back. I slowly circle my tongue and take more of him into my mouth, sliding back and forth until he starts to shudder on the edge of an orgasm and pull away.
He picks me up like I weigh nothing, carries me to the bed, and throws me down. There is an urgency in how he moves. I’m wet at the naked, hard sight of him, his chest heaving with aroused breaths. He pushes me onto the bed, my shoulders and back on the mattress, my feet still on the ground.
Ethan nudges my knees apart and kneels at the edge of the bed. He presses his tongue against my clit and moves it in hard, eager strokes, holding my legs apart when I squirm with pleasure. He slides two fingers inside me as he sucks and licks at my clit. He teases me until I tense and then shudder into orgasm.
He rises, spins me so my legs are on the bed and moves over me. He kisses me hard; I’m still breathless from coming. His lips are pressed over mine when his cock enters me, and my back arches before my body relaxes against him.
I push my hips up to his hard, thick erection as Ethan thrusts into me. His cock is deep inside me, sending waves of pleasure frissoning through my body each time he moves against me.
We roll. Ethan is beneath me. I slide down, letting his cock fill me, and ride him, leaning forward to kiss him as we move. His hands press down on the base of my spine and urge me to fuck him faster. He thrusts deeper into me.
I lean back as I ride him, my fingers clutching at the black silk sheets. Ethan sits up, wrapping his arms around me, a leg on either side of my body. One arm is around my waist, one hand on the back of my head. He kisses my chest, my throat, my jaw. He kisses my mouth, and I press my lips hard against him, hungry for the taste of him.
He groans; he’s close. Ethan falls back onto the pillow, his hands settling on my hips and guiding me. I grind against him, rocking with him inside me, drawing him closer and closer.
Ethan comes with a low moan. I lean forward to kiss him again. His urgent grip becomes gentle and his arms pull me close.
I roll off him and lay at his side. To my left, the gorgeous Ethan Steele. To my right, New York City.
“That was amazing,” I say.
Ethan raises his head, leaning on one elbow, and smiles at me. “And we get to do it all over again every day.”
Ethan
Jennifer hugs Lily tightly, then wraps her arms around my neck. When she draws back, her eyes are slightly red. “Okay, you guys, I want you to have the best time.”
I grin. “If you need anything at all, Jen, you have my number. I’ll call in every day.”
She waves her hands in the air. “Forget it, Ethan. We’ll keep this place running. You go and have some adventures.”
Jennifer turns to Lily with gleaming eyes and a warm smile. “I’m so glad you came back, Lily. Ethan lights up when you’re around.”
Lily closes her fingers around mine, smiling up at me and then back at Jennifer. “I’m glad, too. At first, I was scared it was too big a leap, but I think this is going to be a good thing, for both of us.”
“So, what happened to your apartment in the end? Did you sell it?”
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“Lily still has her apartment,” I answer. “That way, it’s still there for her if New York gets a bit too much, or if I’m a bit too much. We’re going to keep it as a place to go from time to time. Lily has friends there, and we both have a lot of good memories.”
“It’ll be somewhere we can go for a weekend getaway,” Lily adds. “And it’ll help keep us grounded. I think it’s important we both remember where we came from.”
“I’m incredibly happy for you both. You deserve this.”
“We’ve got a six-month trip planned, and then we’ll be back. Are you sure you’re going to be okay for that long?”
Jennifer nods. “There’s a good team of people here, and Mitchell has a good head on his shoulders. I trust him to make any calls I can’t.”
“Good. And if you need me urgently, please call. Or email. I won’t just vanish completely. If there’s an emergency, I can always come back.”
“There won’t be any emergencies. Business is going well, Ethan. We’ll keep things ticking over until you get back. Have a good time. I can’t remember the last time you took a break. Where are you going first?”
“Thailand!” Lily exclaims, then giggles at her own excitement. “I’ve never left the U.S.”
“Last month, you’d never even left Arizona.”
“I know. It’s all happening very quickly! I feel like life has started all at once.”
“I think it’s wonderful,” Jennifer says, beaming. “Childhood sweethearts brought back together, about to go on the adventure of a lifetime. Have you both had all your shots?”
I chuckle and lay a reassuring hand on Jennifer’s shoulder. “Lily sorted all that out.”
Jennifer’s eyes fill with tears again. “Looks like you’ve got another woman in your life now. I’ll have to learn to step back. It feels like the end of an era!”
“Only the beginning of a new one,” I say.
I look down at Lily. She’s smiling from ear to ear, already wearing the floppy sunhat she bought for the trip. Our bags are packed, and soon, we’ll be on our way.
