A Week in New York (The Empire State Series Book 1) by Louise Bay Page B

laugh like
that. “You’ve guessed my secret. I’m a closet stand-up comedian.”
    “Come on, crazy. Let’s get you back to the city.”
    I opened the front door and went to grab my suitcase, but Ethan beat me
to it. He took his bag and my case out to the car.
    As Rory pulled out and I clicked on my seatbelt, I turned to him. “Thank
you for a lovely weekend.”
    He looked at me, as if he was trying to uncover more meaning behind what
I was saying. “Thank you. You’re great to hang out with.” He pulled my legs to
his lap and stroked up and down as he watched me, watching him.
    “Are we going to go out tonight?” I asked him.
    He shook his head. I grinned. I guessed he’d want to make the most of the
time we had left by keeping me naked.
    “Are you going to be busy this week at work?” I asked. We never talked
about his work. I liked that about him. So many of the people I hung out with
in London spent their free time talking about their jobs. I didn’t really ever
notice it until I spent time with Ethan. We had everything else to talk about.
    “I’ll make sure I’m busy. I’ll need a distraction with you gone.”
    I knew how he felt. I was pleased that I was leaving the city, where
reminders of him would be all around me. It would make it easier.
    I squeezed his hand.
    ***
    “Hey, sleepyhead.” I felt Ethan brushing my cheek and my eyes opened. How
long had I slept? I had my head on his lap. I didn’t remember dozing off.
    “Hey, are we back?”
    “Almost,” he said. I looked out the window but didn’t recognize where we
were. We turned and went into an underground parking lot. Rory pulled up and I
heard the trunk pop. “We’re home. Come on.”
    I clamored out of the car, still a bit dazed from my nap. Why hadn’t he
dropped us at the entrance? I said goodbye to Rory and caught up with Ethan,
who was holding the door open for me. Through the door was a small elevator
lobby.
    “I’m sleepy,” I said.
    “You can sleep when we get upstairs, beautiful.”
    “No, I need to wake up. I want to enjoy our last night together.”
    We stepped into the elevator when it arrived. It didn’t feel as if we’d
gone many floors up when the doors opened and Ethan gestured for me to step
out. This didn’t feel like the hotel.
    “Where are we?”
    “Home,” he said setting our bags down in the entrance lobby.
    “Home?”
    He nodded. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
    “ Your home?”
    “Come on.” He took my hand in his as he opened the door into a huge white
living space with dark wood floors. Two walls were just complete glass and you
could hardly tell what belonged inside and what belonged outside.
    “This is where you live?” I asked. Mandy had told me that he didn’t bring
women back to his place. Maybe he’d rented it.
    “Yes, crazyhead. I don’t live in the hotel.”
    “Oh,” I said.
    “Are you disappointed? The view isn’t as good.”
     “No, I just…” I wandered over to the window. How could he think I would
be disappointed? “I didn’t know, you know. And are you kidding me? It looks
like we’re floating on the water. Is that the Hudson?”
    I looked back to him and he was grinning. “Yeah, it’s great isn’t it?”
    “You’re just trying to impress me, hoping I will give up my virtue. It’s
very manipulative, Mr. Scott.”
    As I stood looking out he came to stand behind me and wrapped his arms around
my waist. I rested my arms on his. “I would never make you do anything you
didn’t want to do. I told you that the first night we met,” he said softly.
    I leaned my head back to rest on his chest. “You did, and you’ve kept
your word. I’ve had an incredible week with you, Mr. Scott. I’ll remember it
forever.”
    He squeezed me tighter. “Follow me. I want to see you come in my bed.”
    Immediately I felt heat between my legs at his words and I grabbed his
hand as he led me through a door at the far end of the room. We went down a
long, windowless