“Yeah, I know.” Ethan is watchful and controlling and more than a little high on the arrogant scale for my tastes much of the time. He was so in trouble with me. “So how long have you worked for him, Neil? Ethan tells me absolutely nothing, so I figure you can enlighten me.” I smirked into the rearview for his benefit.

“Six years now. We met in the SF.”

“That’s Special Forces right? So are you guys some kind of James Bond for the British government?”

Neil actually laughed and shook his head. “I can see why Mr. Blackstone keeps a watchful eye over you, Brynne. You have quite the imagination.”

“Yeah, Ethan’s told me that one too,” I said dryly.

As annoyed as I was with Ethan’s presumptions—which were well beyond out of line—I couldn’t really take it out on Neil. He seemed like a decent guy, and he had great taste in music. I liked him. Neil was simply doing his job. Whatever that was in regards to me.

Neil got the car parked and us into the elevator through the garage entrance. Before I knew, I was inside Ethan’s gorgeous home again, just this time, without Ethan.

Neil had me put his number into my cell and said he would be close if I needed anything. “How close is close? Am I private here? You can’t watch me in his house can you?” I checked his eyes for telltale signs of subterfuge. “Do not even think about lying to me, Neil. I will be out that door so fast Ethan will feel the wind ruffle his hair all the way from here to wherever the hell he is at the moment.”

Neil actually winced. “In here you are totally private. There are no cameras in the apartment, but out in the hall there are. So if you were to leave, I will see you. I’m in another flat across the way. Not far. Mr. Blackstone really just wants you to make yourself at home.” He put his phone up to his ear and jogged it. “Call me if you need anything, Brynne.”

The door latch clicked and my protector was gone.

Well this was weird. Alone in Ethan’s home with my overnight bag and a scrambled head. I wondered if I would ever feel normal again.

First things first, I went to the fridge, took out a chilled water bottle and drained half of it. The inside of Ethan’s refrigerator was well stocked with plenty of fresh things to work with so no problem on the dinner. I explored his coffee maker next and started drooling. Very nice indeed. I set a pot to brewing and checked out his sub zero freezer. Ethan’s housekeeper appeared organized to the point of labeled and dated frozen meals in nice plastic containers for easy identification. I passed on those. I wasn’t really hungry anyway after the massive Chinese lunch he’d fed me at his office.

I moved on to the bedroom and was instantly hit with remembrances of the last time I was in this room. I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of Ethan. He was everywhere even when he wasn’t. I stepped into his bathroom. The grotto shower of travertine marble was gorgeous, but that magnificent tub was a fantasy for a girl who did not have a proper bathtub in her flat. I knew what I was going to do first.

An hour later my skin was pink from the heat and soft from the bubbles. I’d dressed in my Jimi Hendrix t-shirt and a pair of Ethan’s silk boxers that were very swishy on me. I’d organized my purchases from Boots in a bathroom drawer, shaved my legs and slathered myself in primrose scented lotion.

I wandered back to the coffee maker and fixed myself a mug before drifting into the other rooms of Ethan’s apartment. The home gym had a state of the art treadmill facing the floor-to-ceiling windows. The view took my breath away. I love a city lights view, but imagined it was just as spectacular in the daytime.

I found what I believed to be his office and turned the handle. The room behind the door was indeed an office. Flanked by a massive oak desk, the opposite wall held a panel of TV monitors and other high-tech equipment. But it was the wall behind the desk that really caught my attention—a salt water aquarium glowed with light and colors and bubbles over the rippling water. I came closer and took in the rainbow of fish darting around elegant coral formations. The Lion Fish did not dart. He came up to the glass and fluttered an array of multi-colored fins at me as if in greeting.

“Hey, handsome. What does he call you I wonder?” I spoke to my fishy companion and sipped my coffee.

I ate a cherry yogurt at the kitchen bar and fixed a second cup of coffee. One whole wall of the main room held shelves of books. I perused his collection which was eclectic to say the least. Classics, mysteries, mainstream stuff and tons of historical fiction filled out most of it. There was some military history and books on photography. A large amount on statistics and gambling too. He had popular fiction and even a few books of poetry which made me smile. I liked that Ethan valued books.

I snagged a book of letters Keats had written to Fanny Brawne and took it into the living room to sit on the sofa and enjoy. I had my coffee, angsty love letters from a poet to his girl, and the twinkling night lights of London displayed before me.

I spent a nice hour before I set the book aside. I looked out at the city. This was the spot where Ethan had undressed me, right in front of his balcony window. He’d stepped back and told me that nothing compared to the sight of me standing in his house. Oh, Ethan. I decided to text him.

Brynne Bennett: <---is pissed at u about the Neil thing. R u crazy?!!!

<end text message>

Ethan Blackstone: <---crazy for u & we need to talk about things. Miss u very much.

<end text message>

Brynne Bennett: <---is wearing ur boxers right now and u better believe it, buster!

<end text message>

Ethan Blackstone: <---just got a hard-on picturing u in my shorts. Pls leave on pillow cuz I’m never laundering.

<end text message>

Brynne Bennett: <---still pissed and thinks u have a beautiful coffee maker.

<end text message>

Ethan Blackstone: <---thinks I have a beautiful girlfriend. Did u eat sthg?

<end text message>

Brynne Bennett: <---ate sthg. U have a pet lion fish. :)

<end text message>

Ethan Blackstone: That is Simba. I pamper him & he tolerates me. U 2 have much in common

<end text message>

Brynne Bennett: Ur getting no more BJ’s just 4 that comment. :P

<end text message>

Ethan Blackstone: <---so wants to spank u right now…& kiss u…& f**k. Ur killing me baby

<end text message>

Brynne Bennett: <---is getting sleepy. Gonna take pill and get in ur bed. Don’t tease me.