Book 2: What Happens Here - Chicago (What Happens Here Series)

Chapter 3 - Ethan

After Jasmine shared what Valentina had done, and how Mackenzie and Shane had discovered her little stunt, Ethan's growing admiration for Jasmine's best friend grew ten-fold, as did his undying gratitude for his best friend Shane. Ethan made up in his mind that once he and Jasmine landed in Chicago, he would call Shane to personally thank him for what he'd done. Not only that, he'd planned to have a dozen roses sent to Mackenzie, Candace and Savannah as well to thank them for their part in helping to not only uncover the truth of what Valentina had done, but for also saving what he and Jasmine had managed to build over the course of the weekend. Ethan understood that their relationship was new, and that Jasmine had been hurt by her ex-fiancé, but a part of him was still hurt by the fact that she had not given him the benefit of the doubt...yet again.

Ethan tried to see things from Jasmine's perspective, and in doing so, he had to imagine how he would have felt if he'd been faced with the same scenario. As he imagined the scene that Jasmine had walked into when she'd arrived at his suite and saw Valentina standing in nothing but the shirt that he'd been wearing the last time that she'd seen him, his heart broke for her. The most insane part about the entire thing was that he'd been in the shower, completely oblivious to the events taking place in the other room. The pain that she must have felt at seeing Valentina wearing only his shirt, as she'd allowed Jasmine to think that he'd left her suite that morning, only to head back to his own to have sex with her, must have devastated Jasmine. After what Jasmine had walked in on with her jackass of an ex-fiancé, and then after seeing the scene that Valentina had manufactured in his suite... he could not imagine how much pain Jasmine must have been in.

When he opened his eyes and saw the silent tears that were rolling down her face, he turned and cupped her cheeks as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "Baby...don't. Please...don't do that. Seeing your tears is ripping me a part." She sniffled as she said, "I'm so sorry Ethan. I should never have believed Valentina. Seeing her in your room, dressed in your shirt, truly hurt me. Now...I wish that I had just walked into the shower to talk to you, because if I had, none of this would have happened, and Valentina's lies would have been exposed right then and there." Frowning, Ethan said, "You had no way of knowing that she had lied Jasmine. Although, I do wish that you had spoken to me about it when I tried repeatedly calling and texting you. But I get it."

Being unable to mask the hurt that he felt at Jasmine's lack of faith and trust in him, and in what they were building, he watched as Jasmine sat up and turned to face him, a hint of irritation in her voice as she asked, "What do you mean...you get it?" Running a hand over his face, Ethan laid his head back against the seat as he said, "I get that you have trust issues...especially after what your ex put you through." Turning to face her he added, "But Jasmine, I'm not Marcus. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, and I most definitely wouldn't hurt you the way that he did." When he saw the uncertainty in her features Ethan pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the middle of her palm as he said, "You are it for me baby. I don't want Valentina, or anyone else...just you. I love you Jasmine, but you have to figure out a way to trust and believe in that, and in me...or this..." Waving a hand between them he added, "...isn't going to last."

His heart ached at seeing the look of fear that crossed her beautiful face right before she said, "Ethan..." Her voice cracked and fresh tears streamed down her face, which she quickly wiped away as she said, "...I love you, and I'm so sorry for doubting you. You have never given me a reason not to believe in you, or to trust you." He resisted the urge to pull Jasmine into his arms and hold her when she wiped a rogue tear from her cheek before she said, "You're right, this is on me, and I promise you that from now on, I will try not to allow the demons from my past to destroy what you and I have now, or what we'll build in the future."