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

Chapter 30 - Ethan

The time that Ethan was spending with Jasmine, and the memories that they were making had been wonderful. They'd spent the day touring his city, and he'd loved showing her what Chicago had to offer. The selfish side of him was hoping and praying that Jasmine would want to move there and share a life with him at some point...soon. Ethan understood that Jasmine had a life and a career that she loved in Charlotte, and although she'd be a great teacher at any elementary school that she taught at, Ethan knew that having family and friends in the area would be something that she'd miss if she moved to Chicago. Mentally sighing, Ethan resigned himself to cashing in all of the frequent flyer miles that he'd racked up over the years so that he could either fly to Charlotte or fly Jasmine to Chicago on a weekly basis.

Having her in his home felt right, just like having her in his arms, in his bed and in his life had from the moment they'd met. Ethan had never felt for anyone the way that he felt for Jasmine. The women that he'd spent time with, had been intelligent, successful and beautiful in many ways, but with all that they had to offer, not one of them had ever stolen his heart. Yeah, he had enjoyed the time he'd spent with them, but he'd always felt that something was missing. He never could put his finger on it because it wasn't that the women were lacking something, it was that they weren't her. They weren't Jasmine Ellis, and because of that, none of them would ever have been the one that he was meant to spend the rest of his life with. In that moment, Ethan made up in his mind that he wanted...no...he needed Jasmine in his life forever.

After showering and making love to Jasmine passionately up against the shower wall, and then again as she'd rode him as he'd sat in the leather chair in his room, Ethan had positioned the full-length mirror so that Jasmine could watch him claim what now belonged to him. The sight of them together had turned Jasmine on so much that she'd screamed his name as she'd found her release.

Completely exhausted, and with his balls totally emptied for the second time in less than 24 hours, Ethan had fallen asleep thinking about planning a future with Jasmine. Maybe he would propose to Jasmine before she left Chicago. Would she think it was too soon? Ethan understood that they hadn't known one another that long, but like when he decided to start E&D all of those years ago, he was just as certain about sharing a life with Jasmine.

Ethan knew that her family meant a great deal to her, especially her father. And understanding that her father was the first true love of her life, Ethan wanted to respect and honor that relationship, by asking for his blessing before he asked Jasmine to spend the rest of her life with him. But...there was only one problem.... he had never met her father, so getting his blessing might prove to be a difficult task. After all.... they had only met a few days ago, so he wasn't really sure if her parents would even accept him in her life, especially after what she'd gone through over a year ago with Marcus. The fucker. If Ethan ever got the chance, he'd kick the bastard's ass, and then shake his damn hand for getting the hell out of the way so that a real man who knew how to treat her the way that she deserves, could come into her life.

Thanks Marcus!

Although Jasmine was a grown woman that could make her own decisions, one thing that he would never do is make her choose between him and her family. Ethan loved her too much for that. The last thing that he wanted to do was alienate her family either, because he understood how important they were to her, after all, his was just as important to him. With Ethan's family already loving Jasmine, he smiled because that was half the battle won already!

Since meeting Jasmine, Ethan had even found himself thinking about their future children. How would they look? Ethan had never really thought much about having children before, but with Jasmine, he found himself thinking about things that he hadn't before. Sure, Ethan loved kids, but he had never really considered that he would be a father himself, because he'd resigned himself to just being an uncle to Caden & Cameron's future children. Ethan had friends that had children, and he'd even been asked by Melyssa and Brandon to be the godfather for their unborn child. So, Ethan had simply resigned himself to being called, "Uncle Ethan." But since meeting Jasmine, and after spending the past several days getting to know her, he'd found himself getting excited about the possibility of having a child of his own. Maybe they'd have a beautiful little girl that looked just like Jasmine. Or a handsome little boy that looked like him, with hazel eyes and sandy blonde hair. Pausing in his thoughts, realization hit him, and one truth shined in his mind like a lighthouse beacon, which was that Ethan not only wanted to be a father, but he also wanted to be a husband. And more importantly, he wanted to share that experience with Jasmine Ellis...or soon to be...Jasmine Daniels, if Ethan had his way.

Before Ethan fell into a deep sleep, he decided that he needed to get feedback from the one man in his life that had always given him great advice... his father. Patrick Daniels had always been great at helping Ethan to sort through major life decisions, and his decision to ask Jasmine to spend the rest of her life with him fit that category.

Ethan loved how his father always gave it to him straight from the hip, and even during those times when Ethan was on the verge of making a bad decision, his father never sugarcoated things. He not only told Ethan that he was making a mistake, but he always took the time to explain why he felt the decision was a bad one. Which Ethan always appreciated.

Ethan's final thought, before he'd pulled Jasmine's warm, soft body into his arms, and snuggled his nose into the crook of her neck, as he inhaled her addictive scent, was that he'd reach out to his father tomorrow to get his advice and opinion on how to approach Jasmine's father about possibly marrying his daughter.