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

Chapter 44 - Jasmine

The next morning, Jasmine was awakened by the feeling of soft, opened mouth kisses on her bare shoulder. A few hours prior, Ethan had awakened her and taken her hard and fast from behind before they'd drifted back to sleep. Where the man got his stamina from was beyond her, but Jasmine was most definitely enjoying it, because for once in her life, she'd finally found a man that could not only give her multiple orgasms, but that who could also keep up with her in the bedroom.

Moaning, Jasmine said, "Again?" Ethan's chuckle had her opening her eyes and smiling at him. Shaking his head, Ethan said, "While that does sound incredibly tempting Miss Ellis, we have a workout to do, before I head to meet Caden and the crews at the Burbank site." Jasmine yelped when Ethan's large palm slapped her on the bare-naked skin of one of her ass cheeks, before he leaned down and placed an opened mouth kiss to the spot, which had moisture pooling between her thighs. Biting her lip, Jasmine turned, exposing her bare breasts to his view, and by the way that Ethan's pupils dilated, and the thick arousal tented his workout shorts, she knew that she'd affected him.

When she'd turned over, and rested on her elbows, before spreading her legs and fully exposing herself to him, Jasmine had smiled when Ethan had closed his eyes, and groaned before sliding off his shorts, and climbing back into bed with her. Before he'd slid inside of her body, filling her with his rock-hard erection, he'd closed his eyes and groaned as he'd said, "The damn death of me."

Forty-five minutes later, they'd both lain naked, sweaty, and panting as they tried to catch their breath. When Ethan glanced over at her, and smiled, she'd returned the smile before she'd said, "Now...isn't that a much better workout?" Chuckling, Ethan said, "The best...hands down."

While Ethan had showered, Jasmine had headed downstairs to make Ethan a quick breakfast. She'd whipped up a couple of sunny side eggs, and a few strips of bacon, and placed them on a bagel, with a small bowl of fruit on the side and a bottle of water. When Ethan had come down dressed in a pair of black khaki shorts, and a pale blue t-shirt with his company's logo on the front, with his hair combed back, but slightly damp, Jasmine wanted to take him back upstairs and jump his bones. A slow smile spread across his handsome face, and as if he read her mind, Ethan shook his head as he said, "Get your mind out of the gutter Miss Ellis." Feigning innocence, Jasmine said, "What? I have no idea what you're talking about." Chuckling, Ethan said, "Uh huh...I just bet you don't."

Grabbing the bottle of water that she'd placed on the island next to his plate, Ethan smiled as he said, "Wow Jasmine. This looks amazing. Thank you, baby." Smiling, she moved to his side, and cupped his face, before leaning down to place a soft kiss to his lips. When she pulled back, she smiled down at him and said, "You're very welcome. I enjoy feeding you." Chuckling, he said, "If you keep this up, I might just have to put a ring on your finger." Shock flowed through her body at his words, and when she stared at him, he smiled as he said, "What? Why do you look so surprised? I'm serious." Shaking her head, she said, "I just...I guess, I just thought you were joking." Pulling her close so that she could sit in his lap, Ethan said, "Baby, when...and I do mean...when... I ask you to marry me, trust and believe, it will most definitely not be a joke."

That conversation had taken place an hour ago, and Ethan had eaten his breakfast, kissed her so passionately that her toes had curled, and then left, promising that he'd be back in time to take her to the airport to pick up her parents later that afternoon. Although that conversation had taken place a while ago, it still replayed in her mind as she'd eaten breakfast before cleaning the kitchen.

Jasmine had only been engaged one other time in her life, and that had been to her ex-fiancé, Marcus Reynolds. He had asked her to marry him as a way to distract her from the issues that they were having, by locking her into a marriage that he'd known she'd have a hard time leaving. Marcus had known just how important marriage was to Jasmine, so he'd planned to somehow trap her into a marriage as a way to keep her bound to him. He'd hoped she'd turn a blind eye from her doubts, and her suspicions about him cheating by placing a ring on her finger, but it hadn't worked out quite the way that he'd planned. She'd found out about his infidelity, thus calling off their engagement, and ending their relationship.

Now, Ethan was currently hinting to wanting to marry her, and as she'd sat on the leather sofa, for the past hour staring out into space, she'd waited for her old insecurities, and doubts to take over, but surprisingly, they hadn't. Jasmine had even waited for the panic that she'd felt when Marcus had proposed, but so far, even that had eluded her. She needed to call and speak to her girls, but she'd known that Van was currently at the shop, and she didn't want to bother her. Candace was busy working on a huge audit and would be at work as well. With Mack being off for the summer due to summer break at the elementary school that they both taught at, Jasmine hoped that Mackenzie would be available. She'd spoken to each of her friends via group video chat a few times since she'd been in Chicago, but she'd meant to reach back out to Mack, especially since she'd mentioned that she and Shane had been talking on the phone almost every night since they'd returned from Vegas.

Over the past few years, Mack had not so much as even entertained the idea of speaking with another man on the phone, since Nick's death, so for her to do so now was major. When they'd been in Vegas, it had been obvious that Mack had been interested in Shane Reyes, even if she didn't want to be, so Jasmine was excited about the possibility of her best friend opening her heart to love again.

Deciding to reach out to Mackenzie, Jasmine ran upstairs and hopped in the shower. She dressed in a pair of peach-colored capris, with an off the shoulder, ruched sleeve floral blouse. She paired the outfit with gold flats, and gold jewelry. Deciding to allow her curls to flow loose down her back, she slid on a gold head band, and after grabbing her phone, Jasmine headed back downstairs to make her call.

Getting comfortable on the leather sofa, Jasmine dialed Mackenzie's number. On the second ring, Mackenzie picked up and said, "Hey girlie!"