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

Chapter 52 - Ethan

Ethan awoke to the smell of breakfast, and the sound of female laughter and singing. Smiling, he sat up and realized that he was in bed alone. For the first time, since meeting Jasmine, Ethan had not awakened to her beautiful face, and he found that he missed it. Yeah.... he'd known that she'd wanted to spend the morning cooking breakfast with her mom, because she'd mentioned it the night before after they'd gotten her parents settled in the in-law suite. The day prior to her parent's arrival, they'd stopped by the market and had picked up some things that Jasmine mentioned they'd need for the delicious smelling breakfast that was currently dragging Ethan out of bed and that had him rushing through his shower.

After he'd quickly dressed in a pair of dark washed jeans, a pale-yellow V-neck shirt, and his On Cloud 5 sneakers, Ethan splashed on his Tom Ford cologne that Jasmine had mentioned was her favorite scent on him. Finally, after checking his reflection in the mirror, Ethan smiled as he thought about the past couple of days, or hell ...the past two weeks!

It was Friday morning, and Ethan had decided to take the day off from E&D. He had arranged for the ladies to have a "day of pampering", which he'd enlisted Carmen's help to arrange, because he'd wanted Jasmine to have some time with not only her mom, but his mom, and Carmen as well. Not to mention that he also wanted to spend some time with Jasmine's father, so that he could ask him for his blessing to marry his daughter.

Unbeknownst to Jasmine, Ethan had spent the past several days looking for the perfect ring, and with the help of his mom, and his sister, he had finally found one that he felt was almost as perfect and beautiful as the woman that it was meant for. He had gone to a jeweler that he'd purchased from before, James & Sons Fine Jewelers, and had chosen a Tacori princess-cut engagement ring that he'd had designed for Jasmine, because he wanted the ring to be just as unique as the woman that it was designed for. Because Jasmine had mentioned that her favorite color was purple, he'd opted for a 2 carat Amethyst center stone, with another 1/2 carat grouping of baguette diamonds cascading down the band on both sides.

During one of their conversations when they'd discussed her dip-shit ex-fiancé, Marcus Reynolds, Jasmine had shared with him that Marcus had bought her a huge gaudy ring that she'd hated. Apparently, in addition to the asshole not being the man that Jasmine had needed and deserved, he was shitty in bed, shitty as a protector and provider, and had no damn idea of the things that Jasmine liked. He'd bought "grab & go" flowers from the damn grocery store, which didn't require any creativity or effort, and bought her jewelry that did not match her personality at all.

Jasmine had said, "Marcus had proposed with a ring that was clearly about his ego, rather than about what he thought I'd actually like." Jasmine said that she had even mentioned to him that she'd preferred "simple" pieces of jewelry that was not too flashy, and that was something that she'd feel comfortable wearing. She'd even mentioned that she'd shared a story about a female coworker that had gotten engaged, and her fiancé had bought her a rather large diamond, and a few days later, she was mugged. And instead of considering her wishes, the jackass bought the ring that he thought would make him look good. It was not about the woman that he claimed to love, it was about him. Which, according to Jasmine, was a common theme throughout their six-year relationship.

Why Jasmine would ever consider marrying that dickhead was beyond Ethan, but like he'd said before, if he ever got the chance to meet Marcus Reynolds, he was going to kick his ass, and then shake his hand. After shaking off his thoughts of Jasmine's ex, Ethan ran a hand through his hair, and shook his head because the strands had grown back to the length that it had been before Daryl and Layla's wedding two weeks ago. Ethan hadn't gotten it cut since they'd returned to Chicago because Jasmine mentioned that she'd liked the length, and if the way she'd grabbed fists full of his hair when he'd had his head between her thighs was any indication, he'd let it grow as long as Jasmine wanted. Chuckling to himself as he headed down the stairs to the kitchen, Ethan thought, "I don't mind if my baby uses my head, or hair as a set of handlebars, just as long as she keeps screaming out my damn name."