Page 19 of Champagne Nights

I let out a light laugh and silently thought how magical his mouth was all over my body.

Ethan

My eyes flew open, and my sheets were drenched in a pool of sweat from a nightmare I hadn’t had in years. I lay there, my heart pounding rapidly and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I swallowed hard as I reached over and grabbed my phone. Looking at the time, it was seven a.m. I never slept that late. Granted, it was Sunday, but I was always up by six. It was that damn nightmare that had me in its grip—one I couldn’tawake from, just like all those years ago. The same nightmare that plagued my mind and haunted me for too long.

My feet hit the floor, and I sat there, elbows on my knees and my face buried in my hands. I took a deep breath as I stood up and went into the bathroom to shower. As I stood there and let the water beat down on me, I wondered why now. Why last night? After shaving and getting dressed, I headed down to the kitchen, where Ingrid, my housekeeper, was sitting at the island having a cup of coffee.

“My sheets need changing,” I spoke as I grabbed a cup and poured some coffee into it.

“Good morning to you, too, Ethan. I just changed your sheets yesterday. Is someone up there?” she asked as she arched her brow.

“Is anyone ever up there, Ingrid?” I snapped.

“Then why do they need changing? I think I have the right to know since I just put a fresh set on yesterday. Did you get a little too excited last night?” she asked with a cocky attitude.

“No. And what’s with all the nosy questions? I pay you to clean for me, not to question me,” I spoke with a harsh voice.

She got up from her stool and waved her hand in the air as she walked over to the refrigerator to put the milk away.

“I’m your housekeeper, chef, personal errand runner, therapist, and friend. What’s going on, Ethan?”

She was right. She was all those things, but most importantly, she was my friend. I hired her to come to work for me right after I started my company and moved into this townhouse. I placed an ad online, giving very strict instructions as to what I was looking for. She answered my ad and only came for the interview to tell me off. Apparently, she didn’t like me. The one thing about Ingrid was that she didn’t have a filter. She was fifty years old, stood about five foot five, had a full figure, had long black hair that she always wore in a bun, and browneyes. She was wise, and I could talk to her as if I’d known her my whole life. The good thing with us was that she put up with me, and I put up with her. But I paid her very well for putting up with my demands and attitude ninety percent of the time.

I sighed as I sat at the table, and she pulled the eggs from the refrigerator.

“I had that nightmare last night.”

Just as she was about to crack the egg, she stopped and looked at me.

“Why? It’s been years.”

“I know, and I don’t know why.” I took a sip of coffee.

“What did you do last night?” She cracked three eggs in a bowl.

“Had dinner with a woman I met the other night at her apartment.”

She rolled her eyes as she poured the eggs into the hot pan.

“Well, that’s no different from any other night.”

I wasn’t ready to discuss Aubrey with her if I was even going to mention her at all. I didn’t need to hear her comments and backlash like I did from Harry. I got what I craved and desired from her, and now it was over.

Chapter Nine

Aubrey

No matter how busy I kept myself the past couple of days, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ethan. He had my phone number, yet I hadn’t heard from him. Ian told me that guys would typically wait a couple of days before calling a girl they went on a date with because they didn’t want to seem too eager. Penelope told me that he was nothing but a man whore. He would probably never call, and I had to put him out of my mind and move on. I tried. I really did, but he wasn’t so easy to forget.

“Hi, Aubrey,” I heard Gigi’s voice speak as I walked into my classroom.

“Hi, Gigi.” I smiled as she walked over and gave me a hug. “How was Italy?”

“Amazing.”

Gigi Graham was my teaching assistant and had been with me since my first day as a teacher last year. She had attended college with the hopes of becoming a teacher herself until she became ill and had to drop out. She was a thirty-year-old woman who married her high school sweetheart and didn’t need to work. But she loved being in a classroom, so she decided tobecome a teaching assistant instead of going back to college and finishing her degree.

I ran my hand along the steel edge of my desk and smiled as I sat down in my chair. It felt really good to be back. The first bell of the morning rang, and the students started to shuffle in. Once everyone found a seat, Gigi closed the door. Getting up from my chair, I picked up a white piece of paper with squares on it and placed it on the first desk closest to the door.

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