Page 34 of Champagne Nights

His scent filtered throughout the house. There was no escaping it. It had been a long night, and I was growing tired, so I decided that I wanted to take a bath.

“If it’s okay with you, I’m going to take a bath.”

“That’s fine. Do you need help?”

A smile escaped my lips as I lowered my head.

“I can manage on my own like I always do.”

“Okay. Do you need me to help you upstairs?” he asked.

“I can find my way,” I spoke as I headed towards the elevator. “Do you, by any chance, have any bubble bath?” I bit down on my bottom lip.

“As a matter of fact, I do. It’s in the corner of the bathtub by the faucet. Ingrid put a bottle of it there since it’s the guest bathroom. She said you never know when the mood would strike for a bubble bath.”

“Great. Thank you.”

Stepping into the bathroom, I started the water and felt around for the bottle of bubbles. Once I had it in my hand, I removed the cap and held it up to my nose, taking in the fruityscent. I undressed and carefully climbed into the bubbly water. Sinking down and closing my eyes to relax, I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“I’m leaving a t-shirt on the bed for you to sleep in.”

“Thanks, Ethan. I appreciate it.”

“I’ll be downstairs in my office if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

I inhaled deeply, letting the fruity scent of the bubbles sedate me. He was so nice, and it was hard to imagine that people called him “The Iceman.” I had yet to see that side of him. Climbing out of the tub, I reached for the towel, wrapped it around me, stood in front of the sink, and removed my makeup with a cleansing cloth. Once I was finished, I went to the bedroom, walked over to the bed, and picked up the cotton t-shirt that Ethan had left me. As I slipped it over my head, my phone rang and alerted me that Penelope was calling.

“It’s about time you returned my call,” I answered.

“Sorry. I was with someone.”

“And who were you with?”

I could hear her swallow hard on the other end.

“This guy I met at the party. His name is Leo, and he’s brutally handsome, and we may or may not have had sex in the backseat of his car.”

“What?!” I exclaimed.

“Don’t judge me, Miss I just met Ethan and slept with him the next night.”

“Fine. I won’t judge, but I called to tell you there was a fire at my apartment building.”

“Oh my God! Are you okay?”

“I wasn’t home when it started, and I’m not sure what damage there is.”

“Where the hell are you?”

“I’m at Ethan’s house. He insisted I spend the night here since I couldn’t get hold of you or Ian.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I was going to go to a hotel, but he wouldn’t let me.”

“Hmm,” she spoke.

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