Page 34 of Mostly My Girlfriend
Later that evening
Ethan
I tapped on the door to the guest room and heard a faint “Yes?” from inside.
Not acome in. Just ayes.
Tough. I opened the door. Jules was in bed with her laptop open. No doubt doing something work related. “I wanted to see if you needed anything.”
“I’m fine. I’m good. I don’t need anything.”
Yeah.
I closed the door behind me, then went to sit on the bed. As soon as I did, she moved toward the center.
“Please tell me you’re catching up on your Christmas porn,” I said with a smirk.
“Yes, Ethan. I’m watching porn then plan to jack off in yourparents’apartment. I hope your dad doesn’t hear me when I come. I’m reallysuperloud.”
I snorted and tried not to feel anything related to her talking about her orgasms.
“Did I say something wrong earlier? At dinner?” When she gave me a blank look, I added, “About seeing Kari.”
“No. You didn’t say anything wrong. You used to tell me about your conquests all the time when we were writing to each other. Why should this be any different? I was just surprised…because, you know, you said how boring the event was.”
It was true. I did used to write to Jules about everything. But this was different than telling her about other women when we’d been apart. This was the first person I’d fucked since I’d hired her. Someone she might see me with at events or around town if Kari and I continued to date each other.
This felt different. Like I had something to feel guilty about it. And it did to her, too, which is why it had been fake smiles and no chocolate dessert since I’d mentioned Kari.
“You’ve seen people, too,” I pointed out. “Remember what’s his name? Greg, Gerald…”
“Gary,” she supplied.
Stupid name. “Right. Him.”
“Ethan, I’m not upset that you’re seeing Kari. It’s fine. You date. I date. We know this about each other. Remember?”
Yeah. We were different than people who dated. We were way more important to each other than that.
“But…” she said as if she’d been giving it a lot of thought. “I do realize that maybe I am working too hard. I mean, if I’m going to meet someone, get married someday—”
“Who said anything about getting married?” I barked.
“Some day!” she retorted. “I’m just saying that I’m agreeing with you! I need an assistant. Someone to help free up some of my time so I can have a life. A life outside of work.”
Which made perfect sense. She deserved that. That’s what I wanted for her. That’s why I was shoving an assistant at her in the first place. So she could have a life. Outside of work. Outside of me.
“Good,” I said with more enthusiasm than I felt. “Awesome!”
She laughed then and something eased in my chest.
I leaned in and nudged her shoulder with mine. “Let’s go sneak into the kitchen and get some dessert. You didn’t touch it earlier.”
I watched as it dawned on her that she was no less than a hundred feet from a decadent chocolate soufflé. But then I watched, too, as she shut her desire down. Because sometimes, that’s how it was with Jules. She didn’t always take what she wanted as if to prove to herself she was stronger than most people.
“I can’t eat another bite. I’m stuffed. But you go. Have some for me.”
I nodded. She was right. Sometimes you had to prove to yourself you were strong enough to walk away from what you really wanted.
“Good night, Jules. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.”
