64
The next morning, I wake and lie still with my eyes closed, replaying the events from last night. I linger on the way Ethan touched me and the sweet things he said. Without opening my eyes, I reach out and run my hand across the bed to where he should be.
When my hand encounters nothing, just a pillow empty and cold, my heart gives a frightened spasm. Eyes open, I search for him, my fingers sweeping over the sheets even though I can clearly see that his side of the bed is empty.
That’s when I find the note on my nightstand, propped up against the table lamp.
Tiffy,
Off to the gym.
Be back to pick you up at 8 a.m.
Ethan
PS Last night was the best night.
The postscript line makes me smile, a grin that feels almost too big for my face. I’m so happy that I might shatter and, if I did, pure joyful sunlight would surely come streaming out of all my broken cracks. That’s how Ethan makes me feel.
While I’m brushing my teeth, worry chips away at that happiness. My brain begins its usual laundry list of questions. I wonder if it’ll be awkward with Ethan when he comes back from the gym. What will happen when we go back to Columbus? The scariest question of all—how to tell him about my past?
Even though I’m terrified that telling Ethan about my history in Las Vegas will change how he looks at me, he deserves the truth. If I really want this relationship to have a chance, which I really, really do, I need to come clean. I resolve to talk with him after the conference today.
My phone dings with an incoming text.
Melanie: Good luck with UR presentation.
Tiffany: Thanks.
Melanie: What time R U giving it?
Tiffany: Nine-thirty. Hoping if I do a good job, it’ll get back to Dr. Washburn. Maybe I’ll finally get that Resident of the Month award.
Melanie: U better, or I’m going on strike!
Tiffany: Lol. Appreciate the support.
Melanie: Always.
“Tiffy, I’m here,” Ethan calls out as the hotel room door slams closed behind him. I’d given him my extra room key earlier.
“In the bathroom,” I call back as I frown in the mirror, fumbling with the clasp of my necklace.
“Hey you.” He enters the room and smiles when he meets my eyes in the mirror. He reaches around me to place a large iced latte on the bathroom counter. I don’t have to taste it to know it’s vanilla.
“Thanks.” Smiling, I lift my gaze and take in his face, clean-shaven and so very handsome. My eyes drop to his lips. My cheeks burn as I remember all the things he said last night.
Look how well you take me. How deep I can go.
Noticing that I’m struggling with the necklace, Ethan comes up close behind. “Here, let me help with that.” Gently, he takes the metal chain out of my hands. As I hold my hair out of the way, he bends close and fastens the necklace, letting it fall to rest between my breasts.
“Good morning.” His breath is warm on the nape of my neck as he presses a kiss to my sensitive skin. That touch sends tingles of desire traveling along the highway of nerves throughout my body.
I turn until I’m facing him. “Morning.”
Ethan doesn’t move away, so we’re pressed close together, the small of my back braced against the sink behind me. Lifting my chin, I kiss him deeply. It feels so good to touch him. I could live in this moment, stay here forever. With Herculean effort, I drag my mouth away from his.
“We need to get down to the conference. It’ll start soon.”
Ethan presses harder against me, his erection digging into my thigh. “What conference?” he jokes.
My hand is firm against his shoulder as I laughingly push him away. “Come on now. You know what conference. The one downstairs about to start in, oh,” I check my watch, “ten minutes.”
“We could skip the first lectures. Just go down when it’s time for you to give your talk,” Ethan says hopefully, resisting my attempts to move him out of my way.
“We skipped out yesterday. We can’t keep missing the lectures,” I insist, shaking my finger at him. “There’s a nuclear medicine cardiac imaging presentation at 9:00 that I want to see.”
With a dramatic sigh, he lowers his forehead until it rests against mine. “Who would have thought I’d fall for such a rule follower?” He shoves himself away and turns and walks out of the bathroom.
“I got a little something for you,” he calls back over his shoulder.
“You did?” I follow him into the bedroom, practically bouncing up and down in my excitement to see what he’s brought.
His body blocks my view as he picks something up off the desk. He hides it behind his back and grins at me mischievously.
“What is it?” I peek around his tall frame, trying unsuccessfully to see what he’s holding.
With a loud “surprise!” Ethan produces a gorgeous bouquet of long-stem red roses surrounded by babies’ breath. The flowers’ lush aroma fills the room.
“Ethan!” I exclaim as he hands me the blossoms. “They’re beautiful.” I press my nose to the scarlet petals and inhale deeply. “They smell like heaven. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.” He smiles crookedly. “They have a gift shop downstairs, and as soon as I saw them I thought of you. The red reminded me of your hair.” He reaches out and runs a strand through his fingers. “Plus, I wanted to give you something to say good luck on your presentation. You’re going to rock it.”
With the flowers in one hand, I wrap my other arm around him in a hug. “Thank you,” I murmur into his chest.
He’s so tall that it’s easy for him to place a kiss on the crown of my head and then rest his cheek there. “What have you done to me, Tiffy? I want to buy you flowers and chocolates in a heart-shaped box.” His rueful laugh rumbles through my skull. “I hardly recognize myself, but I like it.”
I fill the hotel ice bucket with water and carefully place the flowers in it, arranging the stems so they spread out evenly.
After a few more lingering kisses, Ethan and I gather our things to head downstairs.
As I open the hotel door, he grumbles, “You know that five minutes into the lecture I’m going to bug you to sneak back up here.”
I face him in the doorway. “I’ll tell you what. Maybe if you’re a good boy, then we can come up here for lunch.” I wink at him on the word “lunch.”
Ethan’s answering smile lights up the room.
We make it through the first couple of lectures with a lot of fidgeting from Ethan. I ignore him as best as I can, although it’s hard to resist going back to the hotel room to do naughty deeds with him.
As 9:30 a.m. grows closer, my nerves ratchet up higher and higher. T3b, T3b, T3b, I mentally chant, determined to get it right this time. Before I know it, it’s time for my lecture. I ascend the steps and approach the podium. With microphone in hand, I begin my presentation. The slides click by as I go through the renal cancer case.
“Given that this patient’s cancer ascended into the inferior vena cava but remained below the level of the diaphragm,” I say, “his cancer stage is T3b.”
Yes! Nailed it.
With that out of the way, the rest of my presentation will be smooth sailing.
Ethan’s triumphant smile slices through the rest of the anonymous faces in the crowd. He does a mini fist-pump motion with his hand, which makes me grin. Even though I hadn’t told him I was worried about messing up that part of my lecture, he had known. That’s how well he understands me. It’s a special thing, to be seen and accepted like that.
Focusing on my presentation, I continue. “I’m happy to report that this patient recently had his follow-up CAT scan and remains cancer-free. We will continue to monitor—”
The door at the back of the lecture hall bangs opens, letting in a shaft of light that shines directly into my eyes, blinding me. I pause, momentarily disoriented. It takes a second to blink away the bright spots that remain as the door closes. Once my vision clears, I see the figure of a man who just walked into my conference.
A green-eyed man who obviously doesn’t belong.
Rafe.