Chapter 27: The Game Continues

Ethan kissed her like he'd been waiting all evening for permission unhurried but hungry, working his way from her mouth down to her neck.

Clearly the session was over, Claire thought. Time to relocate.

A high-end hotel, Meridian City.

The suite Ethan had booked was surprisingly polished dreamy, romantic, exactly the kind of place someone books when they've clearly planned ahead.

Claire arched a brow at how prepared he'd apparently been for this.

She barely had a second to register the plush waterbed before she was falling backward onto it, laughing as the whole thing swayed beneath her.

She caught his chin between two fingers, grinning up at him. "Coach Sutton. You planned this?"

Taking in the elaborately set scene around her, Claire's smile turned sly.

"Claire," Ethan said, voice low, eyes locked on her with obvious intent. "Let's pick up where we left off."

Something about the mock-serious delivery, paired with how clearly deliberate all of this had been, sent an unexpected thrill through her.

This is new, she thought. I did not expect the golden retriever to have this much game.

He teased her mercilessly, drawing the moment out until she was squirming, laughing despite herself.

"Coach Sutton, what exactly am I supposed to do dressed like this?"

She pouted up at him, playing innocent, eyes glimmering with amusement.

"Let me handle it," he murmured, and made quick, deliberate work of it.

Claire let out a soft, exaggerated gasp, thoroughly enjoying the theater of it all the whole thing playing out like the most enthusiastic invitation she'd ever extended.

Ethan laughed low in his throat, clearly delighted by her reaction.

"Enjoy the rest of the session," he said, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"Claire. Let's begin."

He licked his lips, and the sheer audacity of the gesture landed exactly as intended.

This man is unfairly good-looking, Claire thought, settling in.

Honestly, weeks like this are exactly why I left Nathaniel behind.

Ethan pulled out a mat and set it on the floor, watching her with obvious anticipation.

"Hands down, legs straight. Slowly bring one leg up toward your head."

Claire smiled and complied, easing gracefully off the bed and onto the mat, following his instructions with practiced flexibility.

She bit her lip, cheeks flushed, holding her position as she stretched.

"Good. Perfect form."

Ethan stood over her, watching with obvious appreciation.

He guided her posture with a light, steady hand, his voice dropping into something warmer. "A little more through the hip."

Claire adjusted, cheeks burning brighter now, fully aware of exactly how charged the moment had become.

"There. Claire, you might just be the best student I've ever had."

He leaned in close, his voice a low murmur right against her ear.

The rest of the night unfolded exactly the way both of them wanted, unhurried and thoroughly enjoyed on both sides the details better left to the imagination.

..........

You Impossible Woman

Julian Ashford came from serious money old money, and older influence.

His grandfather had been a decorated general; his father, cut from the same cloth, currently served as a ranking military officer.

His uncle, Marcus Ashford barely into his thirties already commanded the entire Meridian City military district, the youngest officer to ever hold that post.

Julian, meanwhile, had built his own fortune from the ground up. He'd started his company at twenty-four, and within five years had built it into a two-hundred-billion-dollar empire, landing him firmly among the country's top young billionaires.

He and Marcus were close in age and closer than most brothers, despite the family tree technically making them uncle and nephew Marcus was his grandfather's much younger son, born a full generation after Julian's own father, putting barely five years between him and Julian.

Marcus had worked his way up through the ranks the hard way, starting as an ordinary enlisted soldier and climbing entirely on merit.

That particular morning, Marcus let himself into Julian's apartment and hauled him bodily out of bed.

"Up. Now. Grandfather wants us back home for the ancestral ceremony."

"And what exactly is your father doing about you, by the way?"

"Almost thirty, and you're still out drinking every night like a college kid. What's the point of all that money if this is how you're living?"

Marcus launched into his usual lecture, undeterred by the fact that Julian reeked of last night's whiskey.

Growing up, it had never been Julian's parents who'd actually disciplined him it had always been his uncle, barely older than him, delivering these speeches with total sincerity.

The rest of the family had long since decided Marcus's constant lecturing was for Julian's own good, and encouraged more of it, not less.

Even now, pushing thirty himself, Julian still got treated like a teenager who'd missed curfew.

Occupational hazard, Julian thought groggily. The man can't turn it off.

He kept his eyes shut, head lolling back against the pillow, doing his best to tune Marcus out entirely.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? No answer on your phone, nothing on WeChat were you just sleeping in all day?"

Marcus pried one of his eyelids open with two fingers, trying to force some kind of response.

Julian swatted his hand away without opening his eyes, voice thick with sleep and whiskey.

"Get off me."

"What ancestral ceremony?"

"My girlfriend's not here yet. I'm waiting."

He'd been out drinking until nearly dawn, stumbling home around five, thoroughly wrecked.

And through the entire night, not one word from Claire.

Meanwhile Lucas probably had his own version of last night with her, he thought bitterly, the memory sitting like a stone in his chest.

Still buzzed and clearly not thinking straight, Julian gave in and called her.

At that exact moment, Claire was tucked comfortably against Ethan, half-asleep.

Her phone buzzed insistently on the pillow beside her until she finally gave in and answered.

"Claire. You impossible woman."

"What is it about you that's got me this wound up?"

"If I don't reach out first, you just don't bother, is that it?"

"You've got twenty minutes to get to my place."

"If you're not here in twenty, come collect the pieces after."

Claire, unimpressed by the theatrics, hung up on him immediately.

He called right back. And again.

By the third call, any lingering sleepiness had completely evaporated.

She stared at the screen, frowning, before finally picking up.

"Julian, are you seriously threatening me right now?"

"Just wait until I actually get there. You're going to regret this."

Despite her irritation, a flicker of real concern crept in.

He'd clearly been drinking, and drinking hard.

If he actually does something reckless, she thought, I'm not carrying that guilt around forever.

She texted her supervisor for a half-day off, deciding she'd better go check on him herself.

Her supervisor, well aware by now of her unusual standing with Lucas Kane, approved it without hesitation.

"Hey something came up at work, I need to head out early. Sleep in a bit."

Claire glanced over at Ethan, who'd woken up somewhere in the middle of that phone call, and gave him her most easy, unbothered smile.

He'd kept an arm around her waist the whole night, close enough that he'd clearly heard every word of the call.

He also clearly recognized the voice the same one that had claimed to be her boyfriend back at the gym.

Ethan wasn't thrilled. But he kept it to himself.

Can't let her think I'm the jealous type, he reasoned, forcing an easy smile.

"Sure thing, baby." He tucked her head against his chest, holding her close. "Want me to drive you?"

Claire pressed her face into his chest, shaking her head against him.

She wrapped her arms around him in return, pressing a light kiss to his sternum.

"No need. You had a long night. Get some rest."

Her voice came out soft, easy, the kind that made most men forget what they were annoyed about in the first place.

She glanced around for something to wear, found her top from the night before too worse for wear, and grabbed a spare cropped shirt and leggings instead.

This will have to do, she thought, pulling them on.

Ethan watched her get dressed with obvious appreciation, a slow grin spreading. "Sure you don't want to stay a little longer?"

"Walking out like that seems risky."

He looped an arm around her waist, teasing, clearly not eager to let her leave just yet.

Claire laughed, gently extracting herself. "Ethan. Behave. I actually have somewhere to be."

"I'll grab a cab, don't worry about it."

"I'm heading out. I'll text you."

She rose on her toes, pressed one last firm kiss to his mouth, and slipped out before he could argue further.

Ethan watched the door close behind her, a slow, considering smile crossing his face, something colder flickering behind his eyes.

That man on the phone, he thought. Clearly means something to her.