Chapter 2

Of all things beautiful, including the man in front of me, this was definitely not what I was expecting.

"Ethan?" Did I forget to mention it was my freaking boss in front of me? Oh well.

"You look beautiful Amber." He smiled and I blushed.

"Why are you here? I mean, not that you're not welcome or anything, because you're always welcome here but I was actually waiting for my date and then you came and-"

He laughed and I blushed even harder. He seems to think my embarrassment is amusing. Oh joy.

"I take it Mandy hasn't told you yet?" He asked. It was clear as daylight that he found me utterly amusing, judging by the teasing glint in his eyes.

I turned to look at Mandy who was covering her mouth to stop the laugh from coming. I raised an eyebrow and she cleared her throat.

"I may have asked Ethan to be your date" she smiled sheepishly and I glared at her.

"Uh.... How do you two know each other?" I asked, confused, pointing at the two of them.

"Her boyfriend's my brother." Ethan calmly replied.

"How long have you known that Ethan was my boss?" I asked Mandy with brows furrowed.

"Last week" she chirped.

"Yeah at that time Mandy was planning a blind date for you and asked me to be the date and I accepted" Huh, makes sense that Mandy would pick my freakin boss to be my date.

"Okay!" Mandy clapped happily "Now that that's cleared, get your asses out of here and be on with your night!" She pushed me, roughly might I add, and I landed ungracefully in the arms of Ethan. Oh joy.

He chuckled at my flustered face and I smiled sheepishly. I straightened and waved at Mandy who was waving like a maniac.

"It seems that she's the one more excited on this date." I mused.

"At least she'll enjoy imagining what's going to happen tonight." He played along and we laughed.

The elevator dinged and opened to reveal the lobby and we stepped outside. A red Aston Martin was already parked outside and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Trying to impress me are we?" I teased and I had the pleasure to see him blush.

"Is my date impressed then?" He regained composure almost quickly.

"And if I said I wasn't?" I asked as he opened the door for me and I climbed in. He ran to the driver seat and buckled his seatbelt before leaning closer to me and whisper,

"Well, you're gonna be in for a night then." He smirked. I was lost in those grayish eyes of his and I almost forgot he said something. His gaze dropped to my parted lips and I felt my breath hitch.

Holy smokes, is he gonna kiss me or not?

He tucked a stray lock of hair in my ear and caressed my cheek. He leaned in closer and lightly brushed his lips against mine. I barely felt the feather-like touch he gave me and I craved for more but it was going to have to wait until the end of the night.

I opened my eyes and saw he was staring at me with an intensity that burned in me. I ducked my head and untucked a lock of hair to try and hide my blush. He chuckled and held my hand as he drove around the bustling traffic in New York.

We arrived at the restaurant in record time and was ushered to our table. It was secluded, perfect for some privacy. Once we were seated I shrugged off my coat which revealed my dress. Ethan's jaw was slightly dropped and I giggled using my forefinger to tap his chin and say,"That's very ungentlemanly, dear" I giggled again and made myself comfortable in my chair. He cleared his throat and seated himself as well.

"Good evening ma'am, sir, I'm Rosie and I'll be your waitress for tonight" A bubbly brunette chirped and I smiled warmly at her "Can I start you off with some champagne?" Her eyes lingered longer than necessary at Ethan and I smirked. Either Ethan chose to ignore it or simply didn't notice, she made it her second job to straighten her blouse even lower than necessary.

"That'd be lovely, Rosie" Ethan gave her a smile and she threw one back, rather flirtatiously, before handing us our menus and scurried for our champagne.

"She couldn't have been more discreet in checking you out" I muttered, hoping he didn't hear me, but unfortunately for me..... He heard.

He chuckled and held my hand, "I wouldn't have minded if you checked me out, sweetie" he winked and I blushed.

"That's not gonna happen anytime soon" I muttered but it was obviously a lie. For Christ's sake, I check him out almost everyday at work!

"Are you sure about that sweetie?" He raised an eyebrow, teasingly and I bet you twenty bucks I looked like a tomato.

No. Absolutely not sure.

Instead of answering, I check out the restaurant looking for bimbo-Rosie-wannabe and sure enough she's heading for the bathroom. I tried to keep my laughter in and but failed and let out a small giggle.

"Care to share?" I turn towards him and notice he's looking at me. Well of course he's looking at you! You're his date, dammit!

"Huh? Oh it's just, 'Rosie'" I emphasised the name Rosie "Went to the bathroom and I'll bet you all my life savings that she'll be back looking freshly caked in make up and her work clothes maybe changed to something worth looking at a strip club" I explained.

"Well, your bet was right" he nods behind me and Rosie saunters out the bathroom EXACTLY the way I described her a minute ago.

We stare at each other and laugh.

"Doesn't that bother you sometimes? I mean, you know, women like her that throw themselves at you?" By the looks on his face, I'm guessing he didn't expect me to ask that.

"Well, it's annoying sometimes" He shrugs, the one that says 'This topic MUST be changed'.

Ah, the shrug. That, my friends, is something I've learned for the past two years I've worked for the guy. You can easily say he likes women left and right. Definition of a playboy. But hey, he's got some god damn looks to be proud of.

From that point on, we talked about......... Well, just about anything we could think of for two whole hours. That two hours was totally worth it. Rosie just kept me entertained you know. So okay I'll tell you.

Basically, she's been trying, no scratch that, she's been desperately trying to get Ethan's phone number and made a poor excuse of a move to try and hide the paper with her phone number under Ethan's plate. Every time she went across the room or something, she always finds a way to get there by passing near Ethan and I's table. It was amusing and pathetic at the same time. She even went as far as to 'assist' us every single time! The nerve of the woman! If that doesn't scream 'desperate slut' I don't know what is.

I don't even know why she works there in the first place. She could've passed for a stripper.

We walked out the doors with me laughing my ass off and Ethan grumbling and pouting like a child.

"That was fun!" I chirped.

"For you it was" Ethan grumbled.

I laugh and walked towards, pinching his cheeks. He looked so adorable right now! I just can't resist! Of course, he's always adorable. He huffs and slaps my hand away.

"So, where we going now?" I asked.

He opens the passenger side and I slid in. We were taking his car, you see, so no limo today!

"That is a surprise" he started the car and the engine purred to life.

"Okay, you, of all people, should know that I am not a fan of surprises" I pointed at him, accusingly.

"Oh believe me, I know" It was my turn to act childish now and he laughed. I still remember the first time he gave me a surprise.

*flashback*

Yes! I'm turning 23!, I thought.

I was feeling giddy that day. Of course I always feel giddy when it's my birthday, it reminds me how fortunate I am to have lived this long unlike those unfortunate ones. I did my daily routine and went to work.

I stepped out of my car and the freaking guards weren't there. I didn't bother too much about that maybe they had a meeting or something. I went inside and absolutely no one is inside! Okay, this is freaking me out.

I searched the ground floor and made my way upstairs to the conference room. I could hear hushed voices inside and I shuddered. What if they were taken hostage or something? What if I was the only here and some psycho killer is killing everybody? Oh no! Ethan!

Get a grip woman! God damn it! I should not have watched that hostage movie last night.You can clearly tell that I'm ninety percent coward and ten percent brave. I got that coward attitude to a T.

I grasped the door and with all of my ten percent courage, opened it.

"SURPRISE!" I screamed bloody murder and just like that, I'm out like a light.

It must've been a few minutes when I woke up due to voices talking in the background. My head feels like it was split open and my throat is slightly itchy. You could've mistaken me for having a hangover. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Where am I?" I asked and looked at the blurry figures.

"We were throwing you a surprise party and asked everyone to hide in here but when you came in and we surprised you............well, you screamed and fainted." Lindsie, our very shy and reserved receptionist, said.

"More like screamed bloody murder! Damn girl, you busted my ear drums! I'm gonna need a replacement!" Charlie, a very gay friend of mine and coworker here, hollered at me.

"Well excuse me for watching a hostage movie last night and thinking the same thing happened to all of you! Gosh man, I was scared shitless!" I hollered back and everyone laughed including me.

"Can you get up?" Large, strong hands held my waist and I look up and saw Ethan smiling at me with amused eyes.

"Okay everybody, let's eat this cake because I'm starving!" Corrie, a bubbly lady in her mid-thirties, shouted. Everyone shouted their agreement.

Ethan guided me towards the table with his hand on the small of my back.

"Pssst!" I turn around and saw Charlie, Corrie, and another friend of mine at work who was a sarcastic and blabber mouth, Chloe, fanning there hands in front of their faces and mouthing 'hot' before pointing at me and Ethan. I shot them a wink and mouth 'hot' too.

I felt something brush my ear and Ethan leans in, whispering, "Remind me to limit your surprises" We chuckled at that.

*end of flashback*

I laughed quietly in my seat as Ethan drove us to God knows where. I recognised the road we were taking and put two and two together before shifting in my seat and saying, "We're going to the observatory"

He nodded at me and smiles. I've been there a couple of times. Sometimes with Mandy or my brother, Luke when he was still in the city. Our family had a thing for stars.

"I used to go there with my brother, Luke" I muttered. I missed my brother, horribly. It's been a while since we've been in contact. I really wanted to go California but work was in the way. Yep, I'm from California. I was one of those people who wanted to go out and experience New York.

We parked the car and I jumped outside. I was at the entrance by the time Ethan got out of his car. I impatiently tapped my foot but waited for him nonetheless.

"Your excited" Ethan smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"I have a thing for stars, well technically, our whole family has" I shrug and we went inside. There were some people there and Ethan walked up to a man and talked to him while I looked around.

"Okay, come on" Ethan grabs my hand and we walk hand in hand.

Stargazing? Count me in!

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Edited.

-Andy