Chapter 18

Riley

Butterflies danced in my stomach as we drove along the coast and finally pulled up to a white castle that overlooked the water. A maroon Lexus convertible sat in the driveway.

I glanced down at my clothes and gave Ethan a look. "Really? Why didn't you tell me to dress up? Whose house is this?"

He laughed and pulled behind another large moving truck. "Ours, baby."

"What?" Shock raced through me as he got out of the van and left me sitting there. "Ours?"

Did he buy a house on the beach? I'd just mentioned wanting one the day before. Late in the day on the day before.

I got out and jogged to catch up to him as a bunch of guys I didn't know walked out of the house.

"Alright. Just bring everything in from the garage, and Riley will tell you where it's going." He reached back and took my hand, half-pulling me into the house. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. I was majestic. Huge. White.

"Ethan." I was breathless, and my heart hurt in my chest. "Did you buy this place yesterday for us?"

"For you, but I'd like to share it with you if you're okay with that?" He touched the side of my face softly.

"No, you didn't." I swallowed the overwhelmed feeling that was building up at the back of my throat. I turned around in a circle and back to him, reaching for him, clinging to him. "You bought this place for us?"

"Yeah." He smiled and leaned in to kiss the tip of my nose. "You said you wanted a place in Santa Barbara on the beach. The truck we rode in has your stuff, and I cheated a little and had movers pick up and pack my stuff. I figured it would be-"

I wrapped myself around him and kissed him hard. The kiss deepened, and he picked me up and toted me to the master bedroom downstairs, kicking the door shut. He pressed me to the wall and ground against me before breaking the kiss.

"You like it?"

"I love it." I kissed him again and pushed at his chest. "Let me go check it out."

"No way. This is the part in the movies where the hottest sex scene happens. Don't you know these things?" He smiled and released me.

I laughed and walked around the room, moving to the floor to ceiling glass windows and pressing my hands to them. "Wow. You can see the beach. It's like right here."

"It's a private beach, baby." He kissed the side of my neck. "Come on, let's take the car and go down to the fish market. We'll get something for dinner, and you can pick out some new flowers seeing that you left yours for Charlotte."

"The car?" I remembered the Lexus in the driveway. "Did you buy yourself a new car?"

He moved back and reached for my hand as I turned around. "No. I bought you a car. You like it? If not, we'll go get you something else."

"I love it." I balked as we walked back through the house.

Ethan stopped beside the guys that walked in and shrugged. "Just make the house look like my old one, and if my girl wants it changed, we'll bring you guys back out next week."

"Yes, Sir." One of them nodded and smiled over at me. "Were you surprised?"

"I haven't caught my breath yet." I laughed and followed Ethan out. The smell of salt and sand filled my nose, and I breathed in deeper, taking as much of it as I could handle.

He tossed me a set of keys, and I caught them and stopped by the car. "You want me to drive?"

"Man, you're slow today, baby." He got into the passenger's side of the car, and I got into the driver's side and gave him a look.

"I'm still trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. Last I knew, you had a stomach ache and didn't want to sleep together last night." I started the car. "I wake up, and you're there with a moving van, but we're not going back to your place in L.A. because you bought this beach castle after we left each other last night."

"That's about right." He rolled his window down and pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket, putting them on his handsome face. "I had to move quick, but I had lots of help."

"Charlotte and Jace?" I pulled out and headed toward what I assumed was town.

"And Liam and Deza." He reached over and ran his fingers up my arm. "I hope you like it, and if you don't, just say so, and we'll move again. I wanted you with me."

"You didn't have to do all of this, Ethan, but I love you for doing it. It's the best present anyone has ever gotten me." I took a shaky breath. "It's the only present anyone's ever gotten me."

"Well, then I'm glad it was me that did it." He squeezed my shoulder and pointed ahead. "Take a left up here, and we'll park in the lot across from the fish market."

"I haven't been down here in years." A smile spread across my face. "I love this so much."

"Good. It's our new life when we're not filming." He kept his hand on me, and it was hard not to press into it. I wanted to be at home, on the couch, snuggled up together so I could take my time thanking him properly.

"Right there, baby." He pointed, and I slammed on the breaks before passing it up.

I offered him a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize to me. This is your baby. Drive her how you want to." He unbuckled after I parked and got out, moving to the back and offering me a hand. "You look good, by the way. Why the hell were you worried when we pulled up to the house?"

"Are you kidding me? That's the nicest house I've even been in. And that car is way too much car for me." I shook my head and snuggled against the side of him as we made our way across the street into the crowd that had gathered around the outdoor market. "I figured we were going to see the president of Eon or something."

He laughed. "No way. That guy lives in San Fran, and he has a flat that wouldn't comfortably fit me, you and him at the same time. He's a minimalist."

"Oh." I walked toward the fresh flowers. "Look how pretty these are."

"Get them." He pulled his wallet out of the back of his shorts and turned his attention to the lady selling the flowers.

I ignored their exchange and found several bundles that I wanted. I took the time to stop and smell each one of them. It was almost like I was stuck in a dream. Everything was so surreal. I'd grown up broke, moving from shelter to shelter, hoping that one day my mom would get her shit together and provide for us, but she never did. She couldn't figure it out.

And had I somehow figured it out? I didn't know, but I wasn't wasting one minute of the life I'd been given, especially not a minute that belonged to Ethan. His kindness and generosity stunned me.

This was the man I knew under all the drama and showmanship. And he's the one I fell in love with. Not that I didn't like the other parts of him, but this part left me really swooning.

A little boy ran by and tripped in front of us, and Ethan dipped down and picked the little guy up and setting him back down. He knelt in front of the boy and wiped at his legs.

"You alright, man? You gotta be careful. The sidewalk is bumpy."

"Bumpy?" The little boy's blue eyes sparkled as he wiped at Ethan's hands over his legs. "Bumpy?"

"Oh jeez. Thank you so much." The mother jogged up and scooped the little guy up in her arms. "I'm so sorry." She paused as her eyes went wide. "Oh my God. You're Ethan Lewis and Riley Phillips. I love your movies," she pointed over to me, "and you were beautiful in the Spring play at UCLA. You're in the next Eon movie together, right?"

"Yeah, we are." I smiled over at Ethan, but he was too busy watching the little boy. Did he want kids? We'd had a short conversation about it, but I couldn't remember his response. His own upbringing had been as bad as mine, if not worse.

Poverty sucked. Not being loved was way worse.

"Baby." I tugged on his hand.

"Oh. Sorry. I got lost there in my head for a minute." He reached out and patted the little guy on the head. "Take care, hmm?"

"Thank you again." The woman turned as the little boy chirped the word, 'bumpy' a handful of times.

"You want babies?" I turned to face him and slid my hands up his strong chest.

"Yes. Three of them, but not for a long time." He leaned down and kissed me softly. "I do like the idea of practicing making babies though. We should start tonight."

I laughed and cuddled the flowers he'd bought against my chest. "Let’s get your fish and get back to the house. I want to explore."

"It or me?" He touched my lower back and guided me over to the fishmonger.

"Both." I wagged my eyebrows and moved back a little to let him up front.

"Hi there. We'll take a pound of salmon for dinner, please?" Ethan glanced back at me. "Salmon good?'

"Yeah, I love it." I smiled at the older gentleman helping him.

"Did you want us to fillet it for you?" He winked at me and turned back to Ethan.

"Yeah, I'm not a caveman hunter by any means. I'd probably end up more filleted than the fish."

We all laughed, and I took it all in. The moment. The feelings. The memories it would create.

Ethan reached up and grabbed the fish before putting a protective arm around my shoulders and walking me back to the car. He kissed the side of my face and took the keys from me.

"Want me to drive your baby already?"

"I'd let you drive anything of mine that you wanted to." I got in and set the flowers in the floorboard before buckling up. "I'm still a little bit in shock. This is all happening, right?"

"Yeah, baby. And the night's not over." He winked, and I was at a loss. What in the world did he think would top the day we'd already had?

In my mind, nothing could.