Ethan didn’t have a bloody idea, so he gave a curt nod. “Careful not to tumble again.”
He missed out on anything that happened next because security swarmed between them, and he made it three more steps before two women flanked a group of paparazzi with cardboard signs announcing his hashtag.#DateMyCelebrityDad
Fuckin’ hell.
The woman on the right threw a pair of her underwear in his direction. Well, he didn’t know if they were her underwear since he wasn’t privy to the removal. But he suspected them to be.
He glanced to the undies lying on the ground. Then around to the others nearby.
Right, well, he didn’t particularly want unknown undies in his pocket, did he now? But it would probably be rude to leave them there.
He scratched at his neck, befuddled as to what he was supposed to do in this scenario.
Jack had never covered something like this.
Thank hell, someone with a broom and dustpan whisked the lace and fabric right off the red carpet.
He gave another nod in the woman’s direction with a small wave. Then he was ledthrough the rest of the melee, but he swore she’d pulled off her shirt as his escorts pressed him along to the next group.
Damn, that would buy her a trip to jail for indecency. He didn’t want that for her. Then again, he also didn’t want undergarments tossed at his face. This was exhausting.
“You are a popular man.” Jack waited at the entrance to the theater, past the cameras, and smacked Ethan on his shoulder. “Ranking up there with Elvis and Bieber now that you’ve been pantied.”
“When you say it like that it doesn’t make it better,” Ethan grumbled.
“Anyone you particularly like?” Jack asked, glancing around the room.
“No.”
Jack smirked. He could. They were buddies and Jack understood that though Ethan loved his fandom, there were definitely boundaries that needed to be drawn. Those boundaries mostly regarding underthings and flicking them at him in public settings.
Jack handed Ethan a glass of champagne from one of the passing trays. Ethan downed it, brut that it was. Jack handed him another. Ethan didn’t toss back that one.
“Ethan?” A woman’s voice drifted toward him and he cringed because no unattached woman said his name in that tone without following it with a proposition since Annie’s foray into social media.
Felicity.
They’d dated briefly before Annie came into his life.
“Felicity.” He grinned and instinctively opened his arms for the incoming embrace. Felicity was a hugger.
“How long are you in town?” She didn’t back away, but kept her body pushed right up against him.
“Not long. Headed back to Colorado after the show.” He dropped his hand from her back, hoping it set the precedent for her to release him as well.
“The kid?” Felicity asked.
“Annie. Yeah,” he confirmed.
“Postpone?” Felicity asked.
He knew that glint in her eye. He’d recognize her I-wanna-be-on-top look anytime. And the way she smiled was an obvious invitation.
“It’s been entirely too long.” She practically purred the words.
In another lifehe’dhave tripped all over himself for a night with Felicity. But now he knew more. Understood there were better things in the world than a quick romp. He had a family now, and that’s what he’d trip all over himself for.
“I really can’t,” he said.
