The Apartment (Apartment #1) (34 page)

“Dude, relax.” Eric patted him on the shoulder calmingly. “You are getting yourself way too worked up right now. Take a deep breath, do some fucking Lamaze breathing if you have to. You’ve got time to think about it all. Now let’s go see if dinner’s ready, okay? Mom was making her homemade lasagna. That can cheer anybody up.”

“Alright,” Ethan sighed, knowing that he was right. He only wished he could look at things as simply as Eric did. He decided that he would worry about it another time. He owed it to his family to relax and enjoy their time together. Nobody there was pressuring him to do anything he wasn’t ready to do.

As they walked into the dining room the doorbell rang. Maggie jumped up, yelling, “I’ve got it!” as she ran into the foyer.

Ethan made his way over to his parents before they sat down, hugging them both before letting his mother fret over the length of his hair and insist that he wasn’t eating enough. As he walked toward his seat at the table he heard Maggie again, but this time she wasn’t alone.

“So what happened to you last night, anyway? You went out for some fresh air and never came back.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Ethan stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice. As it got closer, he began to feel a freezing chill working its way down his spine.

“I, uh, ran into an old friend outside. We got to talking and left to get some coffee. I’m sorry I didn’t come back in and let you know.”

“Hey, I’m not your mother,” Maggie laughed. “I don’t care who you go home with. We were just worried something had happened to you!” She rounded the corner and walked into the room, and right behind her was none other than his goddess.

“Hey Mom, look who finally accepted my dinner invitation.”

Barbara turned around and gasped, running over to violently hug the person who couldn’t possibly be standing in his mother’s dining room.

“Oh, darling! I was so worried we’d never see you again! I’m so happy you came!” She turned to Maggie and smacked her shoulder playfully. “Shame on you for not letting me know! I would have made something nicer.”

“Oh, be quiet! Your lasagna is heaven and you know it. Besides, there’s not much of a surprise if I tell you about it.”

Ethan stood frozen and forgotten as the entire family fussed around their dinner guest. Was this some sort of joke?

He watched as she was presented to his father, apparently the only fucking person in the room who didn’t somehow know her already, who within seconds was smiling fondly and talking to her as if she were family.

Finally Eric remembered that Ethan was even there, and he smiled broadly and brought her over, his arm thrown easily around her shoulders. Somehow she hadn’t noticed him standing off in the corner yet, but as his brother brought her closer, Ethan saw her features change from the thousand-watt smile as she beamed up at Eric to the look of a deer in headlights, which he assumed matched his own expression.

“I think this morose one over here is the only one you haven’t met yet,” Eric announced, laughing loudly. “This is Ethan, my younger, much worse-looking brother.” He held out his other hand and clapped Ethan on the shoulder so hard that he rocked on his feet, but Ethan didn’t feel a thing.

“And Ethan, this is Lily. She can do a mean-ass karaoke! Something you would have seen for yourself if you’d bothered to show up last night,” he teased. “This pretty little thing is practically our new sister!”

Practically our new sister
.

Fuck
.

Lily couldn’t believe what was happening.

Somehow the world was still turning and life was continuing on around her, but inside it felt as if everything she knew had just tilted on its axis.

Her stranger was there, and he had a name. Ethan.

Ethan
.

Could it really be so simple? Would she have ever guessed it?

Ethan.

It suited him.

But that didn’t answer the most pressing question at the moment: What the fuck was he doing there?

She could hear Eric talking, but as soon as she’d seen her stranger’s face in the room she’d tuned out everything else. He’d said something about “karaoke” and “brother,” but that couldn’t possibly be right.
Brother
?

Suddenly, everything began to click into place in Lily’s mind. All of the things she had somehow not paid attention to before came tumbling back at once: Barbara’s other son, the artist; the strangely familiar painting on the wall; Ethan’s mysterious family emergency last week. When she finally added them all together she wanted to smack herself for not making the connection sooner.

Eric was continuing with the introductions, somehow oblivious to the fact that the two people he thought had never met before were both locked in a death stare.

“This pretty little thing is practically our new sister!” he enthused, squeezing Lily warmly around the shoulders.

She could have sworn that her stranger—
Ethan
, that is—flinched at Eric’s words, but he recovered quickly. She watched as he blinked a few times before slowly extending his hand toward hers, reaching out his long, graceful fingers that her body already knew so well, apparently preparing to fake their “first meeting” for the eyes of his family.

Lily began breathing rapidly, feeling a mini panic attack approaching. She didn’t know if she could handle touching him in front of his family. She was certain that the moment their skin made contact that everyone would just know.

She took a deep breath, never moving her eyes from his fingertips, slowly willing herself to calm down. It was only a handshake. She could do that for him. Counting to ten in her head before moving, she gently placed her hand in his, using every ounce of her energy to keep from jumping at the instant electric jolt that ran between them as he finally closed his fingers around hers.

“So,
Lily
, is it?”

The only thing that was able to break her gaze from their joined hands was his velvety voice saying her name for the first time, the sensation of it sliding over her body like liquid sex. Her eyes were pulled up to his again as if they were magnetic, and this time she was surprised to find that the jade pools had become molten and fiery.

He looked beautiful. He looked sexy. He looked confused. He looked
angry
.

“Uh… yes, pleased to meet you.” She shook his hand quickly and tried to pull away, but he held her fingers tightly, squeezing them for a moment too long before finally letting them go.

“Likewise,” he replied coldly. Lily had no idea why he was so angry at her—she was just as surprised and confused as he was.

Eric glanced at his brother.
His brother
—the thought still made Lily feel faint, as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head. The glance proved that this level of coolness wasn’t customary when he was introduced to someone new.

There was an odd moment of silence between all three of them before Eric jumped to fill it.

“You remember me talking about Lily, don’t you, man? Remember, when we were talking to Mr. Blake at the diner? I said how much Maggie loved her and appreciated her
help
.” He emphasized the last word, conveying a blatant warning to his sibling that he’d better ease off their dinner guest.

Ethan blinked a few times, reaching for a memory that seemed like years ago now, before snapping his attention back to the newcomer.

“You’re Mr. Blake’s daughter?”

Lily blushed furiously before nodding quickly. “Yes, that’s right.” It was barely a whisper.

Ethan’s mind was flooded with images of all of the depraved things he’d done to this woman’s body, over and over again, ending with the very naughty, very public encounter they’d shared only the night before in his car. He then pictured her father tapping on the glass and busting them just like he had with Eric and Maggie so many years ago. That would have gone over
great
.

Before any of them could utter one more awkward word, Maggie appeared at Lily’s side. “Alright, no monopolizing the guest, guys. That’s my job!” Smiling brightly, she took Lily’s hand and pulled her away from the bizarre encounter. “Come on, sweetie. Don’t get sucked into any sort of conversation between these two on an empty stomach. Eric won’t shut up about football and injuries, and Artsy Fartsy over there will bore you to death talking about Dali and Monet and Impressionism versus Surrealism.”

Eric laughed and lovingly flipped her the bird as they walked away, causing Maggie to stick her tongue out playfully before showing Lily to her seat at the table—a seat that turned out to be directly across from Ethan. She had no idea how she was supposed to concentrate on what anyone said to her while he was facing her all night.

As if on cue, Richard chose that moment to speak. “So, tell me about yourself, Lily,” he smiled warmly. “My wife tells me that you’re a nurse?”

“Yes, that’s right, sir.” She did everything she could to keep her eyes trained on the attractive older man at the head of the table, but realized that the longer she looked, the more physical similarities she saw between him and his youngest son. They had the same cheekbones, the same long, elegant nose, and what looked to be the same jawline.

“Please, call me Richard.” He smiled again, interrupting her train of thought. “And you work under Natalie Wilde, is that right?”

“Yes sir— I mean Richard.”

“She’s good,” he nodded. “Probably the best OBGYN we’ve had in this area for years. She’s also one of the most… ambitious doctors I can remember meeting in a long time.”

“That sounds like her,” Lily laughed quietly, and they shared a knowing look that made her feel instantly comfortable talking to him.

Ethan didn’t like it one bit.

In fact, Ethan hadn’t liked one damn thing that had taken place since she’d walked into the dining room. It was all too much for him to process, and having so many witnesses around made him feel like he was under a microscope and about to snap at any moment. Who the hell did this girl think she was, infiltrating his family and making every single person he cared about fall in love with her? And why was his mother mooning over her like she was the second coming? And what was with that look his father gave her just now, like they were best friends sharing an inside joke?

He wasn’t ready for this.

This was
his
girl, his own private angel. He didn’t like the thought of sharing her with anyone when his feelings for her were so new, and he definitely didn’t like that they all knew her name before he did. This wasn’t supposed to play out like this. It was supposed to be some hot, no-strings-attached sex while he was in town. Now it appeared there were strings attaching every which way he looked.

What bothered him the most was how meant-to-be it all felt, as if he had absolutely no say in the matter. He had just spent a decade of his life being bossed around and having all of his decisions made for him, and now here was another decision that he didn’t get to make—it just
was
. He had been trying so hard to take back control of his life, and now it seemed as if everyone was conspiring against him to decide what he would do next, as if fate was actually forcing this girl on him whether he was ready or not.

He felt himself getting angrier and angrier, mentally preparing himself to start digging in his heels. Fuck fate. What had fate ever done for him? If he was ever going to give in to his driving need to be with this woman, it was going to be on his own fucking terms, not because she had somehow snaked her way into the heart of his family.

He sat there at the table, barely touching his food, watching her talk with everyone easily—even Brandon, who Ethan had yet to befriend. There he was, feeling as if he was literally going to explode from the tension, and she was just laughing away and fitting in nicely. Fitting in perfectly. Sitting in the chair that Rachel had never been able to fill properly.

That realization hit him on a primal level. He felt punched in the gut, immediately wanting to avert his eyes from how
right
she looked in that chair, but not having the strength to do it. And that made him angrier still.

Since he couldn’t stop watching her, he tried to find any sign that she was even remotely as uncomfortable as he was with the odd situation. The only change in her behavior came whenever their eyes met, when she would glance away quickly and blush. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Well, if looking at him made her uncomfortable, then dammit, he was going to find a way to make her just as uncomfortable as he was.

“So, Lily,” he spoke, interrupting her exchange with Emma about a possible shopping excursion. “How long have you been living in town?” Everyone stopped eating and looked at him, surprised he had finally found his voice. He got what he wanted, though, because the moment he said her name she turned a deep shade of scarlet.

“Um, about three years or so now,” she said, her voice cracking in the process. She could barely look at him, casting nervous smiles around the table at everyone else as she spoke.

That would never do.

“And where did you live before then?” he pushed, loving the sight of her finally starting to squirm.

“Uh… Minneapolis, actually. I grew up there with my mom.”

“And what brought you here, to tiny little Aledo?”

“Well, my dad was injured. He had a heart attack while driving and crashed his car. It shattered his hip. He was laid up for a while and needed help around the house, and I hadn’t seen him in a long time. I decided to make a change and move down here.”

“Oh, dear!” Barbara chimed in. “And you nursed him back to health by yourself? How long did that take?” Ethan tried not to snarl as his mother derailed his attempt to hold her attention.

Lily turned to her, a quiet sigh of relief escaping her lips before she replied. “About six months until he was ready to go back to work. He healed faster than I thought, but I think he liked having a little time off for once.”

“Oh, I’ll bet,” Barbara chuckled knowingly. “Men! They love to be taken care of, don’t they?”

And waited on hand and foot, from the sound of it!
Ethan thought to himself. He’d never heard anything disparaging about Mr. Blake before, but it certainly sounded like he enjoyed taking advantage of his daughter’s caring personality.