The Apartment: The Complete Affair (47 page)

“Only if you care to share, sweetheart,” Barbara answered, and he nearly laughed out loud. If she moved any closer to the edge of her seat, she’d fall off.

“She was a bit hesitant at first, but she’s agreed to let me take her to dinner tomorrow night.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” his mother gasped, jumping up to hug him tightly. “I’m so proud of you for refusing to give up. Where are you going to take her?”

“I have no idea,” he blushed. “I was so worried about getting her to say yes that I didn’t plan that far ahead. What the hell is there to do in Aledo?”

“Hmm…” she paused in thought. “Well, not a lot, honestly. There are some casual things to do with someone you are already dating, but nothing for making great first impressions. You’ll probably need to take her into the Quad Cities for dinner—there are some nice restaurants in Moline and Davenport.”

“Thanks. I’ll look into it,” he smiled, leaning down to give her a hug.

Barbara kissed his cheek as she pulled away and sighed loudly. “I’m just so happy for you. Things are going to be different now, I can feel it.” And without another word, she turned and went up to bed.

Once she had left the room, Richard walked up to him and stared him down. “So… you spoke with Lily. Is that
all
that happened?”

Ethan turned beet red before answering, “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, that’s all that happened.”

“Good for you, son,” he smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you listened to me. I know that you two have unbelievable…
chemistry
together, but she’ll never be able to take you seriously right now if you’re always trying to get in her pants.”

“Dad!”

“What? Just because it’s your old man talking doesn’t make it any less true.”

They shared an awkward goodnight after that, and Ethan went up to his bedroom. He sat up sketching a few different ideas for a new painting for a while before he decided to call it a night. As he climbed into bed, a thought struck him that made him jump back out and grab his phone.

Scrolling through his contact list, his breath caught when he found it—Lily’s number. He finally had the woman of his dreams only the press of a button away. As much as he wanted to call her and hear her voice before bed, he figured she would probably be asleep already. He also knew that hearing her voice at that moment would get his hormones going all over again, so he decided to just send a quick text message. That way she could see it when she woke up in the morning.

Feeling instantly better knowing she had the message, he sat his phone next to him on the nightstand and settled into bed, ready to sleep comfortably for the first night in months. What he hadn’t expected was to hear his phone buzzing with a reply. He picked it up with a shaking hand and opened the message.

Well, apparently he could achieve a raging erection without hearing her voice, too. She had done the job just as well by text. Sighing loudly in the darkness, Ethan rolled over and set the phone back down, sliding open the drawer underneath and pulling out a certain small bottle of lube. As he squirted some in his hand and rolled onto his back to take care of business, he wondered how the hell he was going to make it through an entire evening without attacking her.

The following day was Saturday, which gave Lily time to get herself ready. She spent all day pampering herself, going to her favorite salon in the Cities for a facial and a mani-pedi—and even though sex was supposedly off the table for a while, she threw in a wax for good measure. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long, and it was always good to be prepared.

She had hoped he might text her back after her little note the night before, but he hadn’t taken the bait. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate what he was trying to do, but she was hoping they might have a little bit of fun in the meantime. And really, what could be more fun than some naughty sexting with Ethan?

Around 1 p.m. her phone rang and her heart skipped a beat when she heard the new ringtone she had set for him: “Business Time” by Flight of the Conchords. He called to let her know that he would be picking her up around 6:30 that night to take her to a restaurant in Bettendorf. When everything had been finalized she told him that she couldn’t wait to see him again, and he made a funny choking sound and told her he needed to go.

When she got back home that afternoon she started the horrible task of trying to find something to wear. Although she had a closet full of new clothes after her trip to Chicago with the girls, it was still no easy task. There was almost too much to choose from now and her head started to spin. Sighing in defeat, she reached for her phone.

Emma picked up on the second ring. “So? Any big plans tonight?” she asked when she answered, as if they were already mid-conversation.

“How did you know?” Lily asked with a huff. “And don’t think I’m not totally pissed at you for not telling me he was back in town.”

“Hey, don’t take it out on me. I would have called you that night if I could have, and so would Maggie. He swore us all to secrecy because he wanted some time to get his shit together.”

“I’m just saying a little heads up would have been nice. Maybe
I
had some shit to get together.”

“Lily, you’ve had three months to do that. You’re much more ready for this than he is, so you’re actually at an advantage here. You can call all the shots this time.”

“I don’t care about calling all the shots. I just want to feel comfortable with him again. I feel like I’m a high schooler getting ready for the prom, for fuck’s sake!”

“It will come in time, don’t worry.” She sounded so calm that Lily wanted to slap her. “So, what did you call for, anyway? Was it just to yell at me or did you need something?”

“I hate doing this because I know you’re going to squeal… but I need help deciding what to wear.” She held the phone away from her ear, the loud screeching on the other end echoing throughout the room. “Good lord, are you done yet?” she teased when she felt brave enough to lift up the phone again.

“Oh this is just perfect! I will bring you over to the dark side yet, young Skywalker.” Emma loved to picture herself as the head of an evil empire of fashion fierceness.

They spoke about the date: where they might be going and how formal it might be. After deciding on an elegant wrap dress and the perfect pair of heels, Emma’s voice grew concerned.

“Hey, all of the fun stuff aside, are you really okay with this?”

“Okay with what? Having you help me? Of course, or I wouldn’t have called.”

“No, no. Everything with Ethan. This date. Giving things a real try with him even though he hurt you so badly.”

“I’m not sure,” Lily said honestly. “Part of me feels like I’m walking on eggshells, and the other part feels like a giddy schoolgirl who’s getting everything she ever wanted. I’ll admit that I’m still feeling a little resentful and I’m not completely sure that I trust him yet, but I’ve only ever wanted him back… that’s never changed. Now that I have that chance, I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life making him eat shit.”

I also don’t want to spend the rest of my life waiting for him to freak out and leave again
.

“So you’re just going to forgive and forget it all? I mean, I love my brother dearly and I hope this all works out, but if it were me, I might make him sweat a bit.”

“Yes, but what you guys keep forgetting is that he promised me nothing before, and I was the one who hoped for everything. I wasn’t even officially single and I had planned my whole future with him. I should have ended it with Scott a lot sooner than I did, and made myself truly available. I am the one who set myself up to be hurt so badly, so while I might appreciate an explanation from him as to why he took off like that, I still couldn’t ever imagine putting
all
the blame on him.”

“Wow, you’re better than me. I would be trying to find ways to get even.”

“But get even for what, Emma? Not saying goodbye? Yeah, that stung like a motherfucker, but even if he hadn’t been such a chickenshit about it and had told me why he was leaving, it was still his right to leave. Just because one person is okay with how something is working doesn’t mean the other person is. That would be like saying nobody ever has the right to end a relationship if the other person is content.”

“Yeah, I guess, but—”

“But what?” Lily interrupted. “Think about it. He didn’t cheat on me, he didn’t lie to me, and he would never hit me. He just… left. It hurt and I missed him like crazy, but if he’s willing to give it a real try and not run away at the first sign of trouble, then so am I.”

“Well I guess you have your answer now, don’t you?” She could tell Emma was smiling.

“You little shit. You did that just to drag my real feelings out, didn’t you?”

“But you’re sure now, aren’t you?” Emma giggled.

“Okay, I’m letting you go now. You’re too evil for me, Darth.” Lily ended the call, frustrated but laughing.

* * *

When 6:30 finally arrived, she was dressed in a curve-hugging dark blue silk wrap dress and a killer pair of black high-heeled shoes. Her hair was in loose curls that were hanging down over her shoulders and she wore a light dusting of makeup to even out her skin tone. She was watching the clock nervously and pacing around the room, hoping she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.

When the knock sounded at her door a few minutes later she almost jumped, somehow missing the sound of his footsteps on the stairs. She rushed to the door, stopping briefly to take a deep breath and calm down. It turned out to be pointless once she got a good look at her date.

Ethan was literally breathtaking.

He was standing before her wearing a mouth-watering charcoal gray suit that she could only assume had a designer label and a sleek black tie. It was clearly tailored to fit his broad shoulders, and it somehow even made his bruised face look civilized, as if he were some bad boy rich kid who got punched out at a casino in Monte Carlo. Simply put: Ethan was fuckhot.

It took her a moment to find her words, and before she could speak he cut her off. “Wow,” he breathed. “You look… amazing.”

“That’s funny,” she laughed softly. “I was going to say the exact same thing about you.”

“Here, I brought you these,” he said as a telltale pink colored his cheeks. She looked down to see his hand holding out a gorgeous bouquet of pink stargazer lilies.

“Oh Ethan, they’re so lovely! Please, come in while I put them in some water.”

“I hope that you don’t think lilies are too predictable, since that’s your name and everything. I just wanted to bring you something different than the standard roses.”

“No, I love lilies! I love all kinds of lilies, but these are actually my favorite,” she said with her own blush.

As she walked into the kitchen he followed behind her, leaving the front door wide open on purpose—secretly hoping that having it open might prevent him from grabbing her and throwing her down on the floor. She looked so unbelievably sexy in that wrap dress, just thinking about what one tiny little tug on the tie could do had him adjusting himself in his pants already. Also, he’d never seen her wearing anything other than sneakers or boots. The full-on fuck-me heels she was sporting now were worthy of their very own fetish.

He hovered in the entrance to the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe as he watched her grabbing a vase under the sink. The sight of her bending over made him groan under his breath, but it was masked by a loud yowl from down by his feet. He looked down to see a tubby orange tabby cat pawing at his legs.

“Well, hello there,” he smiled, bending down and scratching the cat’s head. “I don’t think I’ve met
you
before.” Another yowl came from behind him. Ethan turned his head to see an identical cat staring up at him before it stood up and perched its front paws on his thigh. “Or you!” he laughed.

“I see you’ve met my babies,” Lily chuckled, crouching down next to him and flashing a decent amount of cleavage as she did so. “Ethan Foster, this is Wembley and Boober.”

“I guess we’re down at Fraggle Rock, huh?” he laughed loudly, scratching each one on the head simultaneously. “Those are great names. But how on earth do you tell them apart?”

“Well, Wembley’s the fat one.”

“I hate to break it to you, but they’re both on the portly side.”

“I know, I know. I guess I’m just used to them. They have different stripe patterns around their eyes if you look close enough. Anyway, I’m all done if you want to get going.”

“Okay, great,” he smiled, scratching each cat on the head one more time before standing up.

“C’mon guys, stop being beggars. Mama already fed you, and he doesn’t have any treats,” she said to the cats, shooing them away from the kitchen.

“Why didn’t I see them here last night?” he asked on the way out the door.

“Oh, they were at my dad’s house. Sometimes when I’m working and he’s not, I drop them off there for the day, sort of like kitty day care. I don’t need to, they’re perfectly fine on their own for a while, but ever since I moved out, my dad sort of misses them. He’s the one who suggested it,” she laughed.

Ethan escorted her downstairs to his waiting car, and she gasped when she saw the sleek silver Lexus. “What happened to the Audi?”

“That was a rental. I have a different one now back at the house, but this one is my dad’s. Is it too pretentious? I just wanted to take you out in style.”

“No, not at all,” she said as she adjusted her safety belt. “I think it’s very elegant. Thank you for going to so much effort for me tonight.”

Ethan turned to face her, illuminated by only the dashboard light. “You’re worth it, Lily.”

She was thankful that the darkness of the car hid her blush.