The Apartment: The Complete Affair (57 page)

Calm down, calm down! He’ll see how much I love her. Even if he still doesn’t like me, Lily won’t let that come between us. Right?

Lily met him at the door with a tight smile, her own nervousness clearly visible in her eyes. He could hear the sounds of
Sports Center
blaring in the background as she stuck her hand through the opening, grabbing his arm in a quick squeeze as she mouthed the words
I love you
. For some reason, that little affirmation was all he needed to steady his own heartbeat. This was a first for both of them, but knowing that they would get through it together helped more than any pep talk he could give himself.

Smiling his first genuine smile of the morning, Ethan nodded to her quickly, letting her know he felt the same and was ready for whatever she had in store for him. He could see some of the tension melting away from her features as her own smile brightened and she opened the door wider.

“Good morning!” she said loudly, signaling to her father behind her that their guest had arrived. Ethan noticed that the volume on the television was lowered in the background, but it wasn’t turned off. “Thanks for coming.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek quickly, stepping aside to let him through.

“Thanks for inviting me.” He stopped in the doorway and held out a half-gallon carton of orange juice awkwardly. “Uh… here. I don’t like to go places I’ve been invited empty-handed. I usually bring wine for dinner, but since this is breakfast… juice?”

“Aw, thank you. I actually only thought to buy coffee, so this is great.” Lily took the carton from his hand, desperately trying to control the flip-flopping of her heart at the adorable face he was making. “Why don’t you come in?” She motioned to the man who was sitting on the loveseat and currently pretending that he was watching TV rather than listening to every word they said. “Dad, this is Ethan Foster. Ethan, this is my father, George.”

“Ethan,” he nodded gruffly. Lily glared at him until he finally stood up, knocking the sleeping cats off his lap.

“I’m pleased to finally meet you, Mr. Blake,” Ethan returned, holding his hand out in greeting. He didn’t care what Lily said, there was no way in hell that he was calling that man George to his face yet.

“I’d say likewise, but since I only heard about you two
days
ago,” he stressed, shooting Lily a stern look as he shook Ethan’s hand, “it would probably be more fitting for me to simply say that it’s nice to meet you.”

“
Dad
,” Lily warned, giving him a look that clearly said she wasn’t about to have that discussion again for the eight hundredth time.

“Actually, we’ve already met,” Ethan interrupted, hoping to switch the topic of conversation.

“You have?” Lily squeaked, looking back and forth between them.

“Only once, a few months back. I was with my brother Eric at the time.” He watched as George’s face lit up with recognition.

“Oh yeah, at the diner, right? How is your brother?”

“Very well, thank you.”

“He’s a good kid. Bit of a troublemaker back in the day, but always had a good attitude.”

“Well, excuse me, gentlemen, but I’m going to go finish up in the kitchen. It should only be a few more minutes,” Lily said, turning toward the other room.

“Do you need any help?” Ethan asked as she walked away.

“No, but thank you. I just have to get it all together. Stay and talk.” She winked at him quickly before continuing on her way.

“Absolutely, Ethan, have a seat,” George motioned to the open space next to where he’d just been sitting. Once they were both settled in front of the television and the volume had been turned back up, he steered the topic into more familiar waters. “So what does that brother of yours think about the Bears this year?”

“Uh… well, to be honest, I don’t follow sports as closely as he does, but I know he said that they’re looking pretty good right now. They’ll start training again before too long and I know he’s excited to be in one place for a while.”

Lily peeked through the doorway of the kitchen as she scooped scrambled eggs into a large serving bowl. As she looked back and forth between the two most important men in her life, it was as if she could feel something click into place—and she just knew.

This was right.

It might be awkward until they worked out all the kinks and everyone got used to each other, but it seemed that George was the final piece of the puzzle. Her life felt complete in a way it never had before.

“Alright, breakfast is served,” she called out a moment later, her hands full with platters of food.

“Here, let me help you,” Ethan smiled, jumping up and holding his hand out.

“Oh no, I’ve got this, but there are a few more on the counter in the kitchen if you’d like to grab some and carry them here to the table.”

“Sure thing.” He walked into the kitchen expecting to find one or two more platters of food, only to be bombarded with an entire buffet. “Holy shit,” he said to himself.

“I know,” Lily chuckled behind him, causing him to spin around and look at her. “I tend to overcook when I’m nervous. I hope you brought your appetite.”

“I’m always starving when I’m with you,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss the side of her neck.

“Hey now, none of that,” she scolded lightly, unable to hide the purr of contentment that bubbled up as he kissed her. “Let’s get this out there before it all gets cold.” As she walked back into the front room, she yelled, “Dad, turn that TV off please.”

George grumbled something under his breath as he stood up and made his way across the room. When he joined them at the table his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Jeez, Lil, ya think we’ve got enough food here?”

“Oh be quiet. I didn’t know what everyone would be in the mood for, so I thought I’d cover my bases.”

“Well, I think it all looks delicious,” Ethan smiled.

For the next twenty minutes the conversation was fairly light as they ate, covering simple subjects like work schedules and the best places to hunt in the area. Hearing the word hunt made Lily shudder, which led her to ask Ethan if his family might have any use for a freezer full of deer meat since George was running out of room at his house and she refused to take any. After the previous hunting season was spent frying one deer steak after another, Lily was sick to death of the sight of it.

It wasn’t until they had all finished a second plate of food and were sitting back to let their stomachs settle that George decided it was time to play Dad again. Leaning forward on his elbows and directing his gaze towards Ethan, he let the first question fly.

“So, Lily tells me that you’re recently single after a very long relationship. Don’t you think it’s a little soon to be so serious about someone else again?”

“
Dad
!” Lily shot straight up in disbelief.

“No, he has every right to be concerned.” Ethan waved her back into her seat, having expected something like this. “I probably would be too. It doesn’t look very good on paper.” He smiled at her softly before turning back to George. “Yes sir, that’s correct. However, I can’t say that I’ve ever been this serious about anyone before, so this isn’t exactly happening
again
for me. It’s the first time.”

“Yet you were with her for
how
long? Almost ten years, I think Lily said,” George goaded.

“Dad!”

“Yes, I was. And I was also very young and impulsive and immature.” He looked to Lily, reaching out and holding her hand in a gesture of comfort. “I want to do things right this time around.”

“Do you have any children?” he pushed.

“No, sir. Thankfully we didn’t have to involve any children in our mistakes.”

George flinched at his words, thinking of his disastrous marriage and glancing quickly at Lily before continuing. “Do you want any in the future?”

“Dad, this isn’t an interview. He’s my boyfriend and he already got the job.”

“It’s alright, Lily,” Ethan soothed. “He’s simply curious and direct.” He thought for a moment before looking back up at George. “Well, before? I never thought I wanted any. But there’s something about finding the perfect person that tends to change a person’s outlook. Now? I think I might like that a lot. Someday.”

“You do know how ass-kissy that all sounds, don’t you?” George laughed.

“Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Good point,” he sighed. “Well, Ethan, all I care about at the end of the day is that you treat my daughter right. She’s something pretty special, you know.”

“I figured that out the first time we met, sir.”

“Which doesn’t sound like it was all that long ago,” George arched his eyebrow, looking back and forth between the two of them. “But that’s none of my business. As long as you are both happy and it works, then that’s all that matters.”

And just as fast as it had started, the inquisition was over.

A few minutes later George moaned loudly, patting his stomach. “Well, I should probably get going, hon.”

“So soon?” Lily said, standing up to give him a hug goodbye.

“Yeah. I still have to go home and get changed before heading out to meet the guys. We’re going bow hunting this time. Thank you for the enormous breakfast, honey. It was great.” He looked at Ethan and held out his hand, smiling when he shook it this time. “Ethan, it was nice to meet you. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“I’d like that, sir.”

“Just call me George,” he added with a smile, petting both of the cats one more time before he walked to the door and let himself out.

Lily sat back down with a thud as the door closed, her mouth hanging wide open.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked her, taking another bite of sausage because he felt like he needed to do something with his hands.

“This is…” she swallowed, looking back up at him. “This is really
real
now, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so, baby,” he smiled, leaning over and kissing her cheek. “I’ve been Daddy approved. There’s no getting rid of me now.”

The rest of the week flew by faster than expected. Most nights Ethan would end up back at the apartment for dinner, followed by movie watching with Lily cuddled up next to him on the loveseat. “Watching” was a loose definition, though, since by the end of the night neither of them could ever remember what they’d seen.

On Wednesday night, Ethan agreed to join Lily for drinks with Becky and Jared. He was thrilled to be seen around town with his beautiful new girlfriend on his arm, and Lily couldn’t get over how nice it felt to actually be able to do things with her friends again without pissing her boyfriend off. They all had a great time, and Ethan found it particularly hard to leave for his own home that night when he was reminded that a tipsy Lily was a handsy Lily.

Before long it was Friday, and Lily was trying to pack her bag for the weekend. The only thing Ethan would tell her was that he was taking her to Chicago and they were leaving in the morning. Staring down at her empty luggage, she huffed loudly and grabbed her phone.

“Change your mind already?” Ethan laughed as he answered the phone. “I can be there in ten minutes, you know.”

“No way! If you expect me to get any sleep tonight and be up early in the morning to leave on time, then your sweet ass better not be anywhere near me tonight. You are much too big of a distraction.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “Then what did you need?”

“You have to give me a better idea of what to pack. I have no clue what to bring, and I don’t feel like lugging my entire closet for a two-day trip.”

“Well, if I had my way you would be naked for the next two days, but I suppose you will need a few things here and there.”

“Seriously, Ethan. If this is just some naughty sex romp at a hotel—don’t get me wrong, I’m all in—but then I need to know so that I can pack every scrap of lingerie I own and nothing else. If you actually expect to take me out in public when we’re there, then I need to know what else to bring.”

“Okay, I suppose you’re right. Make sure you have something casual and comfortable to wear for the ride there and the ride back. Other than that… just the lingerie.”

“Ooh, so it
is
a sexy hotel romp!” she squealed.

“No. Well, hopefully later, but not the whole time.”

“Argh! Then what am I supposed to pack for Saturday night? Formal? Casual? Help!”

“I told you, just the lingerie.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Unless you want all new lingerie for tomorrow… then don’t bring anything. I’m going to drop you off at Emma’s when we first arrive in town. She’s going to take you shopping for something new while I finish a few last minute details.”

“Jesus, you’re frustrating when you’re secretive!”

“But you love me,” he teased.

“I do…
dammit
,” Lily huffed. “See you in the morning.” She ended the call and tossed the phone down by her empty bag. Deciding to take him at his word, she stuffed the sexiest lingerie she owned into it as well as a few functional pieces. When she finished, she made herself go to bed early, only to lay awake half the night with butterflies circling in her stomach.

The next morning Ethan picked her up at 8 a.m., wanting to get on the road early so they would make it to Chicago before noon. Lily packed a thermos of coffee and some donuts for the road, and the two of them set off together on their very first road trip. They had a great time, playing silly old car games like “I Spy” and “The Alphabet Game,” and they each took turns playing DJ with their iPods.

About halfway there, Ethan pointed out his side window and called out, “Horse!”

Without even thinking, Lily immediately responded with “Damn!” in her best New Zealand accent. Once she realized what they had just said, she turned to him slowly, a brilliant smile lighting up her features. “Oh my God, did you actually just quote
Eagle vs. Shark
?”

“Well, yeah. And you quoted back. I thought you were playing along.” He noticed the astounded look on her face and turned towards her. “What? I thought that was one of your favorite movies?”

“It is. I just didn’t realize you were actually paying attention when I had it on the other night. Anyone I’ve ever tried to show it to just looks at me crazy and asks me to put something else on.”