The Apartment: The Complete Affair (64 page)

“But—but what about—” Ethan was floundering, the wind taken out of his sails.

“Dude, have you even opened the book yet?”

“Well… no. We just got here.”

“Here,” he huffed, grabbing a copy off the large display next to him and thrusting it at Ethan’s chest. “Just do me a favor and look in the damn thing before you jump her ass, okay? Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check on my wife and daughter. Nice to see you again, Lily.” He smiled and nodded at her curtly before stomping off to the break room.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so angry,” Lily whispered.

“He’s not angry,” Ethan explained, opening up the book. “He’s just standing up for her. Believe me, I’ve seen him angry.” He looked down at the opening page, his brow rising in surprise. “Well… shit.”

“What?” Lily scooted closer, looking at the page over his shoulder.

To Lily, the best nurse and friend a girl could ask for. And Ethan, the very best brother

“Oh my God!” she gasped, tears instantly springing to her eyes.

Ethan sighed next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Alright, I’m an asshole. Let’s go find her.”

They walked toward the break room, only to see Maggie and Eric making their way back out. As soon as Maggie saw them coming towards her, a worried look crept over her face and her cheeks flamed bright red.

“Here babe, would you take her for a sec?” she whispered, handing over the baby. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she turned to face the two people she had been dreading talking to. “Okay, guys. Let’s have it. How bad do you hate me right now?”

Lily couldn’t even speak; she simply grabbed her and gave her the fiercest hug imaginable. “I could never hate you!” she finally sobbed.

Maggie looked over Lily’s shoulder in question at Ethan and he merely shrugged. “She just read your dedication.”

“Ah. So you’re not mad?” she asked, still speaking over the sobbing Lily.

“I was pissed, I’ll admit it. But after thinking about it and reading what you wrote, I’m also very flattered. Thank you.” He looked behind Maggie to where Eric was standing, a bright smile on his face once again.

“Wow, really?” she said in disbelief.

“Really.”

“God,
I
might just cry,” she sighed before redirecting her attention to Lily. “Okay, little miss weepy, tell me about New Zealand! Was it great? Did you get a lot of pictures? Did you meet Jemaine Clement?”

Lily laughed before answering, “Let me see… yes… yes… and I wish! But enough about us for now, we have years to bore you with pictures of our honeymoon. Give me that baby!” She ran to Eric, eagerly pulling the little one from his arms. “Oh, little Eden, Aunt Lily missed you so much!” She began showering her little cheeks with kisses, smiling when the baby chortled loudly.

“Looks like she missed you, too,” Maggie smiled. They both watched as Eden looked between them and suddenly held her hands out, fussing until Ethan moved closer. “Oh jeez, she still has her Uncle Ethan crush.” Maggie rolled her eyes, watching as Ethan scooped her up. “And here I’d hoped that a month away from you would do the trick.”

“Never!” he laughed. “Not my little princess. My goodness you’ve gotten big!”

“So how have you been feeling?” Lily asked Maggie, already in nurse mode again.

“Oh, stop worrying about me, I’m fine. Eden is almost eight months old now, and I’m clearly in the pink.”

When Maggie had been seven months into her pregnancy she had begun lightly spotting again, and Dr. Wilde had put her on immediate bed rest until her due date. Knowing that she and Lily were practically family, Natalie arranged for Lily to drop her hours down to part time so Maggie could hire her as her own private nurse. Between Lily and Barbara, they had her covered around the clock at the house in Aledo. Lily checked her blood pressure and her vitals, and basically kept her from wanting to pull her hair out from boredom.

It had been a difficult delivery, leading to an emergency C-section that took a long time to heal. Because of that, Lily had stayed on even longer to help her take care of baby Eden. When it came time for her to go back to work and for Maggie to return to Chicago, they had both been moved to tears.

“How soon are you guys all coming back to Aledo?” Lily asked, always eager to spend time with the happy family.

“Soon, actually. Richard and Barbara’s anniversary is coming up. I thought we’d make a trip out of it and stay a few days.”

“Excellent!”

“Now, enough about me. Look at your husband wooing my daughter.” They watched as Ethan bounced Eden playfully in the air, blowing raspberries on her cheeks and tickling her sides. “Good lord, she’s going to be a sucker for the bad boys, isn’t she?”

“Like mother, like daughter,” Lily laughed.

“Damn. Got me there.”

“What are you two talking about over here?” Ethan asked, moving closer to hear them better, the baby nestled into his side.

“Oh nothing,” Maggie smirked, knowing just how to get under his skin. “I was just appreciating how good you look holding a baby. Doesn’t he, Lily? He’s such a natural.”

“Definitely,” she giggled.

He blanched, looking back and forth between them. “Dammit Maggie, the ink on our marriage license is barely dry. Don’t go filling her head with that stuff yet.”

“I don’t know… Eden is going to need a cousin or two to play with before long.”

“Then why don’t you go throw your baby vibes over there,” he huffed, pointing towards where Emma and Brandon stood talking quietly.

“Oh, don’t worry, I will. Why do you think I said a cousin or
two
?” At Ethan’s obvious squirming, she couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. “Oh, for God’s sake, stop getting your panties in a twist! I’m only fucking with you.”

“Thank God,” he sighed, chuckling nervously. He made his way next to Lily, pulling her into his side possessively. They both lost track of the conversation after that, becoming engrossed with keeping baby Eden entertained.

“
Although
…” Maggie paused, whispering to herself as she watched the two of them play with her daughter. “I am getting some wonderful ideas for a sequel.”

“Why am I lying naked on the floor while you’re still fully dressed?” Lily asked as she watched Ethan pacing around the barely furnished, small apartment. It was
their
old apartment, where they had lived together before getting married and buying their current home. Ethan had kept it as an art studio through the years, which was, incidentally, what he had originally rented it for. He’d been meaning to renovate the space above their garage into a studio for years, but every time he thought about letting the apartment go, he just couldn’t do it.

Now, Ethan was busy collecting supplies in his arms and muttering to himself as he went through his mental checklist, and he didn’t hear Lily’s question until she asked him again.

“I told you,” he answered distractedly as he set various items down next to her. “There’s something I want to try.”

“Care to be more specific?” she asked, sitting up and crossing her arms over her breasts as he kneeled down beside her.

“I want to paint you.” He leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips, pulling back before it could turn into anything more.

“You paint me all the time,” Lily replied with a pout, wishing the kiss had gone on longer. “Why do I have to be on the floor today? And why the hell is this drop cloth so damn scratchy?” She gestured to the stiff material they were both sitting on.

“Because it’s not a drop cloth; it’s canvas. I want to try something different this time,” he explained. “Do you remember when I painted those colors all over your body?”

“Mm,” she moaned lightly, smiling at the memory. “My very first art lesson. If I remember correctly, that turned into a very hands-on demonstration.”

“Yes it did,” he chuckled. “Anyway, I was thinking about how passionate that was, which inspired me to try this.”

“What is it, exactly, that you are trying?”

“I want to capture that passion. Last time was so sexy and amazing, but it was all just washed away down the drain when we showered that afternoon. This time I want to keep it.”

Lily’s eyes lit with understanding. “So when you said that you wanted to paint me, you meant paint
me
, literally.”

“Yes. Is that alright?”

Lily laid back against the sheet of canvas on the ground, spreading her arms out wide. “Go on, Picasso, do your worst.”

“Pfft, Picasso?” Ethan scoffed as he set up his palette. “Please. You know I hate Cubism.”

“Forgive me, Master Foster. I forgot that no one could possibly compete with your artistic mastery.”

“Hey, I’m not that arrogant,” he said, dipping a large brush into a glob of paint that he had just mixed into a light shade of blue.

“Yes you are,” she laughed. “Ooh, that tickles.” She wiggled at the feeling of the rough bristles dragging across her ribcage, leaving bright streaks of color in their wake.

“Stop moving,” he commanded. “And darling, I think you’re confusing arrogance with confidence.”

“You have both in spades.”

“Alright, I’ll grant you that.” He smirked at her as he grabbed another brush, smearing bright flares of red over her sensitive nipples.

“Is there any method to your color scheme here?” she asked, laughing when a bright bloom of yellow appeared down her thigh.

“I’m trying to tap into the emotion of colors,” he explained seriously, his eyes never leaving her body as he worked. Lily watched as he lovingly traced her C-section scar with swirls of purple. “I want to capture your passion.”

“Then come over here,” she purred seductively.

“Not yet,” he scolded. “I’m trying to concentrate.”

And on it went for almost an hour, Ethan smearing and streaking her from head to toe in a wild array of colors and Lily hinting at and pouting for more contact from him. Every brush stroke was like a lover’s kiss against her heated flesh, and it drove her crazy that he was so focused on his art.

“There,” he said at last, placing his brush down emphatically. “Now turn over slowly.” He helped her move the way he wanted, pushing down on her body in some places and adjusting her on each side until she began to feel like a giant paint roller. Just as she was about to call an end to the entire thing, he stopped and helped her sit up to look at the results.

“Oh, Ethan…it’s beautiful.” She was surprised to find that it truly was: brilliant shots of color spread across the canvas in different directions, creating a vibrant, captivating effect.

When she looked up at him she was surprised to find him frowning. “No. Something’s missing.”

“What could possibly be missing?” Lily asked. “I thought you were crazy when you first started, but this is lovely.”

“I don’t know how to explain it,” he grumbled, tugging his hands through his hair in frustration. He kneeled down next to her again, sighing loudly. “It’s pretty. I don’t want pretty. I want primal. I see whimsy and joy and love here, but I want passion.” His shoulders slumped in defeat before he finally met her questioning gaze. “I wanted so badly to recreate the passion that you bring to my life.”

“Baby, don’t you see?” Lily reached up and held his face, ignoring the bright smear of green she left on his chin. “You were never going to find that this way.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just rolling me around in paint here. It’s much too one-sided. I meant it earlier when I told you to join me. This passion between us is something that we generate together; it’s nothing either of us can create on our own. Ethan, you’re my passion. Without you it just doesn’t work. I mean, look at me.” She waved her hand across her body. “It’s all so deliberate and staged. Passion isn’t like that.”

He blinked a few times as he let her words sink in. “Passion is messy,” he finally whispered.

“Yes.”

“And out of control.”

“Exactly.”

Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“You might have mentioned it a time or two,” she smiled, pulling him closer so that their lips could meet in a searing kiss. But when her hands went to lift his shirt up over his head he stopped her.

“Wait a second.” He stood up quickly and went to his iPod, changing the playlist from the current, tamer songs to his tried and true “Fuck Songs” list. As soon as a sexy blues riff started to fill the room he turned back around and yanked his shirt off over his head, throwing such a heated look at his wife as he stalked back towards her that she feared she might melt right there on the spot.

“Oh God,” Lily moaned. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Ethan stood in front of her, slowly unbuttoning his jeans and pulling them down over his hips. Once he had kicked them off he joined her again, kneeling in front of her like an offering. Without saying a word, he reached over and picked up the palette, setting it gently in her hands.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked in confusion when he looked at her expectantly.

“It’s your turn.”

“Oh!” She slowly ran her eyes down his sculpted torso, lingering on all the places that she loved to touch. Picking up the brush that laid between the different selections of paint, she barely glanced at it before tossing it across the room. Licking her lips excitedly, Lily dipped her finger into the blue paint and began to make bright streaks across his solid chest.

When she stopped for a moment and smiled at what she had done, Ethan looked down and found that she had spelled out the word
MINE
on his skin. Unable to keep his hands off her after that, he reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into him tightly. As their mouths collided frantically, their bodies began to slip and slide against each other, smearing all of Ethan’s hard work from earlier into brand new colors that covered them both.

Lily pulled back long enough to find the palette that she had dropped, quickly slapping both of her hands down into different colors before returning to her husband with fire in her eyes. She reached for him, dragging him closer as she ran her hands over him possessively, leaving bright streaks down his arms and around to his back. Two definite handprints appeared on his ass when she pulled his hips to hers, moaning loudly into his mouth when she felt his erection prodding between her legs.