Allison turned in her chair to glare at her sister. “Stop eavesdropping.”
She turned back to Ethan and tried to concentrate. She needed a coffee. “She’s completely overdramatizing. There was a small fire in the building, and we had to get out—”
“Smoke everywhere, they had to put an oxygen mask on Allie’s face.”
He ran his hands through his hair. “Jeezus—”
“Stop talking, Dani.” She continued to stare at Ethan, mesmerized by the look on his face. “It really isn’t a big deal. No one was injured. I just…all our stuff is gone. We have nothing right now.”
“None of that matters,” he said in a voice that sounded thick with concern for…her. This caring, serious, protective side of Ethan was disconcerting. Flirty playboy she could easily dismiss. Big, protective, serious Ethan was a whole heck of a different ballgame.
“I wouldn’t have come here except I didn’t know where else to go. Hannah and Jackson aren’t around, and I can’t impose on the shelter,” she whispered. He didn’t know about her unreliable mother, and admitting that he was the only person in a city of millions that she could turn to was, again, disconcerting.
A look flashed through his eyes, but was gone before she could mull over its meaning. “You did the right thing. You and Dani can stay at my place.”
“We’ll need clothes and food.”
Allie shook her head, embarrassed by her sister’s big, teenaged mouth. “Just until—”
“Whatever. I’ve got more than enough room.”
“I don’t want to impose or intrude on your life. We’ll be gone in a few days, I promise.”
“Seriously, Allie, you’re welcome in my home for as long as it takes.”
The shiver that ran through her then was totally caused by the fact that she had walked through the freezing cold outside, not at all dressed for winter. Of course. It had nothing to do with the way Ethan said, in that warm, rich-as-a-cup-of-dark-hot-chocolate voice, that she was welcome in his home.
Danielle suddenly appeared at his side. “Great, then let’s get the hell out of here.”
“I come with a lot of baggage,” she said with a wan smile, her gaze locking onto his, onto whatever it was he was communicating with that look. She couldn’t turn away.
Captain Hook decided that would be the perfect moment to pee on Ethan’s marble floor.
Chapter Two
“Oh this place will do just fine, Ethan. Just fine.” Dani patted him on the arm and walked through the foyer, making herself at home.
He dropped his keys in the silver bowl on the hallway table and turned to the woman who always seemed to be on his mind. He hated to think how close she’d come to getting hurt.
“You sure you’re okay with this? Danielle can be very endearing, but most of the time she enjoys being a pain in the ass,” she whispered, scrunching up her nose. Allie was the only woman who’d ever managed to consistently intrigue him and appeal to him on every level. After she’d turned him down—three times—he’d expected his attraction to her to go away. It hadn’t. In some ways, it had only increased, because he’d gotten to know her even better. And she was everything he’d ever wanted. Allison was nothing like the women he knew, and because of that she had effectively ruined all other women for him.
“Are you sure it’s okay for Hook to stay here?”
He looked down at the dog who was pretty much the size of an overgrown gerbil. Hook was looking up at him with that one eye. What could he say? “Of course.”
“C’mere, Hook!” Danielle yelled. Hook ran off in the direction of her voice, his nails scraping against the marble entry tile until he gained traction.
She unbuttoned her god-awful raincoat, and he took it from her hands. He told himself he shouldn’t be checking out a woman who’d just been in a fire and was now vulnerable, but he’d worry about what kind of a man that made him later. Right now a little admiration was fine. And he did admire. Allie came up to his shoulder, all curves and sweetness that he wanted to sink himself into. She was beautiful in a way that could be subtle or striking depending on what she was wearing, but she was always gorgeous. Even this morning, standing in his foyer with rubber boots up to her knees, reindeer pajamas, and a threadbare University of Toronto T-shirt. She sneezed three times in a row then blew her nose after fishing for a tissue in her coat pocket.
He had never wanted a woman more.
“Bless you,” he said.
“Thanks, I think I caught a chill out there.”
He frowned again, thinking about what she’d been through. “You shouldn’t have walked all that way to my office. I would have picked you up.”
She waved a hand and pulled off her boots. She was wearing red and green polka dot socks. “You’re already doing more than enough. I know you need to get back to the office, and I need to get to work—”
“You can’t go to work today. You should call in sick.”
She pushed off a clump of wet hair from her forehead, and he resisted the urge to offer her a hot shower, preferably with him. “People need me. I can’t bail.”
“What about clothes?”
She groaned as her sister emerged at the top of the hallway. “I was thinking the same thing. Also, I don’t think I should have to go to school today. I’ve been traumatized.”
Ethan grinned at Dani’s suddenly forlorn look. “I’ll give you a credit card, Dani. Go buy some stuff for yourself and Allie while she showers and gets ready.”
“Uh no,” Allie said, shaking her head and putting up her hand to silence her sister. “We can’t accept—”
“Sure we can.” Dani sidled up next to him.
“No, we can’t. Oh my God, Ethan, don’t give her your card,” Allie said, her voice rising to a screech when he handed her sister his Visa.
Dani grabbed it and stuffed it in her jeans after asking for his PIN. Her hand was on the doorknob, and she yanked the door open. Allie shut it before she could get out and then whipped around to look at Ethan. Her blue eyes narrowed. “You cannot give her access to this kind of money. We may never see her again.”
“You’re too funny. I know how to be responsible. I’ll get the basics. Boring work clothes for you and some cool new stuff for me. I really do need to insist on taking a personal day.”
“Buy only what we need to get by for the next week. Then if you are really wiped you can take the rest of the day off to relax here.”
“Well, I think I might stop by school to get some homework assignments…and let everyone know what happened,” she said, suddenly looking excited at the prospect of reliving her drama.
“Dani, I think I’m too tired to even argue.”
She gave a little shrug and then held her hand out, palm open in his direction. “Can I have the keys to your Porsche?”
He choked out a laugh as Allie gasped. “Sorry, kid. Take a cab.”
“Subway, Dani.”
“I think I like Ethan’s way of thinking.” With that she was gone, and he was alone with a furious Allison and Hook, who happened to be attempting a jump on to his sofa. Sadly, it didn’t look like it would happen anytime this century.
“Sometimes I wonder how we’re even related.” She pulled her hair off her face again and her wet shirt clung to her. He let his gaze wander for a split second, and he cursed himself for checking her out again. She was freezing, and he was ogling.
“Come on, I’ll show you where everything is for a shower and you can get warmed up.” She followed him down the empty hall toward the guest bedroom. “There’s only one extra bedroom in here. I had the other made into a home gym. So you’ll be sharing with Danielle.” He stopped abruptly when he realized she wasn’t following him. She was standing in the center of the room, staring out at the view.
“This is gorgeous, Ethan,” she said. The breathlessness in her voice made him stop and appreciate what she was looking at. The Toronto skyline was something he’d seen for the last ten years. He woke to it, went to sleep to
it, drank to it, but rarely did he take the time to stop and admire it, or anything really— other than Allie.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared out with her. Snow was falling in a soft, slow pattern. It was a gray day. Not one he’d think twice about. Certainly nothing he’d stop and admire. She turned around after a minute, shot him a smile, and then walked toward him. “Sorry. I know you need to get back to work. Point me in the right direction and then you can get going.”
He glanced at his watch. Yeah, he needed to get back—not that he wanted to. He had a meeting this morning with his brother. They weren’t in business together and he didn’t trust him, but Ethan couldn’t say no. Even though he’d wanted nothing to do with the family business, he was still invested personally. He’d wanted to strike out on his own—and had, with Jackson—to prove that he could. From a young age he’d learned that in order to gain his father’s respect he needed to prove himself. Prove that he was a survivor. They’d written him off years ago, but he was still here. He and his brother had an ongoing competition—started and encouraged basically from birth. He had lost repeatedly to his brother during one year of his life. He had vowed that would never happen again.
He nudged his chin in the right direction and led the way. He pointed toward the kitchen. “Help yourselves to anything.” He paused while Allie slowed in the doorway, then he pointed down the hall that led to his office and gym. “The only place that’s off-limits is my office.” He realized that sounded a little Fifty Shades and continued. “I just don’t want your sister messing things up in there.”
Allie gave him a look that made him think she knew he wasn’t being entirely honest, and she’d be right. But he had private things, and since he hadn’t been expecting houseguests, he hadn’t had the time to…rearrange some items. There were certain things about himself that he didn’t share with anyone. There were parts of his past that only his family knew about, and even then he wished they didn’t.
He opened the door to the immaculate spare room and en-suite. It would be the first time this place was ever used.
“Oh, this is gorgeous. It’s like we’re staying at a five-star hotel. I totally owe you for this, Ethan. I’m coming off a horrid week—”
“What happened? I mean, besides your building burning.”
She rubbed her eyes. “Haven House is closing.”
“What? They can’t close a shelter.”
Allie sat down on the edge of the bed. “Apparently they can. It’s a mess. We haven’t told anyone yet.”
“Maybe there’s something I can do.”
Her eyes locked onto his, and his gut tightened at the light in her eyes. It was almost like admiration or hope. Either way he was screwed.
“I don’t know what you’d be able to do. I don’t have all the details, but I can get them and let you know. All I know is that the landlord is selling the building, and it’s totally within his rights to do that. And what new buyer would want to leave it as a shelter? It’s in a prime location, and we’re guessing it would be rezoned for a condo. That’s all we know. I hate to ask for anything, I mean in one day I’ve asked you for a place to live and now—”
“You’ve never asked me for anything.” He was well aware of the fact that she was the only woman in his life who never asked for a thing. He knew her pride, her determination to make it on her own, and he admired her a hell of a lot for it. Allie didn’t give a shit about material things and appearances like the people in his circles. Like his family. She cared about things beyond the superficial, and a part of him wanted in on that, on that bigger picture crap that went beyond what his acquaintances were absorbed with. He wanted in on Allie.
He took a step closer to her, noting the way the pulse at the base of her throat quickened, liking that it did. He would have liked even more to pull her into him, feel her, taste her, and then keep her safe, and hell if that wasn’t a first for him.
“I should probably get into the shower and start my day. I don’t want to keep you, either.” She took a step back and stumbled on to the bed. He had to force his gaze off her. He could think of a few good ways to start the day, and for once none of them had to do with the office.
He adjusted his tie, the feeling that his life had just become a hell of a lot more complicated jostling him. Time to go. “I’ll find out about the shelter. I’ll do whatever I can to keep it open.”
“If we win the bid, we plan on closing the shelter and putting up a condo.”
Ethan schooled his features, not giving anything away, as he stared across his desk at his brother. “What shelter?”
His brother rolled his dull eyes. “Haven House or something like that.”
Shit. He picked up his pen and twirled it through his fingers casually, resisting the urge to stab it repeatedly into his desk. He leaned back in his chair and tried to not think of the conversation he’d just had with Allie in which he promised to find a way to keep the shelter open. And here he was less than an hour later sitting in a meeting with his brother discussing the demolition of the shelter she poured her heart and soul into.
“Why would you close the shelter?” He knew it was a stupid question, but he was trying to get his brother to talk and reveal anything that might be useful to him.
Carson scowled. That scowl was probably the only similarity the two of them shared, passed down from a long line of scowling Dane men. “It’s a prime piece of real estate. The landlord wants out. It would be the perfect corner for the condo project.”
“Right. The city really needs another condo.”
“I get you’re not into real estate, but I think you must still have some business sense if you run this company. Okay, so you and Jason—”
“Jackson—”
“Whatever, you’re tech guys. You won’t know what or even how to come up with a real estate proposal, so you should probably bow out of this before you embarrass yourself. Since when have you cared about the family business?”
He didn’t care about the Dane building empire, not one bit—from a financial perspective. What he and Jackson had built was more than enough, but he did care about the family business on a very personal level. He’d never let on, but it was there, in his gut, in the back of his mind, always. He’d been pushed out, and that wasn’t something that had ever sat well with him. He didn’t like being dismissed by anyone.
Ethan leaned forward in his chair. “We were both at that miserable brunch last Sunday. You know Dad opened this up to the both of us.”
“Which is a mockery. He set you up to fail. I’m sure Mom put him up to it—pity, probably.”
Ethan smirked. “I think you’re the one everyone pities, Car.” He didn’t get the full joy of seeing his brother’s face go all red, as he was busy in his own thoughts about this disaster. While sitting at their parents’ dining room table last Sunday, their father had presented them this “challenge.” Both sons were invited to present a proposal for what to do with the new property acquisition. Whoever won had first dibs on the business when their father retired. The only complication was that Carson had just revealed that it was Allie’s shelter that was the property in question. He’d have to sort that issue out later. Right now, he needed to concentrate on Carson and shaking his confidence. Their father was a manipulator, and this contest was a fine example of how his mind worked. It was a shitty thing to do to Carson, honestly. Carson had worked with their father from day one, while Ethan had gone out on his own. The company should rightfully go to Carson. He had a sneaking suspicion Carson was right and their mother felt that Ethan should at least be given a chance. Since they all saw the empire he and Jackson had created as inferior, they probably thought “poor” Ethan deserved a shot at the family biz.
“Dad opened this up to the both of us. May the best man win or something like that, right?”
His brother crossed his feet at the ankles and smirked. “Then this should be easy.”
“Then again, I guess if Dad were truly confident in
your abilities he wouldn’t have set up this contest. I haven’t had to work a day in my life for Dad. Never had to hear his criticism, kiss his ass, you know, all the fun stuff you do on a daily basis.”
He had the perverse pleasure of seeing his brother’s cocky grin falter slightly.
“Or maybe Dad is feeling badly for you, considering the time of year and everything,” Carson said.
Ethan squeezed the leather armrests on his chair. Ethan had learned from a young age to never let his father or brother see an ounce of weakness from him. He forced his muscles to remain relaxed, and he stretched his arms above his head and linked his fingers behind his neck, not breaking his brother’s stare. “This time of year means nothing to me. It hasn’t in a long time,” he said, lying through his damn teeth. He’d rather spend the day with Dani and discuss fashion over admitting that this time of year did mean shitloads to him, that this time of year haunted him from the beginning of November until December. That this time of year reminded him of how weak he really was. But they had never had that kind of relationship, so he wasn’t going to admit a damn thing to his brother.
His brother shrugged. “Sure. Well, let the best brother win, I guess.”
“But we don’t even own this land yet.”
“No, but we’ll outbid everyone. We’ll get it. Proposal needs to be ready for December twenty-first. Drawings, everything. I’m not sure you even have the means to access that kind of—”
“I have friends in real estate.”
“Really? I thought your only friend was Jason-from-nowhere-Pierce.”
“Jackson.” Ethan flexed his hands into a fist, knowing his brother was trying to get him riled. Nothing like the Dane snobbery to make an appearance. He and Carson came from a long line of money and had attended only private schools with the country’s elite. Outsiders were noticed. He’d never given a rat’s ass about that kind of thing, but then again, he’d been exposed to a different side of life than his brother ever had. Maybe that had been the only good thing that had come of it. “I have other friends.” The problem wasn’t finding a company to do this for him. The problem was doing this at all. Not only would it be bad enough to stand by and do nothing while his family destroyed Allie’s shelter, actually being the one to design the condo project was an entirely new level of asshole, even for him.
The Billionaire's Christmas Proposal (Billionaire For Christmas #2) Page 2
