She tried to inconspicuously wipe the drool off the side of her mouth as she attempted a graceful movement into a seated position. She took a moment to smooth her crazy hair off her face and make sure all parts of her were still inside her tank top. Yes, she’d worn the gorgeous pink push-up bra and matching underwear, not that it had mattered. It really was the seduction ensemble of a chicken. The flannel had been in case he turned her down—she wouldn’t have looked like she had intentionally been trying to seduce him. The push-up bra and matching underwear had been in case something had happened. She waved a hand and tried not to look as though it was a big deal. She had no recollection of a conversation, and that was slightly disconcerting. It couldn’t have lasted very long if she didn’t even remember it.
“I don’t remember you coming home at all.”
“Oh, I was here, and you were very aware of me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she detected the trace of humor laced through his voice. She sat up and took a sip of perfectly brewed coffee. He was currently rubbing his jaw and looking at her like he wanted to laugh…or inhale her for breakfast. Both those thoughts were more than a little alarming. Her gaze wandered over his face, admiring how good he looked.
He braced his arms on either side of the dresser, leaning against it and looking at her. “I just finished shaving.”
“That’s great…” she said, her voice trailing. She felt like she was missing something this morning. Maybe the jolt of caffeine would help her memory. She gulped some more of the hot coffee. “The last thing I remember was…enjoying some eggnog…then coming in here to hide from Hook, because he goes crazy with wrapping paper.”
“That’s the only reason you were in here?”
She hid her face in the mug of coffee, while trying to analyze whether or not she detected something suspicious in his tone. “Of course.”
“Allie, I’m sorry I bailed last night.”
“No worries, I know you’re busy. Hannah’s always telling me how busy Jackson is.” But Jackson never broke dinner engagements with his wife, and if he said he’d be somewhere, he always was. There was a look in Ethan’s brown eyes, like maybe he was thinking the same thing. Or maybe not. Maybe she was crazy. She was Ethan’s friend. Obviously nothing close to a wife, nothing even close to someone truly significant in his life.
“Still, I told you I’d be here and I wasn’t.”
He walked forward slowly, and her heart increased rhythm with every assured step he took. She tried to smooth her hair, but it was so bad that her hand got tangled in a knot. A corner of his perfect mouth tugged in what she would describe as an affectionate smile. Affectionate seemed right, sort of the way he looked at Hook when he couldn’t quite make the jump to the couch. Ethan was looking at her the way he looked at her one-eyed dog.
“And about yesterday in my office. I’m sorry. I overreacted.”
She glanced away from his intense stare. “That’s fine. Thank you. You don’t need to apologize. You told me to stay out of those rooms, and I didn’t. I understand that you were upset by the invasion of privacy. I mean, you and I are just friends. Friends who don’t share things about their personal lives. It’s for the best really. You have my word, I’ll never go into your office again.”
“Allie,” he groaned.
“No, no. It’s really no biggie. I mean, it’s not like you let other people go in there, like Berta, your cleaning lady.”
He rubbed his hands over his face. “Berta doesn’t read English.”
“Well, regardless, I entered your secret, private lair.”
He let out some strangled sort of noise. “You can go in there. Whenever you want. I’m sorry.”
Now she did look up at him. He looked all brooding, not the mischievous Ethan. This was that other side of him she was getting glimpses of. She tried to make out his expression. “But you don’t want me in there. Or anyone.”
His broad shoulders rose and fell slightly. “I’m not used to having people around here. It wasn’t personal.”
She thought of the calendar, the little girl, the “D-Day.” She studied his face, the closed-off expression. While the man looked like a gorgeous fortress of solitude, there was a hint of vulnerability. She had seen that look on the toughest of teenage boys that came into the shelter. There was some kind of pain beneath this facade he was wearing. No, she wouldn’t ask him, not now, maybe not ever. Whatever he was hiding, he obviously didn’t want to share it with her.
She forced a cheery smile on her face. “Well, no worries. I won’t go in there again. In fact, we’re not going to be a bother at all. I’m sure we’ll be out of here in a week, tops.”
“You’ll go insane at Jackson and Hannah’s. It’s like a daycare center in there.”
“Maybe we’ll go to our mom’s.” Not that they would, but she needed to say something.
“No you won’t,” he said with an edge to his voice. What was that all about? He didn’t know much about their mother.
“Well, then my friend—”
“At least stay until the holidays are over.”
Why was he saying this stuff to her? Why was he so impossibly put together and perfect? He had even apologized and acted like he really regretted everything from the day before.
“I wish I didn’t have to go into the office,” he said, his voice low and thick with something other than platonic affection. It stirred something low in her belly. She cleared her throat and attempted conversation as he loomed over her, all casual, hands in his pants pockets. Saying that he didn’t want to go to the office implied he wanted to be here, with her. And her dog. And her crazy sister—
“Oh my God, did Dani come home last night?” She bolted out of the bed and almost fell over the hems of her too-long pajamas. Of course, Ethan’s large hands were immediately on her shoulders, steadying her.
“Yeah. She’s fine.”
Allie breathed a sigh of relief. “I can’t believe I didn’t wake up. I knew she was mad at me.”
“She’s not anymore.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can’t keep up with her moods…uh, sorry I hijacked your bed. Where did you sleep?” She knew he couldn’t have slept with her, because she had been sprawled across the middle of the bed, on a diagonal, like some sort of beached whale. No, dolphin. Yes, dolphin was much better.
He shrugged. “No worries. I didn’t sleep much last night. I caught a few hours on the couch.”
“Oh. I guess you were out pretty late?”
He shifted his eyes from her. She didn’t know if it was from guilt or from the crazy picture she must make. She also didn’t want to ask who he was out with. Even though he said it was for work, did he go out after? “Yeah. Anyway, Allie, I gotta get to work. I hope you don’t have too much of a hangover today.” He tilted his head toward the eggnog and rum bottles on the nightstand and gave her a slow grin.
She cleared her throat. “I should be fine. I think the eggnog does a good job of absorbing the alcohol. But I need to get going, too.”
He gave her a nod and left the room. As she watched him leave, she wondered how and when this had happened. Things had never been awkward. Conversation had never been stilted, with the pauses seeming more and more uncomfortable. She waited until she heard the front door close and then ran into the main room, ready to tackle the gifts. She skidded to a stop, her bare feet squeaking on the polished wood floor at the sight in front of her—her sister was passed out on the sofa in a blanket of bows and ribbons. The coffee table, chairs, and carpet were filled with wrapped gifts. Shock made her stand there a few more minutes. Dani had done all this? She walked forward slowly, and Hook ran up to greet her.
“Hook, what happened here last night? A Christmas miracle?”
His tail wagged.
She picked up a red ribbon and dangled it around her sister’s nose, tickling her with it. Dani gave a theatrical moan and threw her hand across her forehead. “Your rich boyfriend is a slave driver.”
She dropped the r
ibbon. “What?”
Dani’s eyes opened and went into immediate scowl mode. “I bought you hot pajamas so you wouldn’t humiliate yourself with reindeer. No wonder Ethan won’t make a move.”
“Never mind that. Tell me what you meant about being a slave driver.”
She swung her arm wide at the direction of the presents. “He was guilt-ridden over not getting home in time so he made me spend the night helping him wrap these presents.”
Her heart squeezed until she couldn’t breathe. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were kidding. And the man has never even wrapped his own presents. For a guy who’s supposed to be some sort of genius, he’s a real idiot. He couldn’t figure out how to keep the paper from wrinkling at the corners. The tutorial session took over half an hour.”
Allie’s gaze went from her sister to the pile of gifts. “It did?”
Dani stood, perching her hands on her hips. “Ethan’s an okay guy. You should try and not screw things up.” With those wise words her sister proceeded to exit the room but halted at the door. “Oh, and I’m sorry about what I said to you last night.” She looked down at her feet. “And I’m sorry about what I said to you at Mom’s. I was pissed, and I didn’t mean it…and I’m sorry I acted like a baby. If you want to ever, um, talk to me, I totally want to be there for you. I really…love you.”
Allie’s jaw dropped open, but before she could run across the room to hug her sister, Dani had already left.
Chapter Seven
Allie hung around the front desk chatting with Denise and pretending that she wasn’t nervous. Or anxious. Or excited. All because Ethan would be arriving at any moment to pick her up and go tree hunting. All she had thought about that day was how he was turning out to be this really complex guy she couldn’t figure out. He wasn’t who she thought he was. Rich, handsome, playboy Ethan she could easily dismiss. Gorgeous Ethan with more layers than a decadent chocolate cake was no longer dismissible, especially since she’d started having flashbacks of Ethan kissing her in his bed last night. Obviously that hadn’t happened, because he would have said something. Right?
She spotted Ethan’s SUV as he parked in front of their building. Ethan had obviously gone home to change. He was wearing worn-in jeans that hugged his lean hips and hung a little low, enough that the navy Henley he wore under his unbuttoned jacket clung to his flat abs and made him look like a poster boy for going to the gym. She knew he took his health seriously. He worked out at home every morning. Saturday mornings he ran outside with a ratty old Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap and an unshaven face. She found him extra scrumptious on Saturdays and Sundays because he didn’t shave. Not that it should matter to her. She adored “Weekend Ethan,” which was how she thought of him.
“Oh my God, who is that and why is he walking in here?”
Allie smiled as she buttoned up her coat. Denise was half-standing behind the desk and watching Ethan through the large front window. “That’s my friend Ethan who took Dani and me in after the fire.”
“You’re joking,” Denise said, leaning over the desk. “Why didn’t I know you have a friend like that?”
“And what would you have done with the knowledge?”
“I would have dressed a little nicer. Maybe brush my hair, put on makeup, wear pants that don’t have an elastic waistband.”
Allie laughed and paused for a moment, watching him through the window, too. He was on his phone, scowling at the moment. Even with a scowl the man was beautiful.
“Please tell me there’s something going on with you two.”
Allie pulled on her tuque, suddenly wondering about her hat choice today. “Nothing. We’re just friends.”
Denise groaned. “C’mon, Allie. He’s perfect.”
She leaned against the desk, feeling overheated, knowing it wasn’t because of her coat. “You don’t know anything about him. He’s not really the kind of guy to settle down.”
“That can be changed with the right woman. What’s he doing here?”
“We’re going to get a real tree for the party tonight.”
Denise gave her a slow smile and leaned back in her swivel chair. “Your suggestion?”
“His.”
Denise’s smile grew wider.
“And…he’s the guy who’s going to see if he can help save this place…somehow.”
Denise’s coffee sloshed over her mug. “Him? He can do that? He has that kind of power?”
“Okay, relax. First off, there’s probably nothing he can do. I’m sure he’s going to make a few calls and that’s about it, which is very nice of him, but I’m not holding out hope. He can’t stop the landlord from selling this place, or stop zoning from allowing condos to go here.”
Denise looked out the window again. “Look at that power, the way he’s yelling at whoever he’s talking to. That is a man who can make change happen.”
“No more daytime TV for you. Quiet, he’s walking in,” Allie whispered as Ethan turned to walk inside. He opened the door and stepped into the entryway, smiling when he saw her. It was a smile that even she couldn’t deny was pretty heart-stopping.
“Hey, Allie.”
“Hi. Ethan, this is my friend and the woman who runs this whole place, Denise.”
Allie tried not to laugh as Denise stood and knocked over her mug of coffee as she tried to shake Ethan’s hand. Charmer that the man was, he instantly went over to help her.
Five minutes later they were exiting the shelter and making their way outside. She wanted to stop him and thank him for last night, but she knew Denise was spying on them. Ethan was also acting slightly shut off. Maybe he didn’t have time for this, or maybe it had occurred to him how much he’d been wasting since she had come barging into his life. And really, it was true.
Since she and Dani railroaded him, he’d had to dish out lots of money, they had taken over his apartment, her ill-trained dog insisted on sprawling himself out wherever, and now he was doing volunteer work. She was asking too much of him. There was no one in her entire life that had done this much for her, ever.
She glanced over at him, the silence in the car starting to get to her. His profile took her breath away and made it so obvious to her that this was all wrong. Ethan was going to get tired of them and tell her to leave, or to stop pestering him. She had never leaned on someone so much in her adult life.
Ethan turned down a dirt road, following the wooden arrow signs on the side of the road. A thick, heavy coating of pristine snow blanketed the rolling hills, and they rode in silence. After a few minutes a big red barn, a beaten old fence, and a dirt driveway came into view. He’d been trying to concentrate on Allie, but his mind was still on the phone call he’d taken outside the shelter. Things were not looking good. This morning he’d had the brilliant idea to see if he could get his father to find a new location for the condo. He had actually tried to appeal to the man’s softer side. The only problem was his father didn’t have one. He also couldn’t care less that the kids in the shelter would be uprooted—he told Ethan that was on the landlord’s conscience, not his. Great.
His life was suddenly complicated and filled with lies thanks to the gorgeous woman currently sitting beside him. Allie was actually at the root of all his problems. Now that he’d kissed her, he wanted her more than ever. Everything she’d revealed last night stuck to him and haunted him. What was he going to do with that knowledge? How the hell could he possibly move forward with her while lying to her?
“Everything okay?”
He glanced at Allie, and his gut churned. She thought he was a good friend. She thought he was going to help her save Haven House when he was going to be doing the opposite. She was looking at him with those eyes that had always had the power to reel him in, right from the first night he’d met her. She had walked down the aisle of the small chapel where Jackson and Hannah were married, and he’d wanted her instantly. Of course, his best friend had told him she was too nice for him, hands off. Hell, Jackson had been rig
ht.
Ethan turned to her when she gasped. “This place is just as special as I remember it. So charming!”
He smiled at the expression on her face. “When was the last time you were here?”
Her cheeks flushed almost imperceptibly. “I used to date the owner.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment and then looked out the windshield. He didn’t see anything special about the place, just a giant barn with twinkling white lights and fresh cedar garland, a picket fence with more garland, a nice dusting of white snow, rolling hills, and a vintage Santa sled out front. Nothing special at all.
“Really? I expected the owner to be some old farmer guy.”
She shot him an adorable smile. “He inherited it from his grandparents.”
“Huh. Well, I guess we should go in.” So a part of him really wanted to meet this guy. Another part of him had no intention of meeting him, whoever this blueberry farmer was.
He pulled into a parking spot, and Allie jumped out of the car before he had even turned off the ignition. He walked over to meet her; she looked ready to run toward the barn. There was a big sign, Blueberry Farms, hanging over the door. He had to admit the place had a certain charm to it. The escarpment in the distance was covered in snow, and the wood fence looked as though it went on for miles. The air was fresh and crisp, and even if you didn’t like the cold, you couldn’t knock the appeal of the area. But the nicest thing in his opinion was the woman next to his SUV. Allie’s eyes were sparkling, her mouth pulled into a smile as though she was anticipating great things. That mouth. He couldn’t get over their kiss, the feel of her under him. The sounds. Weekend Ethan. Wanting to lick his face. The fact that she had wanted him just as long as he’d wanted her.
“Ethan, are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
He needed to focus. “Yeah, fine. Just thinking about work.” And last night. And the shelter. And Allie’s past with her mother. And D-Day. When did his life go from perfectly orderly to completely insane?
The Billionaire's Christmas Proposal (Billionaire For Christmas #2) Page 9
