Ethan leaned back against his high-backed swivel seat and made a steeple with the tips of his fingers as he listened to the man seated across from him.To a stranger, it would seem as though his mind was a million miles away, but in truth, every nerve of him was alert, taking in and processing information swiftly.Occasionally, he would swing towards the wall of windows behind him, staring out without really seeing the magnificent view of the dusky sky.He rubbed at his jaw, grimacing as his fingers encountered the rough stubble of less than a day’s growth of beard. No doubt, if he looked in a mirror, he would see the dark stubble on his chin - definitely needed to shave tonight before picking Nicky up for their dinner date or she would tease him endlessly about how much he resembled a Neanderthal.The thought of Nicky made him smile slightly as he imagined how those lovely green eyes of hers would light up as she talked, her fair hair would no doubt be expertly styled, framing a face
Five Years LaterThe black BMW pulled up to the curb of The Gosling. The chauffeur waited, glancing through the rear mirror at his passenger, who was lost in thought, staring out the window.A valet, waiting under the awning, sprang forward, holding an umbrella and pulled open the back door, but she still didn’t stir.“We’re here, Ms. Gosling.” He informed her in a quiet voice.Erin started slightly, turning from the window and blinked at him in confusion for a few seconds before her brown eyes cleared and she flushed.“Oh, thanks George.” She busied herself with gathering the huge stack of shopping bags in both arms and got out, shutting the door with her foot then hurrying through the drizzling rain into the hotel lobby.She smiled at the busboy, who hurried forward to take the bags from her.“Hello James,” she said, glad to finally be rid of the bags. “Is my mother here yet?”“Yes Ms. Gosling, she’s waiting in the open cafe. Shall I take these up to the penthouse?”“Yes, please. Th
“Excuse me, Sir.” Ethan’s personal assistant’s voice came over the intercom. “I know you don’t wish to be disturbed, but the reception just called up saying there’s someone who’s insisting on a meeting with you. She’s causing a scene, Sir. Should we call security?”Ethan looked up from the plans spread out on the work desk and scowled at the phone.“I pay you to handle such matters, Laura” He snapped at the invisible personal assistant, his voice the quality of a frosty winter’s air. “If there is a woman there, then go the hell down and sort it out.”Her contrite voice came over the phone.“I’m sorry sir.” The line went dead and Ethan looked round the room at the small group gathered round the desk.His eyes met Peter’s, and the former secretary, now senior vice president, nodded and slipped from the room.Ethan returned his attention to the plans and addressed the group of engineers.“Right. We have to speed up work on the center if we want to meet the six month deadline. Mendez, how
“I think we should put off the wedding.”Erin paused mid-stride and turned to stare at Nicky. “What?”Nicky shifted from her perch on the sofa and met her cousin’s gaze.“I think we should put off the wedding,” she repeated in hushed tones, face scrunched in worry. “With your dad in the hospital and this thing with Ethan -”“No!” Erin’s voice was firm as she crossed the room to the sofa where her cousin sat.She grasped Nicky’s shoulders and gave her a firm shake, determination glinting in her eyes. “The wedding will go on as planned. If we put it off, you can be damned sure that bastard will think he has won and I’ll be damned before I let that happen.”That was the last thing Erin wanted. For Ethan Lachlan to think that he had succeeded in throwing the family into a panic. Her jaw set as she recalled the scene at his office yesterday and once more her blood boiled at the memory of that arrogant bastard throwing those words at her. She let go of Nicky and returned to the French doors
The inside of the limo was silent except for the sound of the traffic filtering through the windows.Ethan studied the woman sitting across from him staring through the tinted window. He noted the tense shoulders and the worry in those green eyes, the same ones that had once enchanted him beyond reasonable thought.That is, until she had shown herself for the shallow woman she really was, by breaking their relationship simply on a whim.Nicky’s sleek bob framed a face that hadn’t changed much in the past five years, except for a certain self assured maturity in her features. Ethan allowed his gaze to travel down the flattering green blouse that brought out the color of her eyes, the short, black skirt that showed off her legs to advantage.His eyes came to rest on her hands, clasped primly on her laps, showing off a nice looking, diamond engagement ring - simple yet undoubtedly worth a small fortune. The engagement to Ryan Silverton, of the New York Silvertons, and heir to a large for
"What the hell did you think you were doing getting into that car with him?" Erin demanded, the minute Nicky finally picked up her call.She could hear the sounds of passing traffic in the background, and wondered just where they where."I wanted to talk to Ethan, what do you think?" Nicky replied, her tone snappy and strained and Erin wondered what had happened to rile her normally cool cousin."We agreed you should stay away from him." Erin forced the irritation from her voice, keeping it mellow. Nicky was obviously in a bad mood, no need to annoy her with demands."You said I shouldn't talk to him," Nicky emphasized the 'you' with a tinge of resentment. "I only agreed because you were obviously upset about your dad. But I couldn't just sit back and let you fight my battles for me. I had to do something."What was with the anger at her? Erin pinched the bridge of her nose, as concern for her cousin flooded her."Are you okay, Nicks? Did that bastard do something to upset you?"See,
"So, you're going on a date with a guy you met less than three hours ago?"Erin peeked out the huge walk in closet where she was busy hunting for her shoes and peered at the woman perched on her bed, legs, encased in designer jeans, tucked beneath her lithe frame."Is something wrong with that?" Erin asked, adjusting the towel wrapped turban style around her head. "It's just dinner, Kim, not like I'm gearing up for a night of wild sex."Kim shrugged slim shoulders and bit into a chip, chewing for a moment before she replied."Not wrong for me. But it's so completely out of character for you. I mean, you're always so cautious and over analyze every single thing. For heaven's sake, it takes you a good fifteen minutes to decide on what flavor of ice cream you want. Now you're going out with a total stranger on a whim.""I do not analyze everything," Erin huffed, indignant. "I simply like to make sure I'm making good decisions. And Todd's not a total stranger. He's my dad's surgeon and we
Imogen Holland sauntered towards Ethan, stunning in a short, red dress that hugged her body and drew the eye of every red blooded male (and female) in the restaurant to an impressive cleavage and shapely ass.Fully aware of the effect she had on men, she gave Ethan a smile that brimmed with confidence in her body and sex appeal.Under the combined force of that body and smile, Ethan mentally revised his earlier plans for the evening. He let his gaze sweep boldly over Imogen, frank male appreciation glittering in his eyes, lips curved in a devilish smile."Wow!" He drawled out the word, rising from his spot by the bar, where he'd spent a half hour waiting and approached her, not missing the way her body instinctively arched towards him, as if offering him a taste of heaven right there and then."Hey handsome," Imogen's voice was soft, filled with sultry promise. Her own gaze raked over him, lips curving in approval at the pale blue dress shirt tucked in to black chinos, a tailored, bla
FORTY-SEVENErin let herself into Ethan's apartment, heart beating a wild rhythm in her chest. She leaned against the door, knuckles gripping the knob as though unwilling to take the necessary steps into the room, worry and dread turning her skin cold. She took a deep breath forcing much needed air into her lungs, tight with anxiety as she silently tried to reassure herself with Kim's words.She could hear the low murmur of voices coming from the balcony and Erin muttered another prayer as she forced her steps in that direction. Ethan and Marcus occupied the two wrought chairs, both men slumped against the furniture in a drunken sprawl with Ethan facing away from the door, nursing half filled glasses filled with what Erin knew would surely be alcohol. A half empty bottle of Jack Daniels sat atop the table and her heart sank. Dealing with a sober Ethan was hard in itself, but when he was intoxicated, heaven only knew what his reaction would be.Marcus noticed her first and straightened
FORTY –SIXErin found her parents at their home, having a late breakfast.“Erin!” Her mother’s face lit up in delight. Harold Gosling looked up from his copy of the Wall Street Journal and smiled as Erin walked up to give him a kiss. “How lovely you could join us darling, it’s been a while.”Erin dropped a kiss on her mother’s cheeks then slid into an empty seat, accepting the glass of juice Victoria passed over.“Hey Mum,” she stole a piece of toast from her dad’s plate. “I missed you guys, so I decided to come over.”Harold snorted and closed the journal, picking up his coffee mug, his eyes glinting with humor. “Of course, of course. And this visit has nothing to do with needing a favour? Impressive.”“Harold!” Her mother scolded, while Erin just grinned and bit into her toast. “How can you say such a thing to your daughter? Be nice.”Harold merely raised an eyebrow at his wife, before turning to Erin. The two shared a conspiratorial look, well accustomed to each other’s banter.“Yo
FORTY –FIVEEthan jerked upright, heart racing as his brain struggled to catch up with the rest of him.Beside him, Erin stirred and murmured something in her sleep and he felt his pulse begin to steady as he turned to regard the sleeping woman.It hadn’t been a dream, thank God!She was here in his bed and in the flesh. He felt like bursting into the Hallelujah chorus – he was that excited.Careful not to wake her, he leaned down to gently brush aside the hair that clung to her face and pressed a kiss on her bare shoulders before easing out of bed. The sound that had woken him came again, and he cursed under his breath. Who the hell could be at his door at - he grabbed his phone to peer at the illuminated display and swore."Jesus! Ten a.m?" He’d never woken up this late; though to be fair, he’d never spent the entire night and most of the morning making love to the most incredible woman in the fucking universe.He grabbed his pants off the floor of the sitting room, putting in on in
FORTY –FOUR"Mr. Gosling called a meeting for ten 'o'clock," Heather informed Erin, watching as her boss strode to her desk and sat down. Erin paused, one hand reaching for her laptop and regarded her assistant."Did he mention what the meeting was for?" Erin asked as she booted her laptop, simultaneously checking the folders Heather had left for her attention. Already congratulating herself for her decision to come in to work, she knew the activity would keep her mind occupied and thus keep those disturbing thoughts at bay. She checked her watch-seven am and that meant she had three hours to catch up on the backlog of emails and things that required her immediate attention."Nope, but the memo did say that attendance was absolutely mandatory for all senior executives.""Thanks." Heather turned to go then stopped. "Umm, I don't know if you want to know, but Ethan came here asking to see you."Erin froze, and looked up from her laptop, glaring at her assistant."Heather, do me a favour
FORTY –THREEErin stared at the blank screen of her cell phone and took a deep breath, fingers hovering over the power button."This is ridiculous." she muttered to herself in disgust, grateful that at least Kim was not here to see her acting like a scared fool. She tossed the offending object aside and drew her legs up on the bed, hugging her knees.A part of her was curious to know what sort of messages Ethan had left on her voicemail, had Nicky told him everything? Was he furious at her for keeping her cousin's infidelity a secret?So many questions, and if she wanted answers, she would swallow this irrational fear and call Ethan.She reached for the phone, then stopped and sighed again."Stop being foolish," she chided in a voice that wobbled with uncertainty.Goddammit Erin! You're a grown woman. You're stronger than this.Determined, she reached for the phone yet again and turned it on, proud when her grip remained steady. Ethan was just one man - okay - the one man who was extr
FORTY –TWO"You really have no idea where she could be? She hasn't called you?"Erin's assistant shook her head in the negative, her eyes curious as she followed Ethan's restless movements back and forth in front of her desk."Maybe she's at Nicky's." Heather offered, "She's been spending a lot of time with her lately especially since the breakup.""She's not there." Ethan replied, raking a hand through his hair in frustration. "She's not in her apartment either, Kim says she hasn't seen her, and she's not answering her cell."His brows drew together in a worried frown as his mind began to envision all kinds of bad scenarios. It had gone past a need to just find Erin, now he was full out worried for her safety and he cursed himself for the millionth time for not seeing her safely home. He should have followed his instincts, rather he'd foolishly agreed with her and now this.He cursed again, earning him a raised brow from Heather."Where do her parents live?" He asked, ignoring the lo
FORTY –ONEReturning to the room, Ethan found Nicky still perched on the edge of the sofa, and the sight of her worsened his already foul mood. She looked at him, eyes large and round in fright, but at this point, he felt no pity for her.He crossed to the window, hands jammed in his pockets as he took deep breaths, trying to get his emotion under control. Erin's good bye had carried a note of finality to it, as though she wanted nothing more to do with him and that thought sent coils of uneasiness through him. He was as much to blame for her misery as Nicky...Christ! Maybe he should have simply walked away and got on with his life when Nicky had called an end to their relationship rather than lashing out and hurting a woman who had only acted in her cousin's best interests, an action that had come around to bite him in the ass.Yeah...karma was a bitch indeed.He turned his attention to Nicky, needing to wrap things up so he could focus on more important things...name
FORTYFor the third time that evening, Erin felt shock course through her like a punch in the gut, stealing her breath in one forceful slam, threatening to topple over her already fragile hold on reality.She wouldn’t be surprised to suddenly wake up to find that the past few hours had been nothing but a product of an already stressed out imagination. She could hear Ethan saying something, but she couldn’t make out anything through the frantic swirl of thoughts as her brain struggled to piece together a story that made more sense than the ridiculous notion that Nicky was somehow involved in all this.She shook her head, and took a step back, her legs coming up against the chair and she sank down to it, the tightness in her chest a reminder that she had forgotten to breathe. She opened her mouth on a gasp, the renewed flow of oxygen helped to clear her muddled thoughts enough to hear Lillian ordering them from the house and threatening to call the cops.Her gaze shot to Ethan, as he st
THIRTY-NINEDammit! Ethan swore silently, his fingers tightening on the wheel in an effort to stop himself from ripping the damn phone from Erin and tossing the thing out the window, the urge getting stronger as he listened to her side of the conversation and realized the bastard was actually asking her out.Todd. Ethan pictured the dude in his mind, recalling the last time he’d seen Erin with him and how he’d had the same urge to punch his lights out then, much like he very much wanted to right now. He thought they’d already settled the issue of her dating anyone else? Was she doing this deliberately to annoy him? Somehow, he didn’t think so…from the breathless way she sounded on the phone, it appeared Erin really liked this guy.That thought soured his temper even more.“I’m gonna kill him.” He muttered under his breath, too low for Erin to make out the words, but she turned to look at him anyway, then returned her attention to the phone.“I’d like that, but maybe not right away?” H