I sighed. "But Ethan."
"You don"t ever have to worry about bringing anything up with me, Aly," he said, scooting closer to me. "I know things have developed more between you and Ethan and I certainly am aware he"s had feelings for you much longer than you have for him. It hurts me to know that maybe my actions pushed you into his arms, but like you told me, I can"t change it. I"m willing to fight for you, until you either choose me or tell me I"m not the one. I won"t give up until there"s nothing to fight for."
His words were so similar to Ethan"s and it shook me. They both were willing to fight for me, to stick with me. The enormity of this. .h.i.t me and I started shaking. No matter what happened, I"d be hurting one of them and that was harder for me than anything.
"Hey," he said as he took me in his arms. "Why are you shaking? Are you cold?"
I couldn"t help but laugh at that. Men could be so clueless sometimes. He rubbed his hands down my arms, while his chin rested on the top of my head.
"What is it?"
"Everything just hit me. No matter what happens, someone is going to get hurt, by me. That"s hard to take." I shoved my head against his chest, trying to shut the reality of it out.
"Shh," he whispered, making me look up at him. "Don"t think too much about that. There"s nothing you can do right now, unless you already know," he smiled.
I shook my head. "To be honest, I think I do but then I don"t. I question everything. What you did is something that I can"t ever forget. But," I said when he started to talk, "I can try to move on. It"s like, when I"m with you, I think of nothing but you. But when I"m with him, it"s the same. You both are so amazing and have so many wonderful qualities. You both make me feel like the only girl alive and you both bring out such feelings in me. I feel like I"m going crazy."
"Don"t rush things. Take your time. While I would love it if he bowed out and left you for me, I know he won"t. You"re too special and we both know it. Like I said, I am not going anywhere and I will fight for you, Aly. I am honestly amazed you"re even here, that you"re talking to me, after what I did. I promise you, I do not take that for granted. I will do what it takes to win your heart."
"Thank you," I whispered. I wasn"t being completely honest with him, I realized. I was thinking about Ethan too, and that made me feel guilty. I knew there was no reason to feel that way, but I did.
He tipped my chin up and gazed into my eyes. "Always," he said as he bent down and kissed the tip of my nose.
He suddenly stood up and grabbed my hand. "Okay, enough of the seriousness. Let me finish showing you the rest of my house."
I smiled as I took his hand and stood. He led me to the stairs. You could choose to go either up, or down. We went down.
"There are three bedrooms down here, a workout room, and a large family room. I know it is a lot for just me, but with hosting events for Pierce Homes and having my own personal get-togethers, I wanted to have more than enough room."
He led me to the right and into the large family area. Another big screen TV was on the wall and there were three sofas that made a U situated around the room. A fireplace like the one upstairs was on the side wall. I could feel the coziness of the room and couldn"t help but feel hope that maybe I"d be around more to enjoy it.
He then took me to the bedrooms. They were all filled with king size beds and luxurious bathrooms. I felt like I was in an exclusive resort with all the amenities he provided.
"This door here, is actually an elevator," he told me as we stopped in the hall. He opened it and sure enough, there was an elevator car. I laughed as he pulled me in and pushed the b.u.t.ton for the third level.
"What"s so funny?" he asked with a grin.
"You actually put an elevator in your house?" I asked, still laughing.
He raised a brow. "Yes, why is that so funny? You realize I have elderly grandparents who can"t get up and down stairs very well and some guests who come can"t either, right?"
That sobered me. "I hadn"t thought of that," I whispered.
He chuckled and pulled me to him. "It"s okay baby, I"m just letting you know why. I know the whole house seems extravagant, but it"s exactly what I wanted. I"ve been blessed to be able to afford it and believe me, I don"t forget it."
I admired Paul in many ways. He never was c.o.c.ky or self-righteous, but hearing that just made it even better. I wondered if I"d ever truly get over him.
We walked off the elevator when it reached the third floor. I saw a sitting room with a computer and some bookshelves. To the left were stairs that I a.s.sumed went to the master bedroom. He took my hand and led me up them.
I gasped when I walked in. A huge king size bed was against the far wall and to the left were two oversized chairs in front of a TV and another fireplace behind them. When I turned to the right, I saw a room off of the bedroom that appeared to be Paul"s office, overlooking his huge driveway and beyond that, all of the city below.
Paul smiled at my reaction. "Come see the master bath."
He pulled me behind him to an entryway to the most gorgeous bathroom I"d ever seen. A steam shower straight ahead, and a bathtub made out of stone. There were two sinks and huge mirrors on the side and a separate room with the toilet. I was drawn to the tub and for some reason, turned on the water. I yelped in surprise when instead of coming out of a faucet, the water came down the wall, like a waterfall. I turned to look at Paul in surprise.
"You like it?" he asked, coming up to me.
I nodded. "I love it. What a wonderful idea. I am in awe of the whole house, Paul."
He wrapped his arms around me. "And I am in awe of you," he said.
We stood there for a few minutes until he said, "It"s getting late, sweetheart. I hate the thought of you driving back alone. Would you like to stay here tonight or at least let me drive you back?"
I gave him a quizzical look. "Then where would you sleep?"
He laughed. "Oh yeah, hadn"t thought that far. I guess your place is out of the question?"
I hesitated. This was getting too close, too soon. Even after all I"d been feeling. "Uhh," I stammered.
He squeezed my arms. "I"m sorry. I didn"t mean anything by it, other than wanting to make sure you get home safely."
I gave him a smile. "I"m fine, Paul. I can make it home safely on my own, but I appreciate your concern."
He shook his head. "I don"t feel good about it. It"s hard to find your way out of the development when you don"t know where you"re going."
"Well this is a problem then. While I would love to stay over in one of your beautiful guest rooms, I didn"t bring a change of clothes with me, Pierce. So yeah, I need to get home."
He lifted a brow at me. "Well then, I"ll just pack an overnight bag for myself and we"ll be on our way."
I grabbed his arm. "No."
He looked at me, understanding in his eyes. "This is not an attempt for me to get in your pants, I promise. I"m just very protective of you, Aly. I can"t help it."
I sighed, realizing he wasn"t going to back down. This was completely stupid in my opinion, yet he was stubborn. Would it kill me to let him sleep on my couch? When I looked around his bedroom and saw his bed, I started to think it might kill him.
"This is highly ridiculous," I muttered as I started to walk out of the bedroom. I heard his chuckle behind me and I stepped down the few stairs and went to the sitting room that overlooked the main level. Again I was in awe of his home and his views. He was certainly blessed.
I felt his arms wrap around me and heard him sigh. "It"s a beautiful view, isn"t it?" he asked.
I nodded. "It certainly is. How come you"ve never had any of our banquets here?"
"I may have a big home, but it"s not that big," he laughed.
"I guess that"s true," I said. "But you certainly could host some nice parties here from time to time."
He tapped the tip of my nose. "You think?"
Giving him a look, I responded. "Yes, I think."
"Well I"ll do it, just for you," he said as he leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Now while I hate to end the evening, we both have work tomorrow and we need to plan for our meeting with Mr. Halliday on Friday."
"Yes, we do. I have everything listed I want to go over. I"ll show it to you in the morning."
He grinned. "Now why am I not surprised?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "And Paul, I"ve thought about it. How about you just let me follow you to the gate at the end of your development here and I can find the rest of my way home." I held up my hand when he started to argue. "I promise I will call you as soon as I get home. If you haven"t heard from me within thirty minutes of when we part, you have my permission to come find me."
He s.n.a.t.c.hed me in his arms. "You drive a hard bargain," he nuzzled into my ear. "But I"ll agree, just this once."
I smiled as he continued to hold me; grateful I had put off a night of him staying in my apartment. I wasn"t sure I would have been able to stay away from him, knowing he was so close. It was much better this way.
When I got home I called Paul and a.s.sured him I was safe and sound. I laughed at how silly his concern was for me as I hung up. He still tried to come home with me until I drove off and left him in the dust at the gate.
I froze when I saw the many texts and calls I had from Ethan. I had turned off my phone when he called the first time and had completely forgotten to turn it back on. When I saw his last text was frantic, I immediately called him.
He picked up on the first ring. "Aly? Where have you been? I was just getting ready to come over to see if you"re okay," he breathed into the phone.
I felt awful. "Ethan, I am so sorry. I"m fine. I was at a dinner with Paul and I"d turned off my phone. I"m so sorry I didn"t tell you and worried you."
He paused for a minute. "A dinner?"
Oh no, I thought. "Yeah, he took me to his house for dinner. It was a spur of the moment thing. We had some stuff to discuss and we both needed to get away from the office."
He sighed into the phone. "You don"t have to explain yourself. I"m just glad you"re okay."
Hearing him say that made me feel even guiltier. I realized I didn"t report to him, but with everything that had developed between us recently, I didn"t want to hurt him. I continued trying to explain.
"I"m fine. And I am sorry I didn"t let you know. We have that meeting with Mr. Halliday coming up on Friday and I"ve been getting ready for it on my own you know so-"
"Stop, Aly," he said. "Please stop trying to explain, it"s only making it worse. It does confuse me and angers me a bit, to be honest. I"ve been patient and will continue to be but I have to say, I don"t get why you would even want to spend more time with him than you have to. The guy hurt you; I don"t understand how you are okay with him suddenly. You know I love you and I am here for you but that is something that confuses me."
I sat back on my bed, trying to absorb what he just said.
"I"m sorry, Ethan, I don"t have an answer. You"re right though, it doesn"t make sense. I do have to work with him and to do that, I need to be as professional as possible, but going to his house for dinner wasn"t necessary. I"m just so confused."
He sighed into the phone. "I know you are, and I am the last person that wants to make you feel bad. Please understand my need to tell you that though."
I closed my eyes as tears started, again. "I do," I whispered.
"Let"s drop this for now. I"m just glad to know you"re okay," he replied.
I suddenly remembered Missy wanted to get together Friday night.
"You"ll never guess who surprised me at work today," I told him, grateful to be able to change the subject.
"You got me. Who?" he asked.
"Missy Laughlin," I replied.
"No way. Missy?" he asked. "What"s she doing in town?"
I told him everything that had happened and what she was up to. "She wants to go out Friday night with us before she leaves on Sat.u.r.day. Are you available?"
"Yeah, I think so," he said. "Man, I haven"t seen her in years. Sounds like she"s still the same old Missy."
I rolled my eyes. "She most definitely is."
"Okay, Aly. It"s late and we both have work tomorrow. Are you free for lunch?"
"Yes, I would love to," I answered.
"Good. I"ve missed you," he whispered.
I was so relieved to hear him say that. "I"ve missed you too."
"I"ll see you tomorrow. I love you," he said softly.
"See you tomorrow, Ethan," I said, hanging up and feeling horrible not saying the words back to him. I knew I loved him, but I couldn"t say it to him. Not yet.
You would think that a girl who has two extremely hot guys after her would be eating it up, but I wasn"t. It was killing me. I knew I"d have to make a decision soon, more for my sanity, than for theirs.
The next day was so busy that Paul and I didn"t have time to talk about the night before. We finally sat down and discussed our game plan for the Halliday meeting. We were both in agreement on what we wanted to say and Paul agreed to let me try handling it at first.
Lunchtime came and Ethan strode into the office. My eyes widened at how good he looked in his dark grey slacks and light blue b.u.t.ton down shirt. His hair was styled perfectly and his hazel eyes lit up when he saw me.
"Ready to go?" he asked, leaning over to kiss my cheek.
I told Paul I was leaving and walked out the door. Ethan grabbed my hand and led me toward the entrance, not the parking garage. Before I could ask him where we were going, Trisha came out of the restroom, her eyes opening wide at seeing us.
I immediately felt the tension. "Oh, hey, Trisha," I said, looking between her and Ethan.
She looked at him, but answered me. "Hey."
Something had happened between the two of them, which was obvious. Feeling even more awkward, I took a step back, but Ethan gripped my hand even harder. Trisha looked down at our joined hands and pain filled her eyes.
"I have to get back to work," she whispered then dashed away.
I looked up at Ethan and he shook his head. He continued leading me to the entrance then walked outside. He turned right and continued on, not saying a word.
I finally stopped, refusing to go anymore with no explanation. "What was that all about?" I asked.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making more spikes appear. "Can we talk about this at lunch instead of in the middle of the sidewalk?"
Knowing that made more sense, I nodded. We continued walking until we reached our favorite cafe. I should have known, I smiled to myself.
We were seated and I immediately dove in. "So?"
He raised his eyes to me, and chuckled. "You don"t waste time, do you?"