The Blank Canvas (Apartment #2) (19 page)

It wasn’t until they had all finished a second plate of food and were sitting back to let their stomachs settle that George decided it was time to play Dad again. Leaning forward on his elbows and directing his gaze towards Ethan, he let the first question fly.

“So, Lily tells me that you’re recently single after a very long relationship. Don’t you think it’s a little soon to be so serious about someone else again?”

“
Dad
!” Lily shot straight up in disbelief.

“No, he has every right to be concerned.” Ethan waved her back into her seat, having expected something like this. “I probably would be too. It doesn’t look very good on paper.” He smiled at her softly before turning back to George. “Yes sir, that’s correct. However, I can’t say that I’ve ever been this serious about anyone before, so this isn’t exactly happening
again
for me. It’s the first time.”

“Yet you were with her for
how
long? Almost ten years, I think Lily said,” George goaded.

“Dad!”

“Yes, I was. And I was also very young and impulsive and immature.” He looked to Lily, reaching out and holding her hand in a gesture of comfort. “I want to do things right this time around.”

“Do you have any children?” he pushed.

“No, sir. Thankfully we didn’t have to involve any children in our mistakes.”

George flinched at his words, thinking of his disastrous marriage and glancing quickly at Lily before continuing. “Do you want any in the future?”

“Dad, this isn’t an interview. He’s my boyfriend and he already got the job.”

“It’s alright, Lily,” Ethan soothed. “He’s simply curious and direct.” He thought for a moment before looking back up at George. “Well, before? I never thought I wanted any. But there’s something about finding the perfect person that tends to change a person’s outlook. Now? I think I might like that a lot. Someday.”

“You do know how ass-kissy that all sounds, don’t you?” George laughed.

“Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Good point,” he sighed. “Well, Ethan, all I care about at the end of the day is that you treat my daughter right. She’s something pretty special, you know.”

“I figured that out the first time we met, sir.”

“Which doesn’t sound like it was all that long ago,” George arched his eyebrow, looking back and forth between the two of them. “But that’s none of my business. As long as you are both happy and it works, then that’s all that matters.”

And just as fast as it had started, the inquisition was over.

A few minutes later George moaned loudly, patting his stomach. “Well, I should probably get going, hon.”

“So soon?” Lily said, standing up to give him a hug goodbye.

“Yeah. I still have to go home and get changed before heading out to meet the guys. We’re going bow hunting this time. Thank you for the enormous breakfast, honey. It was great.” He looked at Ethan and held out his hand, smiling when he shook it this time. “Ethan, it was nice to meet you. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“I’d like that, sir.”

“Just call me George,” he added with a smile, petting both of the cats one more time before he walked to the door and let himself out.

Lily sat back down with a thud as the door closed, her mouth hanging wide open.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked her, taking another bite of sausage because he felt like he needed to do something with his hands.

“This is…” she swallowed, looking back up at him. “This is really
real
now, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so, baby,” he smiled, leaning over and kissing her cheek. “I’ve been Daddy approved. There’s no getting rid of me now.”

The rest of the week flew by faster than expected. Most nights Ethan would end up back at the apartment for dinner, followed by movie watching with Lily cuddled up next to him on the loveseat. “Watching” was a loose definition, though, since by the end of the night neither of them could ever remember what they’d seen.

On Wednesday night, Ethan agreed to join Lily for drinks with Becky and Jared. He was thrilled to be seen around town with his beautiful new girlfriend on his arm, and Lily couldn’t get over how nice it felt to actually be able to do things with her friends again without pissing her boyfriend off. They all had a great time, and Ethan found it particularly hard to leave for his own home that night when he was reminded that a tipsy Lily was a handsy Lily.

Before long it was Friday, and Lily was trying to pack her bag for the weekend. The only thing Ethan would tell her was that he was taking her to Chicago and they were leaving in the morning. Staring down at her empty luggage, she huffed loudly and grabbed her phone.

“Change your mind already?” Ethan laughed as he answered the phone. “I can be there in ten minutes, you know.”

“No way! If you expect me to get any sleep tonight and be up early in the morning to leave on time, then your sweet ass better not be anywhere near me tonight. You are much too big of a distraction.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “Then what did you need?”

“You have to give me a better idea of what to pack. I have no clue what to bring, and I don’t feel like lugging my entire closet for a two-day trip.”

“Well, if I had my way you would be naked for the next two days, but I suppose you will need a few things here and there.”

“Seriously, Ethan. If this is just some naughty sex romp at a hotel—don’t get me wrong, I’m all in—but then I need to know so that I can pack every scrap of lingerie I own and nothing else. If you actually expect to take me out in public when we’re there, then I need to know what else to bring.”

“Okay, I suppose you’re right. Make sure you have something casual and comfortable to wear for the ride there and the ride back. Other than that… just the lingerie.”

“Ooh, so it
is
a sexy hotel romp!” she squealed.

“No. Well, hopefully later, but not the whole time.”

“Argh! Then what am I supposed to pack for Saturday night? Formal? Casual? Help!”

“I told you, just the lingerie.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Unless you want all new lingerie for tomorrow… then don’t bring anything. I’m going to drop you off at Emma’s when we first arrive in town. She’s going to take you shopping for something new while I finish a few last minute details.”

“Jesus, you’re frustrating when you’re secretive!”

“But you love me,” he teased.

“I do…
dammit
,” Lily huffed. “See you in the morning.” She ended the call and tossed the phone down by her empty bag. Deciding to take him at his word, she stuffed the sexiest lingerie she owned into it as well as a few functional pieces. When she finished, she made herself go to bed early, only to lay awake half the night with butterflies circling in her stomach.

The next morning Ethan picked her up at 8 a.m., wanting to get on the road early so they would make it to Chicago before noon. Lily packed a thermos of coffee and some donuts for the road, and the two of them set off together on their very first road trip. They had a great time, playing silly old car games like “I Spy” and “The Alphabet Game,” and they each took turns playing DJ with their iPods.

About halfway there, Ethan pointed out his side window and called out, “Horse!”

Without even thinking, Lily immediately responded with “Damn!” in her best New Zealand accent. Once she realized what they had just said, she turned to him slowly, a brilliant smile lighting up her features. “Oh my God, did you actually just quote
Eagle vs. Shark
?”

“Well, yeah. And you quoted back. I thought you were playing along.” He noticed the astounded look on her face and turned towards her. “What? I thought that was one of your favorite movies?”

“It is. I just didn’t realize you were actually paying attention when I had it on the other night. Anyone I’ve ever tried to show it to just looks at me crazy and asks me to put something else on.”

“What are you talking about? I was laughing through the whole thing with you; it was hilarious. It’s one of the few movies I really remember seeing this week,” he smirked at her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Great soundtrack, too. I recognized a lot of those songs from your Kiwi playlist.”

“You remember that?” she gasped.

Ethan reached over and grabbed her hand, glancing away from the road momentarily so that he could look her in the eye when he kissed the back of her fingers. “I remember everything, Lily. Everything.”

After that, neither one of them cared much about playing car games anymore. Lily scooted as close to him as possible, putting her head on his shoulder, each of them listening to the music without saying a word.

When they reached Emma’s condo, Ethan parked long enough to walk Lily upstairs and deposit her and her luggage in the middle of the living room. He promised Lily that he would be back for her no later than 6:30 to take her to dinner, kissed his sister on the cheek after whispering something conspiratorially in her ear, then disappeared out the door like a phantom.

“Well, so much for our weekend away together,” Lily pouted.

“Hey, none of that!” Emma chimed in, grabbing her bag off the floor and carrying it to the guest room. “He’s just got a lot of things to get done before tonight, and so do we!”

“What do you mean? I thought we were just going shopping for a little bit.”

“Please, sweetie, this isn’t amateur hour. We’ve got to find you the perfect dress and shoes for tonight before our salon appointment at four. Now, Maggie is going to meet us at the department store by noon, so we need to get a move on if you don’t want to face her wrath.”

They hurried across town, beating Maggie by a few minutes and teasing her mercilessly for it. As soon as they were all together, Emma barked out orders like a general, sending them each in different directions to cover more ground at once. When they reconvened about forty minutes later in the dressing rooms, there were nearly two full racks of outfits for Lily to try on: sixteen versions of the little black dress.

After a marathon changing session, they found the perfect one. It was simple and elegant, yet made Lily appear very sexy and sophisticated. A quick trip through the shoe department merited a sinful new pair of high heels, and their final stop before leaving ended with Lily agreeing to pick out a new set of lingerie after all.

The girls insisted she model a few different choices for them, and when she came out in the black satin corset and garter set with the delicate blue ribbon trim, both of them applauded loudly.

“Are you sure this is the one?” Lily called out, turning a deep shade of red as she ducked behind the changing room door to avoid any extra onlookers getting a peep.

Maggie merely cackled in response. “Girl, that’s it! If you’re giving
me
a lady boner already, I can’t imagine what that thing is going to do to my pent-up brother.”

“I agree,” Emma giggled. “I sort of want to smack your ass a bit now. You’ve been hiding the goods, girlie.”

“I don’t know,” Lily bit her lip in concern, joining them once she had gotten dressed. “Is this sending the wrong message, though?”

“What do you mean?” Maggie asked. She pointed at the item in question. “That sends out the message that you want to get fucked cross-eyed. That’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“Well… yeah,” she fought back another blush as she spoke, still adjusting to being so open about her private life with other people. “But I get the impression that he wants this to be deep and meaningful tonight. How deep and meaningful can it be if he’s got me bent over the end of the sofa within five seconds flat?”

“Damn, now you’re talking my language!” Maggie laughed.

“Lily, sweetie,” Emma explained, “these kinds of things are romantic because of who we do them with, not what we do. Brandon and I go away on romantic trips all the time, but I would rarely call the nasty things we do to each other romantic. It’s about sharing the passion together as much as the love.”

“Exactly,” Maggie nodded. “There are so many ways to have sex. Sometimes it’s rough and dirty; sometimes it’s gentle and tender. As long as you love your partner, it’s all meaningful.”

“I get it, I really do. It’s just that… I don’t want Ethan to think that I’m trying to derail his special night by tempting him too much. Does that make sense?”

“Lily, from what you’ve told me about your little agreement and how he’s been acting lately, it sounds like he has gotten lost in his own sappiness. If you ask me, it sounds like that boy could use a good old dose of temptation to remind him that he’s not a twelve-year-old girl and you’re not some delicate flower.” Maggie looked pointedly at the lingerie in her hand before arching her eyebrow in challenge. “Am I right?”

Lily took a deep breath and smiled. “Ring it up.”

After shopping, the girls took her to their favorite salon for a bit of pampering, and when they got there she was surprised to find that all three of them had appointments at the same time. Emma simply shrugged off her questioning gaze, saying that it was all about feminine solidarity, to which Lily rolled her eyes and told her to remember that when it came time for the bikini wax.

By 6 p.m., Lily was standing in front of the full-length mirror in Emma’s bedroom, trying to recognize the sexy, confident woman looking back at her through the smoky eye makeup. Her hair was piled loosely on her head in some form of constructed chaos that looked effortless, but had taken nearly an hour to style, and she still had no idea how there weren’t streaks of burgundy lipstick on her teeth when she smiled.

Lily couldn’t believe that she actually looked like a grown up. She glanced down at the large amount of cleavage that her corset created and giggled to herself. Perhaps she was a slightly slutty grown up.

“Hey guys?” she called out to the other room, still looking at the stranger in the mirror. “Are you sure this isn’t going overboard? I don’t think I put this much effort into prom.”

“Isn’t Ethan worth a little effort?” Emma smiled as she walked through the door, handing her a glass of champagne.

“What’s this for?”

“Celebration.”