The Apartment: The Complete Affair Read online

  Ethan smiled back, not having the heart to correct his assumptions. Maybe one day he would set him straight, but for the moment he couldn’t stomach the idea of seeing the light of respect die in his father’s eyes.

  “Were you ready to return to the party? I noticed you haven’t had the chance to talk to your mother yet.”

  “You go on ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.” Ethan picked his rapidly cooling coffee back up and began to sip it, effectively ending the discussion.

  “Alright. I’ll see you in a bit.” Richard walked toward the door, stopping when his hand touched the knob. “You know, Ethan,” he turned back around. “I know that you weren’t expecting to be bombarded by the entire family so soon after your arrival. Normally things aren’t quite so crazy around here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to have you here for the celebration, and I’m so happy you’ll be staying for a while, but I can tell you’re uncomfortable. I won’t ask you to do any more than you think you can handle right now, but please stop holding all of us at arm’s length. We just want to know you again.”

  Ethan watched him leave, grimacing at the now-cold coffee as he swallowed the last of it down. It was almost as hard to digest as the words his father had spoken. Ethan hadn’t realized he was being so obvious to everyone, but his father was right. He hadn’t wanted to see anyone right now, not even Eric or Emma. He had wanted to hole up and lock the world away until he figured out how he was going to face them all again. Taking a deep breath, he went back out into the swarm of people, trying to be a little more receptive to all the party guests this time.

  Before long it was well after nine o’clock and most of the guests had filtered out. Ethan was left standing with his parents, both of them hugging him close. When they pulled apart, his mother leaned up to kiss his cheek.

  “Darling, we’re so happy to have you here after so long. It meant so much to us to have you present for your father’s birthday. I know it was a little crazy, but I can’t thank you enough for staying.”

  “I was happy to be here,” Ethan replied, to which his mother arched an eyebrow in disbelief. “Well, maybe not happy to be at this enormous party that you never should have had at the house,” he teased, “but definitely happy to be with you both again.”

  “Well that’s good. Are you going out for a drink with the boys, sweetheart?” Maggie and Emma had already gone to bed, but Eric and Brandon were refusing to call it a night. They had announced that they were going to the local bar for a few rounds if Ethan wanted to meet them there.

  “I’m not sure yet. It’s been a really long day. I don’t know if I’m up for it.”

  “Alright. You do whatever you need to do. We’re going up to bed.” She kissed him one more time before grabbing Richard’s hand.

  “Goodnight, son,” he added, before turning with his wife and walking to the stairs.

  Ethan stood in the empty room for a few minutes, rubbing at his eyes and running his fingers through his hair. It felt so odd to be back in a place filled with so many happy memories. For so long, all he wanted was to be standing right where he was—and now that he was there, he didn’t know how to process it. His family had been nothing but welcoming and caring since he’d arrived, which is what he’d thought he needed, yet the closer they tried to get to him the more he backed away. He had wasted so many years separating himself from them for one reason or another. At first it was because he’d foolishly imagined himself above them all. Now it was because he knew that he didn’t deserve them.

  Just being home again felt awkward and painful. Ethan didn’t know how to bridge the gap that he’d created and only seemed to be making it wider. His family clearly loved him and supported him even after he’d been such an ass for so long, but the thought of actually seeing the disappointment in their eyes once they finally discovered what had become of his life kept him frozen with fear. He didn’t want to lose his mother’s love and his father’s respect now that he was so close to finding his way back into the family again.

  “You’re a fool if you think that your family would want anything to do with you now.”

  He flinched at the bitter memory. Had Rachel been right after all?

  Ethan wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. Looking at the family portrait hanging on the wall, he saw his parents, siblings, and younger self grinning down at him from a time when happiness was easily within reach.

  “I should have left her years ago,” he whispered to the smiling faces. “I’m sorry that this is what it took to finally bring me home.”

  With that, he turned and left the house, walking quickly to his car to avoid breaking down in plain sight of anyone who happened to be looking out the window.

  He got in his car and started driving without any destination in mind, tears running freely down his face. So many emotions were raging through him that he didn’t know which was the strongest. He was sad about the ugliness of Rachel’s departure, but he felt betrayed and furious about it as well.

  While it was true that he’d been miserable over a large part of their partnership, he never wanted things to end this badly. But when he had finally worked up the nerve to tell her how he felt, he’d been surprised to find that she’d beaten him to the punch and already left—taking a large portion of his savings with her.

  When Ethan finally parked the car after driving around for over an hour, he realized that he had gone right back to the apartment. As soon as he made his way upstairs, he collapsed face first onto the bed, completely drained.

  He was asleep the moment he smelled his mystery woman’s scent on the pillow.

  Chapter 7

  “Mrowwrr”

  “Ugh…” Lily groaned, trying to roll away from the offending noise of Wembley so close to her face, but finding herself trapped. She opened her eyes and looked around; the room was illuminated by the morning light, which filtered through the curtains in colored streaks. At some point in the night she must have rolled onto her stomach. Boober was curled up on top of the covers between her legs. She laid her head back down on the pillow for a moment, every ache and sore muscle becoming apparent.

  Her body had never been worked so thoroughly in her life.

  After returning home, she had spent the entire night trying not to walk funny in front of her father. When George had finally noticed her slight limp, she’d simply played it off as a result of overexerting herself at the gym. She laughed at the memory, deciding that “overexertion” was probably the understatement of the century.

  “Mrowwrrrr”

  “Alright, Wembley,” Lily sighed. “Let Mama up, babies.” She wiggled her legs until Boober moved, allowing her the freedom to get out of the rumpled sheets. Moaning and stretching as she stood, she threw on a robe and went downstairs to feed her cats.

  Sitting down at the table with a bowl of cereal, Lily wasn’t surprised to find the usual Saturday morning note from her father explaining that he would be gone hunting all day. Rolling her eyes at the thought of even more meat in the freezer, she finished her breakfast and set about finishing her weekend chores.

  As she threw in a load of laundry and cleaned the bathroom, she did her best to avoid thinking about the amazing things that had happened to her the day before in that crappy apartment. Lily knew dwelling on it would only drive her crazy, and if she actually intended on repeating her not-so-noble actions, then she would have to learn to cope with the feelings of withdrawal whenever she went back to her less-than-interesting life.

  She knew she had been unfaithful and disloyal to Scott. She also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this man had made her feel more alive in two days than she had ever felt in her entire life. This was a fleeting affair. She had absolutely no idea how long he would be around and that uncertainty made her want to lock herself away with him in that apartment, soaking up every ounce of passion she could get her hands on until it was time to go back to her bleak reality. There was no doubt in her mind that this would never be more than a fling.
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br />   It was a limited-time offer she couldn’t ignore. Sort of like whenever the McRib made a reappearance: she would gorge herself stupid on them in fear that each time she ate one it might turn out to be her last.

  And this guy tasted way the hell better than a McRib.

  Lily knew she would go back. Even she couldn’t fool herself that much, and no amount of guilt could keep her away. She reminded herself that she wasn’t married yet; this was her last chance for adventure. However, knowing how easily she tended to cling to things, she forced herself to acknowledge that she needed to get a grip early on. He could leave any day and didn’t even want to know her name. He was only providing one thing right now, and when he was gone, she would never have it again. She kept telling herself repeatedly to just have a good time while it lasted, and for God’s sake, stop thinking about it.

  Shaking off her wayward thoughts, Lily dove back into her housework. She had just folded the last of George’s clean shirts when she remembered that she was supposed to spend the afternoon with Scott. She went back into her bedroom and grabbed her cell phone from its charger. After making sure that she hadn’t missed any calls while she was vacuuming, Lily quickly pulled up his number and hit the send button, waiting as it rang.

  And rang.

  When it finally went to voicemail, she left him a brief message and jumped in the shower. After she was dressed she tried him again. On her fourth try, he finally answered.

  “Mmm… yeah?” he murmured into the phone.

  “Jesus, Scott, it’s almost eleven. You’re still sleeping?” Her tone came off much harsher than she had intended.

  “Ugh.” His groan echoed through the phone, followed by the rustling of sheets. “Sorry, babe,” he mumbled around a loud yawn. “I’m still sleeping it off.”

  “Out late again with Ryan and the guys?”

  “Yeah.” She could hear him rubbing his hands over his face, trying to wake up. “Card game over at Mark’s. What’s up?”

  “Well, I thought you wanted to hang out today. I was just calling to see what was going on before I went to the grocery store.” A week ago they would have been arguing by now—she would have called him all morning and been offended that he had yet again made plans and not followed through with them. But now? Now she had to remind herself that Scott even existed.

  If she was being honest with herself, she had been too busy wondering how soon was too soon to return to the apartment. She had been too worried about how she was going to last all weekend without seeing her beautiful stranger again.

  Seeing Scott had become a chore.

  Engulfed by a fresh wave of guilt, Lily focused on the conversation again. “Anyway, I was about to go get some stuff to make for dinner. Did you want to come pick me up?”

  “Ugh, now?” he groaned again, coughing sharply. “Babe, I’m really fucking hungover here. I could use another hour or two. Besides, the Honda is running for shit right now. I didn’t even take it out last night.”

  “Okay,” she sighed.

  “Listen. Let me rest a little bit more. You go to the store and come get me when you’re done. We’ll have a movie night at your place.”

  “Alright, but that won’t even take me half an hour. You said you needed some time.” Lily could hear him groaning into his pillow, his annoyance becoming more apparent the longer he was kept awake.

  “Then go do something else first. How ’bout you go to the gym? You like that, right?”

  After a few seconds of silence Lily finally answered. “You know, Scott, I think that’s a fine idea.”

  “M’kay, see you later,” he mumbled, already drifting back to sleep. “Love you.”

  “Yeah.” Click.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Lily was pulling her car into a parking space in front of the gym. But this time, rather than bothering to stop off at the locker room first, she went straight to the back of the building and out the alley door. Lily had worn her workout clothes straight from home—a pair of black, flared yoga pants and a white t-shirt that said Team Building Exercise ’99 across the front in dark blue letters. She figured that the pretense of exercising was necessary in case anyone bothered to actually pay attention to her while she was there.

  Once she was at the top of the stairs she knocked on the door, not wanting to barge in, and was surprised when there was no response. Lily put her ear to the door, listening for any sounds. Remembering that he’d said anytime, she fished her key ring out of her jacket pocket, looking for the newest addition. As she felt the key turn in the lock, an unbelievable thrill ran through her body. It was as if she was unlocking the cage that held her deepest desires in check.

  “Hello?” she called out, slowly closing the door. “Stranger?” she said with a smile. Lily walked around the apartment, making sure he wasn’t in another room, but came up empty. Damn.

  She took in the newly treated canvas that stood on an easel in the front room. It was large and completely blank. She wondered what sort of images might end up there. Would it be a realistic still life, or something more abstract?

  She noticed an unused palate on a small table off to the side, covered in tubes of oil paint in various colors. Lily was struck with a vision of her beautiful stranger standing there, shirtless in blue jeans, covered in streaks and splatters of paint as he violently attacked the canvas. It was a sight she’d give anything to see in person.

  Walking over to a shelf on the opposite wall, she noticed his iPod sitting in its dock. Turning it on, Lily began searching through the playlists, wondering what type of music he preferred. She found one titled Painting Music that was full of some great heavy rock songs, but the one labeled Fuck Songs really made her take a closer look.

  She hit play and was immediately taken back to the previous afternoon. As the familiar techno song played, she couldn’t stop herself from looking over at the door, remembering how it had felt when he lifted her against it. He was so strong, so forceful. He knew what he wanted the moment he saw her at the door. And it had been amazing.

  Lily walked into the bedroom and sat down on the luxurious bed. It was incredibly gaudy and probably cost more than her car three times over, but Lily couldn’t dislike it—it was incredibly comfortable and had been the location of the most amazing sexual experience of her life. She couldn’t shake the memories of his hands and his mouth on her body and the music was only making it worse. She lay back against the pillow and closed her eyes and was hit with an overwhelming wave of his scent. Rolling over and burying her face in the pillow, she inhaled deeply, feeling sudden warmth spread throughout her body and settle between her legs.

  What the hell is this man doing to me?

  She heard the song switch over and realized that the iPod must be set on shuffle—it wasn’t the song she had been expecting. A different sexy beat began to play, causing Lily to groan when she recognized her favorite song by She Wants Revenge.

  Jesus Christ! What is it with this guy? It’s like his musical taste is directly connected to my vagina.

  She rolled over onto her back, letting her hands roam along her body. Between the music, the memories, and his intoxicating scent, Lily was well and truly drunk with lust. By the second verse of the song, her fingers were slipping beneath the lace of her panties and she was wishing that she had brought her little vibrating friend.

  She really started getting into it after that, sliding through her slick folds, swirling her fingers around her swollen bundle of nerves. Visions of smoldering jade eyes and perfect pink lips filled her mind. She could see him there above her, making her body sing. Her fingers became his fingers, stroking her more firmly, sinking inside her.

  “Oh God,” she moaned, her fingers plunging even deeper inside her. She could smell him, she could feel him, and if she concentrated hard enough, she could even hear him. His rich, sultry voice kept replaying over and over in her mind. Yes… yes… you feel so fucking good… come for me… come for me now!

  “Fuck!” Lily con
vulsed around her fingers, shaking and moaning. She had never climaxed so intensely by herself, even with her little vibrating friend. Ever since this man had come into her life, every single remotely sexual feeling was magnified by a thousand.

  She rested there for a few minutes, collecting herself. When it became apparent that she would not have time to wait for her mystery man any longer, she pouted briefly before deciding to have one last little bit of fun. Taking her pants off, she slid her now thoroughly wet panties down her legs and slipped them off, then pulled her pants back on.

  She placed the small scrap of lacy fabric in the middle of the pillow and walked back into the front room, looking for a scrap of paper. Spying a brand new sketchbook on the floor by the easel, she ripped out one of the blank pages and grabbed the pencil that was next to it. After scribbling a quick note, she kissed the paper, leaving a very clear lipstick outline, and folded it up. Once it was placed on top of her discarded panties, she smiled to herself.

  There was no reason she couldn’t let him know what he had missed.

  Lily turned off the iPod and locked the door behind her, sad to be returning to her daily grind so soon and without seeing the only person she had hoped to see. After she left, she stopped off at the grocery store and purchased all the ingredients for the pasta dish she wanted to make later, along with some ice cream for dessert.

  When she was done there, she directed her car to the far side of town, pulling off the road into the gravel driveway of a small, rundown house. Leaving the engine running, she walked up to the door and knocked, praying that Scott was the one who’d answer. He wasn’t.

  “Hey there,” said a middle-aged man with one side of his face drooping from paralysis. He backed up awkwardly to make room for the door as it swung open. “How’s my little Lily?” he slurred through his good side.

  “Hey, Sam.”

  “Haven’t seen you ‘round for a while. How you likin’ my old ride?” He nodded toward the idling Oldsmobile.