Ethan.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I practically slammed the door behind me, my hand trembling against the cool wood of the hallway.
The gift, that stupid, innocent necklace, was still clutched in my other hand, the velvet box feeling like a live grenade.
I could still see her, Aleena, standing there in the doorway of her room, her hair a mess of dark waves, her eyes wide and innocent.
Christ, the image of her naked was now seared onto the inside of my eyelids like a brand.
My muttered apology echoed in my own ears, pathetic and weak.
Just a gift.
For my soon-to-be stepdaughter.
Bullshit.
The second I saw her, the second my eyes landed on the way the silk clung to her curves, every noble, fatherly intention I’d walked in with evaporated.
I couldn’t get it out of my head.
The softness of her skin, the delicate line of her collarbone, the way a single, dark curl had fallen across her cheek.
I felt like a goddamn animal and it was all because of my fiancée’s daughter.
I stalked to the downstairs bathroom, the one off the study.
I needed to get a grip.
Splash some cold water on my face, stare at my own pathetic reflection and remind myself who the hell I was.
I was Ethan fucking Vance.
I closed deals worth millions.
I commanded boardrooms.
I didn’t get flustered by a girl who was supposed to be my daughter.
But the second I closed the door and saw my own flushed, hungry face in the mirror, I knew cold water wasn’t going to cut it.
My pupils were blown wide, my jaw tight.
My hand was shaking as I leaned on the sink.
My cock was a painful, rigid line against my zipper, and the thought of her, just a few feet away, had my blood roaring in my ears.
I could practically taste the copper of guilt and pure, unadulterated want on my tongue.
I closed my eyes, trying to think of spreadsheets, of the quarterly reports on my desk, of Meredith’s stern face at a dinner party.
Anything.
But it was all Aleena.
The way she’d tilted her head, the sleepy, unguarded lilt in her voice.
I imagined what it would feel like to brush that curl from her face, to let my thumb trace the line of her jaw down to that delicate little collarbone, to put her on her back and.…
A choked sound escaped my throat.
My hand was already moving, pressing down on the hard ache in my pants before my brain could catch up.
I was a sick fuck.
I knew it.
But the thought of her looking at me with that wide-eyed stare while I did exactly what I was thinking… it only made things worse.
The need was a living thing inside me, clawing its way up my throat.
I was about five seconds away from being the lowest piece of shit on the planet, right here in my own damn bathroom.
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears, feel it in my throat, feel it in my fucking cock.
I needed to do something.
I needed to…
what?
Jack off in my bathroom like a fucking teenager?
That was pathetic.
That was beneath me.
But the alternative was walking around with a hard-on that could cut glass while my fiancée was somewhere in this penthouse, completely oblivious to the fact that her future husband was losing his goddamn mind over her daughter.
I pushed back from the desk and stood up abruptly.
Maybe if I walked around.
Maybe if I just moved and stopped thinking about the way her skin had looked in the low light of her bedroom…
I was halfway to the door when I heard Meredith’s angry voice coming from the foyer.
“Aleena!
Aleena, get out here right now!”
I forced myself to breathe, forced my body to calm down, forced my mind to focus on anything else.
“Don’t you dare ignore me, Aleena!
I know you’re in there.
Open this door!”
I opened my own door and stepped into the hallway just as Meredith reached Aleena’s door.
She was pounding on it with her fist, her face flushed with anger, her designer bag swinging wildly from her elbow.
“Ethan!” She turned when she saw me, her expression shifting from anger to something slightly more composed, though the fury still simmered in her eyes.
“You are home!
Have you seen her?
Did she come back here?”
I kept my face neutral.
“She’s in her room.”
“I know she’s in her room!
I can see the light under the door!” Meredith turned back to the door and pounded again.
“Aleena, open this door right now!
We are not finished with our conversation!”
Inside, I heard movement.
A muffled sound that might have been a word or might have been a sob.
The thought of Aleena crying made something twist in my chest, something that had no business being there.
“Meredith.” I walked toward her, keeping my voice low and calm.
“Come away from the door.”
“She can’t just…”
“Come.
Away.
From the door.”
My tone must have been firm enough to break through her anger, because she turned to look at me with wide eyes.
I reached out and took her arm, gently but firmly pulling her back from Aleena’s door.
“She’s upset,” I said.
“Let her have some space.”
“Space?
She abandoned me in the middle of the street!
I was trying to do something nice for her, and she threw a tantrum like a child and left me standing there like an idiot!”
“Meredith.” I led her toward the living room, keeping my hand on her arm.
“Calm down.”
“I will not calm down!
I am her mother…”
“And you’re upsetting her more.” I turned to face her, letting go of her arm but keeping my body between her and the hallway.
“Whatever happened between you and Aleena, you need to give her time to cool off.”
“She’s always been like this,” Meredith said, shaking her head.
“Always so dramatic.
Always making everything about her.
I was trying to help her.
I was trying to give her advice, and she threw a fit and left me.”
“Advice about what?”
Meredith waved her hand dismissively.
“About that boy.
Liam.
She broke up with him and I was just trying to make her see that she made a mistake, that she was too harsh, that men make mistakes and you have to learn to forgive them if you want to…” Follow the newest chapters on NovelPing.
“Meredith.” I cut her off, my jaw tightening.
“Aleena made her decision.
You need to respect that.”
“But she doesn’t know how the world works, Ethan!
She’s young and stubborn and she thinks she knows everything, but she doesn’t.
She’ll end up alone, and then she’ll regret it, and I won’t be there to pick up the pieces.”
“That’s not true.”
Meredith looked at me sharply.
“How would you know?
You barely know her.”
I swallowed.
The accusation hit harder than it should have.
She was right.
I barely knew Aleena.
Or rather, I wasn’t supposed to know her.
Not the way I did.
But I couldn’t say any of that.
So I said the only thing I could.
“Because I know what it’s like to have people tell you you’re making a mistake.” I held Meredith’s gaze.
“To have people try to control your life.
It doesn’t help.
It just makes you want to push back harder.”
Meredith was quiet for a moment, her expression softening.
She reached up and touched my face, her fingers cool against my skin.
“You’re right,” she said softly.
“I just worry about her.
She’s my only daughter.
I want what’s best for her.”
“I know you do.” I took her hand and lowered it, but didn’t let go.
“But what she needs right now is space.
Let her have that.
She’ll come around.”
Meredith sighed, shaking her head.
“You’re going to spoil her, you know that?”
I smiled.
“She’s going to be my daughter after all.”
Meredith smiled back, “I see she already has you in her palm.”
My smile stiffened.
You have no idea.
“I remember when she was younger, she could wrap anyone around her little finger with those big eyes and that innocent act.”
I cleared my throat and stepped back, putting some distance between us.
“Why don’t you go lie down?” I suggested.
“You’ve had a long day.
I’ll make sure Aleena is okay.”
Meredith looked like she wanted to argue, but something in my expression must have warned her off.
She nodded slowly, then turned toward the master bedroom.
“Fine,” she said over her shoulder.
“But this conversation isn’t over.
She and I are going to have to figure this out eventually.”
And then she was gone, the bedroom door closing behind her.
I stood in the living room for a long moment.
I am so fucked.