Ruined (Ethan Frost 1)

“I didn’t realize ice-cream-flavor selection was such a serious business. ”

I shake my head mournfully. “And you seemed like such a promising young man. ”

Out of the corner of my abused eyes, I see Tori slip down the hall toward her bedroom. Coward. So much for the promise of solidarity she offered me halfway through our pints of Ben & Jerry’s. Guess it was just the sugar talking after all.

“Get dressed,” Ethan tells me. “We have places to go. ”

I pin him with a look of flat disbelief. Like I would go anywhere with him. “What are you even doing here? I thought we’d both had our say last night. ”

“I had to bring the blender back. ” He gestures to the coffee table, and for the first time I notice the Vitamix box sitting there. “I got your package. ”

“Ugh. ” I bury my head in the pillow again. The only thing worse than having Ethan see me looking like this is to have him see me looking like this after he’s gotten a package from me that pretty much proclaims my interest in him. After we’d already had the fight.

This time he reaches down and pries the pillow from my hands. Then he settles on the couch, smoothes my hair back from my face.

“I really liked the things you sent me. ”

I don’t answer him. Instead, I focus all my wrath on the hapless blender. “Why do you keep giving me that thing when I’ve made it obvious I don’t want it?”

“Balanced nutrition is important. ”

“Balanced nutrition doesn’t have to come in a blender. ”

“But it tastes better when it does. ” He grabs my hand, pulls until I’m standing in the V made by his open legs. “Go get dressed. I’ll buy you breakfast. ”

“What if I don’t want breakfast?” I sound like a sulky kid, but the truth is I don’t give a damn. I’m tired and sad and embarrassed and annoyed, all rolled into one volatile package.

“It’ll be a long day without it. ”

“What makes you think I’ll go anywhere with you?”

He grins. “My charm? My wit? My generous soul?”

“And here I was thinking what I really liked was your humility. ”

He laughs, and the sound warms me despite my determination to keep myself hardened against him. But the truth is, he is charming and witty, and it’s damn difficult not to respond when he is so obviously trying to get back into my good graces. No wonder he’s such a force to be reckoned with in the business world. No one can hold out against him for long.

“Where are we going?” I ask as I make my way down the hall to—surprise, surprise—get dressed. I’m beginning to think I’m destined to give this man what he wants. It’s a disconcerting thought, one I’m sure I’ll dwell exhaustively on later. For now, I’ll settle for thinking about breakfast. French toast in particular.

“I find I don’t like you thinking ill of me. ” He’s followed me down the hallway and now lounges in my doorway. “I want to show you something. ”

I’m rummaging in my dresser, pulling out underwear and a bra, when I glance back at him. He gets points for looking me in the eye and not staring at the scraps of blue lace in my hands. Then again, he’s probably seen more ladies’ lingerie than I have—and much sexier stuff than what I wear.

The thought depresses me a little, so I shove it away—to the same spot where I’ve buried all my other doubts and concerns about this whole Ethan-and-me thing. For someone who usually confronts life head-on, with a detailed plan in place for every eventuality, I’m becoming quite the master of avoidance.

It’s not a good realization.

“Do you really believe that you can show me something that will change my mind about what happened yesterday?”

His eyes darken to a deep midnight blue, one loaded with a tortured pain I am intimately familiar with—but which I never imagined I’d see reflected in his gaze.

Instinctively I cross to him. Lay a soft hand on his biceps and another on his cheek. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

For long seconds he doesn’t answer. Instead, he just stands there staring at me, a million different demons looking out at me from his familiar eyes. But then he blinks, shakes his head, and everything is as it was. Ethan’s smiling at me, telling me that casual clothes are just fine for our outing. Urging me into the bathroom for a quick shower.

He’s good at what he does, so good that it isn’t until I’m standing under a spray of hot water that I realize he never answered my question.

Chapter Fifteen