Erin glanced at the clock and winced. Seven pm. The obnoxious man was clearly taking no chances if he was already at her door.Another knock sounded and she sighed, tempted to bury her head under the pillow. Instead, she dragged herself from bed, fastening the ties of her silk robe and padded barefoot to open the door.As expected, Ethan stood there, looking particularly ravishing in a dark suit and red tie that contrasted nicely with the cream shirt he wore underneath. Erin swallowed, overwhelmed by the powerful aura of cool, handsome and confidence he exuded.He looked at her, noting the state of undress and sighed. “Figures you’ll make it difficult.”Oh dear sweet heaven. The man looked good enough to devour. Preferably served naked on her Egyptian c

Erin studied her reflection in the mirror, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she contemplated the dress for the umpteenth time. The light pink gown complimented her complexion and showed off curves in all the right places, but still she worried that the dress was not formal enough for the occasion. From what Ethan had described, the bake sale was going to be more than just a family get together.His mother had invited a lot of Chicago’s upper-class for the fundraiser. She also knew she would be facing Ethan’s family, all curious to know how she’d ended up as his date for the day.She signed and rubbed her forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache. She so was not looking forward to being the center of attention, maybe it was not too late to things off. Sure Ethan would be furious and threaten her as usual, but she could handle that compared to the ordeal she was about to put herself through.Erin turned and strode back to her clos

Ethan walked briskly towards his apartment building, carrying the bags that contained their breakfast. The cold air whipped through his body but he barely noticed, his thoughts on the woman waiting for him in his bed. It had taken every inch of self-control he possessed to leave after kissing Erin senseless, only the promise of what was to come later had kept him going.He smiled at that thought, imagining how he'd take his time rediscovering every delicious inch of Erin's body once he'd made sure he'd fed her. It wouldn't do to have her pass out from hunger during lovemaking and he clearly intended to keep her in his bed all day.He'd already placed a call to Peter and Laura while Erin was asleep, asking them to reschedule his calendar for the day as he had every intention of taking the day off. Ethan chuckled as he recalled how shocked Laura had been at the n

“What a douchebag!” Kim handed Erin a drink and curled up on the couch next to her friend. “What kind of guy yells at a woman in the middle of the sidewalk?”Erin took a sip of whiskey, feeling the comforting warmth of the alcohol spreading through her body. She still smarted from the encounter with Ethan, her mind going through the scene in her mind over and over. How could he claim not to have seen the note? She’d left the damn thing on the coffee table, right where he would see it as soon as he walked into the room. So what had happened? Was he lying to her?After that encounter. Erin had been reluctant to go back to Nicky’s place, couldn’t stand to face her cousin’s depression and she’d needed someone to talk to. So, she’d called Kim and her best friend had asked her to come to her place instead. Now, safely ensconced on Kim’s sofa, listening to her friend rant and curse at Ethan made Erin realize sh

Dammit! Ethan swore silently, his fingers tightening on the wheel in an effort to stop himself from ripping the damn phone from Erin and tossing the thing out the window, the urge getting stronger as he listened to her side of the conversation and realized the bastard was actually asking her out.Todd. Ethan pictured the dude in his mind, recalling the last time he’d seen Erin with him and how he’d had the same urge to punch his lights out then, much like he very much wanted to right now. He thought they’d already settled the issue of her dating anyone else? Was she doing this deliberately to annoy him? Somehow, he didn’t think so…from the breathless way she sounded on the phone, it appeared Erin really liked this guy.That thought soured his temper even more.“I’m gonna ki