“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 she’d made the right choice.

“And he had the nerve to accuse you of trying to get one back at him?” Kim continued ranting despite Erin’s lack of response. “That’s sick.”

“I can’t really blame him for thinking that.” Erin murmured, shifting position to ease her legs which had gone to sleep. “We have been doing things to get back at each other since we met.”

Kim rolled her eyes. “Well, he should have called at least. I mean come on, how did he know you hadn’t gotten a call saying your dad was in the hospital, or someone was in an accident? Any reasonable guy would have called to make sure you were okay.”

Erin thought so too, but still a niggling feeling of guilt still lingered. She should have called him in the past week, remembered promising herself to call on her way to see Ryan on Wednesday, but then she’d been too overcome with dealing with Nicky that it had completely skipped her mind.

“Maybe I should have called him first.” Erin sighed, taking another sip of her drink. “I did mean to, but I’d totally forgotten.”

“No!” Kim shot from the couch to glare at Erin. “Stop playing devil’s advocate for the guy. Bottom line is…when you come back to your apartment and find the woman you’d spent the night with gone from your bed, the right thing to do would be to call her and find out why she’d gone, not wait a whole week then yell at her in the middle of the street. A guy doesn’t do that to the woman he’s taken home to meet his mother.”

“He didn’t take me to meet his mother Kim,” Erin replied, a small smile playing across her lips at her friend’s description. “But you’re right, he had no right to yell at me.”

And if she’d meant anything to him, he wouldn’t have let her walk away without a word. Which was even more depressing, given how hard she’d fallen for him, it hurt to realize he thought of her as nothing more than a woman he was playing a game with. Well, she was done with him, done with Ethan Lachlan and his annoying quest to hurt her in every way possible.

What she needed was to forget him and she had the perfect solution.

She drained her drink, holding out the glass for a refill. “More.”

“What? You’re going to drink away your misery?” Kim shook her head in disapproval, but took the glass anyway. She crossed to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, handing her the drink.

“This is not you Erin,” She scolded lightly, as she watched Erin take a huge sip. “What’s really going on?”

Erin shrugged, unwilling to talk about Ethan anymore. She’d allowed him to dominate a large part of her thoughts and she was tired of talking about him. She had let her feelings interfere with the fact that he was an enemy…someone to keep the hell away from. She had to stop playing with fire…

 She caught the suspicious look on Kim’s face and managed a smile. “Nothing. It’s just been the stress of the past week with Nicky that’s really weighing me down. Her depression’s kinda getting to me, you know? Like it’s sucking the life out of me.”

Kim snorted in disbelief but decided to drop it.

“How’s Nicks” she asked instead.

Erin shrugged again. “She’s….a wreck. All she does is cry and sleep and hang by the phone in case Ryan changes his mind and calls her….” She trailed off, casting a look in Kim’s direction.

“Bad huh?” Kim nodded, eyes thoughtful. “But you know, I really don’t pity her all that much…okay, I know you guys are really close and all…but what girl throws her life out the window for just one night of sex with a stranger? I feel more sorry for Ryan cos…if he’d been the one who’d cheated, we’d all be calling for his head on a stick. Poor guy had his heart ripped out and we’re treating the cheater like she’s fragile china? That’s…she searched the air for an appropriate word. “… odd.”

Oh if only Kim knew the truth…Erin cringed at what her friend’s reaction would be if she found out that hadn’t been the first time Nicky had done something like that…the only difference the misfortune of getting caught.

“She’s…vulnerable,” Erin began in defense of her cousin, though it was an admittedly half-hearted defense. Deep down, she agreed with Kim’s opinion but then, Erin knew Nicky’s problem was mainly psychological…speaking of which, she was yet to convince Nicky to see a therapist…

Mental note…search for a good therapist for Nicky.

“Yeah…vulnerable.” Kim’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “That’s why you’ve practically put your life on hold, had a big fight with your….whatever you call your relationship with Ethan...all because you want to help your cousin…I like Nicky, but what she needs, is a good friend who’ll tell her to cut the crap and…your phone’s ringing.”

Erin jumped, realizing for that the tinkling sound she’d been hearing in the background was in fact her phone. She dug into her left pocket and pulled out the phone out. One glance at the screen and she paled, then quickly cut the call.

“Ok, from the panicked look on your face, I’m gonna guess that’s Ethan, right?” Kim leaned forward, eyes lit up at the prospect of fresh news. “Are you going to answer it? And don’t worry, he’ll probably call again.”

As if on cue, the insistent ringing started up again and Erin shot a glare at Kim, then cut the call once more. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Ok.”

Suspicious at the easy acquiescence, Erin levelled a suspicious look at Kim. “Ok? That’s all you’re going to say?”

Kim shrugged and pretended interest in her pink tipped fingernails. “Yep. I understand…completely.”

“You’re not making any sense.” Erin growled, leaning forward to prod Kim’s elbow. She hated it when Kim took this tactic, it always somehow ended up with Erin doing exactly what Kim wanted, without actually meaning to. “What do you understand?”

“I understand you should probably take that call, find out what he wants…which probably is to meet someplace to talk. Then, you turn him down and prove to the both of your that you’re well and truly done playing his sick games.”

Erin considered that for a moment. It actually made some sense, she reasoned as the phone began to ring again. She stared at it, while her mind did its usual whirlwind process, her brain running through the pros and cons of talking to Ethan. Why call her after letting her walk away from him just over two hours ago? He’d barely had anything to say to her then, so what could he possibly want now?

With an impatient sigh, Kim leaned forward to pluck the cellphone with two pink tipped fingers. “Ok, I’m going to answer that and tell Ethan you don’t want to talk to him.”

“No. Gimme that.” Erin dived for the phone, but it was too late as Kim had already hit the answer button. “Dammit Kim, I said I don’t want to…”

“Erin?” Ethan’s voice floated from the speaker, causing Erin to jump in shock.

Ah hell! She groaned silently, sending Kim a look that promised retribution later, then took a deep, fortifying breath and lifted the phone to her ear.

“What do you want Ethan?” She replied curtly, proud that her voice didn’t betray any signs of her inner nervousness.

There was silence on the other end for a moment, and Erin almost thought he’d hung up on her.

“I made a mistake.” Ethan cut in smoothly, his voice apparently devoid of the remorse he’d displayed at the restaurant. “Have dinner with me tonight, and we can talk about what happened.”

No! Her mind screamed. She was done with him and his sadistic manipulation. Even more aggravating was the imperious way Ethan was demanding to see her, as though he expected her to jump at his every command.

“I don’t want to have dinner with you Ethan.” Erin replied, sliding a look at Kim who was shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation. Kim nodded approval and gave Erin two thumbs up. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

“On the contrary, I think we do. You were right earlier…I jumped to conclusions and assumed the worst…”

“Look,” Erin cut in, wanting nothing more than to end the conversation. “How about we just forget this ever happened? It’s obvious we will always assume the worst of each other given our history and that’s going to keep happening.”

She heard him sigh at the other end as though he were trying hard to be patient. How typical.

“Erin, avoiding a problem is not going to make it just go away. That’s a childish idea.”

Childish? Erin sat up, her expression darkening as rage fooled through her. How dare he? Childish? Bloody hell! The man was…was…fit to be killed…preferably shot in the balls and fed the remains.

“You know what Ethan? You can take your ‘misunderstanding’ and shove it up your ass, you arrogant son of a bitch.” She cut the call and let out a long stream of curses that would make her mother blush.

“Wow!” Kim’s arms circled Erin’s shaking shoulders, pulling her close in an attempt to calm her. “Easy girl, remember he’s not worth it.”

“He said I’m being childish.” Erin shook herself free of Kim’s hold and began pacing the length of the room. “That arrogant, son of a bitch! God! I can’t believe I actually thought I could like the idiot. Shoot me now!”

Kim held up both hands. “Calm down Erin, you’re just getting worked up for nothing….OK something…” She hastily amended when Erin shot her a deadly look. “So, he called you childish and like I said before…Ethan’s a douchebag…but c’mon, the guy’s said worse about you several times.”

“That’s the point exactly.” Erin spun around mid stride and pointed a finger at her friend. “Ethan finds it impossible to have a normal conversation without trying to demean me in some way. Jesus Kim! I’m not one of those airhead bimbos he’s always got draped over his arm.”

“Ok, so it’s a good thing you’ve decided to quit while you’re still ahead.” Kim smiled in encouragement and came to stand next to her friend. “And it’s a plus you’ve let him know.”

Damn him. Erin hugged herself, pissed at Ethan and especially herself for letting him get under her skin again. Losing her temper over the phone was just another way of giving Ethan the satisfaction of knowing he still affected her when all she’d wanted was to cut herself off from him.

“I need some air.” Erin choked, clenching and unclenching her fists while the desire to hit something raged within her. The walls of the room suddenly seemed as if they were closing in on her and her body screamed with the need to escape. She cast a wild look around in search of her coat and found it where she’d tossed it on the chair. Scooping it up, she marched out the apartment.

***

Ethan winced at the unmistakable sounds of shattering and held the phone away from his ears. He ended the call, sinking down on his couch.

That had not gone as planned.

For the second time that day, he’d let his damned temper get the better of him and like the first time, it had done nothing more than to hurt and completely piss off the woman he was trying to apologize to.

To say he’d been surprised when he’d noticed her walk past the window of the café where he was having lunch with Marcus would be an understatement. The first time she’d passed, Ethan had been convinced it had just been someone that looked a lot like her and he’d let it pass, only to notice the very same woman a few minutes later apparently returning from wherever she’d gone.

Without thinking, he’d bolted to his feet, ignoring the surprise on his friend’s face and had chased after Erin, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

He’d clearly remembered telling himself to stay calm, knowing full well that he would be tempted to strangle the little minx if he let his temper go awry.

But he’d taken one look at Erin, at those eyes that always seemed to look past his physical body and read his every thought…those lips, so soft and just begging him to claim them in a kiss… and his body had responded in a burst of desire, all sane thoughts becoming nothing but one loud need to sweep her away to his apartment and make love to her till he finally excised this inexplicable need for this woman.

And then he’d been angry at himself for reacting to her like a teen with an overload of hormones and he’d lashed out at Erin in anger instead.

His eyes fell on the piece of paper lying on the cushion next to him and he sighed again. After Erin had walked away from him at the café, he’d driven straight home. Ten minutes of overturning possible places where Erin could have kept the note, and he’d found the damn thing wedged under his coffee table.

Ethan reached for the paper and scanned the contents for the third time, the words staring up at him as though accusing him of being an ass.

Hey,  Sorry I had to leave. Got a call, family emergency.

P.S I had a wonderful time yesterday, Call me.
E.

He crumpled the offending note in his fist and stood, going into the kitchen to get something to drink, though his mind still lingered on the note. He finally understood why Erin hadn’t called…she’d been expecting him to call her instead.

“Who the hell still leaves a note?” Ethan mused out loud, pouring a glass of scotch. Hell, he much preferred text messages and emails, but he wasn’t surprised Erin Gosling was the sort to be unconventional.

His phone beeped, it was Marcus.

‘Yeah?”

“Hey man,” Marcus’ sounded almost cheerful. “Did you find the note?”

Ethan groaned and raked a hand through his hair, surprised he’d not gone bald considering the number of times he’d done that already. “Yeah, found the damn thing under my coffee table.”

Marcus let out a low whistle. “Man, I don’t envy you the huge apology you gotta make. Have you spoken to Erin?”

“Yes,” Ethan sighed, taking another sip of his scotch.

“Hmm, I take it from your tone, that didn’t go well.”

“No.” Another sip, this time much more like a gulp. “I said something and pissed her off even more.”

“Damn!”

“My thoughts exactly.” Ethan nodded in agreement. “I’m going to give her a couple of minutes to calm down and call back.”

Marcus was silent for a minute, and Ethan could almost hear the wheels turning in his friend’s head.

“Maybe you need to give her more than a couple of minutes.” Marcus said. “In my experience, it’s usually better to wait for at least a day. Chances are, if she’s upset now, she will still be in a few minutes and with your track record of saying the wrong things…”

“I get it.” Ethan ground out. He didn’t like the idea, but he had to allow for the possibility that Marcus was right.

“Listen, I have a theory.” Marcus said. “You remember my sister Brooke? She called me a while back and told me she read somewhere that Nicky’s wedding had been cancelled. Apparently, the couple had some sort of falling out and called off the wedding.”

Ethan raised both eyebrows in surprise. The wedding had been cancelled? That was the last bit of news he expected to hear. His mind flashed back to the last time he’d seen the couple in the lobby of The Gosling. Both had seemed happy with each other…

“Ethan?” Marcus voice pulled him from his thoughts. “You there man?”

“Yeah. Did Brooke say why they broke up?”

“No, she said the article didn’t give reasons for the breakup, just some random speculation, but that the whole thing happened about a week ago.  Anyway, my theory is, Nicky must have called Erin while she was at your place, and that’s why she left.”

“Maybe.” Ethan muttered under his breath, his mind still trying to figure out a reason for the break.

“There’s more.” Marcus added, his tone ominous. “And you’re not going to like it.”

“What?”

“Brooke also came across another article online. It’s about you and Erin, and it’s not putting you two in a good light. There’s pictures too, and it’s not good.”

Ethan let out a string of angry curses. “What article was this?”

“It’s from an online website that is famous for posting celebrity pictures and gossip from their users, thethirdeye.com.”

“I’ll call you back.” Ethan ended the call without waiting for a response. He swore again and crossed to the living room where he’d left his laptop. He typed in the name of the site, then navigated around until he found the article Marcus was talking about.

“Shit!” He stared at the pictures of him and Erin in disbelief, rage slowly building inside him as he read the accompanying article.

 LACHLAN’S SLOPPY SECONDS, was the heading of the article. The rest was pretty much a suggestion that since Ethan had failed to secure the prettier Gosling, he’d settled instead with the ‘plumper, richer, heiress”

By the time he was done, Ethan was visibly shaking with fury. The article itself did not anger him as much as the knowledge that someone had taken pains to stalk the both of them, taking pictures of what were supposed to be private moments.

He picked up his phone again and dialed.

“Good evening sir.” Laura’s voice came through after a few rings.

“I need someone from our IT department that’s capable of running an online investigation.” Ethan rattled off, flipping the lid of his laptop shut. “Get whoever it is, and schedule a meeting in my office in the next hour. I’m on my way in.”

****

Erin opened the door to Nicky’s room and peered in. Through the gloom, she could just make out her cousin’s form on the bed, fast asleep. She heaved a sigh of relief and shut the door just as quietly as she’d opened it. At least her absence hadn’t been noticed, thank god for small mercies.

She crossed to the kitchen to make some coffee, then called her assistant to get the same brand of ice cream and have it delivered to the apartment while the coffee brewed. Finished with the call, Erin leaned against the counter, resting her head on the cool marble in an effort to calm the throbbing in her head.

Even though her feet hurt from spending nearly the entire afternoon idly roaming the park nearby, trying to get her thoughts and feelings sorted out. It had worked…to an extent, the air and ambience doing a lot to calm her nerves.

Now back home, she kept her mind blank, knowing that if she allowed herself to even so much as think of anything, it would open the floodgates and unleash the storm of thoughts about Ethan. And that was the last thing Erin wanted. Not for the first time in the past hours, Erin wished she could absorb herself in work, making it easier to avoid thinking about him…maybe Kim was right, and she’d put her life on hold for Nicky’s sake. It was time to focus back on work…she could handle most business through her laptop anyway, but first, she needed to see about finding a