“I will. I swear I will.” My mind cringed at the very idea, but the nervous part of me was overshadowed by the part that realized both of his hands were grasping mine now. He wasn’t going to turn me away. The emotional side of him was winning. “I know I let my pride get in the way, and I screwed it all up.”
“Pride before the fall,” Ethan muttered. “I was proud to tell everyone about you.”
“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” I said again. “You have been so wonderful to me, and I should be proud to be with you. I need to get over worrying about what others think and focus on what I want. Please, let me know what I can say or do to make up for it.”
“We should probably talk some more.” Ethan looked from our hands to my eyes, and I nodded vigorously. Again, his eyes darkened a little, and distrust clouded his gaze for a moment. “You really won’t try to hide me from people?”
I had to be honest with him. He had been completely honest with me, and I couldn’t sugarcoat this. He’d see right through it.
“I have to admit, it isn’t going to be easy to talk to some people about you, but I will do it.”
“Your father?”
“He’ll be the hardest, yes.”
“I could go with you.”
“No, I think that would definitely be worse. Let him get used to the idea before you meet.”
“Well, um, actually”—Ethan paused as he danced from one foot to the other—“we’ve met before.” As he spoke, it seemed as if his left foot was trying to get away from the rest of him.
“You’ve met my father?”
“Yes, he met me to go over the accounts the week after my parents died.”
“Oh,” I responded since any actual, intelligent words didn’t seem to be forthcoming.
“Honestly, Ashlyn—he didn’t like me too much.”
“Great,” I muttered.
“We’ve met a couple of times since then,” Ethan said with a shrug. “I don’t think he approves of some of my financial decisions.”
“He usually has an opinion about such things.” I tilted my head to one side, my mind traipsing back to a time when I was nine and wanted to buy a gigantic stuffed animal. I had received an endless lecture about items that appreciate in value and those that don’t. I didn’t end up with the giant Care Bear. I remembered that much.
Ethan looked at me for a while.
“What he says really matters to you,” Ethan said. It was a statement, not a question. His tongue fiddled with his lip rings.
“It always has,” I said. “I know he’s a workaholic and can certainly be overbearing, but he’s my dad. I don’t want to let him down. I’m an only child, and he counts on me for too much.”
“That’s why you’re going to work with him instead of doing something you’d rather do.”
“Yes, it is.”
He stared at me for another minute before finally showing me his beautiful half grin.
“I’m gonna get my stuff,” Ethan said. He took a step toward the doorway and then stopped, his smile faltering and his eyes lowering a little. “Where will we go?”
“Um, I didn’t bring my car,” I told him.
“How did you get here?”
“I took a cab.”
“I’ll go call for one,” Ethan said. “I can come back for my bike later.”
“Where do you want to go?” I asked.