Free The Blank Canvas (Apartment #2) by Amanda Black Page B

“Would you like to hear how my evening went?”
    “Only if you care to share, sweetheart,” Barbara answered, and he nearly laughed out loud. If she moved any closer to the edge of her seat, she’d fall off.
    “She was a bit hesitant at first, but she’s agreed to let me take her to dinner tomorrow night.”
    “Oh, that’s wonderful!” his mother gasped, jumping up to hug him tightly. “I’m so proud of you for refusing to give up. Where are you going to take her?”
    “I have no idea,” he blushed. “I was so worried about getting her to say yes that I didn’t plan that far ahead. What the hell is there to do in Aledo?”
    “Hmm…” she paused in thought. “Well, not a lot, honestly. There are some casual things to do with someone you are already dating, but nothing for making great first impressions. You’ll probably need to take her into the Quad Cities for dinner—there are some nice restaurants in Moline and Davenport.”
    “Thanks. I’ll look into it,” he smiled, leaning down to give her a hug.
    Barbara kissed his cheek as she pulled away and sighed loudly. “I’m just so happy for you. Things are going to be different now, I can feel it.” And without another word, she turned and went up to bed.
    Once she had left the room, Richard walked up to him and stared him down. “So… you spoke with Lily. Is that
all
that happened?”
    Ethan turned beet red before answering, “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, that’s all that happened.”
    “Good for you, son,” he smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you listened to me. I know that you two have unbelievable…
chemistry
together, but she’ll never be able to take you seriously right now if you’re always trying to get in her pants.”
    “Dad!”
    “What? Just because it’s your old man talking doesn’t make it any less true.”
    They shared an awkward goodnight after that, and Ethan went up to his bedroom. He sat up sketching a few different ideas for a new painting for a while before he decided to call it a night. As he climbed into bed, a thought struck him that made him jump back out and grab his phone.
    Scrolling through his contact list, his breath caught when he found it—Lily’s number. He finally had the woman of his dreams only the press of a button away. As much as he wanted to call her and hear her voice before bed, he figured she would probably be asleep already. He also knew that hearing her voice at that moment would get his hormones going all over again, so he decided to just send a quick text message. That way she could see it when she woke up in the morning.
    Just realized that I never gave you my number. Now you can reach me in case you ever need anything
.
    Feeling instantly better knowing she had the message, he sat his phone next to him on the nightstand and settled into bed, ready to sleep comfortably for the first night in months. What he hadn’t expected was to hear his phone buzzing with a reply. He picked it up with a shaking hand and opened the message.
    Great, thanks! But I’m trying to be good, so I won’t tell you what I really need right now. Looking forward to tomorrow. ;-)
    Well, apparently he could achieve a raging erection without hearing her voice, too. She had done the job just as well by text. Sighing loudly in the darkness, Ethan rolled over and set the phone back down, sliding open the drawer underneath and pulling out a certain small bottle of lube. As he squirted some in his hand and rolled onto his back to take care of business, he wondered how the hell he was going to make it through an entire evening without attacking her.

Chapter 6
    The following day was Saturday, which gave Lily time to get herself ready. She spent all day pampering herself, going to her favorite salon in the Cities for a facial and a mani-pedi—and even though sex was supposedly off the table for a while, she threw in a wax for good measure. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long, and it was