to clear the air.”
The doorbell rings out loudly behind us. Ethan curses and looks down at the thick watch on his wrist.
“Damn.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yes. Please give me a moment.”
He strides back into the house. I gently shut my laptop, clasping it to my chest. There is real danger here. I’d felt it from the beginning, but then it had been a foolish dream, a crush like the ones I’d had on actors and singers as a teenager. Distant and harmless. Now I feel like I’m standing on the edge of tumbling into something deeper and far more hopeless.
When Ethan returns, I’m already standing, prepared to leave.
“Bella, I’m sorry. I have a dinner tonight, and the chef just arrived to prepare.”
“I understand.”
“A few friends are coming over.” He gives me another one of those smiles—crooked, hesitant, genuine. “You said you had nothing planned today. Why don’t you stay?”
I have no idea what to say to that. Can’t even form the words.
“Feel free to leave whenever,” he adds. “But there will be great food.”
And great company, I think, my treacherous mouth almost uttering the words aloud. “Thank you, that sounds great.”
His smile widens. “Perfect. They should be here in… ah, about half an hour. Let me just finish up out here with the contractor and hop into the shower.”
“Oh! Yes, of course. I’ll do the same—I’ll be back.”
“Excellent.” He pauses on the steps off the patio, looking back at me. The sunlight gilds his hair. “I’m glad you’re staying.”
The words make me feel like I’m floating all the way back into my larger-than-life house and the three-person-sized shower. Wilma and Trina would have a fit if I told them about this.
Perhaps that’s why I haven’t. Ethan feels like my secret, like a potential friend that’s too good and too elusive to talk about. It’s as if the second I speak about him, he’ll disappear, the magic spell broken.
Nerves make my throat dry and I clear it twice, standing outside his front door and waiting for him to open it. The dress I’m wearing had felt appropriate—knee-length, black, sleeveless—but I have no idea how he’s dressed.
On impulse, I’d grabbed a bottle out of the Gardners’ wine fridge and taken a picture of the label to later replace it, praying it’s not a thousand-dollar bottle. I clasp it in front of me like armor.
He opens the door with a flourish, eyes sweeping over my form. “Bella,” he says. Thankfully, he’s not in black tie, but wearing a pair of dark trousers and a button-down.
“Ethan.” I hold up the wine bottle. “I didn’t have time to bake, so…”
He smiles, accepting the bottle. “This will do. A good vintage, too. Do you know wine?”
“A little.” A very, very little. “I know I like to drink it.”
He snorts, leading me in through the kitchen. A focused young woman in white is preparing what looks like lamb chops. He wasn’t joking when he said a chef had arrived.
“The others are outside,” he tells me. “Let me introduce you.”
We step out onto the patio and the bubbling conversation between the guests stills. Four pairs of eyes turn to me.
“Hello,” I say, giving a little wave, my gaze moving across each of the guests in turn. My stomach sinks as I take in the familiar faces. He hasn’t just invited a few friends—he’s invited some of the city’s most famous.
There’s Cole Porter, whose face is regularly in the news for some building project or another. His sister is here too. I’d once seen her on a morning talk show discussing fall fashion trends. She’s looking at me curiously now, impeccably dressed.
By her side… oh. The man is vaguely familiar in an almost threatening way. Dark hair and dark eyes narrow in on me.
But Ethan just stops by the table like this group of people is nothing out of the ordinary for him, because of course it isn’t. He fits right in.
“This is Bella Simmons,” he says. “She’s my neighbor’s niece, living next door over the summer.”
I nod obediently as my stupid, stupid lie is repeated in front of the city’s elite. “That’s me,” I add another nail to the coffin.
“Bella, meet Cole, Skye, Nick and Blair.” He gestures in turn, as if I don’t already know.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the short brunette says—Skye. She’s the only one I’ve never seen before. “Come on over, have a seat.”
I do, sinking down in the chair next to her. “It’s lovely to meet all of you.”
“So you’re Ethan’s new neighbor?” Cole says.