Battle for Love (Bachelor Billionaire #3) (7 page)

“
My
name's Julie. It's very nice to meet you Jeff.”

He
reached over and put his arm around her shoulder, and she felt her
body stiffen as a deep breath escaped her throat. What was she doing,
she thought? Maybe she had made the wrong decision. Jeff leaned in
toward her ear and moved his hand up her neck. Julie heard pounding
footsteps approach as Jeff's hand flew up off of her neck. Before she
could turn to look, there was a strong grip on her arm, and she was
pulled to her feet.

“
Outside,
Now.”

Julie
was startled by the demanding tone of Ethan's voice. She turned
around to face him. He stared at her with a look she had never seen
before. He stood tall, with his shoulders held high. His eyes were
the darkest green that she had ever seen them. She stood frozen in
place, unable to move her feet. Julie was so upset at Gavin's that
she hadn't even noticed what Ethan was wearing. He had on a tight
t-shirt with his muscles peeking out from under the sleeves and a
very nice looking pair of faded blue jeans. Her mouth dropped open
slightly as she took him in, attitude and all. There was heat oozing
from him. She could feel it cross the empty space between them. As
nervous as he made her, she could not help but notice how damn sexy
he looked at that moment. There was a dominating way about him. She
couldn't place the feeling it was giving her. Julie had never felt
heat like that, even when a man was touching her. It was like he was
letting the guys around them know that she was not to be messed with.
She had never felt so protected or turned on in her entire life.

“
I
said outside,” he snapped, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

She
felt warmth spread through her body at his words. Julie shivered and
turned away from him. Her feet finally began to move toward the door.
She felt as if some outside force was moving her. The door opened,
and she found herself standing outside with Ethan's hand on the small
of her back.

“
Take
me home,” he demanded, as he opened her door for her and went
around to get in.

She
could still feel the warmth on her back from where his hand had been.

“
Okay,”
she said. “I need you to tell me where I'm going. I haven't
been there before.”

“
Fine,
turn right out of the parking lot,” he snapped. “Don't
ever pull that shit on me again.”

The
ride to his place was quiet. She hadn't expected him to react the way
he did. Of course, she thought he would walk over to the table and
talk to her, but she didn't expect him to go all alpha on her. She
had never seen him so stern and rough. Even at the wedding, when he
snapped at her about changing who she was for her date wasn't the
same. What had just happened was different. She wasn't even sure what
it was. There had been a time in her past she had been treated
aggressively. She made sure to stay away from that behavior, but what
Ethan had done was different. She felt safe, like he was protecting
her. What scared her even more was the way her body was reacting to
him.

They
drove through a nice neighborhood with huge homes. She looked around
and imagined all of the happy families that lived in each home. When
Ethan told her to turn into a driveway, she looked over at him with
her eyes wide. She put the car in park and looked up at the house in
awe.

“
This
is your house?” she asked.

“
Where
did you think I lived?”

He
looked over at her with his head tilted and a serious look on his
face. She looked down into her lap and spoke quietly.

“
I'm
not sure. I thought you lived in an apartment. I have never heard you
talk about your place very much.”

Julie
felt bad for judging him. He was right; they all gave him such a hard
time. She thought he lived in a small, messy apartment. Never did she
picture him having a nice home. How could she be so mean, she
wondered? Her eyes scanned his yard. The grass was cut perfectly and
there were pretty flowers in the flowerbeds. There was a porch that
went across the front and wrapped around the side. He had a swing,
chairs, table, and flowers across the front. His home was two stories
with a built-in garage. It looked so homey from the outside.

“
It's
beautiful, Ethan.”

She
looked over at him and could see the sadness still there. When she
looked back again, the confident Ethan was back. Julie was surprised
how quickly he could turn it on and throw his walls up.

“
Thanks
for the ride, mom,” he snapped, as he reached for the door.

Julie
reached over and grabbed his arm.

“
I'm
sorry about the bar. I shouldn't have chased that chick away. It was
none of my business. I was just upset when I walked in and saw
sadness in your eyes. She should have been making sure you were okay,
not making a move to see what she could get from you. I shouldn't
have stuck my nose in your business in the first place. You're a
grown man. If you want to take home a different woman every night,
that's your business.”

She
let go of his arm and looked back down into her lap.

“
I
shouldn't have gone over to that table. Those are people your friends
with, and I shouldn't have made it awkward for you. I just wanted to
make sure you got home safe. I don't like seeing people drink like
that. It never ends well.”

She
turned her head to look out her window, as she brushed a tear from
her eye. Julie was lost in her emotions but snapped out of it when
her door opened. She hadn't even noticed him get out of the car. He
leaned down in front of her and wiped gently under her eyes.

“
Those
people aren't my friends. You, Gavin, Becky, Heath, Josh, and Lisa
are my friends. The people in the bar are just that, people from the
bar. What do you mean it never ends well?”

Julie
tried to look back down to her lap, but Ethan held her chin with his
hand.

“
Why
did you leave Gavin's house like that?”

“
They
shouldn't have gotten pregnant, that's why. I can't deal with that
stuff,” he said.

“
What
happened to make you feel that way?” she whispered.

“
I
could ask you the same thing. I know your parents don't drink and
neither does your brother.”

She
needed to recover from the situation. There was no way he was getting
into her mind. Not a chance. She worked very hard to keep certain
things away from her brother and the rest of her family. There was no
way she was going to tell Ethan anything. He would tell Gavin
everything she told him. Her brother had enough to deal with. He
didn't need to concern himself with her and her past. It was just
that, her past. She wanted to leave it there.

“
I
was talking about the hospital,” she said, as she pulled her
chin from his hand. “I should get going.”

He
stood up and reached for her hand.

“
I
don't buy that for one second, but I get that you aren't going to
tell me what that was about. Come inside for a few minutes. You might
as well see the inside of the house too.”

She
knew it was probably not the best idea. It was like Gavin was yelling
at her to drive away in her mind. Julie was curious about the inside
of Ethan's house. She couldn't help but want to know more about the
hard-ass he was. He shook his hand at her.

“
Are
you coming?”

“
Yes,”
she said, as she took his hand.

Ethan
hoped Gavin wouldn't find out Julie was at his house. He let out a
huge breath as he opened the front door. They walked into the
entryway and Julie gasped. She stood still and looked around.

“
It's
not really that big of a deal. Come on, I'll give you a tour.”

She
followed after him. He showed her the dining room and then walked her
to the kitchen. She stopped in the middle of the room.

“
This
is the most beautiful kitchen I have ever seen. I thought Gavin's was
nice, but it is nothing like this. You could cook for an army in
here. Look at this staging area,” she said, as she felt the
counter to the huge island in the middle of the kitchen. “This
is my dream kitchen. I have to take a picture of this. Could you
imagine all of us hanging out together in here? I would spend all day
cooking if I were you.”

She
ran her hands over everything. Ethan was surprised by her reaction.
He hadn't expected her to be that excited. It made him feel good to
see her so happy instead of mad at him.

“
Everything
looks so new. Do you even use the stove?” she asked, as she
laughed.

Julie
walked over to his refrigerator and opened the door. She burst into
laughter as she stared inside.

“
You
are kidding me. There is milk, beer, cheese, and lunch meat in here.
You don't cook, do you?”

“
Shut
up. Do you want to see the rest of my house or not?”

“
Of
course,” she replied, trying not to laugh anymore. “Let's
see it all.”

Ethan
walked her into his living room. He had three couches, a big-screen
television that covered the entire wall, and a fireplace. It was the
only room, besides his bedroom and office, that he spent time in.

“
Damn,
is your television big enough?”

“
I
love it. The guys don't complain when they want to watch a game. This
is a guy's domain. Their women won't let them have something this
cool.”

He
pulled her back toward the entryway and up the stairs. At the top of
the steps, there was a room to the right. She poked her head in.

“
Is
this your office? It's huge. Why doesn't Gavin have an office like
this? Don't you two do the same thing?”

“
We
don't do exactly the same thing. I do gaming and other things as
well.”

“
I
know you used to come over and talk about computer stuff. I knew my
brother was a geek, but I never really thought about you being one. I
have never seen so many monitors in my life. Do you really use all of
this, or is this just a boy with his toys?”

“
You
better quiet down, Julie. I'll kick your ass if you make one more
geek comment. I love what I do. It fills me with so much satisfaction
and it's fun,” he said.

“
You
are really passionate about what you do. Look at that smile on your
face. I have never seen you talk about something like that. Look at
this new side of Ethan.”

“
That's
it,” he said, as she took off down the hall with him on her
heels.

She
reached a door at the end of the hall and swung it open, trying to
close it before he got to her. He put his foot out to stop it. Ethan
pushed the door open and looked at her with a grin. She stood still
with a smirk on her face.

“
I
didn't know this was your room,” she said.

“
Don't
you dare tell your brother you were in my room,” he snapped.
“You came in here all on your own.”

She
laughed as she pushed past him to get out of his room.

“
Are
you to afraid to be in here with me?” he asked, as he laughed.
“You think you may fall under my spell. I know what it is. You
won't be able to hold back your sexual thoughts. I wouldn't want you
to take advantage of me. We better get out of here.”

“
Shut
up,” she said. “What are these other doors?”

Ethan
laughed as he watched her facial expressions. Her cheeks were so red
and he could see embarrassment flood her features. It was interesting
how she reacted to just stepping into his bedroom.