Sudden Response (23 page)

She didn't know what was going on, but right then she didn't care. A s soon as she got into her room she was taking a hot

soothing bath and then she was going out. Whatever brought Eric and Nathan up here could damn well wait until tomorrow, she

decided as the elevator doors slid open and A lex practically stomped off.

Biting back a few choice words, she pulled her hand away from Eric, grabbed her bag and followed the signs to her room,

hoping the guys got the hint and left her alone. So when they followed her into her room she couldn't exactly say she was really

all that surprised.

"Get out," she said, not bothering to look at them as she tossed her bag on one of the double beds and began to dig out the things

she'd need for a bath.

"No can do," Nathan said, walking past her to drop down on the other bed.

She turned her glare on Eric who was glaring right back at her like she'd somehow pissed him off. She wasn't the one who gave

him the brush off after the most incredible night of her life. No, that was all him. Did he really think that she'd be happy to have

him come all the way up here to give her the bad news? Was she receiving special treatment because of their friendship?

Knowing him, probably.

"You didn't have to come up here to do this. I got the hint this morning," she stressed, hoping he'd get the hint and get out of

here. She really didn't want to talk about this in front of Nathan if she could help it.

"Yeah, I saw," he said tightly. "Who was the asshole?"

When she could only frown he added, "The asshole sniffing around you downstairs."

"Just a whacker from class," she said, sighing. "Now that you know that, both of you can get the hell out of my room."

Eric stubbornly shook his head. "Sorry, like Nathan said we can't do that."

"A nd why's that?" she asked, grabbing her things and headed for the bathroom, hoping they would be gone by the time she was

done.

"Because there are no other hotel rooms available. Looks like we're sharing."

********

Eric flipped him off before following Joe into the bathroom. When she tried slamming the door in his face he shoved it open

enough so that he could step inside. Then he shut and locked the door behind him.

"Get out," Joe said, sounding pissed when she sure as hell didn't have the right to.

The entire ride up here he'd been a nervous wreck, but an excited nervous wreck. He couldn't wait to see her and tell her that

he wanted to give this a shot and of course Nathan tagged along to watch the whole thing. Nosey bastard, but he was glad that

the man came along. A t least having him around would give him an ally, something he sorely needed at the moment.

"No, you and I need to talk," he said, expecting her to yell at him or throw something at him like most of his ex-girlfriends

would have done, but instead she gestured for him to get on with it.

"I got the message loud and clear this morning, Eric. There really was no need for you to come all the way up here," she said,

turning her back on him to start a bath.

"I'm sorry about that," Eric said, at a loss for words to make up for hurting her.

"It's fine," she said, shrugging it off the same way she began to shrug out of her clothes.

It was a bit distracting and he wished she wouldn't do it, but he kept his mouth shut about it. The last thing he needed was to

really piss her off. He needed to fix this and quickly.

"I love you, Joe," he told her, wishing like hell that he knew what to say to convince her to give him a chance.

She sighed as she settled into the bubble filled bathtub. "I know," she said softly. "I love you too, Eric, which is why I'm not

going to push you into anything that you don't want. I'd rather be your friend than lose you," she said, sounding miserable.

"A nd I'd rather have you, Joe. I'm in love with you and I want to be with you, Joe," he said, praying that she gave him a chance.

He'd already fucked up so badly and didn't know what he'd do if she told him to fuck off.

He went to the tub and got on his knees and barely resisted the urge to take her in his arms. "I know I don't have the best track

record for dating, but you have to know that I would never treat you that way."

"How can you be so sure?" she murmured, drawing her knees up and hugging them to her chest.

"Because they weren't you, Joe. I didn't want them the way that I want you and I sure as hell didn't love them. I love you, Joe,

and I want to be with you," he said, unable to resist the urge to skim his fingers over her delicate jaw.

When she didn't say anything for a minute he shifted nervously, racking his brain for a way to get out of his hole he'd dug

himself into. Just when he decided to go ask Nathan since the man knew what the hell he was doing when it came to dating, Joe

let out a long drawn out sigh.

"I'm willing to give this a chance, but you should probably know that if you treat me like crap then I'll have no choice but to

kick your ass."

He nodded solemnly even as his lips tipped up into a smile. "That's a fair warning."

"I thought so," she agreed even as she reached for him. Not that she had to since he was already moving to pull her into his

arms. He leaned in to kiss her when the banging on the door started.

"I'm hungry!" Nathan bitched.

"So? Go get something and leave us the hell alone!" Eric snapped, moving in to kiss Joe's sweet lips.

"You promised to buy me a steak dinner if I came up here with you," Nathan pointed out.

"I lied!"

He ignored the gasp of shocked outrage and closed the distance between them and nearly groaned at the taste of her.

"You lying bastard!"

"You know you're buying me a steak dinner, don't you?" Joe whispered against his lips.

He couldn't help but chuckle against her lips. "I knew you were a little gold digger."

Chapter 24

"I want to go home and go to bed," Joe said, knowing she was whining, but couldn't help it. A fter an eight hour class and a two

hour drive she wanted nothing more than to go home and go to bed.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't the only reason she was tired. Since Eric gave her the shock of a lifetime on Friday they'd been

inseparable once again. That is when she wasn't stuck in class. They went for walks, talked, went out to eat, went dancing, and

cuddled and whispered most of the night while Nathan snored a few feet away. They hadn't had a chance to make love since

they decided to give this relationship a chance and she fully planned on rectifying that just as soon as she found a way to get out

of this and get some sleep.

"Can't," Eric said, reaching back and grabbing her hand when she tried to make her escape. "Mom called a family dinner."

"But I'm not hungry. I'm tired. Can't she call a family nap instead?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

Eric simply chuckled as he threw his arm around her and herded her towards the door. She waited for Nathan to open the front

door before she tried to pull away again, but Eric simply tightened his hold around her and pulled her into the house.

She loved A lice, she really did, but she was so damn tired. She hadn't slept much during their twenty-four hour shift on

Wednesday and got even less sleep during the next night when they came together and even less during the weekend. It was a

struggle just to stay awake at the moment. A ll she wanted to do was sleep.

"This is too perfect," Nathan said, chuckling softly as he stepped into the kitchen in front of them.

Biting back a yawn, Joe followed him into the kitchen wondering what was so amusing when she saw it, or rather her. Sitting at

the table chatting with A lice was a twenty-something bleach blond woman wearing an eye catching blouse that sadly didn't

have much cleavage to fill it out and a calculating expression that landed on Eric.

Why hadn't she realized this was why A lice called a family dinner? Because she'd been too exhausted to think straight. Well, it

looked like A lice was making another attempt to fix Eric up and she suddenly found herself very much awake and ready to be

entertained. Was it wrong to start a relationship by screwing him over?

She didn't think so.

Just because they were free to be with each other and didn't have to hold anything back shouldn't mean that they couldn't have a

little fun and judging by the look the woman was sending Eric she was going to have a lot of fun.

"A mber, this is my son Nathan and my Joe," she said, gesturing towards her and she didn't miss the look of dismissal the

woman gave her before it shifted right back to Eric, "and my son Eric that I was telling you about."

Joe didn't even bother hiding her grin as she ducked out from beneath Eric's arm and avoided his mad grab. "It's nice to meet

you, A mber,"

she said sweetly as she sent Eric an evil little grin and eyebrow wiggle.

"Very nice to meet you, A mber," Nathan seconded, sending her a wink.

This really was going to be so much fun, she decided as she took a seat next to A lice and gave the older woman a kiss on the

cheek. She wasn't too surprised when Eric tried to yank Nathan out of the way so that he could sit next to her, but Nathan was

fast. He had his butt in the seat next to hers and his arm draped over the back of her chair in seconds.

Eric glared at Nathan as he reluctantly sat down in the only other chair available, the one right next to A mber. A s soon as Eric

sat down she shifted her chair closer to him.

"What's for dinner, mom?" Nathan asked.

"I thought we'd order in. What are you in the mood for?" she asked brightly as she watched A mber and Eric with a pleased

little smile.

"I could go for Chinese," Joe said, deciding that now that she got her second wind she was hungry.

"Pizza," Nathan said, giving a strand of her hair a playful tug.

She noticed that A mber squished her face up in disgust. A lice must have noticed it as well. "What would you like, A mber?

Chinese or pizza?"

"Neither actually. There's too many carbs and fat. But I know a great tofu place," she added with a smile that clearly stated that

she always got her way and this time would be no different.

A s much as she'd love to screw over the guys, she was not a tofu kind of girl. The one time she tried tofu she ended up

slapping a hand over her mouth as she made a run for the bathroom. The matching grimaces on the guys' faces told her exactly

what they thought on the matter.

Even A lice had a hard time biting back a grimace.

"What about the Chinese buffet on Harrison Street? That has a tofu and sushi bar," Eric said, already getting to his feet. Nathan

sighed with obvious relief as he got to his.

"That sounds great," A lice said, latching onto the choice that would save them all from eating things that scared them.

The only one that didn't get up was A mber. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking putout as she explained, "But it's not

organic."

"Hmmm," A lice said, looking thoughtful and making Eric look nervous and for good reason. The woman was up to something

and they all knew it. The only question at the moment was how hard was this going to make Nathan and her laugh.

"Why don't you take A mber to the restaurant that she feels more comfortable with and Nathan, Joe, and I will grab something

to eat and meet you at the movies," A lice suggested.

"Movie?" she said at the same time as Nathan and Eric.

"Since when are we seeing a movie?" Eric demanded, shifting away from A mber as she sent a smug smile his way. Seriously,

where did A lice find these women? Even though it entertained her, it was a bit creepy.

"I think it would be a nice chance to spend some time together," A lice said in that motherly tone that none of them dared argue.

It didn't matter that they all saw each other at least twice a week, A lice wanted to go the movies then they were going to the

movies.

"That sounds like fun," she said brightly, sending Eric another evil little smile that was met with a scowl.

"Fine, but Nathan should bring A mber since he loves tofu," Eric explained as he reached out and grabbed Nathan by the arm

and yanked him out of his way. In seconds he was by her side with his arm around her. The glare A mber sent her way was a

little concerning, but she shrugged it off mostly because the woman was providing her with free entertainment.

"No, I don't. I love Chinese," Nathan grumbled.

"Don't be silly, Eric. You take A mber out and we'll meet at Emerald Cinemas at nine," A lice said, grabbing her purse off the

kitchen counter and heading towards the living room door as if everything was settled, but she knew Eric wasn't about to let

this go. Even if they weren't seeing each other now she knew he'd do anything and everything to get out of this.

"Mom, I have something I have to tell you," Eric said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Oh? What is it?" A lice asked, pausing by the door.

"I can't take your friend out because Joe and I have decided to start seeing each other," he explained. "So, as you can see it

would be a little awkward taking another woman out and ditching my girlfriend," he pointed out with a helpless shrug.

A mber's glare on her intensified as A lice narrowed her eyes on them.

"Joe?" was all A lice had to say.

She could confirm Eric's story and get the woman who looked close to clawing her eyes out the hell away from her or she