Fake Husband | An Open Heart Fanfic

Fake Husband (Part 1)

The appreciation dinner that was supposed to include the whole diagnostics team quickly dwindled down to only Ethan and Lilac. Baz had a date and only stayed for the first course, Naveen followed suit minutes after, claiming to be too old to stay up past nine thirty, and June hadn't even replied to the invite.

Briefly, Ethan wondered if the old doctor had planned it that way. Especially considering the knowing smile he directed at Ethan before his departure.

Lilac met his eye, a teasing smile of her own at the ready.

"If you wanted to touch me that badly, you could've just asked," she said in a low, tempting whisper that made his pulse quicken.

In a moment of delayed reaction, Ethan forgot his foot had brushed against hers under the dinner table more times than he cared to admit. And of course she was going to call him out on it.

"If I'd wanted to touch you as badly as you claim, we'd be elsewhere."

"Where would that be?" she returned without a single moment's hesitation. "Your bedroom or mine?"

God, she was good.

Typically, Ethan would not allow their banter to get this explicit, but something was different that night. Or perhaps all it took to vanquish his conviction was her coquettish smile, the tantalizing glimmer of her bright eyes, and the almost indecent dress clinging to her.

They were a long way away from innocent hand holding.

"Ambitious of you to think we'd make it that far."

She looked impressed for a split second. Before she could reply, however, her eyes fell on something over his shoulder. Her expression went from incredulity, to recognition, and finally to something on the cusp of panic in seconds.

"We have to go," she said when her eyes returned to him.

Ethan glanced over his shoulder, noting nothing out of the ordinary in the crowded restaurant. Then again, the pretentiously dim lighting made it difficult to see properly. "Why?"

Lilac didn't respond immediately. She seemed to be considering whether to tell him or not. "There's someone here I'd much rather avoid," she allowed.

That explanation was too meek to warrant such a reaction. Ethan kept his face impassive. "Who?"

Defeated, she finally admitted, "My ex."

A beat.

Whatever he had been expecting, it was not that.

"He's sitting by the exit at the bar. The one in the dark turquoise suit," Lilac explained, absentminded.

Ethan almost rolled his eyes derisively at the phrase "dark turquoise suit." Only pompous, self-centered assholes with a lot to prove wore unconventional colors to dinner.

Before he could help himself, Ethan looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse. A young man around Lilac's age casually sat at the bar, deep in conversation with a group of his peers, all wearing equally obnoxious suits. Even from a distance, he could see the strong jaw, straight nose, and gleaming smile that might have drawn her in once upon a time. It was somewhat disappointing that he was not hideous, like Ethan had hoped.

"A doctor?" he asked, retroactively wondering why it mattered.

"Lawyer," she replied.

Even worse, he thought.

"Please, Ethan," she implored quietly. "I don't want him to see me. Things..." she trailed off and he could see a flicker of pain in her expression. "It did not end well."