Matt measured out everything he needed - in large quantities and at lightning speed - then started up some of his fancy gadgets.
'So other than a sister who has poor standards in the kitchen and a sister with no fashion sense, is there anyone else in your family who embarrasses you?'
Ella took a deep breath, trying not to rise to the bait.
Through gritted teeth she managed one word. 'No,' then added, as if she couldn't help herself and it explained everything, 'they're my half-sisters anyway.'
Matt registered that neither of her sisters seemed to have a name. Interesting, he thought. Whenever he talked about his sisters, he used their names so what was going on for Ella that she didn't? They also seemed to lack any sense of the loyalty and respect that she clearly had in spades. He stored all this away for future reference.
Hang on, after tonight, there wouldn't be a future with this woman. He would get the food ready and send her on her way.
'Seems to me they don't have much respect for you helping them out.'
Ella glared at him, daring him to say another word.
'Fine, mind my own business. I get it. I'm damn sure I wouldn't put up with it.'
'They haven't had the same opportunities I've had. I'm happy to help them and they know it. You help your sisters.' Ella was defensive and knew it was because he had a point.
'Yeah, but they help me back. They don't just take and drop me in the proverbial.'
'Matt, just leave it. Okay? It's nothing to you!' Ella took a quick breath to calm down.
Matt looked at her through half-closed eyes as if considering her statement but decided to make a tactical withdrawal. He hadn't brought up his sisters without learning something about the female psyche.
'Look, do you think if I gave you simple tasks to do you could manage them with that hand?'
Ella regretted her outburst but accepting Matt's change of subject for what it was, jumped at the chance to have something else to do.
For the next few hours they continued to prepare the various dishes for the buffet, every so often topping up their caffeine level. Ella fetched ingredients from his well-stocked cupboards, tidied up behind him, loaded the dishwasher, weighed things, stirred things, operated the sous vide, the mixers and the blenders. Matt kneaded bread, chopped meat, fruit and vegetables. He created something out of many of the ingredients, magicked other ingredients from his endless stores and worked three times harder than Ella. The speed at which he worked was exhausting and yet exhilarating at the same time. The finesse he applied to each dish could only be marvelled at. She could see why he was in such demand.
Throughout all this activity they established a harmony in working together and fell into an easy conversation. They talked about some of their favourite places they'd been to and discovered a commonality in their musical interests.
Matt was grudgingly surprised at how well Ella had worked alongside him. She was no professional and her hand had hindered her but she'd seemed to sense his needs and known when to stay out of his way. He'd actually enjoyed himself. The time had flown and all the groundwork had been laid for the food to be finished off in the morning.
'You've done well. Many of my staff can't work alongside me as well as you've just done. Fancy a job?' he said jokingly.
Ella was taken aback by his praise and felt warmed by it.
She suppressed a smile at his job offer. He still had no idea what she did for a living. Throughout their long conversation on musical tastes she hadn't bothered to enlighten him. He hadn't asked about her so she hadn't shared. She should feel affronted that he hadn't bothered to ask about herself, but strangely she didn't. She'd enjoyed the lack of pressure and anonymity. People tended to change how they responded to her once they knew who she was. It was good just being Ella as opposed to Daniella Lewis-Cannon, her full name and the one she performed under.
'No thanks. I'll stick to cooking at home. A big kitchen has never appealed to me.'
Ella looked round in wonder at all the amazing dishes they'd prepared.
Matt followed her gaze. 'Looks a lot doesn't it? Once forty people get stuck in there won't be much left.'
Matt stretched his aching body and flexed his shoulders. 'I don't know about you but I'm just about dead on my feet here.
'We'll finish all the last minute bits tomorrow. How are you going to get it all to the venue? How are you going to present it and serve it?' The questions were out before he could stop them. Matt groaned inwardly. What happened to 'get the food ready and send her on her way'? Matt braced himself for her answer.
Ella went white and stared at him with her mouth open. No words came out. How could she have not thought beyond getting the food ready!
Matt was back to sighing again! Reaching for his mobile, he put in a call. After a few minutes of questions and instructions he hung up.
Ella continued to stare at him until her brain clicked back in. 'How can you call someone at this time of the night? It's one o'clock in the morning!'
Matt shrugged. 'They won't have been in bed long. They're very well paid and don't get called in often on emergencies. If I'd left it 'til later today it would have been too late to pull in the outside catering team. I've got two chefs coming in first thing to do all the last minute stuff, then some other staff later on to transport it to the venue and lay it all out. They'll stay and serve too if you want.'
Ella was mentally racking up the cost of using Matt and his team.
He seemed to read her mind. 'My decision, so there'll be no charge for all this. Just one stipulation - your sister's name is not mentioned. I will not have someone who appears to be as unprofessional and incompetent as your sister, take credit for this standard of culinary excellence. Your friend can pay me the same amount she was going to pay your sister. Oh, and I'll settle up with your sister for the food we've used from her shopping.'
'Half-sister.' Why had she just corrected him? She should have been defending her sister. She was obviously too tired to think straight.
'Whatever. Have we got a deal?' Matt was now too tired to consider her sensitivities regarding her family.
Ella felt trapped into agreeing with him. 'Yes.'
Matt gave her a triumphant smile and finished putting everything into the fridges and chiller cabinet.
Considering Matt was stuck with her for another day and it was now ruining his weekend, he wasn't as irritated as he should have been. There was a lot more to Miss Not-purple-anymore than met the eye. He was torn between his body's reaction to her and the fact that he'd mentally placed her as out of bounds.
Just then, Ella took the netting off her head and shook her hair down, running her good hand through it to straighten out the mess. As he'd fantasised, her hair cascaded halfway down her back.
He groaned. His body may be tired but one part of him was beginning to wake up again. He resisted the urge to reach out.
'Come on, let's get to bed.' The look on her face would have been comical if his body hadn't been getting even more excited at the thought of taking her to bed. He fought down the urge.
'I mean separately! I don't know where your mind is Ella, but pick it back out again!' Nice deflection Matt! He mentally shook his head.
Ella coloured that Matt had again read her thoughts.
As he locked up the building, Ella moved towards her car.
'Where are you going?'
'Home.'
'Which is how far away?'
'Um… about fifty minutes?' She guessed.
'Too far. You'll fall asleep. And you think you can drive with that hand? Tess won't forgive me if I chuck you out at this hour of the day. Come on, you can bunk down at mine.'
Ella looked uncertain at his offer and turned again towards her car.
'I said no.'
Matt grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. Ella jerked her hand away as if he'd burned her. Maybe he had, he'd felt the jolt too.
He was confused between wanting to protect her as he did hi
s sisters, and losing himself in her until they were both physically exhausted. He had never been so confused about a woman before. He must be more tired than he thought.
He led her across the Estate grounds to the country house within which he and each of his siblings had their own separate apartments.
Ella was fast losing all rational thought as she was struck with the idea she was following a lion into his den. She didn't seem able to stop. She just hoped she could cope if the lion beat its manly chest!
*
Matt unlocked the main door positioned in the centre of the enormous building and invited her to go ahead of him. The door clicked shut behind them. All she noticed of her surroundings was the soft glow from two table lights at each side of what seemed to be a large hallway, before Matt turned to his left and led her up a wide staircase. Small blue lights were embedded into each stair to guide their way. They threw just enough light to add an air of mystery and make Ella feel doubly nervous about going to his apartment. At the top of the stairs, they came to a balcony, itself lit at floor level with tiny lights. Before she could look over the balcony onto the ground floor Matt unlocked a door straight in front of them and paused to let Ella go through first. The door opened into a spacious hall from where she could see through to a large lounge. Ella's first glimpse of his home caught her by surprise - it looked comfortable and lived in.
Matt threw his keys down onto a small table and turned to her.
'Can I get you anything to eat or drink, or do you just want a shower and bed?'
'J - just a shower and bed please.'
Matt's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
'Are you okay? You look nervous.'
Ella glanced away and hid her revealing face from his stare.
'Ella, I'm not going to jump you. You're my sisters' friend, so out of bounds as far as I'm concerned.' Matt thought if he said it strongly enough he might just believe that himself. Now she was in his home, his resolve was weakening. He never brought women here, but she looked like she belonged, as if she fit with the surroundings. Which was a ridiculous notion. He gave himself a mental shake.
'Right, come on, I'll show you up to the guest suite.' Before I change my mind, he added to himself.
Ella couldn't seem to get her thoughts under control. One part of her was relieved that Matt thought her out of bounds - the part that didn't do relationships. The other part of her, the woman in her who had loved him since her teens, wanted to know what it was like to be held by him and made love to. She felt herself flush as she followed him up the next flight of stairs and into the guest suite.
She glanced around the room and just registered the pale green walls before her eyes fell on the piece of furniture that seemed to dominate the room. All of a sudden the room closed in on her as her thoughts went haywire. She could see two bodies on that bed and neither one of them had any clothes on.
'Right, well, the bathroom's through there.' He pointed to the door across to the right. 'I'll er, see you in the morning then.' Matt was desperate to escape. He'd never really noticed the bed before, but now that was all he could see. He left, unaware that Ella hadn't said 'goodnight'. He stopped in the hallway and slowly released a long breath. His resolve to see her as out of bounds had almost collapsed.
As Matt got to his own room, he remembered Ella had nothing with her and headed back downstairs to get some supplies.
'I've brought you something to sleep in and a tooth….' Matt stopped dead in the doorway. Ella was sat on the edge of the bed facing away from him, one leg bent at the knee on the bed and the other dangling down the side. Matt stared at the smooth expanse of bare back and the flexing of shoulder blades as she struggled to get her clothes off with just one hand. The pink top thing was half on and half off.
Matt closed his eyes and raised his head upwards as if praying for strength to do the right thing. The gentleman in him was telling him to turn and leave the room. The big brother in him wanted to help her get ready for bed. Not that he'd done that with his sisters once they'd hit puberty, but the big brother in him was a far more helpful person than the gentleman! The primitive man in him wanted to sink himself into her until she screamed her release.
The gentleman in him clearly lost! As his feet propelled him across the deep pile carpet he didn't have a clue which one of the other two personas would win the battle.
'I'm sorry. I forgot about your hand.' Matt stood beside her and looked down.
Ella gave out an involuntary scream when she realised he was there - she'd been caught up in her struggle to get the clothes off and not heard him. She lowered her arm across her breasts, her top managing to cover one side of her. Matt thought he caught a brief glimpse of desire before it was quickly replaced by embarrassment. He forced himself to maintain eye contact and not let his gaze fall towards her exposed breast.
Matt groaned. 'God, Ella, I'm battling here not to strip us both bare and lay you out on that bed. There's only so many times I can tell myself you're out of bounds.'
Ella's eyes widened as she realised what he was saying. Matt wanted her! Her desire rocketed with that knowledge and yet she couldn't do anything about it - didn't know how to do anything about it. She broke eye contact.
'Erm.' Ella cleared her throat. She indicated to the things he held. 'If you just leave them. Er, thank you. For bringing them.' Mortified at her stilted speech, she felt like a gauche teenager.
With a deep breath Matt turned round and placed the items at the bottom of the bed.
He kept his back to her. 'Do you want a hand? No, it's okay, of course you don't. Look, don't worry about getting hair colour on the pillows, just get to bed and we'll sort something out in the morning.'
As Matt left the room, Ella released the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and fell back against the bed. It was then she realised she hadn't managed to get the top down fully and she was partly exposed. She groaned and thought she'd die from embarrassment. Well that performance must definitely have killed off any lust he felt. God, I was pathetic!
Ella was finally in bed, having managed to remove the clothes and put on the tee-shirt Matt had left. She'd been asleep on her feet but had forced herself to clean her teeth. Having got to bed she'd expected to fall into blissful oblivion, only it wasn't happening. Now she'd calmed down and relaxed she was aware of just how much her hand throbbed.
*
Matt was dog tired but knowing Ella was in the room next door was keeping him awake. His performance in there a short while ago had been on a par with his first youthful foray into sexual encounters. He'd seen plenty of naked women in his time, but none of them had been friends with his sisters. If only he could get past that barrier and treat her as he would another woman he fancied.
He punched his pillow, hard, as if that would somehow make him feel better! It certainly changed the direction of his thoughts. Ella's behaviour had been strange. He'd definitely caught a glimmer of desire in her eyes. Why then had she gone all coy and embarrassed on him? It didn't make sense. It had certainly had him scuttling out of there as quick as his feet would take him. Back full circle, now he was thinking about his performance again.
Just as he tossed himself over onto his front he heard movement from the guest suite.
'What's the matter? Can I get you anything?'
Ella jumped at the sound of his voice and blinked against the bright hall light Matt had just flicked on.
She turned. 'My ha….' Matt was stood at the end of the hall with just a pair of lounge pants on. Ella could only gawp at him.
He moved down the hall towards her and placing his forefinger under her chin, closed her mouth. He gave her a gentle smile. 'Can't sleep either huh?'
'I… it's not what you think….'
'No?' He cut in. 'And just what am I thinking Ella?' Matt inclined his head to one side.
'Um,' Ella felt herself redden again. God, she hadn't blushed this much since she'd left school. She looked away and tried to calm her racing thou
ghts. When she was ready, she turned back to face him.
'My hand's throbbing. I thought I might find some painkillers somewhere.'
Matt groaned. His thoughts were in the gutter and Ella was in pain. Way to go Matt!
'They're in the kitchen. Come on down and I'll look at the hand as well. I'm sorry, I should have done that earlier, but I wasn't really thinking….' He winced at his admission that he'd been distracted.
As Ella sat in the kitchen waiting for Matt to return with his first aid kit, she realised how little she had on and shivered. Not just from the chill night air but also with anticipation and desire.
'Here, keep this over your shoulders.' Matt placed a fleece blanket around her.
'Thanks.' How had he known to bring that?
For the next few minutes Ella concentrated on her hand as Matt sat opposite her to clean and redress it. When he'd finished he took the kit away and returned with painkillers and a glass of water.
'I'm sorry.'
Ella looked at him, confused.
He indicated her hand. 'For my part in your hand. Not my finest moment!'
Ella acknowledged his apology, surprised, but impressed that he'd made it.
'Here, take a couple of these. They're strong so they should ease the pain and help you sleep.' He paused midway to handing them over. 'Oh, you're not allergic to anything are you?'
'No. Thank you.' She took the glass from him and swallowed the pills down with a couple of mouthfuls of water.
Matt smiled at her. 'You're welcome. I've put a cotton mitt over it to give it added protection and help the healing process. We'll see what it's like in the morning. It will probably still be a bit sore and tender but there shouldn't be any lasting damage.'
He continued to stand there and hold her gaze. Now that there wasn't anything to concentrate on, the tension between them soared again. Matt gave in.
'Ella.' He whispered her name as he gently pulled her up from the chair and drew her towards him. 'Maybe I wasn't altogether truthful earlier when I said I wouldn't jump you. I know I shouldn't do this, but I can't deny it again. I need to kiss you.' He lowered his head towards her, his breath caressing her lips. 'If you don't want this, you need to stop me, now.'
Heat in the Kitchen Page 3
