“That’s all either of us can do.” He gave her a quirky, fleeting smile before he changed the subject. “Do you really think we can have Grayson House back to her former glory in the next four and a half weeks?”
It took her a minute to switch gears in her head. One minute they were talking like intimate friends; the next they were back to business as usual. “The hardest part of the renovation is the exterior. The crews are doing great work. The only thing that might hold us back is rain.”
“The forecast looks favorable,” Connor said between bites of his pizza.
Ellie looked through the hole in the roof. “You and I have both lived in Seattle long enough to know that could change at any minute.” She returned her attention to the man across the table. “At least Viola budgeted for all the contingencies. If things start to look bad, I’ll try to hire extra crews to get things done faster. At least the interior isn’t weather dependent.”
“But there’s a lot of work on the interior, too, especially with refurbishing the furniture.”
Ellie nodded. “I finally found the perfect craftsmen for that job. They start tomorrow. They’ll focus on the wood, and I’ll get busy with the fabrics.”
“It sounds like everything is under control,” he said, sipping the last of his wine. He lifted the bottle to refill their glasses, then frowned at her nearly full glass. “You’re not drinking tonight?”
“I’m a little distracted by other things,” she admitted.
He set the wine down. “By me?”
“Yes.” The word faded away; all that remained was the soft creaking of wood and the whisper of the wind as it swirled around the attic.
He stood and came around to her side of the table. Offering his hand, he helped her up, pulling her close until she could feel the slow warmth of his breath brush her cheek. The silence that hovered between them seemed charged with invisible sparks. He reached up and touched her cheek.
She went hot, then cold at the gentleness of his touch. Giving herself over to the moment, she leaned in and brought her lips to his. As if by their own volition, her hands slid up his chest and locked behind his neck.
In response, his arms moved around her, settled in the hollow at the base of her spine, then pulled her close.
Chilly night air swirled around their bodies, as though rejoicing in the fact they’d joined together. It felt so good, so right being in his arms.
His tongue slipped through her parted lips and touched hers. At the contact a jolt of pure fire went straight to Ellie’s core.
He broke the kiss. “Does this mean what I hope it means?”
Ellie felt the deep timbre of his voice clear down to her toes. “I want you. I won’t deny that.”
“And yet you hesitate.”
She’d had casual sex before, but nothing more. Ellie had never had that “something special” her friend Olivia talked about with anyone except the man in her arms. Would giving in to him now ruin her for anyone else?
She swallowed roughly and tried to concentrate on anything other than Connor’s full lower lip. Or the feel of his heartbeat against her chest.
Perhaps it was time to satisfy the need that never seemed too far away when he was near.
On that thought, she met his stormy green eyes. “I don’t want to hesitate any longer.”
“Thank God,” he breathed as he captured her lips.
Her lips moved over his, hot and demanding. Her senses were swimming, the ability to think clearly ebbed, and she lost herself in a maelstrom of desire.
An onslaught of pent-up emotions and forbidden passion swamped her. Needing an intimate connection, she pulled him toward her.
As his hips pressed against hers, she fit herself against his hardening arousal, and every cell in her being came alive.
Connor groaned and pulled back, his breathing ragged. “Before we go further, we are agreed this is for fun, right?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to disappoint you. I care about you, but I have no room in my life for commitment or a relationship. I’m already married to my job.”
Her mind still swirling with desire, she nodded. “I get it. Would you just shut up and kiss me?”
And he did exactly that.
He kissed her with a thoroughness that sent her senses spiraling as he moved back to the westward wall, pulling her with him. Easing his hand under her sweater, his fingers skittered across her sensitive flesh, across her abdomen, along her sides, until he found and cupped her breasts atop the sheer fabric of her bra. Warm, demanding fingers sculpted her every curve, possessing her.
She succumbed to only sensation, to the unrelenting desire that pulsed through her veins.
Their veins.
No longer resisting, she reveled in the knowledge that she could still lure him, arouse him, incite him to action. A thrill of expectation flashed through her, bright and hot.
His kiss grew hungrier, more demanding.
Maybe it was the culmination of the last eleven years that seized them now, sent them into this flurry of desire. Or maybe they were finally at the right time and the right place in their lives to act on their dormant passion.
Ellie no longer cared about the reason, only that they were finally free from their restraints, together. She let her hands trail along his sides and then farther down until she sank her fingers into his buttocks, curling her body intimately against his, moving seductively.
Breaking the kiss, Connor reached for the hem of her sweater and pulled it over her head. Next he stripped her leggings away. Her breath hitched, not at the chill in the air, but at the warmth of Connor’s gaze, at the heat spiraling through her as she stood bared before him.
He let her undress him, and as she did, his lips curved into a seductive smile. He made no move to touch her until he stood naked before her, bathed in the moonlight that limned every muscle, every taut line of his face.
His chest swelled as he took a sharp breath; then slowly, deliberately, he brought his hands to her waist and lifted her up, caught the back of her thighs, spreading her wide, then stepped into the nakedness between them.
The hardness of his body pressed against her as she looped her arms around his neck. Reckless abandon pounded in her blood as she locked her legs around his waist. He explored her skin with his hands and his lips until she burned, until need was a molten ache low in her belly. She tilted her hips forward, wanting, needing, what he offered.
He drew her hips toward his until the broad head of his erection parted her slick folds, and he pressed in, possessing her as though their past had been another lifetime ago.
Her breath shattered as he thrust inside. Surrendering fully, she gripped his shoulders, then tipped her head back, closing her eyes, letting sensation after sensation wash across her nerves. He was hot and hard, and he filled her fully.
He lifted her bottom, spreading his fingers across her smooth flesh as he drew his erection from her sheath only to slide back in again. He penetrated her deeply until her breath came in panting gasps, matching his.
Every nerve sparking with pleasure, every muscle tightening, tensing, she cried out and plunged over the edge. Ripples of her climax caught him in its power and echoed through him. The mingled sensations continued, racked through them, until they both floated in the aftermath.
He leaned back against the wall, taking her with him in a tender embrace, still joined in the most primitive way. His chest rose and fell as he pulled her protectively into his arms, cocooning her against his chest. She concentrated on his heartbeat as it gradually slowed.
Together they drifted back to the reality of the night. The chill air touched her now, pebbling her nipples and cooling her overheated flesh.
After a long while, Connor finally managed to summon the strength to lift Ellie from him. He set her on her feet. Reaching down, he drew her abandoned blanket back over her shoulders to shield her from the cold.
He’d always been a little egotistical and st
upid when it came to Ellie.
He’d been egotistical in that he actually thought he could have a physical relationship with her for fun. The stark reality stared at him now with wide brown eyes. Because now that he knew the pleasures of her body, he wanted more.
And not just for fun.
He’d been stupid in the fact that he’d wanted her so badly he’d forgotten to protect her.
“Ellie, I’m so sorry,” he said, his breathing harsh and ragged. “I didn’t use a condom. Are we okay?”
Her eyes flared momentarily before they shuttered against him. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
But it wasn’t fine. He could feel her drawing back. Desperate to maintain the closeness they’d shared, he reached for her hands. “If anything was to happen, please know I would take care of you.”
“That wasn’t in our agreement.” She looked away. “Let’s just enjoy what we had and what we’ll continue to have and let everything else just take care of itself.”
She was shutting him out. He should be happy she only wanted to have fun. He opened his mouth to respond, then froze when the air around them split with an unearthly shriek.
Ellie bent down and scooped up her clothes. “What was that?”
The sound came again, this time from overhead. Connor looked up to see Zanzibar staring at them through the hole in the roof. “How did you get up there, you crazy cat?”
Connor dressed in a rush, intent on rescuing the beast. He moved back to the window and once again scaled the scaffolding.
Zanzibar waited quietly for Connor to scoop him up. “Here,” he called to Ellie below. “Take the cat while I cover the roof again.”
Ellie appeared below the hole with a frown on her face. “That cat hates me. I don’t know about this.”
Connor lowered the cat down.
Zanzibar meowed—the sound somewhere between an angry warning and a plea.
“It’ll be fine,” Connor assured her. “Just grab him and hold him next to your body. Cats like that.”
Begrudgingly, she took the cat between her hands as Connor turned away to drag the tarp back over the hole and secure it from the wind and rain. When he made his way back through the window, he paused, surprised by the scene.
Ellie stood in the middle of the room, fully dressed. Zanzibar sat dutifully at her feet.
“He doesn’t look like he hates you,” Connor said, coming inside and sliding the window closed.
“We came to an agreement.” She bent down and picked up the cat, thrusting him into Connor’s arms.
A lock of honey-colored hair fell from her ponytail against her temple, loosened no doubt by their lovemaking. Connor wanted more than anything to tuck the strand behind her ear. Instead, he tightened his hold on the cat.
“Let’s call it a night,” Ellie said with a yawn. “You take Zanzibar downstairs. I’ll clean up here.”
“Stay with me.” The sentiment escaped before he thought about what he was saying. He paused, frowning. Those words were not light and carefree, or anything close to what he should have said as part of their temporary relationship.
In response, Ellie merely raised a brow, stacking their plates with one hand and scooping up their glasses and the wine bottle with the other. “Tomorrow will be a busy day if the rain holds off. Now that that’s out of our system, take the cat and go to bed.”
Not one damn thing was out of his system. The two of them had finally been thrust into the fiery inferno they’d always hovered on the brink of before. He could still feel with stunning clarity how she felt as she took him into her body, the feel of her hands on his overheated skin, burning him, branding him.
Ellie met his aching, desperate gaze with a satisfied smile. “Good night, Connor.”
Good night? Not likely, not when he held a cat in his arms instead of the woman who was his wife.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The next day Ellie kept herself busy with the contract crews she’d hired. By the end of the day, the roof was finished, the exterior of the house was complete, and the entire first floor now sported fresh paint. The parlor and music-room walls were a rich red, while the rest of the rooms and hallways were a calming taupe as evidenced by the paint on her clothes, skin, and hair.
A good kind of exhaustion settled into the aching muscles of her neck, arms, and shoulders as she made her way upstairs. She had one hour to get out of her painting clothes and shower before she and Connor had to leave for their date with Max and Olivia tonight.
In her room on the dresser, she found an envelope, sealed with wax. With anticipation, she broke the seal and slipped the single sheet of paper from inside. She read the bold, slanting script:
Let old griefs be gone
let us start anew
once you accept how much I love you.
“How much I love you?” Why would he write something like that to her and not tell her to her face? Did he mean the words, or had he meant “I love you as a friend”? Or had he noticed her distance and was trying to make unnecessary amends for an imagined slight?
She fell onto her bed with the note in hand. She hadn’t given him the chance to have a true conversation. All day she’d pushed him away, shielding herself and her emotions, uncertain if she wanted to pursue a physical relationship with him or try to keep her distance. She’d given him tasks that kept him in other parts of the house. Every time he’d finished that task and tried to talk to her, she’d found another urgent thing for him to do.
Had he been trying to tell her this all day? No one had ever said those words to her before . . . or written them either. How had they gone from pretending to be married to this in such a short time? She hadn’t considered that they would ever feel more than a strong attraction to each other. But love?
Ellie brought the note down to rest against her chest, feeling her heart beat a little bit faster beneath her hand. Until Connor said the words to her directly, she couldn’t quite believe they were true. Maybe he would say them tonight. She drew a slow, even breath that cleared her head. Time would tell. In the meantime, she needed to take a shower and slip into her costume.
She’d bought a costume for Connor as well and had left it on his bed. At the thought, she smiled. What would he think of her choice, and more important, would he wear it? She’d find out soon. With thoughts of his poem filling her head, she headed for the shower.
Exactly one hour later, she hurried down the staircase to meet Connor in the foyer. The heated spark in his eyes told her he approved.
He was dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his biceps, and he had a black leather jacket hooked by one finger draped over his shoulder. He’d slicked his hair back. The man was drop-dead gorgeous dressed as Danny Zuko from Grease.
And when he swaggered toward her, her knees went weak. “Hello, luscious,” he said in a deep, evocative voice as he raked a hungry look over her body. “Nice costume.”
She swallowed roughly. Maybe she hadn’t thought this through. As Sandy to his Danny, things between them were already heated, and they hadn’t even left the house. “There’s still time to change into something else if you’d prefer,” she offered.
“And give up seeing you in skintight black leather? Not a chance.” He pulled her into his arms and gave her a sizzling kiss. Her body flared in response. And with one kiss, all her good intentions fell around her feet.
The man was temptation himself.
His tongue explored her mouth with leisure as his hands smoothed the silken back of her off-the-shoulder body-hugging top. Then, he bent down and scooped her off her feet and into his arms.
“Connor,” she gasped as he carried her effortlessly out the door toward a sleek black Corvette that waited by the curb. With his boot he opened the passenger-side door and set her gently inside. “Your car?”
His green eyes were alive with humor and hunger. “Borrowed from a friend. We couldn’t show up as Sandy and Danny to a party driving any fuel-efficient o
r robotic car, now could we?”
“I suppose not,” she replied with a laugh as a thousand other emotions tore through her. “But how did you know what costumes I bought?”
He raised a brow. “I’m not as unobservant as you think.” He closed her door, strode around to the driver’s side, and got in. The car started with a low hum. He put the stick shift into gear, and they headed away from the residential area, toward the city’s center.
It was all she could do not to reach out and touch him. Instead, she focused on the road and the fallen leaves that swirled through the air. It was clear and cold, but with Connor near and dressed like he was, she doubted she’d feel anything but overheated all night.
When they arrived at the Experience Music Project, Connor dropped the car at valet parking, offered on the lower level. He came around to her door and helped her out. Through the open doorway of the oddly shaped metallic building, the pulse of music drew them inside.
Olivia and Max were waiting for them in the lower lobby, dressed as Buttercup and Westley from The Princess Bride.
Olivia rushed forward and folded Ellie in a hug while the men shook hands. “Oh, Ellie, you guys look amazing as Sandy and Danny!” she exclaimed.
“How fitting you chose the destined-to-be-together-forever lovers Buttercup and Westley. Couldn’t be more perfect,” Ellie said over the music.
“Actually, this costume was the only one that hid my baby bump,” her friend replied close to her ear. “Max wanted us to go as Batman and Catwoman,” she said loud enough for all to hear.
“Were they ever a couple?” Connor asked as they headed for the stairs that would take them to the main floor and the Sky Church, where the costume party was in full swing.
“Yes,” Ellie and Olivia replied at the same time. Laughing, they continued up the stairs.
The spacious room on the main floor known as the Sky Church was crowded. The sound of voices and pulsing music enveloped them. Colored lights shone down on what looked like oversize, upside-down umbrellas that hung from the ceiling, saturating the entire room in blue for several minutes, then red, then green, then orange.
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