We drove past farms and lots of fields. Eventually we turned onto a small country road and then into a driveway and stopped in front of a beautiful house.
“Where are we?” I had to ask.
“This place belongs to a friend of mine. He’s out of the country right now but he’s okay with us being here.”
“Um … okay. So … what are we doing here?”
“I thought we’d go skating. He has a great pond out back. Are you up for it?”
“I love skating!” I said. “I haven’t been in years though, and, well, I don’t exactly have any skates.”
“Lucky for you I’ve planned ahead.”
He got out and opened the door to the back seat. I’d noticed the box that was back there but didn’t think twice about it. He opened the box and pulled out a pair of hockey skates and a pair of figure skates.
“I borrowed these from my sister. She thought you two were about the same shoe size. I brought an extra pair of socks in case they’re a little too big.”
“This is awesome Ellis. Let’s go.”
We walked around to the back of the house, each carrying a pair of skates. Ellis also had a bag with him. I’d asked him what was in it, but he said I’d get to see later. When we got to the pond I was shocked. I was expecting something about the size of a skating rink, but this was more like a small lake.
“What does your friend do for a living?” I asked him.
“He’s a lawyer as well.”
“He certainly does well for himself. This place is amazing,” I said.
“Would you like to live in the country?” he asked me.
“I think I’m more of a city girl, but it would be nice to get away to something like this every once in a while.”
Ellis led me over to a spot that was set up like a picnic area. We sat on a bench and put on our skates. The extra pair of socks came in handy, with them the skates fit perfectly.
“I’ve never been skating on a pond before,” I told Ellis as we walked to the edge of the ice.
“It’s like regular ice, just not as smooth. You’ll have to watch out for bumps and maybe some grass here and there,” he told me.
We held hands as we stepped onto the surface of the pond. I saw the bumps and grass Ellis had mentioned. A large portion of the pond had been cleared of snow. I wondered who did it, so I asked.
“Who cleared the snow off the ice? You mention that your friend was out of town, so I know it wasn’t him.”
“He has someone come and check on his place once a week when he’s not here. He asked them to clear the ice this morning.”
“That was awfully nice of him.”
“Nothing but the best for my girl,” Ellis said.
I liked that he called me his girl and I know I was grinning like a fool.
We skated around the pond for quite a while. Ellis was a pretty good skater. I learned that he’d played hockey until he was old enough to play football. I’d taken figure skating when I was a kid. Otherwise I’d have fallen on my ass at least a dozen times by now.
Ellis showed off some of his hockey skills and I showed him a few of my figure skating moves that I could still do. My favorite part was when we skated hand in hand. I was having a great time. After an hour or so my feet started to hurt so we left the ice and went to take off our skates. Once I put my boots back on my hands were starting to get a little cold. I was rubbing my hands together to warm them up when Ellis handed me something.
“Here, this should help.”
It was a cup of hot chocolate. I took a drink. It warmed me up from the inside out.
“How did you manage to keep this hot for so long?” I asked as I took another drink. It was really good.
He held up one of those really expensive thermoses that are supposed to keep your drinks hot or cold for hours. I guess it worked because this tasted like it was just made.
We sat there for a few minutes drinking our hot chocolate when we noticed a few snowflakes start falling.
Ellis turned to me and smiled. “You look beautiful with those snowflakes in your hair, but I think we’d better get going back to the city before the roads turn bad. But I just have to do one thing before we leave here.”
He leaned over and placed a sweet kiss on my lips. “Okay, we can go now.”
I could only laugh at him. As we walked back to the car I admired how pretty the snow looked falling out here in the country. I know snow was snow, but it just seemed a little different out here.
When we were at the car I noticed Ellis searching his pockets. “Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Um, I can’t find my keys.”
“Oh, okay, did you check in your bag?”
I watched as he did a thorough search of the bag. No keys.
“How about in your skates? Or mine?”
We both checked the skates. No keys.
“They must have fallen out of my pocket,” he said sounding frustrated.
“Well let’s retrace our steps and see if we can find them,” I said.
We left the skates and bag and went looking for Ellis’s keys. We walked the exact path we took previously and also looked on the ice. We didn’t find them anywhere.
“There’s a good two feet of snow out here, if they fell in the snow we’ll never find them,” Ellis said.
“So, what are we going to do? Should we call someone to pick us up?” I asked. I really didn’t want to be stuck outside for very long. The more it snowed the colder it was getting.
“Don’t worry Eve. We can stay here tonight. Bud told me where they spare key was in case anything happened.”
“But what about getting home?”
“I’ll call the dealership and have them overnight me a new key. Let’s get to the house.”
We grabbed the skates and bag and went to the house. Ellis found the key and let us in. The first thing Ellis did was find the thermostat and turn up the heat. The second thing he did was call the dealership. They were more than accommodating and promised that a new key would arrive in the morning.
I started to wander around the house. It was as beautiful on the inside as it was outside. I was sure that Bud had a wife. I was positive a man couldn’t decorate the way this place was done up. There wasn’t an animal head or antler in sight.
When I felt the house start to heat up I took my jacket off and went in search of Ellis. I found him lighting a fire in the huge fireplace in the living room. Ever since the castle I’d wanted to have a fireplace. I found it so relaxing to just sit and do nothing in front of a fire.
“I called Bud and told him what happened. Of course, he got a good laugh about it but told me that this place was our home for as long as we needed it.”
“That was nice of him. You seem to have some really great friends.”
“That I do. There was a group of us in college that became really good friends. We might not see each other very often but we’ve kept in constant contact and we’ve always been there for each other if needed. Case in point,” Ellis said, motioning to the house.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked.
“Now, my sweet Eve, we relax and enjoy ourselves. We’re safe from the weather, we have a warm fire and each other.”
I almost snorted when I laughed. “Where do you come up with these things? Don’t get me wrong, I like it, but most guys I know never say stuff like that. Do you read romance novels in your spare time?” I joked.
Ellis actually looked embarrassed and I think he was even blushing a little.
“Oh my God, you do read them! That’s so awesome,” I practically yelled. I wanted to do a little happy dance.
“It’s not what you think Eve,” Ellis said, but I could tell he was still embarrassed. “When I was a kid my brother and I would compete and bet on everything. Sometimes when I lost my punishment was reading one of my mom’s romance books. And somehow, he’d know if I didn’t actually read it and I’d get punished again. It was easier to just read the damn books.”
>
I was laughing so hard by the time Ellis was done talking I had to sit down. Tears were even rolling down my face.
“It’s not that funny,” Ellis stated.
“Oh yes, it is. I think it might be the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” I was still laughing. Once I was able to catch my breath again I went over to Ellis and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m sorry for laughing but it was just something I never expected. And I think it’s cute. Now I have a very serious question to ask you … what was your favorite book?”
I started giggling against his chest. I already knew I was going to find this funny for a long time.
“Are you done?” Ellis said, with a hint of a smile in his voice.
“Almost. But come on, if you found out one of your friends had read a romance you’d never let them hear the end of it would you?”
“You’ve got a point there. But I think it’s something that every man should do at least once in his life. I think women half expect to be romanced like in those books, it’s a lot for a guy to live up to. At least that way they might pick up a few pointers.”
I giggled at him again. His face was so serious when he said that. “You really mean that don’t you?”
“I sure do, just look at what it’s doing for me. I have you swooning all over me.”
“Swooning?” I said with a grin.
“Yep, swooning,” he said and kissed me slowly.
Just as I was getting into the kiss when he stopped. “Why are you stopping?”
“Good things come to those who wait my sweet Eve,” he said, and stepped back from me and smirked.
I think he was trying to kill me, or at least pay me back for laughing at him. Two could play this game. I just had to think about what I was going to do.
Chapter 31
The next hour was spent stoking the fire and finding something to eat. I found the coffee and made us each a cup. I sipped on it while I looked in the pantry. It was certainly well stocked. His friend obviously did well for himself. The fridge was almost empty which made sense as from what Ellis told me they were out of the country for at least two months.
I eventually found everything I needed to make spaghetti and meat sauce. It wasn’t going to be the fanciest meal, but it would be good. I started the ground beef cooking. It was going to take a while since it was frozen solid. Ellis wandered into the kitchen as I was cooking.
“What are you making?” he asked, as he sat down on one of the stools at the eating bar.
“Spaghetti.”
“It already smells good. I worked up quite an appetite out there today.”
“So did I actually. That was a lot of fun. We’ll have to do it again, but next time I think we should go somewhere a little closer to home,” I said smiling.
He chuckled. “It seems to me I promised you an adventure this morning, didn’t I? Well I think this qualifies.”
“It certainly does. So far this weekend has been one of the best of my life.”
“Do you have a number one on that list?”
“Yep, when I walked out of that care facility on my own two feet to go home.”
“I keep forgetting you’ve been through so much in your life already.”
“Other people have been through worse. I’m lucky I had such a great family to support me. And it’s also made me the person I am today. I can’t really complain about that.”
“You’re an amazing woman Eve.”
I blushed at the compliment. I didn’t think I was amazing for how I dealt with everything after the accident. Stubborn was a better word to describe me. I went back to stirring the meat while Ellis watched me. I liked him watching me, it made me feel all warm and tingly.
* * *
After dinner Ellis found a bottle of wine and we sat in front of the fire. This was the perfect way to spend an evening. I was relaxed immediately. Sitting here, it didn’t matter if we ever got back to real life, but real life was never very far away. I heard my phone ring and ignored it. I was just too comfy to move. Just as soon as it quit ringing it rang again.
“I think you’d better get that,” Ellis said. “It might be important.”
By the time I found my phone it had quit ringing again. I checked the missed calls and saw that it was mom. I called her back.
“Oh, Eve honey, are you alright?”
“Hi to you too mom,” I said smiling. “Yes, I’m alright. Why?”
“Well I hadn’t heard from you today and I was waiting to hear how your Valentine’s dinner went.”
“Oh, sorry. It’s been kind of a weird day.” I gave her a brief overview of last night and told her what had happened so far today. By the time I was done I could tell she was smiling instead of worried.
“You sure do find yourself in some interesting situations Eve. If they don’t show up tomorrow with the key, you make sure to call me and your dad and I will come and pick you guys up.”
“I will mom. Oh hey, do you think you could go by and feed Molly? She only had enough food and water for the day.”
“Of course, honey.”
“Thanks mom. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye Eve. Have fun tonight.”
“Bye mom.”
I went back to the living room to find Ellis adding more wood to the fire.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, joining him on the couch and taking a drink of wine. “That was my mom. She was worried because she hadn’t heard from me. I normally would have called her and told her about last night but with everything that happened today I forgot. And if they don’t show up with the key in the morning I’m supposed to call her, and they’ll come and get us.”
“That would make a great first impression. ‘Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Caulder. I’m a dumbass and got your only daughter stranded in the country.’ Yeah, that would go over well,” Ellis said sarcastically.
I let out a small laugh. “Ellis, you’re not a dumbass, it could have happened to anyone. This isn’t exactly stranded either, this is more like a mini vacation. And besides, I think my mom already loves you and as long as I’m happy so is my dad. Don’t stress about it. Just don’t lock yourself out of your apartment or something when we have them all over.”
“Very funny. I’ve never done that before and you’ve probably just jinxed me.”
“Tell me more about your college friends. I bet you have some funny stories,” I said, changing the subject.
Ellis raised his eyebrow at me but didn’t say anything about the subject change. Instead he told me stories about his college days. I laughed until my sides hurt at some of the things they’d done.
“Why did you become a lawyer?” I asked when he took a break from talking.
“My grandpa was a lawyer. I liked the idea of what he did. When I was in school I decided that I didn’t really like being in the courtroom, but I still wanted to be in law. That’s when I went to the corporate side of things.”
“I can’t imagine going over paper after paper to make sure everything is just right. I think it would put me to sleep.”
“It’s not the most glamourous thing but I’ve always had an eye for detail and that’s only one part of the job. We deal with negotiations, labor law, financial transactions, mergers, a little bit of everything really.”
“Okay so that doesn’t sound so boring.”
“It’s not. I actually enjoy going to work every day.”
“How long have you worked there?”
“Almost three years. I got the job right out of law school.”
“Wow, that was lucky.”
“Not really, I was top of my class and pretty much had the pick of what job I wanted.”
“Sexy and smart. Hmm, I wonder what other talents you have?”
“Many, I have many hidden talents,” he said suggestively. “I believe I showed you one or two last night.”
“Hmm, I think I might have forgotten. You should probably show me again.”
/> Ellis took my glass of wine and set it down. He moved closer to me and gently pushed me down onto the couch. I thought he was going to kiss me or maybe ‘punish” me like he did last night but instead he put my feet up in his lap. He took my boots and socks off and started rubbing my feet. It was heavenly.
“See,” he said grinning, “many hidden talents.”
I started laughing when I realized what he’d done.
“Gotcha,” he said.
“I thought I was getting punished,” I said with a pout.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll definitely punish you, after all, you did make fun of me earlier,” he said, still rubbing my feet.
“Where did you learn to do that?” I asked.
“Just a natural talent.”
I raised my eyebrow at him. “Really?”
“Yep, I give a great back and neck massage too.”
“I’ll take you up on that someday.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensations of my foot massage. I think it felt extra good after skating today.
Chapter 32
The foot massage was actually making me a little sleepy. I hadn’t spent that much time outside in a long time. But I didn’t want to sleep so I reluctantly took my feet out of Ellis’s lap and sat up. He looked at me questioningly.
“That was so relaxing you were putting me to sleep. And the last thing I want to do right now is sleep,” I said, as I straddled his legs.
“Oh really?”
“Yep.”
“So, what did you have in mind?”
“This,” I said, and slowly started to kiss him.
Every second that I kissed him made my body hotter. I wanted more. I pulled back and tugged on his sweater. He got the hint and took it off and I did the same with mine. I resumed the kiss and pressed my chest against his. I loved the feel of his skin on mine.
His hands found the clasp of my bra. He unhooked it and slid the straps off my shoulders. I sat back so he could remove it all the way. His fingers started teasing my nipples. I moaned in his mouth.
Ellis broke our kiss and I felt his tongue replace his fingers on my nipple. The sensation was wonderful. I tried reaching for the button on his jeans, but he batted my hands away.
Trapped in a Castle Page 15
