He eased into a stand and gathered his tackle box and fishing gear and began walking back toward his house. He glanced up at Ellie"s window. She was back, and he immediately felt a tug in his gut. From the looks of things, she was back to reading again.
Something, he wasn"t sure what, made her look up at that moment, as their gazes connected. He felt it. More than a mere tug in his gut or a stirring in his blood. It was a rush of desire that he knew had everything to do with how he"d seen her last night while standing at that window. s.e.xy couldn"t get any better.
Figuring they didn"t need to pa.s.s the time away just staring at each other, he threw up his hand to acknowledge her presence. Smiling amiably, she waved back.
That was that. At least he quickly told himself so. Shifting his gaze away, he kept on walking.
Ellie watched until Uriel was no longer in sight, and thought that he was just as handsome as Grant Hatteras, the hero in the ma.n.u.script she was reading. Grant, the man who had captured Tamara Carrington"s heart.
In her mind, Uriel had all of Grant"s physical attributes. He was handsome as sin and had a body that could make a woman drool. And he could kiss you in a way that made your toes curl. She"d been only sixteen when she"d kissed Uriel, but that single kiss had made a gigantic impact on her and had been the basis of comparison for all the other kisses she"d shared since. No one had come close.
When she"d confided in Darcy about it, her best friend had rolled her eyes and said that every girl remembered her first kiss and thought it was special. But Ellie truly believed that, for some reason, it was more than that for her. And she wanted to believe that Uriel had gotten caught up in the kiss as much as she had, before Darcy had made a mess of things. She couldn"t help but wonder how far things would have gone if Darcy hadn"t shown up. What if the two of them had been completely alone, with no one spying on them? Would he have been her first in more ways than one?
She drew in a deep breath, thinking that reading about Grant and Tamara was putting her into a romantic mood. She could actually feel the chemistry flowing between them, the surge of energy that would flow from Grant whenever he knew that Tamara was near. Even when they would stand across the room from each other and their gazes would meet, there was something there, a desire that went so deep that merely reading the pa.s.sages left Ellie breathless.
She glanced around her bedroom, specifically at the clothes hanging in the closet. Aunt Mable"s clothes. She was supposed to start packing them up today, but since she had started reading this ma.n.u.script, she"d been so entranced she couldn"t think of doing anything other than finishing it. So she would. For however long it took. She hadn"t taken the time to read for pleasure in years, and if she wanted to take a few lazy days, then she deserved to do so.
With that decision made, she curled up in the chair and continued reading.
Chapter 6.
The next morning, Uriel stepped out on the back porch with a cup of coffee in his hand, and glanced around. It would be another beautiful day, and he couldn"t help wondering if the fishing would be better today than it had been yesterday. In a few hours, he would grab his fishing rod and a cooler for his six-pack and find out.
He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket when it rang, and grimaced when he saw the caller was his mother. Apparently she did remember she had a son every once in a while. He was well aware she had her own life now, but was finding it annoying that she only called when she wanted him to do something.
He still couldn"t grasp how well he didn"t know her. His mother was a totally different person than the one he"d known growing up. The one who would carpool him and his friends to school and attend all those activities he had been involved in. The one who would lovingly tuck him into bed at night. The one he thought was not only a fantastic mother but a wonderful wife to his father. She had always seemed so happy. But both he and his father had discovered she had actually been very sad.
"Yes, Mom?"
"Uri, how are you, sweetheart?"
He leaned back against a rail. "I"m fine, Mom, and how are you?"
"Busy. I need a favor from you."
Like there would be any other reason for your call. "What do you need?"
"I know this is short notice, but I need for you to escort Allison Hampton"s daughter, Charity, to that dinner and dance Sat.u.r.day night to raise money for diabetes."
Uriel figured that that must be the same function his father was avoiding this weekend. "Sorry to disappoint you, Mom, but I"m not in Charlotte. I"m out at the lake." Not that he"d have taken snooty Charity Hampton anyway.
"Oh."
He couldn"t help wondering if her mind was reliving any memories of how things used to be when she, his father and he would spend time at Cavanaugh Lake.
"Well, have fun at the lake," she said, interrupting his thoughts. "I"ll talk with you again soon."
Yes, when you need another favor, he thought before saying, "Goodbye, Mom."
She clicked off the line before returning his goodbye.
He put his phone back in his pocket, thinking he would make sure he and his mother had a serious conversation, once he returned to Charlotte.
He took a sip of coffee and glanced over at the house next door-specifically at the upstairs bedroom window. Ellie was back, sitting at the window, reading. What in the world was she reading that was still holding her interest? Late yesterday evening after dinner, when he"d come outside to relax, she had been sitting in that chair by the window. And around two in the morning, when he hadn"t been able to sleep yet again, he had come outside. From the brightness of the light in the bedroom, he could make out her silhouette behind the drawn curtains, as she sat in that same chair. If she had come outside the house at all yesterday, he hadn"t been aware of it.
He checked his watch. He needed to go into Gatlinburg to grab a few supplies, and had volunteered to pick up whatever she needed for her month-long stay as well.
After drinking his coffee, he would head over next door for her list.
Ellie rubbed her hand over her face in frustration, not wanting to believe it. An unfinished ma.n.u.script!
Whoever had sent her aunt these pages to edit could possibly be somewhere working on it at this moment. But that wasn"t helping Ellie, who had gotten caught up in the couple"s pa.s.sion as well as the love they were both trying to deny.
She wondered if she should call Smoky Mountain Community College and speak to Aphelia Singleton, a librarian who"d worked with her aunt for years. Maybe she would know of someone named Flame Elbam.
The more Ellie thought about it, she had a strong suspicion that Flame Elbam wasn"t really the person"s true name but a pseudonym. A pseudonym for a woman well-versed in lovemaking. Flame Elbam certainly had a vivid imagination, and Ellie was convinced the person had to be a s.e.xual G.o.ddess.
Ellie had gotten pulled into Grant"s and Tamara"s s.e.xual adventures, to the point where she had put the pages down last night only when she hadn"t been able to keep her eyes open any longer. And even after that, she had dreamed about all those sumptuous lovemaking scenes she had read. Her body had gotten unbearably hot, and she had awakened that morning infused with a need that had her wishing, of all things, that she"d had her own Grant.
To make matters worse, Uriel had been back outside, exercising again this morning. As inconspicuously as she could, she had watched him from the window and found herself emerged in all kind of fantasies. It didn"t take much to imagine her legs snugly wrapped around the width of his shoulders and her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s coming into contact with the solid wall of his chest.
Unable to deal with further torment, she had forced her gaze away from his flat abs, deciding to let him finish his workout without being spied on. But that didn"t stop her from imagining how his sweaty body would feel on top of hers. At sixteen, she used to have visions of Uriel kissing her, and now she was envisioning a whole lot more than mere kisses.
She was halfway down the stairs, headed toward the kitchen, when she heard a knock at the door. She stopped and breathed in deeply. It was as if her thoughts had conjured up Uriel La.s.siter.
As she made her way to the door, she couldn"t help wondering what he wanted.
After taking a deep breath and pasting a light smile to her lips, she opened the door. "h.e.l.lo, Uri, what brings you over?"
Uriel figured it couldn"t be helped, when his gaze automatically moved from Ellie"s face and went straight to her outfit. One thing that hadn"t changed over the years was her propensity for wearing those short shorts. They weren"t Daisy Dukes, but they were a close cousin. And she looked good in them. h.e.l.l, she looked better than good. Seeing her up close was a lot better than seeing her from a distance at the window. Although that nightgown was his favorite outfit on her so far, these shorts were a close second.
"Uri?"
His gaze moved back up to her face and he pulled in a steadying breath. "Yes?" He then watched as she took the tip of her tongue and traced it over her upper lip.
"Is there something you wanted?"
Slowly, he drew in a deep breath, thinking that was a loaded question if ever there was one. Here she stood at the door, looking like someone he would love to crawl back in bed with this morning, and she had the nerve to ask him a question like that?
Inwardly telling himself to get his libido under control, he said, "Today is Tuesday."
When a dumbfounded look appeared on her face he said, "Remember, I told you I was going into town today. Do you have your list ready?"
"Oh, my gosh, I forgot," she said, slapping the palm of her hand against her forehead. "I"ve been so busy-"
"Reading."
Ellie inwardly gasped. "How do you know that?"
He shrugged. "I noticed. You"ve been sitting by the window a lot, and it looked like you were reading."
She nodded, surprised that he had noticed her. Her aunt"s home was not in his usual line of vision, which meant he had deliberately looked up at the window.
"Yes, I"ve been reading," she said. But she had no intention of telling him just what she"d been reading and how he had fit into her fantasies. "I decided to put off going through my aunt"s things for a while and enjoy a few lazy days."
He smiled. "There"s nothing wrong with that." And then, after a brief pause, he said, "So, is there anything I can get you from town?"
"Yes, but I don"t want to hold you up, and-"
"I"m in no hurry. In fact, why not come with me? That way you can get everything you need, and you"ll probably see a few things you don"t know you need."
She blinked. "You want me to ride into Gatlinburg with you?" she asked in an incredulous tone.
He lifted a brow. "Yes, I believe that was the offer I just made. You have a problem with it?"
Considering the slight frown appearing on his face, she figured he didn"t get it, so she said, "No, I don"t have a problem with it, but I"d hate for your girlfriend to hear about it and get the wrong idea."
His frown was replaced with a s.e.xy smile. "That"s nothing you should concern yourself with, because I don"t have a girlfriend."
He studied her features for a moment before asking, "What about you? Is there some serious guy for you that I need to be worried about?"
The only serious guy in her present was Grant Hatteras. The man had been playing with both her and Tamara"s emotions for the past eighteen hours. "No, I"m not involved with anyone. I"ve been too busy with school."
"In that case, there"s no reason you and I can"t share the same vehicle to go into town and get supplies. Besides, even if we were seriously involved with other people, you and I go way back. We"re nothing but friends, right?"
Ellie quickly forced last night"s dreams from her mind. Friends didn"t do all the things they had done. "Yes, of course. If you don"t mind waiting while I grab my purse, it won"t take me but a second."
"No problem. I"ll wait right here. I don"t need to come inside."
She nodded, and then she rushed off to get her purse, leaving him leaning in her doorway.
Chapter 7.
"I can"t believe you actually eat that stuff." can"t believe you actually eat that stuff."
Ellie couldn"t help but smile at how Uriel had scrunched up his face at the asparagus she had placed in the plastic bag. Upon entering the grocery store, they had gotten their own individual carts, but by silent, mutual consent decided to shop together.
"It"s good, Uriel. You need to try it."
"I"ll pa.s.s."
She laughed. "No, honestly, it"s all in the way it"s prepared. The next time I cook some I"ll be sure to share. I think you"ll be surprised."
Ellie then glanced at the items acc.u.mulating in his basket. She didn"t want to sound like a busybody, but she couldn"t help but say, "You do know there"s a lot of sodium in those microwave dinners, don"t you?"
A smile touched the corners of his lips. "Yes, just like I"m sure you know how many fat grams are in that half-gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream."
Ellie couldn"t help but laugh. "Point taken. From now on I"ll just worry about what"s going into my my cart." cart."
"Thanks, I"d appreciate that."
Ellie couldn"t help but inwardly smile. There was something rather intimate about going grocery shopping with a man. She was getting an idea of the foods he liked and those he didn"t like. And she was discovering other detailed personal information, like the brand of soap he used, what shaving cream and that he liked peppermint candy.
"Are you planning on checking out a movie?"
His question reclaimed her thoughts. She looked over at him with a confused expression. "You"ve got a lot of stuff in your grocery cart that"s symbolic of movie night," he explained.
She couldn"t help but smile when she saw she did indeed. In addition to the microwave popcorn, she had gotten a bag of gummy bears, a big bag of nachos and a canister of the melted cheese. Then there were the sodas as well as the wine coolers.
"No, I hadn"t thought about it actually. These are things I figured I"d treat myself to at least some time during the month I"m here. I couldn"t tell you the last time I watched a movie or went to one. Schoolwork came first."
A look of disbelief appeared on his face. "You mean you haven"t seen anything?"
He then went through a list of recent movies.
"Afraid not."
"Then I"m going to have to fix that. You decide on the night, and then you do the popcorn and wine coolers and I"ll bring the movie. I have a collection of DVDs I"ve brought to the lake with me. We"ll make it a movie night."
Ellie reached for a bottle of Tabasco sauce, refusing to look over at Uriel. She wondered if he realized what he"d just suggested sounded like a date. Probably not, she figured as they kept walking, sharing s.p.a.ce in the aisle. After all, he had defined their relationship as being nothing more than friends.
A half hour later, with their carts fully loaded, they had left the store but not before several people who"d recognized her as Mable Weston"s niece approached her to convey their condolences.
Uriel was very organized when he arranged everything in his SUV, making sure her items were in the back so they could be removed first. "Are there any other stops you"d like to make before we head back home?" he asked.