Always, Ella

by Sofia Sawyer

  Between the feel of her soft skin and how his hands raked over her body, so close to the hidden areas he was now desperate to know, to her quiet moans when he hit the right spot, to the way she moved her hands along his back—he was on fire.

  For her.

  She’d gotten under his skin in a way like no other woman had. There were so many moments where he wanted to flip over and pull her on top of him. He wanted to grip those full hips again, this time while he sunk deep into her. He wanted to hear those moans, his name falling from her lips.

  This is bad. So bad.

  Thankfully, the group had a break for a couple of hours before they were due at Bin 142 for wine and dessert pairing. He couldn’t handle another moment alone with Elena if he expected to stop himself from following through on all the dirty thoughts racing through his mind.

  And what about the way her breath hitched when his hands moved up her thigh? Or the lusty look she gave him as he dressed? Was that all in his head, or was she feeling the same raging emotions coursing through his veins?

  Jackson was crawling out of his skin, his adrenaline and lust coursing through him in a way that was driving him crazy.

  When he got back to the apartment, he praised the gods for finding it empty. He had to blow off some of this pent-up energy before he saw her again. Jumping in the shower to wash off the oil, Jackson took hold of the erection that still hadn’t gone away. He wrapped his hand around it, pumping back and forth, looking for a release.

  But his effort to shake off the desire he had for Elena had been futile. Instead, his mind raced with thoughts of her. Her full, kissable mouth. The shapely legs that led to a grabbable ass. The way she whispered his name. And those dark eyes that were full of mischief when she had gotten him back last night at the yoga studio.

  She was incredible.

  He let out a roar as his orgasm came hot and heavy, pulsating through his body aggressively. And as he came down from the high of it, he realized one thing.

  He still couldn’t get Elena out of his mind.

  Jackson walked into the small wine bar a couple hours later, hormones and emotions still on high alert. Scanning the group, his eyes landed on Elena. He sucked in a breath as he took her in. Dressed in a coral sundress that highlighted her tanned skin and wearing wedged shoes that accented her toned legs, she was breathtaking. She turned to greet Maritza, her thick, curly brown hair falling in attractive layers along her cheek, jawline, shoulders, and breasts.

  Beautiful.

  That insatiable burn ran through his body again.

  This is going to be a long night.

  “Hey, you!” she greeted, wrapping him in a tight hug and kissing his cheek.

  “Aw, you two are too cute,” Natalie commented as she strolled by with a glass of wine and took a seat next to Hari.

  “What was that for?” he asked softly in her ear, breathing in her shampoo's floral scent.

  “Would look kinda weird if I didn’t greet my boyfriend with affection, wouldn’t it?”

  “Then you missed.”

  She cocked her head. “Huh?”

  “You missed. You kissed my cheek instead of my lips.”

  She dropped her arms and rolled her eyes. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  He held up his hands in mock defense. “Hey, can’t blame a guy for trying.” He may have been playing it cool with light teasing, but his insides screamed at him to pull her in and kiss her hard. His fingers twitched, threatening to do it.

  Jackson clenched his fist to keep his body from following through on his overwhelming desire and followed her to a small two-seater table. Taking a seat across from her, he scanned the table. “What’s this?” he pointed to the fabric on the table.

  “Alright, everyone,” Stephanie said at the back of the small space. “This evening’s activity is going to continue to ravage your senses. We touched upon most of the senses during the massage today: smell, sight, sound, and touch. Now, we’ll focus on taste. In a few moments, we’ll be having a wine and dessert tasting with a twist. Men, we’ll have you blindfold your ladies first and feed her. Ladies, you’ll describe what you’re tasting in detail, honing in on your sense of taste. Your partner will tell you if you’re right or not. Then we’ll switch.”

  Elena picked up the fabric and tied it around her head to cover her eyes. After everyone was secured, the sommeliers came out to the tables with wine flights and a range of mini desserts, all looking delicious.

  Elena bit her lip. “What is it?”

  “Well, that would ruin the point of this, now wouldn’t it?” he joked. He picked up a small round chocolate truffle. “Open your mouth.”

  She parted her lips tentatively, and he lifted the chocolate to her mouth, his mind instantly flashing a very not platonic thought. For a second, he saw Elena opening her mouth just like this, her brown gaze steady on his, as she wrapped her lips around his cock.

  Fuck.

  Her pink tongue took the chocolate from him. He had to stifle a groan as the warm wetness from it grazed his fingertips, only making his dirty thoughts feel that much more realistic.

  And if the urge to kiss her wasn’t bad enough before, it now nearly brought him to his knees. He stared at her lips, the soft, plushness of them. He wanted to lean across the table and capture them, to taste the mixture of her and chocolate.

  “Is it a truffle?” she asked, pulling him from his fantasies.

  He cleared his throat and looked at the place card. “Yes, but what kind?”

  “I’m not sure, but it’s so smooth.”

  He picked up her hand and placed the first glass of wine in it. “Take a sip of that, maybe that will stir your senses.”

  She sipped the bubbling wine. Jackson watched as it traveled down her slender throat, past the steady pulse in her neck. How that managed to turn him on was beyond him.

  Elena smiled. “Champagne truffles. I remember having something like this when I visited Boston a few years ago. Some little Swiss chocolate shop in one of the main shopping areas. They were delicious.”

  “You’re right. Ready for the next one?”

  “So ready.”

  He laughed, forgetting how much Elena loved desserts, almost as much as she loved her fennel sausage. He was glad she wasn’t one of those girls who focused on eating as little as possible. Elena’s love for food was endearing. Even half-covered, he could see her love for it all over her face.

  He brought the next mini dessert to her mouth, and within the second it hit her tongue, she called it out. “Tiramisu.”

  “Too easy for an Italian, especially with your mom’s cooking.” He paused and looked at her lips again. “Looks like I got a little cream on you.”

  She touched her mouth, completely missing it. “Can you help?”

  “Sure.”

  Reaching out slowly, the pad of his thumb wiped away the cream from the corner of her mouth. Instinctively, her tongue licked it straight off his finger. He sucked in a breath, now transfixed on her lips. As he ran his finger along her bottom lip, her mouth dropped open just a bit. She sat absolutely still, aside from her steady, deep breath—the warmth of it blowing across his hand.

  “Elena,” he let out.

  She didn’t move. Didn’t protest. Instead, she sat perfectly still as if scared any movement would make him stop touching her like this. A small gesture, but intimate. He wished he could take off the blindfold so he could see her full reaction. He needed to see if there was lust in her eyes.

  A camera whirled in their direction, capturing that very moment and snapping Jackson out of his trance. He needed to create a little distance. This was all starting to feel too real. Too addicting. And it would be a horrible idea to give in to whatever feelings he was having for Elena.

  This was all pretend, wasn’t it? All for the show.

  They had a deal. He needed to remember that. These private looks, soft moans, and quiet moments were nothing more than that.

  As he pulled his han
d away, he could have sworn he saw her mouth drop into a frown before recovering. He cleared his throat. “How about we raise the stakes?” he said loudly, capturing everyone’s attention.

  Now Elena was definitely frowning, probably scared he was going to pull the rug from under her again.

  “Why don’t we have a little friendly competition? My Ella here always talks about how communication is important in a relationship.” Well, at least that’s what he read when he researched her blog. “Why don’t we have a little fun with this? We’ll award points to couples who guess the tastings right. Kinda like that Heads Up game. The non-guessing partner can give hints but can’t give it away.”

  “That sounds like fun!” Maritza said. The others nodded and agreed.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Elena asked.

  “Just following your lead. What better way to test communication than something like this?”

  “Clever.”

  He breathed out a sigh of relief. Changing the focus of the night from intimate to a challenge was the right call. He knew how competitive Elena was. Rather than focus on the sensation of his hands on her mouth, she’d focus on the tasting and getting it right. Anything to stop her from feeling how his hands shook as they grazed her skin.

  When the game was in full-swing, Jackson realized how good they were together. Maybe they had an unfair advantage over the other couples. After all, they’d known each other for nearly two decades. Even though they hadn’t spent much time around each other these last few years, they knew the other’s personality and quirks well enough to work together. Not only did they get most of the wine and dessert tastings right, but they did it in record time, blowing everyone else out of the water.

  Elena pulled off his blindfold after the last round and wrapped him in an excited hug, hopping against him with pride. “We crushed it!”

  “Wow. You two are on fire,” Zach commented. “How did you guys get in such good sync? It’s like you shared the same brain.”

  Elena turned back to Jackson, her arms still wrapped around his shoulders. He was relieved she didn’t let go. He wasn’t quite ready to let her slip out of his arms.

  “We were friends before anything.”

  Right. Friends. Just friends, he reminded himself.

  But his body and heart screamed in protest.

  12

  Elena

  “I’m going to kill her,” Elena fumed as she paced the small balcony, her phone clutched against her ear. She had intended to spend the morning relaxing with a cup of coffee and enjoying the sunny and comfortable weather. Just a quick check-in on her work emails, respond to her clients so they stayed happy, and call it a day.

  All so simple...until Brittany.

  “Honey, you shouldn't let that stuff get to you,” her mother Alma replied on the other end.

  Elena knew her anxiousness wasn’t all due to Brittany. Not really. She had been trying to distract herself from her unrelenting feelings for Jackson, the same feelings that had tortured her all night. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered the feel of his fingertips on her lips during the mystery tasting. The rough pad of his thumb mixed with a gentle touch, it was enough to drive her insane.

  Thank God for the blindfold. Had she had been forced to look into his endless blue eyes, she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from leaning across the table and kissing him right then and there. Something about how he had looked at her, spoke to her, and touched her these last couple of days had her out of sorts. He filled her every waking thought. As much as she tried to convince herself that it was all part of the deal they had made, her heart cracked a little at the thought.

  Not good.

  Thankfully, her work inbox had delivered her a brief distraction she needed to push these unusual feelings to the recesses of her mind, if only for a moment.

  Elena had only been out of the office for two measly days, and somehow three of her projects had been hijacked. Brittany passed it off as being a “team player,” but Elena was a writer for Christ’s sake. She could read between the lines of those overly helpful emails.

  “I can’t turn my back for one minute,” she muttered as she plopped down onto the outdoor loveseat and scrolled through another infuriating email.

  “Enough about this Brittany. I want to hear all about the show. Your father and I missed you at dinner last night.”

  Elena’s parents were her favorite people. To some, that may seem lame, but she really did love them to death. Living only twenty minutes away on John’s Island, they always got together for family dinners on Monday nights. Her mom would spend Sundays making her world-famous sauce, and on Monday, Elena always left with a full heart and even fuller stomach.

  Plus, it didn’t hurt that her mom sent her off with several days’ worth of leftovers. It had gotten a little depressing to cook for one after she and Brad had broken up.

  “It’s alright.”

  “Mija, just alright?” her father’s lyrical voice came on the line. Somehow, that man always sounded like he was ready to break out in song and dance. His vibrant personality stole the spotlight no matter where they were.

  “Got me on speaker, huh?” Elena smiled.

  “He insisted. You know how antsy he gets when school’s out.”

  Elena’s father had been an archaeologist early in his career, but when her mother got pregnant, he settled down and became a professor⁠—a real-life Indiana Jones. His job was the reason they were brought to Charleston nearly two decades ago, and he’d been teaching at the College of Charleston ever since.

  “It’s been...interesting.” Elena bit her lip as she thought of Jackson’s bare, muscular body on the massage table.

  “Jackson is treating you well, yes?” Her father, Rodrigo, asked. “Do I need to straighten him out?” he joked with an empty threat.

  “He’s been a perfect gentleman, papa.”

  “And the couples? How is working with them?” her mother interjected.

  “Surprisingly good. Coaching them felt a lot more natural than I thought it would.”

  A car horn sounded followed by a shout of her name. She stood from her chair, Marley trailing behind curiously, and peered over the railings. Jackson stood up through the open roof of his Jeep and smiled.

  “Guys, I gotta go,” she said a little breathlessly, distracted by the grin Jackson reserved just for her. “I’ll come by as soon as I can. Love you!” she said quickly and hung up. “What are you doing here?” she asked, checking the time on her phone.

  “Making sure you don’t drown today. Can I come up?”

  “Sure.” Her heart thudded in her chest. Why did the idea of Jackson in her apartment feel dangerous?

  Moments later, he pushed through the front door. Marley did a happy dance, rubbing against his legs for pets as her tail wagged a mile a minute.

  “Hey, girl. Long time, no see.”

  Elena leaned against the small island in her kitchen, trying to appear casual even as her insides turned inside out. “So…” she dragged out. “It’s barely nine. What’s up?”

  “I know we don’t shoot until later this afternoon, but I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about you.” His face flushed, and he coughed. Elena held her breath. “I meant you and surfing,” he recovered. “Mae said you haven’t surfed. Is that right?”

  “Yup.” She tried to keep her voice from shaking. He was thinking about her?

  “Well, clearly, all I do is surf.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And if we’re going to be a believable couple, don’t you think we would share our hobbies with each other?”

  “You’ve got a point.”

  “Which means you can’t look like an amateur during the surf lessons today. I say we get down to Folly Beach now so I can prep you on the basics.”

  Her eyes went wide. “You’re right. Oh God. I’m totally not prepared.”

  There was his damn grin again, making it impossible to say no. “Get changed and meet me at the
car. We’ll get you ready. Don’t worry.”

  Ten minutes later, Elena slipped into the open door of the Jeep and buckled herself in. Jackson pushed his sunglasses up and scanned her body, causing her to feel warm all over.

  “What?” she asked to break the charged tension.

  “Is that what you’re wearing to surf in?”

  She looked down at her cute turquoise bikini peeking out from her cover-up. “What’s wrong with this? I wear it to the beach all the time.”

  He smirked. “Do you do anything at the beach other than lay out?”

  “I’ll take a dip in the water to cool off.”

  Jackson let out a laugh⁠—one that she was coming to love⁠—and shook his head. “Mae knows you too well.” He reached behind him and tossed her some clothes.

  “What’s this?”

  “A rash guard and board shorts. Two seconds of paddling, and you’ll be falling out of that teeny bikini. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that all over TV, huh?”

  She held up the clothes and inspected them. “I’ll never fit in these. Mae’s petite.” Elena looked down at herself. “I’ve got boobs and an ass.”

  “That you do,” he said in a low voice, his eyes lingering on her in a way that made her shiver. He blinked a couple of times, pulling himself from whatever thought he got lost in. “It’s from one of her ex-girlfriends. She said you’re about the same size.”

  Jackson put the Jeep into drive and took the connector bridge to James Island. Elena watched the beach houses fly by as they made it to the small bridge leading into Folly Beach.

  It was a beautiful day. The sun was bright and cheery, reflecting off the calm waters that filled the marshes. The air was fragrant from the colorful flowers lining the roads.

  Her hair blew around wildly in the wind. Jackson slipped a hand to the seats behind him and pulled out a baseball hat. He placed it on her head, helping the hair stay in place. The act was simple but kind and reminded Elena of when they were kids. She, Mae, and Jackson would always spend long days on the beach at their parent’s Sullivan’s Island home, sitting out by the water until the sun had set and the air had chilled. She had always forgotten to bring a hoodie with her, assuming the warm summer air would last into the night.