Her mother stopped mixing and turned on her to pull her in for a hug. Ella didn’t even care that she now had flour all over her shirt. “I’m so happy for you. But are you sure about this?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Don’t you go breaking that man’s heart, Ella. He’s not the kind of guy who’d be happy with a weekend fling.”
Ella knew that and she smiled more. “No worries. I’m going to stay.”
“Stay? Are you sure?”
“Mom, the other day you were begging me to stay.”
Her mother released her. “Honey, of course I want you to stay but if you’re happy in New York, I’m happy for you.”
“Well, I’m not happy in New York and coming here, being in this small town again, made me realize this.”
“So what do you plan to do?” said her mother, pouring a cup of sugar into her mixing bowl.
“At the moment, enjoy my night with Paul.”
“What, you’ve got a date with Paul? So you told Craig to pack his bags?” said Tara, coming into the kitchen like her firecracker self. She had dried bits of pottery all over her, including clumps in her hair. She looked a mess but seemed unusually vibrant.
“Yes I said goodbye to Craig, and yes again I’ve got a date with Paul. And you look like something blew up all over you.”
“I know, but I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with that damn pot.”
Tara helped herself to a glass of water and snagged a still-too-hot muffin to eat. “So what are you wearing on your date?”
It was on the tip of Ella’s tongue to say she hoped not a whole lot. “Not sure.”
“Did you bring anything fancy with you? I figured you’d be the one with all the New York stuff,” said her sister, giving her a friendly wink.
Ella hadn’t brought much because she knew she wouldn’t be partying but that didn’t mean she hadn’t packed at least one tantalizing black dress. Smiling, she turned to her sister, picked up a second muffin and said, “You know you’re right. I’ve got the perfect outfit for tonight.” Then it dawned on her. She’d brought the dress but lacked the boots. “Would you have a pair of sexy boots I could borrow?”
“Good thing we’re both the same size. I’ve got the perfect boots for you. Just wait until you see them, you’ll love them.”
Giddy with what she was about to do tonight, Ella didn’t quite know how to spend the rest of her day. She’d been anxious all morning, trying to find the perfect words to end her relationship with Craig but with that out of the way, and with it having gone a lot better than she’d anticipated, she still had more than six hours to kill.
Her sister pulled her arm. “You and I are going somewhere.”
“Where?” asked Ella. Her sister’s idea of a good time often left Ella feeling left out. It wasn’t so much the years separating them but their personalities. The last time Ella had made her go out for a fun night they’d spent two hours firing at each other in a sport called paintball which Ella had hated.
“You are not to say another word until we get there and if you do,” said Tara with a devilish grin on her face, “then you won’t be getting my sexy boots.”
“That’s blackmail.”
Tara laughed. “Yeah, I know. Maybe I should have been the lawyer in the family.”
Ella smiled as she let her sister drag her upstairs. “Well, I’m game but you can’t go anywhere until you get that stuff out of your hair.”
Her sister automatically stopped on the stair and started to yank at the dried mud in her hair. “You know what? The place we’re going will take care of that.”
Now that more than anything had Ella questioning agreeing to her sister’s plan.
Paul was more nervous than the time he’d picked up Ella for their high school prom. Back then the suit he’d borrowed from a friend had been too big. It had actually been Ella’s mom who had hemmed the pants after discovering him in their barn one day after school trying to do the job himself. He remembered feeling embarrassed and ashamed. Ashamed his father wouldn’t get him his own suit and too damn proud to ask for help. All that Ella’s mother had said was she’d like to hem them to make sure they were done right. Then with her usual tact she’d asked if he’d do her a favor and pile the load of wood that needed to be stacked by the back door. That had been her way. He knew it now. She had used her motherly wisdom when faced with an obvious red-faced teenager who had wanted to look handsome and polished the night he’d come to pick up her daughter for their high school dance.
Paul realized he probably should have told Ella his plans but there was a part of him, that old romantic part that had wielded itself to his heart when he’d first met Ella, wanting to surprise her.
Knocking softly on the door, he wasn’t surprised when Gwen it.
“My, don’t you look handsome,” said Ella’s mom, urging him inside, with a wide smile.
“Thank you,” he said, fighting the urge to blush. For God’s sake, get a grip. You’re not a kid anymore.
“Just you wait until you see Ella,” said Gwen, but she didn’t have to say another word.
Walking down the stairs, Ella quite literally took his breath away. She wore an off the shoulder slinky black dress that outlined all her curves and sexy black boots that reached all the way up to her knees. No necklace adorned her graceful neck but a pair of tiny diamond earrings dangled from her ears.
“You look amazing,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said.
Paul took great delight when she blushed. The two of them were acting like love-sick teenagers and that helped the knot of anxiety that had been growing ever since he’d left her this morning. Half of him had thought he was stupid for not going all the way while the other half worried giving Ella time to herself would give her time to second guess her plans. And more than anything Paul wanted to be part of her plans.
Ella fastened up her long black winter dress jacket.
“Shall we?” he said, offering her his arm.
She nodded.
“We’ll keep the porch light on but feel free to stay out all night,” called Tara from the kitchen, which immediately elicited a huge blush from Ella.
“Just ignore her. She’s trying to get me riled.”
“Personally, I like her advice,” said Paul, as he helped Ella into his truck.
Tucked safely inside his truck, Paul started down the road. They talked about a lot of silly things. How Mrs. Beckman’s house shouldn’t have been allowed to fall to rot, how Main Street seemed to be making a comeback, and when they passed said street she turned to him and asked where they were going.
“It’s a surprise,” said Paul, hoping like hell he wasn’t making a mistake.
Ten minutes later they turned onto a familiar dirt road which Paul kept plowed all winter.
“Paul, are we really going to your hunting shack?”
“Would you be disappointed if I said yes?”
She leaned closer to him in the truck, “No way. I’d love it.”
“You sure, because if you really want to go to a fancy restaurant I also happened to make reservations in town at one, just in case.”
She laughed. The sound travelled straight to Paul’s heart.
“Don’t be silly. You know me. I’d rather it was only you and me anytime.”
Paul glanced her way and a minute later took the right in the road. A second later he heard her gasp.
“That is not your shack.”
He grinned. “Oh, part of the shack is still there but over the years I’ve sort of made this place my home.” A home away from his ex. He thought that but didn’t want to say it, fearing to ruin the mood.
“You did this to keep away from her, didn’t you?”
And that’s exactly why Ella and he were perfect. She totally got him. “Yeah.”
“Did you ever bring her to the shack?”
There was hesitation in Ella’s voice and he knew why. The old hunting cabin, really more a shack in
the woods, had been their place. The place they’d had solely to themselves to get to know one another. Their first time making love had been on an old worn cot and while the experience had been wonderful that cot certainly hadn’t been.
Paul parked the truck. “I brought her up here once and she took one look at the shack and demanded that I turn around and take her back into town. I think we had our first big fight that day.”
Ella grinned and then like she realized she probably shouldn’t, she bit her lower lip. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t be happy that you didn’t bring her here but I sort of thought of this place as our spot.”
He leaned closer and hauled her to him, needing to feel the softness of her lips. “And that’s exactly what I thought. This place has nothing but happy memories for me. I hope you don’t mind coming here with me tonight.”
She leaned in and before he could say another thing kissed him. Hesitant at first, they quickly learned the feel of each other’s lips. Ella was the one who pulled away. “Thank you for that.”
“For kissing you. Any time, darlin’,” he said trying to haul her closer for another kiss.
This time Ella leaned away from him. “I want you to show me around this magnificent shack of yours.”
Paul grinned. More than anything he wanted to show Ella around his place. Getting out of the truck and helping her to the door, he swept her up into her arms as she squealed in delight. She was light and giggled as he stepped over the threshold with her.
“You’re only supposed to do that when you get married,” she said.
He gently settled her on her feet. “You, Ella, are the only one I’ve ever done that to. In my heart we are married.”
She looked down at her boots and Paul worried for a second he was pushing things too fast. When she looked up at him, her eyes were glassy.
“Shit, I probably shouldn’t have said that,” he said.
She moved closer and touched his face. “Paul it took me leaving to realize everything I ever wanted I had here, right at home, with you. You are my one and only.”
Paul’s heartbeat sped up. He kicked the door shut behind him and pulled Ella into his arms. This time their kiss was like a slow burn, sensually hot and steady. Together they shucked off their jackets, not caring where they fell. Paul backed them up until they bumped into the edge of the kitchen table.
Ella slowly released her hold on him and turned her head. “Did you make all this for us?”
Now Paul was the hesitant one. “Yeah. I sort of wanted to cook for you.”
“That has to be the sweetest thing any man could say.”
Laughing, Paul moved them into the kitchen as he started adding the condiments to the table. “Well, you might think that but you haven’t tried my cooking yet.”
She grabbed him around his middle, pulling him in for a hug. “Doesn’t matter. The mere fact that you made it means I will love it.”
It took a lot of willpower for Paul to finish the meal when all he could think about was peeling Ella out of that damn sexy dress she wore. He let her pick the wine and once they were seated they settled in with small talk. It was an easy conversation. Ella wanted to know all about the changes that were taking place along Main Street and he eagerly filled her in. He told her about his plans for an expansion and realized when she slowly but steadily grilled him she was using her lawyer smarts to give him some very sound advice. It was the type of conversation he’d always wanted to have in a partner. The type of talk that made a man relax after a long hard day. Ella was elegant and poised, praising him countless times for his cooking skills and genuinely impressed with his carpentry. After their second glass of wine, Paul brought Ella from the kitchen into the large living room.
He turned on the music and pulled her in for a slow dance. “Remember this?”
She tilted her head up to look at him, her eyes looked seductive and she felt as sexy as hell in his arms. The sensual music of Neil Diamond’s song, Play Me, transported them both back to another time when they were young and thought they’d make all the right choices. More than a decade had passed and Paul more than anything wanted to ensure the rest of their time was spent together.
Ella gently kissed him and then said, “I’ve never forgotten. It’s our song. You bribed the DJ at our prom to play it. How could I ever forget?”
“I love holding you, Ella,” said Paul, who was letting his hands get reacquainted with the woman in his arms who felt like she belonged there.
“I don’t want to rush you but there’s one room I haven’t shown you yet,” said Paul, taking her hand and leading her up a floor to his bedroom.
“I seriously hope it’s that bedroom of yours.”
Paul laughed. The old Ella would never been brave enough to say that or state her demands and it was with knowing how much she’d changed that his grin grew. The times they’d made love she’d been quiet by necessity and circumstances but Paul planned to ensure he made her roar.
With nervous butterflies in his own stomach, and remembering the first time he’d led her to the shack’s bedroom, anticipation coiled hot and thick through his blood. A lot had changed but some things remained the same. Her hands felt the same, tiny and dainty in his and he loved that. The shack had been transformed into a two-storey log cabin equipped with a large stone fireplace and a master suite upstairs that had a large double-bowed window custom-fitted to provide the best sunlight in the place. But more than that – they’d changed. Ella was still that driven girl he’d fallen in love with but over the years shyness had turned into a sexy walk and swagger that had him all but tripping over his feet. And he’d changed, both physically and mentally. He was a take charge kind of guy who’d started with nothing and worked hard to get where he was. He knew what he wanted and went after it. Want he wanted more than anything was Ella sprawled naked in his bed for the entire night.
“Paul, this place is amazing.”
“Thanks, I did a lot of it myself.”
“I always knew you were a man good with his hands but seriously, this place belongs in a magazine.”
“Nope. No magazine. The last thing I want is for my ex to realize what I’ve done to this place.”
“I thought you two were divorced.”
“Oh, trust me we are and more than anything I want nothing to do with her again. Ella, you have to know the only reason I married her –”
“Shh, you don’t have to tell me your reasons.”
He pulled her into the bedroom and she gasped at the large King-sized bed. “Yeah, I do. When you left I thought you’d come back but after the years when you didn’t and when I thought I had to get on with my life, Debbie entered it. I know now she was after me for my money. I married her because she said she was pregnant.”
“Oh, Paul, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not. More than anything I feel like the lucky one who got away. I’m not even sure she really was expecting but about three months into our marriage she said she’d miscarried and things sort of went downhill fast.”
“The only reason I even said yes to Craig was because like you I thought I should try to get on with my life. That’s a sad reason.”
Paul did not like hearing that man’s name on Ella’s lips. “Guess we both made some big mistakes.”
Ella sat on his bed and patted the spot next to her. “I think the mistakes helped to make us the people we are today.”
“And who exactly are we?”
“We are the two people who fell hopelessly in love years ago and tonight it’s all about rekindling that love.”
Paul didn’t sit on the bed. He knelt between her legs and leaned his body into her, kissing her with everything he had.
“From the first moment I saw you I loved you,” he said, whispering the words into her ear watching as the familiar goose bumps skimmed to life along her exposed shoulder blade.
“We were five when we met in elementary school. You did not love me then. I recall in fact you pushing me in the mud countless t
imes.”
Paul laughed. “That’s a five-year-old boy’s version of love, Ella.”
He reclaimed her lips and loved how her hands settled on his back. When they broke for a breath, she said, “Leaving you was the hardest thing I did but I’m so glad I came back to where I belong.”
“And where exactly is that, Ella?”
Ella captured his face in her hands. “Wherever you are, Paul. Wherever you are.”
She kissed him then like a woman who knew what she wanted. Quickly they became a familiar mess of tangled limbs as they shimmied more fully onto the bed. Paul kicked off his shoes, and then slowly unzipped Ella’s sexy boots. She unhooked the buttons on his dress shirt so slowly he thought he’d go insane. Paul was about to help her out of her dress but Ella had him beat. She whipped the dress over her head and this time Paul was the one gasping.
“Sweet Jesus, where did you get that?”
Ella laughed and lazily drew her arms up over her head. “You like?”
“Oh my God, you are seriously going to kill me.”
“This is a gift from Tara. We went into this store to the right of Main Street called the Sex Kitten.”
“My new favorite store,” said Paul, loving the sexy outfit his Ella was wearing. The hot pink strapless push-up bra and the sexy pink thong had him all but panting with need.
“Remind me to thank you sister.”
“How about thanking me, Mr.”
“Oh darlin’, I’ll be thanking you all night.”
Lying beside her, Paul trailed light kisses down her neck. “You sure about this Ella?”
Her fingers flew to his belt buckle. If that wasn’t an affirmative, he was an idiot. Still though, he needed her to understand he wanted more than a one-night stand. He wanted her in his life for good…forever, till death do you part, which considering how horrible his first marriage was surprised him.
“Ella, will you marry me?”
She laughed. “That’s supposed to come after we date, or at least after the dessert part.”
He leaned on one elbow to look down at her. Her skin was flushed from their already heated make-out session but she looked up at him with those hazel eyes of hers he knew to the depth of his soul. “I don’t want to waste the rest of my life. Too much time has gone already without you in my life.” God, maybe I am pushing things too quickly.
What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 7) Page 166