The two women went inside his house while he and Donovan went to the back of the car to open the trunk. Uriel raised a brow when he saw several pieces of luggage. “Hey, Don, you and Natalie are here just for the weekend, not for the rest of the year, right?”
Donovan chuckled. “Natalie wasn’t sure what to pack, so she tucked in a little of everything.”
Uriel gave him a wry look, knowing how Donovan detested excessiveness in anyone…or at least, he used to. “And you’re still going to marry her with this one major flaw?” he asked teasingly.
Donovan threw his head back and laughed. “In a heartbeat. Tomorrow, if she’d agree to it. Hell, I tried, at a weak moment, getting her to fly to Vegas with me, but she refused.”
Uriel shook his head. “I guess you’re going to have to work harder on her.”
“Just like Ellie is going to have to work harder on you?”
Uriel raised a brow, and tried to keep his body from stiffening at Donovan’s words. “Meaning?”
“She likes you.”
Uriel relaxed somewhat. “And I like her. But nothing is going to keep me from ending our relationship in eight days.”
“Then I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Uriel gave his friend another wry look, wondering if Donovan realized what he was suggesting. A serious relationship, one that could end in marriage, babies, and a little house with a picket fence was nowhere in his future, and Donovan, of all people, knew that.
Deciding it was time to change the subject, Uriel asked, “How are things going with the Steele Corporation? I understand you had a serious internal issue.”
“Everything is fine. Fortunately, we identified the person trying to give company secrets to our competitor. A man in Morgan’s department who’d worked with us for years. I’m glad we made the discovery before he could do any damage.”
Donovan then asked, “So, how does our publishing company look?”
Uriel knew that the reason Donovan was asking had nothing to do with the possibility that they’d made a wrong investment. That wasn’t the case, since they had checked out Vandellas Publishing thoroughly before making the purchase. It had been financially sound. Their main concern was making sure it remained a viable acquisition over the next three years, until they were ready to sell.
“I haven’t finished going through all the documents as I’d planned.”
“I can understand why,” Donovan said, with a smirk on his face.
Uriel ignored him and said, “But I plan to do so this week. I’m anxious to go over their inventory lists to see how many books they published this year, and how many they plan to publish next year. I’m also curious to see who they gave high advances to and what promotional and marketing strategies they intend to use to make sure those books sell.”
They carried the luggage to the door and when they entered they could hear Ellie and Natalie chatting away. He glanced over at Donovan. “They’re still talking about hair products?”
Donovan grinned. “Sounds like it.”
“Then we need to pull them apart and give them something else to talk about, don’t you think?” Uriel said, winking at his friend.
Three days later, Ellie eased out of bed, thinking that this past weekend had been fun spending time with Donovan and Natalie, and in a way, she’d regretted seeing them leave. While Donovan had helped Uriel fry the fish, Natalie had helped her make coleslaw. And for dessert, Natalie had offered to make her aunt’s mouthwatering peach cobbler. That meant going to the grocers and getting all the ingredients they needed. During the drive, Natalie told Ellie her and Donovan’s love story and filled her in on their June wedding plans.
It only took being around the couple for a brief period of time to see how much in love they were. Ellie couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to be loved that much by any man, to know that you, of all women, had been the one he chose to be with for the rest of his life, to be cherished by him, deeply loved to the point where he would want you to be the mother of his babies, the woman he wanted to make love to for the rest of his days.
Ellie glanced back over her shoulder at Uriel, who was sprawled out naked on top of the mattress, heart-stoppingly breathtaking. From the way his erection was growing before her eyes, he was getting aroused all over again. “Make it go down,” she ordered, and couldn’t help but giggle as she slipped into the shorts he had removed last night.
Uriel’s hand, the one that had been thrown over his eyes to ward off the morning sun coming through the window, slid down just enough to look over at her. “You come back to bed and make it go down, because I sure as hell can’t. When it wants you, even a cold shower won’t work.”
Ellie figured there was no use reminding Uriel that it had had her several times during the night. But what she would remind him was that he’d promised to take her to dinner at that Italian restaurant in Gatlinburg. They were winding down the time they would be spending together, because in four days he would leave to return to Charlotte.
She glanced over at the bed and saw that Uriel had drifted back off to sleep. Would he ever give his heart a chance to share a love such as Natalie’s and Donovan’s? Or would he let what happened with his parents’ marriage be the reason he would never want that kind of love, that kind of relationship, for himself? And for that very reason, she would never let him know just how much she loved him, just how much her heart would break in a few days when he would be leaving, going back to a world without her in it.
She slowly walked over to the bed, leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. She then glanced around his bedroom, saw a pen and a piece of paper lying on the dresser, and scribbled a note, letting him know she was going back to her place to shower, and to then start packing the last of her aunt’s things.
A short while later, back at her place, and after taking a shower and putting on her favorite shorts set, Ellie headed downstairs, wondering if Uriel was still in his bed asleep. He had mentioned last night that he would be spending the first part of the morning finishing up reading about some company he and Donovan had purchased a month or so ago.
She had just taken the milk out of the refrigerator for her cereal when the house phone rang. She lifted a brow, wondering who would be calling this early on a Monday morning. Most people she knew called her on her cell phone, which meant the caller was probably one of those telemarketers. She decided not to pick it up, but changed her mind, thinking it could possibly be her parents.
“Hello?”
“Is Mable Weston there?”
Ellie frowned. Most people who knew her aunt were aware she’d passed away. “May I ask who’s calling?”
“Yes, this is Lauren Poole.”
It didn’t take long for Ellie to recall the name, and she leaned back against the refrigerator in surprise, quickly remembering that the last time her back had been against the refrigerator Uriel had pinned her there.
“Hello. Are you there?”
The woman’s voice pulled her thoughts back to the conversation and the realization of just who Lauren Poole was. “Yes, I’m here.”
“May I speak with Mable please?”
Ellie gnawed nervously on her bottom lip before saying, “Sorry, she’s resting.” She breathed in deeply, while thinking that it wasn’t really a complete lie. “This is her niece, Ellie Weston. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Oh, yes, her niece. Mable speaks of you often. She simply adores you.”
“Thanks. And I adore her as well. Is there a message you’d like to leave? I’ll be happy to make sure she gets it.” Now that, Ellie thought, was a lie.
“I just wanted to let her know that the Vandellas Publishing Company was sold to another company, but the buyout changes nothing, as it relates to her contract. She still has until the end of the year to turn in the manuscript, and the release date for the book is still July of next year.”
Ellie nodded her head, thinking that was good to hear. “I appreciate you calling and will
make sure she gets your message.”
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to receiving the finished manuscript, and so is her editor at Vandellas. We all thought it was a beautiful romance, and we’re eager to get more stories by Flame Elbam.”
Ellie drew in a deep breath. Now was the perfect time to tell Lauren Poole that her aunt had died, and that there was no way Aunt Mable, aka Flame Elbam, would supply them with more manuscripts. “Ms. Poole.”
“Yes?”
Ellie opened her mouth to tell the woman the truth, but closed it when she recalled the words her aunt had written in the letter Mr. Altman had given to her. Although the publishing company and Ms. Poole probably wouldn’t think so, Ellie believed she was doing the right thing by completing her aunt’s novel.
“Yes, Miss Weston?”
“Nothing. I’ll give Aunt Mable the message.”
“Thank you.”
After the phone conversation ended, Ellie drew in a deep breath and then slowly released it. She was doing what her aunt would have wanted. And she knew that, in addition to Uriel’s inspiration, her aunt was inspiring her as well. There was no way she could have gotten into the characters so deeply over the past three weeks without her aunt’s divine intervention. So she truly believed she was finishing the manuscript with her aunt’s blessing.
But what about Uriel’s?
Ellie went over to the table and sat down. He had only inspired her because she loved him. To him, this summer fling may have been about nothing but sex, but to her it had been so much more. Every time he had touched her, she fell deeper and deeper in love with him, and she knew that the day he left to return to Charlotte would be the hardest day of her life.
But she wanted him to leave knowing the truth. Although the past three weeks were nothing but an affair for him, she wanted him to know that for her it had meant something more.
Chapter 17
Uriel lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling. In four days he would be leaving this place to return to Charlotte. When he pulled out of the driveway on Sunday evening, he would look straight ahead, wonder how well his assistant had managed things in his absence, and look forward to getting back into the swing of things at Lassiter Industries.
He would not dwell on what he’d been doing for the past three weeks, the summer fling he thoroughly enjoyed. Why would he? It had been nothing more than an affair, and affairs were insignificant. After one ended, you rested up, gave yourself breathing room and prepared for the next one. Life moved on.
Then why did he suddenly feel like his was standing still?
Why did the thought of leaving here, not seeing Ellie, not spending time with her, not making love to her, leave an emptiness in his stomach, a vacant spot in his chest surrounding his heart?
An unfamiliar feeling stirred in his gut, and he tried shoving it away. Instead, it moved to his shoulder blades and then to the lower part of his back. Agonized, he closed his eyes, and the only image that could form behind his closed eyelids was Ellie. He saw her as she’d looked that night she had stood at her window, stripping for him, giving him her decision to have an affair with him in a style that even now left him breathless.
And then Ellie as she had looked later when he had entered her, felt her tightness squeeze him, and her wetness surround him, flesh-to-flesh, skin-to-skin.
He saw too the Ellie who had spent the past three weeks with him, making him enjoy a woman’s company in a way he’d never done before. Sharing breakfast with her, going fishing with her, going skinny-dipping with her, watching movies till dawn with her, making impromptu love to her, anytime and anyplace—tasting her with a hunger and need that he hadn’t experienced with any woman. And having unprotected sex with her and enjoying shooting his seed into her, while actually imagining the baby they could be making together.
He thought of Ellie, and those times she held him within her body, clenched him with a need that could make him come. How she would stroke him, take him into her mouth and love him that way, and how he would doze off to sleep, wanting her near him, with his hands between her legs to keep her there. Before now he refused to believe there was a difference in passion. Now he knew there was lovemaking passion and sex passion. The passion that flowed through his body whenever he was inside of Ellie was lovemaking passion.
He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling again, as his heart began to pound deep in his chest and every bone in his body began to quiver. There could be only one reason for him feeling as he did. One reason he needed to finally face up to.
He then recalled Donovan’s words of just a few days ago: “If you ever meet the woman who is wearing your name somewhere on her heart—you will know.”
He knew. He knew at that very moment that it was Ellie’s name scrawled on his heart. Damn. He eased out of bed, thinking he needed a beer, then deciding a shot of whiskey—preferably Jack Daniel’s—would do better. How had he allowed himself to fall in love, after what his mother had done to his father? Was he a glutton for the same type of experience?
He knew that the only thing he was a glutton for was Ellie. She was not like his mother. He would be able to put all his love and trust in her and not be betrayed.
He rubbed his hand over his face. His shower could wait. He needed to see Ellie, and he needed to see her now.
Ellie released a long sigh and wondered why she had called Darcy, when she knew what her best friend would say. “I hear what you’re saying, Darcy, but a part of me feels I should come clean and tell Uriel the truth. And if you think it won’t matter, then fine. I just don’t want him to think these past three weeks meant nothing to me.”
“Okay, El, if you think that’s what you should do, then fine, do it. But if he’s like most men, all that matters with an affair is the outcome, and the outcome was three weeks in his bed. I doubt he would have given that up for anything.”
“Maybe not, Darcy, but the bottom line is that I got a call from my aunt’s literary agent, to tell me that Vandellas Publishing was sold to another company. I’m glad Uriel was around so I could get plenty of lovemaking inspiration to finish the book for her as Flame Elbam. But the bottom line is that, when he finds out he is going to know that he was being used.”
Suddenly, she thought she heard a noise outside, and glanced out the window but didn’t see anything. She then pulled in a deep breath and said, “That’s why I have to tell him the truth. I have to let him know that he wasn’t used. That I love him, and the time I spent with him was special.”
She took a deep breath, and was grateful that, for once, Darcy didn’t say anything.
“Look, Darcy, I have to go. I have a lot to do before Uriel comes over. And then I will tell him the truth. Everything. He deserves that.”
Somehow, Uriel made it back to his house and dropped down in his kitchen chair, while the words he had heard Ellie speak rang so clear in his mind.
He had been about to knock on her back door, when two names she’d spoken grabbed him. Darcy and Vandellas Publishing. Darcy was her best friend, the one who’d talked her into that dare ten years ago, and Vandellas Publishing was the company that he and Donovan now owned. What was Ellie talking about when she said she would finish a book for her aunt for his publishing company? And better yet, how had his lovemaking inspired her to finish the book?
A part of him knew he probably should have just hung around and asked her, demanded a few answers. But the part of him that had just admitted to being in love with her less than an hour ago felt raw and betrayed.
He breathed in deeply as he replayed her words that were still so clear in his mind.
He stood, and slowly walked up the stairs to his bedroom, where he pulled open his briefcase. It didn’t take him long to find the papers he was looking for. The first was a detailed listing of all the outstanding manuscripts. He quickly scanned the page and found the name “Flame Elbam,” and in parenthesis it showed “Mable Weston.”
Uriel blinked. Ms. Mable had been writing one of those romanc
e novels? He pulled in a breath deeply. The woman was in her seventies, for crying out loud, so it had to be one of those sweet and innocent types where the man and woman did nothing more than hold hands, or kiss each other on the cheek.
He nearly swallowed his tongue when, moments later, he saw the category Ms. Mable’s book had been purchased for: erotica. The paper he was holding almost slipped out of his hand, and he couldn’t do anything but gape his mouth before dropping down on the side of his bed in shock. Sweet little old Ms. Mable had been writing erotica romances? He read farther and saw she’d been given an advance of over fifty thousand dollars.
Damn. First his mother and her boy-toy, and now Ms. Mable and her erotica romances…the female population never ceased to amaze him. His thoughts then shifted to Ellie. There was nothing on the paper he was holding in his hand to indicate that Mable Weston, aka Flame Elbam, would not be turning her manuscript in, which revealed Ellie’s devious plan to outwit the publisher and finish the book herself.
Using him for her research.
Anger consumed him at the thought that, once again, ten years later, she and her friend Darcy had played him for a fool. The years hadn’t matured them at all. Instead of getting wiser, they had gotten more conniving and deceitful. It would do Darcy justice to one day meet someone like York, who would see through her with the first blink, and then show her no mercy.
But for him, his bone of contention was with Ellie, the woman he had been foolish enough to fall in love with, the woman who had broken his heart before it had gotten a chance to accept that it could beat for one woman.
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