Carried Away: A Small Town Romance (The Moore Brothers Book 2)
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16
James watched Ellie pull this big mask down over the wounded version of herself she’d just unveiled to him. He felt like he’d finally seen the real Ellie and that she didn’t bring that part of her out to play very often. Like maybe he was the only person to see that part of her in a long time. How did she live like that? All bottled up and afraid?
He watched how artfully she switched topics, put the focus back on him. Used the arrival of their meals to distract him from the conversation about her. He saw it for what it was, but didn’t call her on it. The look of relief that slid across her pretty face was enough to make him want to give her some space. Let her recover from sharing something that was clearly very intimate.
He took a bite of fish while trying to unravel how he could talk her into letting him pay her electric bill. “Dang!” he said around a full mouth. “This really is good.”
A playful smile twitched across that sexy mouth of hers. “See. Told you.”
They finished the night and managed to avoid any other in depth conversations about the contents of their hearts. In that, he guessed, they were the same. Tucking their pain away to deal with by themselves. She was just more graceful about it than he way. He had pretty much taken his trauma public while Ellie dealt with it in the privacy of her own thoughts.
He watched as people noticed them together. Some smiling at the combination, others leaning in to whisper to friends. Others still just staring in shock. They only needed to be seen out together a few more times before all the rumors made their way back to his family and they would start to believe they were really a thing. Maybe he’d bring her to a Moore family Sunday brunch here in a couple weeks. Then he’d let Ian know she’d be his plus one at the wedding.
Things were all moving along according to plan. Sure, there had been a few hiccups. The office sex was probably a bad idea. Fantastic fun, but probably not wise. And then showing up at her apartment probably hadn’t been too bright either. But Ellie hadn’t let that phase her. She’d just done that thing she does where she cuts through the bullshit and calls it like she sees it. He appreciated that about her so much. After that night on her couch in the apartment, James had been all prepared to go pout in a corner and drink himself into a stupor because he had almost admitted he was starting to care about her. She called him on it and here they were. Him sober. The plan working. And he sure didn’t mind the company.
“What?” she asked, a funny smile on her face.
“Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“You don’t want to know.”
She scrunched up her nose in the most adorable thinking face he had ever seen, trying to puzzle out what was on his mind. When he stayed silent, she shrugged and lifted her eyebrows in an ‘oh well’ expression. “Dance with me?”
“You bet your sweet ass I will.” James stood and offered her his hand, pulled her up and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “And your ass does look sweet in that dress.” He resisted a serious urge to reach around and give it a squeeze—public place and all—and satisfied himself by enjoying the way her tits felt pressing against him the way they were. The way he could smell her shampoo and perfume. The way being near her like this sent his pulse zooming along, diverting most of his blood flow to his pants.
Ellie grinned and led him to the dance floor and they lost themselves to the rhythm and the movement. You can tell a lot about the way a woman fucked by the way she danced. Ellie danced with abandon, losing herself to the movement. She moved with passion, her hips swaying and her body eager for more. She fucked that way, too. James thought back to the night of office sex, the way she fought him for control at first only to give in and hand it to him. He would love to play with her some more like that. In a way, it’d been like fighting. She moved and he countered, and he moved and she countered and finally, she admitted defeat and gave herself to him. And it was really fucking hot.
His dick twitched in his pants and when the song ended, James was glad that she took him back to their table for a drink. He did his best to adjust himself discreetly and decided to avoid any thoughts of sex with Ellie until he got home and could deal with the inevitable erection himself. Maybe he would even make himself a drink and jack off, thinking about how she’d looked, perched on that desk, legs spread wide for him.
They finished the night, laughing and talking about superficial things, and as the hour hand edged past ten, James signaled for the check. “I think it’s about time I got you home.”
Her face clouded over and confusion darkened her pretty eyes. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, silly.” He shifted so he could pull his wallet out of his back pocket. “It’s late for a girl who gets up as early as you do. This is me trying to take care of you.”
More confusion flitted around her face and she blinked a couple times, trying to hide it before she pulled that mask down again. “Oh. Well. That’s very sweet of you to worry about me like that.”
She beamed at him and he couldn’t help the smile that started from some place deep inside him, some place he had forgotten existed. He paid the check and walked her home. Kept his arm wrapped around her shoulder not just because he wanted anyone who happened to see them to think he was falling in love with her, but also because he liked having it there. Liked the way she felt tucked up against him.
When they got to her door, he let her go as she dug through her purse for her keys. “Thank you for a lovely evening,” she said, not quite meeting his eyes. She paused and he saw a flood of words caught in her throat. “I’m sorry…” she began and then trailed off. He hated the pain in he saw in her eyes.
“Don’t waste one more thought on it,” he said and tucked a curl behind her ear. He leaned in and kissed her, not sure if he did it in case anyone was watching or regardless as to whether anyone was watching.
“Good night, James,” she murmured.”
He slid his thumb across her cheekbone. “Good night, sweet Ellie.”
He waited until she was safely inside and he heard her lock the door. Waited until he saw the living room light come on through the cracks in the cheap blinds in the window. And then he drove himself home, lost in thoughts of Ellie in foster homes, Ellie too scared to kick that damn parasite out, Ellie struggling to pay the bills and pushing herself to work harder than anyone he had ever known.
When he pushed through his own front door, he waited for the wave of grief that greeted him whenever he came home to hit him in the chest and freeze his heart. He went to the kitchen on autopilot and poured himself several fingers of whiskey. Swirled the amber liquid around in the glass and brought it to his lips.
But he didn’t take a drink.
Because his heart wasn’t frozen.
And his thoughts weren’t painful and barbed with poison.
He saw Ellie’s sweet face. The hurt in her eyes as she bared her soul for him and him alone tonight at dinner. He needed her, but the truth of it was, she needed him just as much. Maybe more.
No longer on autopilot, James pulled the glass from his lips and poured the whiskey down the sink.
17
Thursday disappeared in a swirl of customers. People Ellie hadn’t seen in years stopped in and perused the menu, exclaiming over how things had changed, oohing and ahhing over the expanded selection. At first, Ellie couldn’t figure out where they were all coming from. Not that she was complaining. And certainly not that her checking account was complaining. It wasn’t until the second set of Moores made their way in that Ellie deduced that James had something to do with the sudden upswing in business.
Frank and Diane Moore, James’s parents, were the first to show up, arriving almost as soon as Ellie flipped the sign on the door. Ellie knew them by sight and had always admired Diane’s gray-streaked ponytail and down to earth fashion sense. Frank Moore, with his thick head of hair and kind eyes, had always seemed like the perfect father figure to Ellie. Doting father, taking the time to teach his children, to
mold them into responsible adults. And, despite being wealthy enough to support an entire army of children and grandchildren if they so desired, neither of the Moore parents were condescending or flashy. Instead, they were friendly and approachable.
They had hemmed and hawed their way through the menu and then finally ordered a large breakfast consisting of the most expensive items on the menu. And when they were done? They purchased several pounds of coffee and an entire tray of muffins, claiming they had some kind of get together planned.
When Ian and Juliet stumbled in not an hour later, Ellie couldn’t keep a straight face. “You too, huh?” she asked as she grabbed two large cups off the stacks and started pouring their coffees.
Juliet looked equal parts ashamed and tickled. “What do you mean?” She glanced guiltily at Ian who shrugged and avoided eye contact with Ellie.
“Just seems strange that I’ve seen four of the six Moores I’m not currently dating in just under one hour.” Ellie passed them their coffees and waited while they studied the menu, clearly just as hungry as the elder Moores were earlier this morning.
Ellie brought the food to their table herself. “What are you two doing on this fine Thursday morning?”
“I’ve got her talked into flipping houses with me. She’s pretty good with a power tool and indispensable as a decorator.”
Juliet smiled at Ian and her eyes glittered with pride and love and happiness. “Plus, I get to spend all day every day at his side and I just feel better that way.”
“There is that,” Ian said, reaching across the table to take his fiancée’s hand. He ran a thumb across her knuckles and suddenly, Ellie felt like she was interrupting a very personal moment.
She left them to go tend to the line of Bliss residents that had gathered at the counter during their brief conversation. Mrs. Kernshaw wanted a dozen pastries. Mr. McAfee wanted six large coffees to take down to the docks. Mrs. Francis showed up with her line of flaxen-haired daughters and bought enough cookies to feed an entire army of girls for a sleepover. Each and every customer smiled and reached out, took Ellie by the hand and she finished the day with more than her fair share of bless your heart’s.
Thursday ended with overflowing cash registers and shelves wiped clean. Her weekday cook wiped sweat off his brow and spent an extra hour restocking the kitchen. Friday started with another visit from Frank and Diane, toting their third and fourth children, Harrison and Lilah.
“Yesterday was so delicious, we had to bring these two in so we could share the experience with them,” said Diane after ordering four meals identical to the ones they had yesterday. Harrison greeted Ellie with a shy smile and a compliment about the menu while Lilah muttered disdainfully about never being able to finish the meal her mother ordered for her.
After Ellie served what seemed like the entire town of Bliss twice over, James finally made his appearance, wandering through the door shortly before noon with a shit-eating grin stretched across his handsome face.
“You look busy,” he said, pushing his sunglasses up into his hair.
“You don’t look surprised to find me this way.” Ellie was restocking what she could of the pastry display, but she was just plain out of some of the more popular items.
“I may have suggested that people should come check out how much you’ve added to the menu here.” James leaned on the counter and Ellie got a good whiff of his cologne. “And I may have suggested that you could benefit from having a few larger orders throughout the day.”
“Well, people certainly seem eager to please you as I’ve had people in here I forgot I even knew telling me they’re proud to know me and ordering enough food to feed three people.”
“Eh,” James said with a shrug of his shoulders. “That’s the benefit of living in a small town. Everyone is ready to help at a moment’s notice.”
Ellie didn’t know if she should thank James for giving her the boost she needed or yell at him for sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong. It turned out it didn’t matter because another rush of customers had her racing to fill orders and keep coffee brewing. James watched her flit about with a self-satisfied grin stretching across his face for a few minutes before he hopped the counter and took over brewing the coffee so she could focus on taking orders. He moved around her like they had always done it this way, stocking items, handing her cups, and just generally making her laugh with his well-timed jokes and friendly greetings to people who had been strangers to him when they walked in the door.
Juliet and Ian made another appearance sometime around two, looking exhausted from whatever demolition they had going on at their newest property. Ellie got their coffees ready and watched as James teased his older brother.
“You done with that house yet?”
Ian frowned. “Just got started on it today. We’re a long way from done, I’m afraid.”
“Well, that’s because you didn’t have me there to help. We all know that I’m better than you at everything.” James touched Ellie on the small of her back as he passed behind her.
“You keep saying that,” Ian said. “And it keeps not being true.”
The men shuffled off to the end of the counter while James asked Ian some questions about the construction. That left Ellie alone with Juliet.
“You guys seem good,” Ellie said, gesturing to Ian.
“I’ve never been better in all of my life. He satisfies needs in me I didn’t even know I had.” Juliet’s eyes went all lovey-dovey again.
“I’m happy for you two.” Ellie watched the brothers as they talked, enjoyed the way James’s eyes lit up as he gave Ian hell over something.
Juliet followed her gaze. “You’ve done wonders for him.”
“For James?” Ellie could hear the shock in her voice.
“He was in such a dangerous spiral. Drinking, women … the fighting.”
Ellie focused on Juliet. “The drinking had gotten bad. We made a deal that he wouldn’t drink when we were out together. It was one of the conditions of our relationship.” She bit her lip. Ellie hated lying. And while what she said was totally truth—James not drinking totally was one of the conditions of their relationship—the relationship itself was the lie.
“I don’t think he’s drinking even when he’s alone. I think you put a stop to that completely.”
Ellie raised her eyebrows. “Really? Wow…” Her focus returned to James almost of its own accord. She had suspected he quit; she just hadn’t wanted to bring it up and jinx it.
“And he just seems so happy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the fighting went the way of the drinking if you keep this up.” Juliet beamed.
Ellie returned the smile. She liked making James happy. She liked knowing that he might be healing and she might have something to do with it. Regardless as to whether their relationship was the real deal or not, she cared about James. Hell, he was the guy she had fawned over since eighth grade, for heaven’s sake.
“I’m glad. He deserves to be happy.” As if he could feel Ellie watching him, James turned and gave her a little lift of the chin and one of the sultriest winks she had ever seen. She bit her lip and gave her focus back to Juliet, who was shaking her head and laughing.
“You two have it bad.”
James and Ian finished their conversation and rejoined the girls. “Have what bad?” asked Ian.
“I was just telling Ellie how happy James has been over the last couple weeks.” Juliet leaned into Ian.
“It’s true,” Ian said, reaching out and grabbing Ellie’s hand. “He’s had a rough month. And he seems to be coming out of it, thanks to you.”
Ellie’s gaze flicked to James, a blush flaring across her cheeks. This was getting uncomfortable, and fast. She couldn’t be the cause of James’s happiness. Their relationship was all smoke and mirrors. His face echoed her discomfort, his already dark eyes darkening some more.
“Well,” said Juliet, threading her arm through Ian’s elbow. “Falling in love will do that to a guy.”
Acknowledgement?
Or was that wishful thinking on her part? And if it was, why would she be wishing that James was acknowledging that he was falling in love with her?
Juliet and Ian took their coffees and left, oblivious to the tangle of complicated emotions James and Ellie had wreaking havoc on their pulses.
“Well,” James said, as soon as they were gone. “At least we have proof that we’ve been convincing.” The look in his eyes didn’t match his tone of voice. His tone said he was totally fine with convincing Ian and Juliet that he was falling in love with Ellie. His eyes? His eyes said he was scared to death and trying not to combust on the spot.
Ellie offered her hand up for a high five. “Well played, my friend.” Everything about her reaction was calculated. The high five instead of a touch on the shoulder. The word friend instead of his name. The wide smile on her face, custom designed to cover up the thunderstorm of emotions punishing her head and heart.
The fear dissipated from James’s face. Did he know he was so easy to read? Or had she just gotten good at reading him?
James hung around for a few more minutes and then said his goodbyes, sweeping Ellie into a warm hug that whipped the tornado of confusion inside her into a frenzy, decimating the careful barriers she’d built around her heart.
18
Friday ended with another full cash register and a kitchen wiped clean of stock. Ellie left Good Beginnings in a hurry. Her power bill was due today and if she didn’t get the money to them, they’d disconnect the electricity. She spent the car ride to the office avoiding thoughts of James and the swirl of emotion she had ignored since he left the cafe a few hours ago.