Chapter Thirteen
ELLIE
“Come here.” Drew leaned against the porch railing of the B&B and motioned me closer.
I shivered. The sun was sinking toward the horizon, painting the sky in pretty shades of orange and pink that would've been beautiful if I could focus on anything other than the dread in my gut.
The temperature was dropping with each passing minute and I could use the warmth of his body. More than that, I needed the support it provided.
We were waiting for my mother and sister to arrive, and I was grateful—again—that work had kept me busy all day.
Spreadsheets and scheduling had been a blessed distraction.
But now, with nothing between me and their arrival except lengthening shadows and Drew’s steady presence, my mind wouldn’t stop spiraling.
Whenever I thought of my family, nausea rolled through me in waves. I was grateful I hadn’t ended up having to pick them up from the airport.
I hated feeling like this. Hated that they still had this power over me. That even the thought of seeing them could reduce me to this anxious, queasy mess.
The knots in my stomach tightened with each breath I took. My chest felt compressed, like someone had wrapped steel bands around my ribs. Each inhale was a fight.
And pacing only made things worse. My legs ached from wearing a path across the porch boards for the past twenty minutes but stopping seemed impossible. If I stopped moving, the anxiety would catch up and swallow me whole.
I appreciated what Drew didn’t tell me: to calm down. That was Kyle’s go-to whenever I became anxious.
Needless to say, it didn’t flipping work.
I crossed to Drew, and he immediately pulled me between his legs so my back rested against his front. His arms came around me, solid and warm. One hand settled over my stomach, right where the knots were the worst.
How did I get so lucky?
He drew in a deep, slow, exaggerated breath. “Breathe. In and out. Do it with me.” His chest expanded—slow and deliberate. I tried to match it, but my lungs stuttered, catching on the anxiety lodged in my throat.
“They’re just people,” I whispered, trying to convince myself. “Just my mother and sister. I’ve survived them my whole life.”
“You have.” His voice rumbled through me, steadier than my own thoughts. “And you’ll survive tonight too. But you don’t have to do it alone this time.”
This time.
The words settled something in me, the elusive calm I was searching for blanketed my body. He was right—I’d always faced them alone. Always tried to be small enough, good enough, quiet enough, to avoid their cutting remarks and cruelty.
When my breathing became steadier, he shifted his hand to my shoulders. The first squeeze of my tight muscles made me groan with relief. “That feels amazing. Don’t stop.”
I felt the smile on his lips when he leaned down and kissed the crown of my head. “Tell me two red things you see.”
Two red things? What was this witchcraft? “Um, okay. The leaves in the tree across the street and the pot holding flowers at the end of the porch.”
“Excellent.” His husky voice purred in my ear and a delighted shiver slid down my body.
Damn, hearing him praise me was incredibly sexy.
“Three things that are orange.”
“Three? That’s a much harder color to find.” Still not understanding why he was asking me to do this, yet loving the distraction it provided, I searched the street.
He chuckled when I started muttering under my breath, stupid orange. “Oh, wait! The neighbors never put away their pumpkin. I found one thing! That should be enough, right?”
“Nope.” His fingers dug deeper, hitting a spot that hurt so good.
“Fine.” I knew I sounded grumpy.
Drew continued to massage my shoulders as he patiently waited for me to continue.
The desire to both please him and figure out what kind of game we were playing drove me to continue. I concentrated harder, and finally noticed various tiny orange details around us that I’d missed. “The mums in Martha’s garden. And the sun setting. It’s really pretty tonight, don’t you think?”
“Not as pretty as you.”
Swooooooooon.
Was he saying it because he meant it, or because he was pretending?
I dropped my head back and looked up so I could see his face. “You’re a goober.”
He kissed my forehead. “Now green. Two items. And flowers don’t count. Nor grass”
“Are you going to tell me why I’m doing this?” I faced forward again.
“Green, Ellie,” he repeated. He squeezed up and down my arms. I wouldn’t have known I held this much tension in my arms until his magical hands proved it to me.
His cryptic answers only made me even more curious. “The house down the street and your sneakers,” I replied.
Drew had suggested we change after work, and I had a feeling it was so I felt more comfortable.
Logically, I knew it was futile to compete with Celia, but my instinct always told me to dress up.
Yet, that instinct hadn’t helped in the past, so I agreed to try something new.
My sister always looked gorgeous no matter what she wore, even when traveling, and I was tired of competing with her.
My muscles, one-by-one, locked up again as worries swam in my head faster than I could shoo them away.
What if Drew liked Celia better than me?
We weren’t in a real relationship. He didn’t have to keep pretending.
I should’ve shown him her picture before I let him commit to this.
I mean, my ex-boyfriend preferred my sister over me. Why wouldn’t Drew?
“Stop thinking,” he growled. “Or you won’t like the consequences.”
“I can’t,” I whispered. Did I dare share what was now running on repeat through my mind? All I could picture was Celia getting out of the car, Drew turning, seeing her, and falling instantly, helplessly, in love.
Shit.
Nausea coiled in my stomach.
Drew licked a slow trail up the side of my neck.
I screeched and then laughed.“Oh, my God. What was that for?” That was so not sexy, but knowing Drew, he probably had a good reason.
He spun me around to face him. A wide grin stretched across his face. He’d known exactly what he was doing. “For thinking too much. You can’t control them or what’s about to happen. And if listing items you see based on colors isn’t helping, then you left me no choice—”
“You were trying to help me control my anxiety?” The worry invading my body paused while my insides just about melted.
I was seriously going to become a puddle at his feet. This man.
Then his words hit me. “No choice about—mmph?”
His lips pressed to mine, and any thought I did or could have flew out the window.
Drew lifted me off my feet and sat me on the railing. My hands flew out in surprise, landing on his shoulders to keep myself from falling backwards. Before I had a chance to squeak out a shocked response, he slid his body in between my thighs and wrapped his arms around me.
“You are perfect to me, Ellie. Forget your sister. Forget about everything except for you and me right here, right now.”
“But you don’t understand,” I protested. “Celia is beautiful.” I paused to let that sink in and forced the next part out. “What if you see her and forget about me?”
“You are beautiful, Eleanor Mae Remington. Every day I’m amazed at how innately gorgeous you are, inside and out. You’re the complete package, Ellie. And it’s about time you figured that out. So if there’s one thing I can do while we’re together, it’s helping you realize that—and your worth.”
“Drew,” I whispered, not sure what to say.
“I’m attracted to every part of you.” He placed a kiss on my forehead. “Your mind.”
I hung on to each word, hungry for more.
“Your voice, and what you have to say.” He kissed his way down my neck, making me shiver. “Your heart, and how you use it to care about others.” Drew lightly brushed his lips over the top of my chest over my hoodie, just above my breasts.
He slid his hands down my back so he could squeeze and knead my butt cheeks. “And I dream about this perfect ass,” he rasped against my lips. “Put your legs around me.”
There was nothing to do but comply.
I had no original thought at this moment.
Or any thought.
Just feeling all the pleasurable ways he touched me was making me overheat even with the autumn chill in the air.
I sucked in a breath as my new position allowed me to feel his dick pushing at the zipper of his jeans. I was pretty sure that if I wiggled a little more, it would press directly against my clit.
I whimpered and rolled my hips harder to increase the contact.
“You feel so good,” I panted, my lips ghosting across his collarbone.
He slid his hands underneath my sweatshirt, leaving fire trailing along my skin in their wake, until he skimmed my breasts. “You’re wearing lace again,” he groaned. “I want to see you in nothing but this and the matching panties. What color are they?”
“Y-yellow.” My hips bucked to better connect with his cock as his lips slid over mine and his tongue swept into my mouth. My core clenched as sparks of desire lit my veins. If he kept this up, I was going to orgasm from kissing alone.
A car door slammed. And the vaguest thought tried to push its way into my head. Weren’t we waiting for something? Someone?
“Hello! I’m looking for my sister—Ellie! Holy crap, is that you?”
I shuddered in Drew’s arms, and not because of an orgasm.
Damnit.
Couldn’t she have taken five more minutes to get here?
“Eleanor, get down off that railing. What will the neighbors think?” My mother yelled in her all-too-familiar disapproving tone she reserved mostly for me.
Drew held me tight to his chest, so I didn’t immediately have to turn around. “That she’s with the right guy,” he called down to her. “One that finds her so desirable he can’t keep his hands off of her and feels lucky every day that she took a chance on him.”
“Well! I never!” My mother said something else but my pulse was thrumming too loudly in my ears to make it out.