Chapter Twenty-Four
DREW
Isat at my office desk, doodling on the notepad in front of me. The loops and swirls blended together to form an antique-style ring. To the right of that was a necklace that bore a resemblance to the one my grandmother wore for special occasions.
Ellie’s laugh at something my sister said floated down the hall, light and carefree. Damn, I loved hearing it—especially knowing how warmly my family had welcomed her in, like she’d always belonged here.
Five days. That’s all it had been. Five days, and already it felt impossible to picture Ruby River without her in it.
When she finger-waved at me when they reached my door, cheeks flushed with amusement, my chest clenched. Grace whispered something that made Ellie cover her mouth to hide a chuckle.
“Do I dare ask what you two are talking about?” I asked.
Ellie grinned. “I can’t share our girl-talk secrets.” Then she mimed zipping her mouth shut. “Thanks for driving me to get my car from Adam, Grace.”
“No problem,” Grace responded before turning to me and mouthing, keep her before she left, and hell if that didn’t already feel like the plan.
Ellie sauntered toward me, hips swaying like she knew my eyes were locked there. She scooted around my desk toward me and dropped papers on my desk, leaning just enough that her shoulder brushed mine. A casual touch—but my whole body lit up.
We’d been finding excuses to touch all day. Too much. And yet, not enough.
“I bet I know a few ways that would get you talking,” I teased.
“Drew, we’re at work,” she whisper-yelled when I muttered something filthy, her blush betraying her.
I scrawled my signature on the forms and handed them back. But she didn’t take them. I followed her gaze to my drawing. Her tiny gasp—half surprise, half pleasure—dragged me back to last night, to the sound she’d made when she fell apart under my mouth.
My jaw tightened. I wanted to hear it again.
She pointed to my sketches. “These are beautiful. Did you design them yourself?”
I nodded. “They’re similar to older designs we sold a long time ago. Let me grab those books I was telling you about.” When I stood, I brushed against her, and the way her finger trailed across my hip as I moved to the bookshelf nearly made me groan out loud.
Ellie bit her lip as her gaze redirected to the open door. Her shoulders relaxing at the confirmation that no one else was in sight.
I reached up to grab the books off the top shelf, cataloging Ellie’s look of appreciation when I turned around. The faint blush staining her cheeks told me I hadn’t imagined she’d been ogling my ass.
These books were one of a kind, and I was excited to show her. I placed them on the desk, and with the utmost care, I opened the first book and turned the pages until I found the design I was looking for.
Ellie retrieved the paper with my doodles and held it side-by-side to the picture of the ruby ring gracing its page. “Drew, wow! You’re really talented. Your rendition is similar, but elevated. It’s antique looking with a modern twist.”
I shrugged. “When I was younger, I used to take jewelry making classes, but eventually switched to business.”
“Why? You’re so good at the design part.” Ellie’s brow creased as her eyes grazed between my drawing then back to the original.
“We already had enough amazing designers. They didn’t need one mo—”
“I beg to differ,” Glamma swept in like a one-woman Broadway show, Coco trotting at her heels. Her bracelets jingled as she declared I’d given up designing too soon.
She put her hand on my arm. “He’s too modest, Ellie. His heart has always been in design, but he let too many people steer him in the wrong direction.”
“Like who?” Ellie asked.
“His professor at college convinced him that he’d be in a better position to help the family by changing his major. That man is a moron.” Glamma pursed her lips.
“I love my job.” I protested. “And being in this position has allowed me to expand our company in a way that’s beneficial for all of us.”
“Like we need more money, Drew,” she scoffed. “That’s not what life is about. Do what makes you happy. Just ask Ellie.”
“Ask Ellie?” I repeated, looking up.
Ellie froze, a deer-caught-in-headlights.
Glamma leaned a hip against the desk and reached across the table to take Ellie’s limp hand.
Ellie opened her mouth, then shut it. “How did you find out?”
“I just know things.” The response was one that always made me question how Glamma knew the things she did. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetheart.”
“I’m not exactly embarrassed, but people sometimes have weird reactions and questions when they know,” Ellie whispered.
“Are you two going to loop me in?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral. Clearly, this secret was emotionally charged for Ellie.
Ellie bit her lip.
“If someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to make up something,” I teased. No matter what it was, it wouldn’t matter to me. “Or don’t. You shouldn’t be forced to share something because Glamma is being pushy.”
Ellie’s hands pressed into her thighs, her fingers rubbing back and forth against the fabric.
“This could be good. Let’s hear your guesses, grandson.” Glamma smirked, then leaned down and picked up Coco.
I stroked my chin playing into it hoping I might be able to put Ellie at ease.
Now I wondered if her reaction to the notebook she was always writing in had something to do with this.
“Are you a runaway princess bride? And your groom is scouring the world for you, but you’ve decided you want to live the life of a commoner? ”
Her shoulders relaxed and she let out a belly laugh. “As much as my younger self would’ve loved to be a princess, I don’t think I’d be able to handle that kind of responsibility.”
“Hmm. Then it must be that you’re undercover and only here to find out if the Ruby River legend is true.”
She giggled. “No.”
I threw up my hands in a playful gesture. “I give up.”
Glamma watched the interaction between the two of us and gave me a wink of approval. “Our girl is writing her first full-length novel.”
Our girl was writing a novel.
Well, damn.
I wanted to haul her into my arms right there, but I kept my hands on the desk, even as pride welled in my chest. “Ellie, that’s incredible. What do you write?” I asked.
Her back stiffened. “It’s a romance novel set in a small town.”
I loved that every day I peeled back another layer of who she was. “I can’t imagine writing a book is easy. I’d love to hear more about it.”
A tiny smidge of suspicion entered her eyes. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“It’s just …” she paused like she was trying to find the right words. “My family thinks it’s a ridiculous pursuit and a waste of time. They say I won’t make anything from it anyway so why bother?”
“Screw them,” Glamma muttered. “Your sister is a wannabe influencer and I don’t see anyone discouraging her.”
Ellie shook her head. “She really is kind of famous, though. She has a ton of followers and some network is paying to film her wedding planning and the big day for content.”
Glamma snorted. “I’ve heard it said that your sister hired them and is paying for them to record her, hoping she can use the footage to draw in a producer who’ll want to use her for a reality show.”
Ellie’s mouth gaped open. “What? Seriously? Who are your sources?”
“A little bit of mystery is good for the soul.” Glamma grinned. “So don’t worry about your book, sweetheart. You do what you can to write and market it. You can’t control the rest.”
“I know.” A tiny frown marred Ellie’s perfect lips. “Is it bad to want to sell so many books it proves them wrong?”
Glamma shook her head. “Not at all. And I’ll help you in any way I can.
I can start with the book clubs I belong to and post on my social media channels.
I have a bit of a following too. We can hype up your book.
You can do a launch party here in Ruby River at our bookstore.
Send me the details of when you’re planning to publish and we’ll make a plan. ”
Ellie just stared at her, open-mouthed. In the silence, Coco began wiggling and barking.
“You think about that. It’s time for us to go. Coco’s the boss now. Come give me hugs, you two.”
I hugged my grandmother and watched as Ellie came around the side of the desk to do the same. Glamma wrapped her arms around her and whispered something in her ear. Ellie nodded and kissed her cheek before they let go.
Now that the office was empty, I pulled Ellie close, letting my hand settle on her waist. “So all these months while we’ve been chatting, you’ve been working on your book?”
She leaned into me. “Yeah.”
After meeting Ellie’s family, I understood why she might not have wanted to share this detail with me, no matter how friendly we’d been before she arrived. “Were you afraid I’d make fun of you?”
Her blue eyes never left my face. “Maybe? No. I don’t know. I guess I figured if I didn’t say anything then I wouldn’t rock the boat with us. Talking to you was the highlight of my day. If I’d told you and you thought it was silly or made jokes about it, it would have crushed me.”
“Ellie, I don’t ever want you to be afraid to tell me something. No matter what, I’m in your corner. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Let’s sneak out early. Italian food and TV?”
I grinned at her playful gasp. “Leaving before eight? Drew Kingsley, is the world ending?”
“I’ve gone home early plenty of times,” I grumbled good-naturedly.
Her finger slid down my tie, pausing at my waistband. “You forget I have access to your schedule and leaving early for a dentist appointment doesn’t count.”
“Fuck, Ellie,” I whispered when her hand brushed the evidence of just how undone I was. I loved this bold side of her. It was as though revealing her secret unlocked the last of the restraint she had around me. As though she could fully be herself, finally.
She grinned, turned, and strode to the door.
With a flick of her wrist, she locked it.
“I blocked off the next hour for us to go over the day, but we could always do that at your house tonight. Besides …” She tugged me back to my desk, pushed me down into my chair, then sank to her knees in front of me.
“I have to admit that my book has a scene where she visits him at work on his lunch break and I was thinking now might be a good time to see if I have the details right.”
Her upturned eyes, hazy with desire, nearly finished me before she even touched me at all.
She flicked open the button of my pants and slowly eased down my zipper, placing a kiss on the tip as it emerged, still hidden behind the fabric of my boxers. “Ellie,” I groaned. It was half command, half plea.
All I could think about was how beautiful she looked—powerful, flushed, hungry—and how she had no idea the control she had over me.
“Lift your hips,” she demanded.
My breath caught as she freed me.
Her tongue dragged from base to tip, slow, deliberate.
My head thunked back against the leather chair. “Fuck.”
Her lips wrapped around me, hot and wet. I gripped the armrests to keep from thrusting. I wanted her to take what she wanted, at her pace.
“Touch yourself,” I ground out.
Her wicked grin slayed me. “I’m in charge right now.” But her hand slid under her skirt anyway.
The sound she made around my cock when she circled her clit nearly undid me. My thighs trembled, breath tearing out of me in jagged pants. Spreadsheets, meetings, deadlines—none of it could hold against the sight of Ellie falling apart while she sucked me deeper.
When she moaned, her body shuddered with release, and I knew I couldn’t hold back. My hips arched, my voice rough. “Ellie, I’m about to come.”
She sucked harder, eyes locked on mine. My nails dug deeper into the leather of the armrests as I spilled down her throat, her swallow tight and greedy. When she glanced up at me, a drop had escaped her lips. I wiped it with my thumb, but she caught my hand, licking it clean with a satisfied hum.
Holy hell. I was never going to recover from this woman.
“You okay?” I asked, running my hand through her hair.
She placed a kiss on my knee. “Better than okay.”
I pulled her into my lap, kissed her slowly, tasting myself on her lips. “Thank you for that.”
“Anything for research purposes,” she teased, ducking her head into the crook of my neck as I tickled her. “And you,” she amended on a breathy chuckle.
I held her close, rubbing my hand up and down her back, knowing we didn’t have much more time before we had to make ourselves presentable for the rest of our workday.
“Do you think anyone knows?” she whispered.
“I don’t think so,” I reassured her.
“If we do something like this again, we should probably wait until no one’s around.” She sounded slightly disappointed.
“Buttercup, did you enjoy knowing someone could come by at any minute to interrupt us?”
Her head pressed further into my neck. “Maybe.” Her muffled reply had me chuckling.
“I’m sure we can find other ways to keep that excitement alive while not doing this during work hours,” I suggested.
“Okay.” She sighed and looked at her watch. “But we really should get more work done before we leave today.”
I swatted her ass when she stood.
She giggled and moved further away.
And while I tucked myself back into my pants and zipped up, I couldn’t help but stare at her. Everything about Ellie captivated me.
Her family had no clue how amazing she was. They thought she wasn’t enough. They were blind to the brilliance in front of them.
But I saw her. God, help me, did I see her.