James bit his tongue and thought for a minute. “Okay, then. You should close early.” He arched an eyebrow and continued. “You know everyone’s going to be at the beach eating seafood and drinking beer instead of coming to your place for coffee and muffins. Close an hour early, put up signs today so everyone knows ahead of time. And then, we’ll come back to the café after we’re done and I’ll help you set up for Sunday morning.”
Ellie wanted nothing more than to give in, but responsibility wore heavily on her heart. As did the upcoming electric bill. How could she justify closing early, losing an hour of potential income, just to go play with a guy who’d never known what it meant to need anything in his entire life? She opened her mouth to turn him down and said just the opposite of what she intended.
“Fine. It’s a deal. I’ll close early but you have to remember that you promised to come back and help me get ready for Sunday,” she said as she stood and wandered toward the door, giving the hint their meeting had come to an end.
When he reached her, James stopped and leaned against the frame, holding up his pinky finger and smiling wickedly. “Scout’s honor.”
It took her a minute to figure out what the hell he was doing, but then she remembered she’d done the same thing the week before and he’d made fun of her for it. “Hey!” She smiled and slapped at his hand, intending to tease him for teasing her but James caught her by the wrist, the movement quick and reflexive. He used her arm to pull her close, his fingers a vice grip on her forearm, his free hand snaking into her hair and cupping the back of her head. Her lips parted and his mouth was there, his tongue tracing her bottom lip and darting in to meet hers.
Logic demanded she resist, but there was nothing logical about the way her body ached for him, nothing logical about the dampness pooling between her legs. There was nothing logical in the way she moaned when he curled his fingers into her hair and pulled back, exposing her neck, kissing and licking his way down her throat.
Logic didn’t live in her heaving chest or her closed eyes. Her head falling back to offer more skin for him to taste.
Logic didn’t exist in the thrill she got from the bulge in his pants pressing against her belly. There was nothing logical about any of it.
James pulled away but kept his head bowed and his hand in her hair. There was a long moment while he kept her pressed to him where Ellie couldn’t breathe or think. She was surrounded by everything James.
His scent.
His taste.
His arms and hands clutching her tight. Then he took a shuddering breath and loosened his grip without fully releasing her.
“I’ll see you Saturday at two,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers for the briefest of moments before slipping out the door without another word.
Chapter Twelve
James
James yanked his helmet over his head as he strode down the sidewalk toward his Ducati. A storm raged within. His heart pounded like thunder as strike after strike of angry, confused thoughts flashed in his mind. He slung his leg over his bike and turned the key in the ignition, rolled back on the throttle and tried to drown out the anxiety with the throaty rev of the engine.
What happened in that apartment wasn’t good.
What the fuck was he thinking, kissing Ellie like that?
Pretending to be in love was one thing. Holding her hand and smiling with her in public, throwing his charm into high gear for everyone to see, kissing her like he meant it when people were pretending not to watch, all of that was fine.
But pulling her into him?
Kissing her behind closed doors?
Allowing his need to rise up from somewhere deep in his soul and plant itself in his dick?
That was not fucking okay.
He had been fooled once into listening to those kinds of feelings. Fooled into daydreaming about a house filled with kids and a wife who would love him more every day for the rest of his life.
He’d believed in it. Wanted it. Trusted it was right around the corner. Then reality showed him just how impossible it all was. Love didn’t exist. Not the kind that lasted long enough for any of the things he wanted. Only flashes of lust and excitement that inevitably faded into routine and boredom.
A quick twist of his wrist on the throttle and the bike shot forward, the speedometer racing past one hundred. He tilted and leaned through the curves, darted over the double yellow lines to pass the cars plodding along in front of him, ignoring the blasts of horns as he scared the shit out of others on the road.
If he just went a little faster, maybe he could outrace his thoughts. Leave any feelings for Ellie behind and go back to numb James. The James who didn’t feel anything on the inside.
He flew past his house in favor of the gym—hoping to exhaust his aggression into submission. Pushing his body had become his new go to when things got bad. Physical exertion burned through his emotions better than anything. In a frenzy of energy, he put up more weight than he ever had, zeroing in on the contracting muscles. Sweat poured from his body until finally, when his arms and legs shook with fatigue, he calmed down enough to hit the showers.
As water flowed over his torso, he pressed his elbow to the wall, leaning his head against his forearm. His
