“May I see your drawings?” I asked Molly.
She nodded.
I joined her on the floor and for the next ten minutes, we looked at the pictures she had drawn. I asked her to explain each.
She gave me one-word answers, a big improvement from the unresponsive Molly I was used to.
“You are so talented,” I said, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
Soon, it was time for her to have her bath. Dinner was nothing like I had imagined it. Ella ate without speaking and if I asked her a question, she gave me the simplest, shortest explanation possible. I deserved it after the way I had treated her this morning.
I got an opportunity to apologize after Molly went to bed. I was in the living room flipping over a file of one of the projects my guys were working on when Ella walked past towards the kitchen. She returned with a glass of water.
“Would you please sit down, I’d like to speak to you,” I said, closing my file.
“Okay,” she said casually, and perched on the chair.
“I want to apologize about this morning,” I began. “I shouldn’t have spoken that way to you. You deserve respect—”
“I don’t understand why you got so mad,” Ella said, her cool face crumbling. “I meant what I said. Parents do need to spend time with their children. It makes them happy and I know you want Molly to grow up happy.”
I felt like a complete idiot. “I’m sorry. It’s a sore spot for me. I know I don’t spend enough time with Molly, but I’m afraid if I do that, I’ll bore her and she’ll start to resent having to spend time with me.”
She stared at me with surprise. Then she chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about what I said.
It made blood surge to my cock.
“I don’t think you could ever bore Molly,” she stated softly.
“She’s not the same with me as she is with you.”
“Start with little things,” Ella suggested. “Maybe you can take her out for an ice cream. She loves McDonalds. The Chef told me you think McDonalds food is not really food, but take her there for a burger. As a treat. Another day, you can take her to the movies.”
“I was thinking maybe you should come with us,” I said.
“Of course, I’ll come along.” she nodded.
Relief surged through me with her answer.
We sat there awkwardly like two people who didn’t intimately know each other’s bodies. We both stood up at the same time.
“Forgive me for being such a brute this morning.”
She smiled softly. “You’re completely forgiven.”
Something inside me shifted. God, what an angel she was.
“I’m off to take a shower now,” she murmured. “Maybe I can join you for a drink later.”
“Actually, I was thinking I should run you a nice bubble bath, then give you a long, hot oil massage.”
She cocked her head to the side and a twinkle came into her eyes. “Sounds like a very, very, very good idea, but I really can’t wait that long. How about a tour of the master suite first and a stop off on the master’s bed?”
I grinned at her. “A much better plan.”
We nearly ran out of the living room and up the stairs to my bedroom.
I opened the master bedroom with relish. I couldn’t wait to see Ella’s reaction. I had paid extra attention to the master bedroom when I was designing the house. I had imagined it like a sanctuary.
That dream had quickly died back then though. I spent a lot of time at work, which had been my first mistake. When I did make time to be with Penelope, she hadn’t wanted to be home. She’d wanted to be out having a good time.
Ella stepped in and I followed her.
“Oh, my goodness, is this for real?” she asked, her voice filled with awe.
Pride swelled in my chest. I had been pleased with the space I had created and it felt good to have my work acknowledged. Natural light flooded the room from the floor to ceiling windows. The huge four poster bed sat in the middle of the room and in one corner, a fireplace stood
The show stopper though as far as I was concerned would be the bathroom. I guided Ella through the door leading to the bathroom.
“Just wow!” she exclaimed when she went in.
The bathroom was almost entirely made of glass. The custom whirlpool bathtub sat in a corner and overlooked the grounds of the house. You could see out but no one on the outside could see in.
“My God! That tub!” Ella gasped. She kicked off her shoes and climbed into the tub, fully dressed. She leaned back and shut her eyes. “I’m imagining those silky bubbles popping all over my body.”
“You, young lady, just talked yourself out of a relaxing bath on your own.”
Her eyes snapped open. “What do you mean?”
I offered her a hand. “Let’s get those clothes off and I’ll show you exactly what I mean.”
Ella
It seemed like a shame that Luke and I couldn’t be anything more than lovers. Tears filled my eyes at the gentleness with which he held my legs and massaged them as we sat opposite each other in the whirlpool.
“Tell me about your family,” I said to Luke. I wanted to know everything about him. It made sense to be fascinated by a man who played my body like an instrument.
He continued massaging my feet under the water but his gaze shifted to a spot behind my head. “I was the only child of an authoritarian father and sweet mother.”
“What, no siblings?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I wish there had been.”
“Shame. Where are they now?”
“Both my parents were killed the year I graduated from college,” he said quietly.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” My heart went out to him. I knew how it felt like to lose your parents. Luckily for me,
