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“Didn’t see the need,” I shrug.
Jake coughs and I shoot him a look that says, ‘talk and you die.’ Ignoring me, he sticks out his hand. “Because my brother here is so rude, let me introduce myself. Jake Spencer. And to whom do I owe the pleasure?”
She places her delicate hand in his and flashes him a winning smile. “Ellery Butler,” she says so sweetly she could sell Heaven to the Devil. “But you can call me Elle. Not Ellie. No one calls me that,” she adds, looking at me pointedly.
There’s a hint of bite in the way she says the last part, but it’s indiscernible to anyone other than who it was intended.
What she really meant to say was no one wasallowedto call her Ellie but me. When we were at Elmhurst I demanded it and no one defied me. Knowing that edict had stuck in the years I’d been gone, filled me with a feeling of satisfaction that I didn’t expect.
At the same time, she knew damn well no one called me Bennett, and this girl was trying to push my buttons right now by doing so. Well, I wasn’t going to let her. Not again. The first time I let her in had been lesson enough.
“It’s still just Cruz,” I say simply. “Like always.”
She lets go of Jake’s hand and looks at me as if I’m speaking Greek. “Come again?”
“My name,” I say tightly. “It’s the same as it was before. Just Cruz.”
“That’s right.” Jake grips my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.He’s telling me he’s got my back right now, but when we’re alone, he wants to know everything there is to know about the pint sized princess in front of us. “Come to think of it, I don’t even think Coach knows your first name.”
Ellery looks at Jake then me and shrugs. “Whatever.” She’s trying to appear as if she doesn’t care, but her eyes betray her. They’re full of curiosity and interest.
Feeling the history we share seeping into the space between us, I clear my throat. “There’s some place we need to be. So if you’ll excuse me.”
Thanks to my connections, I was able to score a sweet deal on a place right on the beach. Jake and I made the long drive down today to get everything set up, while Marcus and Cal would be flying in tomorrow. I just needed to sign the rental agreement and grab the keys, then Jake and I could get settled into what would be home for the summer.
Ellery reaches into her front pocket and pulls out a set of keys. “I was talking to Old Man Danbury when I saw your Jeep roll down the street, and he told me you were renting the Deveraux place with some friends. Figured I’d save him the time and give these to you myself.”
I look at the keys dangling from her hand, then flick my eyes to hers. Her lips are pulled into the same irresistible smile that used to send my pulse into overdrive.
“Thanks.” I snatch the keys out of her hand, ignoring the twinge in my chest. “But there’s still some paperwork I need to sign. So, if you would kindly…”
I wave my hand and indicate for her to move and her smile widens. “Oh, you mean these?”
Reaching into her back pocket, she twists her body so the swell of her breasts shift under her tank top, then holds out an envelope.
My eyes dart from her chest to her face, and she runs the tipof her tongue along her top lip. “Just trying to save you some time,Cruz. You know how slow things can move down here.”
The way she says my name makes my dick twitch. My body can’t help the way it responds to her. Never could. “Got a pen,Ellery?”
I know she wants me to call her Ellie. But I won’t give her the satisfaction. That was then, and this is now, and she is not part of my present. Never could be, and never will.
“As a matter of fact?” Ellery twists her body again and reaches into her other back pocket, pulling out a pen. This twist is more dramatic than the first, and her breasts practically spill out of the top of her tank.
After grabbing it out of her hand, I drag my eyes down her body, then back up. “Turn around.”
She laughs nervously, and her cheeks flush slightly. “I’m sorry?”
“I need to sign these so I can be on my way. So unless you want me to sign them on that chest you seem so intent on showing the world, I suggest you turn around, now.”
Her mouth falls open and her eyes widen, and when I indicate for her to turn around, she waits a moment, and then finally does, slowly. While at first I think it’s hesitation, I realize she’s fucking with me. The tank top she’s wearing is not that at all but a body suit which dips low in the back, exposing her flawless skin.
She holds her hair up and hunches over slightly, and when I see the hint of the G-string bottom of the bodysuit tugging up the crack of her ass, I swallow down the groan that threatens.
Ellery’s always had a round bottom and a tiny waist, but now her figure is a perfect hourglass, and it makes my mouth water. The girl is hot. Always has been. And shit, I haven’t gotten laid in weeks and I’m only human.
Ignoring my body’s natural response to her, I open theenvelope and pull out the rental agreement, unfolding, then stretching the pages down her back. Once I’ve signed the dotted line on the bottom of each page, I fold it back up, stuff it into the envelope, and hold it over her shoulder.
“Give these to Danbury. And if you plan to do the grocery shopping as well, let me know. I have a list I can give you.”
