I’m pushing my luck, any minute now she’s going to throw me out.
Her eyes narrow, shoulders straightening as our gazes clash.
“You can only stay and help if you stop flirting with me.Friendsdon’t flirt.”
My head falls back, a laugh escaping me. I’ve always loved how blunt she is, cutting right past all the bullshit. “I’ll behave.”
“Sure you will.” She shakes her head like she’s frustrated with me, but the corners of her lips are twitching, fighting like hell to not smile.
“I promise. Just give me a task.” The flirting has been fun, like slipping back in time, but I really do want to help her. And helping her with cleaning will probably earn me more brownie points than getting her hot and bothered.
“You can vacuum the stairs.” Her head gestures to the closet under the staircase. “The vacuum is in there.”
“On it.” I nod.
She steps back—two generous strides—and I instantly miss her scent. Warm and spicy, the kind that lingers, tempting me to lean in and breathe it in again.
The edge of her mouth quirks into a grin, her eyebrow arching. “Try not to moon over me while you’re vacuuming. It would be really inconvenient if you fell down the stairs.”
At that she struts away without another look, and I get to work.
I’d heard about Jack’s birthday. The Ledger’s are known for always having some event going on, whether it’s personal or at the winery. I wasn’t necessarily invited, but I wasn’t not invited. Still, I know how upset Ellie was when I showed up to her family’s dinner a few weeks ago, and I’m trying really hard to keep things moving forward.
I said I wouldn’t moon over her, but my eyes flash to her briefly, getting a peek at her bending over to adjust a couch cushion.
For as far back as I can remember, she’s always taken on more than she should, not letting her siblings pick up the slack. I love that she cares so much and loves so big, even though she’ll never admit it. But it makes me sad to know she makes it her mission to shoulder everything, getting almost nothing in return. The Ledgers are good people, but they would crumble without her. She’s the backbone of her family, and they don’t even realize it. It was true when we were kids, and it obviously still rings true today.
She buzzes around, straightening and re-straitening, the perfectionist in her is unable to see that the place is already immaculate.
Halfway through vacuuming, the smell of garlic starts to waft in the air. Whatever Shane is cooking, it smells good.
Once I’m done vacuuming, I put everything away and approach Ellie for my next task.
She doesn’t see me at first, and it gives me a free moment to watch her without prying eyes, since it’s just us two at the moment.
I can tell by the way she’s holding her shoulders, tense, as if there’s a weight on each one, pushing her down, that she’s bone tired.
“Why don’t you sit for a bit?”
She jumps at the sound of my voice, clearly not having heard me walk in. “You scared me. How long have you been standing there.”
“A while,” I tell her truthfully.
Her face scrunches. “They teach you how to walk like a mouse at the academy? I didn’t even hear your footsteps.”
“Among other things,” my lips lift, amused at the mix of her disheveled appearance and attempt to be mad at me for no real reason. “Sit,” I repeat. “Before you collapse.”
Surprisingly, she nods, and then spins to flop down on the nearby couch. She lands with a sigh, followed by a groan as her body uncoils.
My brain knows she’s just relieving the tension, but my dick has no idea those sounds aren’t sexual and it jerks against my pants’ zipper.
It’s been a long time since I’ve let anyone close enough to even think about having sex—and now I’m standing in front of my dream girl, and my body’s in overdrive, aching for her.
After we broke up, it took me a while to try to move on. Ellie had been my everything for pretty much my entire life, and it felt like cheating, even though she was long gone. It didn’t take me long to realize no woman would ever compare to her, that she was the standard and everyone else was a placeholder. I tried, I really tried. I dated, had one-night stands, did the apps, I’ve even had a few girlfriends. None who lastedmore than a couple months. When a woman realizes she’s competing against a ghost, she’s quickly out the door. It’s a losing competition.
I should’ve come back for her sooner. I should’ve never let her get away in the first place. There’s been a lot of could’ves, would’ves, should’ves when it comes to Ellie. I had to almost die to realize I’d wasted a decade trying to outrun the love of my life, when I should’ve been turning around and chasing her down.
“Why did I listen to you?” she mumbles, pulling me back to the present. “Now I don’t want to get back up and finish.”
