Carried Away: A Small Town Romance (The Moore Brothers Book 2) (11 page)

F
riday ended
with another full cash register and a kitchen wiped clean of stock. Ellie left Good Beginnings in a hurry. Her power bill was due today and if she didn’t get the money to them, they’d disconnect the electricity. She spent the car ride to the office avoiding thoughts of James and the swirl of emotion she had ignored since he left the cafe a few hours ago.

The woman behind the counter clucked reproachfully as Ellie swept into the building and explained why she was there. “You’re cutting it really close, aren’t you?”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose.” Ellie swallowed back the rest of her words, which were decidedly less polite.

The woman frowned, pulling her mouth down in an angry line, deepening the lines and wrinkles too many hard years had left on her face. “Uh-huh.” If more judgment could have fit into her reply, Ellie would eat her hat. She chose not to reply and just handed the woman her bill and the money and waited while her chipped fingernails clacked over the keys on a grimy keyboard. She squinted at the computer screen and shook her head.

“They’ve already been out to disconnect,” she said without looking at Ellie.

“But the bill wasn’t due until today.” Ellie tried to keep the desperate whine out of her voice, but may or may not have succeeded.

“True, but as I already mentioned. You’re cutting it really close. This building closes in five minutes.”

Ellie waited for the woman to offer a solution, but when none came, she swallowed back her frustration and put on a polite smile. “Is it possible you could call them? Let them know that I’m here and that I paid in full?”

The woman sighed and looked at Ellie as if she had just asked her to single-handedly build a temple to the sky gods. “I guess I can t
ry
to reach them.”

“Thank you,” Ellie said, letting the gratitude play in her voice and eyes. “It really means a lot.”

The woman nodded disdainfully and plucked the phone from its cradle and attacked the keypad. No wonder those nails were so chipped. Ellie thanked the woman again and practically ran out of the building. Warmth wrapped itself around her as she stepped outside, and she took a deep breath of fresh air. That was a close call. Too close. She couldn’t keep living like this. Not without losing her mind. Something was going to have to give.

It wasn’t like she could cut any more corners. She already shopped at the discount grocery stores, and spent less on groceries each week than most people spent on fancy coffee. She wore second hand clothes and lived in an apartment, and drove the car she bought in high school and pushed as much time between oil changes as she possibly could. What else could she do? Close the cafe? But then what? She would still drown in debt each month. Was she finally going to have to give up and file bankruptcy? He stomach hollowed out and her heart grew brittle. She didn’t want to do that. It would be admitting defeat, letting Parasite Steve win, and she wasn’t at all interested in doing that. She was a fighter. A survivor.

Her cell phone interrupted her thoughts and she checked it as she pulled to a stop at a red light. If her stomach had hollowed out before, it imploded when she saw who was calling her. Her cook. The one she had talked into cover for Ben tomorrow. And the only reason he’d be calling now would be to call off. She answered the phone with a smile on her face and hung up feeling nauseated. The guy was sick. No way he would be able to show up in the morning and that meant Ellie had no one but herself to run Good Beginnings tomorrow. And if Saturday was like the last two days, there would be no way for her to keep up.

She pulled into her parking spot and threw open the car door, eager for some fresh air. She took big, gulping breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Tears pressed against her eyes and her hands started to quiver and she was pretty damn close to having a full on panic attack. She didn’t do that any more. Panic attacks. She had left those behind when she got out of the foster system. She was the master of her fate. In control of her life.

Her phone started vibrating again just as she slid her key into the lock of her front door.
What now?
she thought as she answered the call and pushed into the apartment.

“Hello?” Her voice was gruffer than she intended. She dropped her purse on the floor and swept her hand against the wall, flicking on the lights.

“Ellie?” She recognized James’s voice in the same instant she recognized that the lights weren’t coming on.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Leaving the door open for light, she moved deeper into the darkened apartment to the next light switch. Flicked it on.

Nothing.

“Ellie? Are you okay?”

She sat down on the floor in the middle of her lightless living room and put her head in her hands. “No. I’m not okay.”

“What’s wrong? Where are you?” The concern in her voice just about crumbled her reserves and her throat constricted.

“It’s nothing,” she said around the tightness in her throat. “I’ll survive.”

“I’m sure you will, but Ellie? I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

She sighed. Swallowed her pride and explained.

“But you paid the bill? Before the end of the day they told you the payment was due.”

“Just barely, but yeah. I just got back from the office and paid in full.” Embarrassment rolled around in her belly and made friends with the tears still trying to make an appearance. She started to wonder if she might throw up. “And my cook canceled for tomorrow and I haven’t found a full-time replacement for Ben and I …” She trailed off, not wanting to give her worries a voice.

“Well, one thing at a time, sweet Ellie.” James’s voice was warm and strong and she didn’t know if it made her feel better or worse. “Call the power company. Explain their mistake. Get your power turned back on. Call me back when you’re done.”

Ellie did what he told her to do, priding herself on keeping the quaver out of her voice as she spoke to Madame Condescending Chipped Nails. Apparently, the technician who was in charge of disconnects was done for the day. And he didn’t work on the weekends, so long story short, Ellie wouldn’t have power until Monday. She called James back and explained, losing control of the quaver in her voice.

“That’s such utter bullshit,” he said. “Gotta love living in a small town.”

“I guess,” Ellie said and groaned. The other benefit of living in a small town was the gossip. Combine this story with James’s attempts at getting her more customers and all of Bliss would be believing that she was despondent by the time Monday got here.

“Okay. Here’s what you’re going to do. You can’t stay in a dark apartment without air conditioning for the whole weekend. I won’t have it. Pack a bag. Grab the food out of your fridge and get your ass over here. I’ve got more than enough electricity to share.”

Pride demanded she turn him down. “No way, Moore. Thank you, but I can’t impose on you like that.” Plus, her heart was busy inflating like some kind of hot air balloon on steroids as he swept in and tried to rescue her. She couldn’t have that.

“It’s not an imposition and I will be highly offended and driven to drink myself into oblivion if you continue to turn me down.” Ellie could just see the devilish twinkle that was sure to be making his dark eyes dance right now. “Pack a bag. Grab your food. I’ll see you in a few.”

James didn’t even wait to hear Ellie’s response. He hung up the phone after talking over her to say goodbye. She just stared at the phone for a few seconds before she went ahead and did exactly what he told her to do. Packed up a weekends worth of clothes—taking a little more time over her underwear choices than she’d like to admit—and packed up all the perishable food items she didn’t want rotting in her fridge for the next few days. She spent the drive over to James’s house with her jaw clenched tight and her teeth starting to ache from the pressure.

What turns coal into diamonds?
she kept asking herself.
Pressure.

It was an old mantra, one she had developed in one of her many unsuccessful families. A high-powered couple who were overly eager to shape her young mind. A couple who firmly believed that the more pressure they applied to her, the better off she would be. She never got to find out what they’re high standards would do for her. They got tired of fostering, tired of giving up so much of their own time to give to someone else, and Ellie found herself in a new home.

Their lessons had stuck, though. Ellie could take pressure. She could handle all the stuff piling up on her. And she would handle it with grace and come out of these challenging times better. With effort, she deepened her breath. Willed her shoulders to relax. She would calm herself by force. She had done it before.

The simple beauty of James’s property struck Ellie as she pulled into his driveway. The clean lines of the home. The manicured landscaping. The ocean lapping the private beach and miles of clear blue sky stretching it out behind it all. How could anyone hold stress in such a beautiful place? Of course, that’s a silly question. This house was the source of so much of James’s stress and if Ellie was honest, that was just really too bad. This property was a gem.

James was waiting for her on the porch on a white wicker chair. He stood as she put the car in park and then bounded down off the porch to help her with her stuff. “You good, sweet Ellie?”

She smiled at her new nickname. Sweet Ellie. He had been calling her that more and more often. “Yeah,” she said, grunting under the weight of a particularly heavy bag of food. “Thank you for offering me a place to stay.”

“I couldn’t stand the thought of you melting away in the dark in that tiny box of an apartment. Not when I have space to offer.”

“Hey,” Ellie said, handing him a bag of frozen stuff. “I happen to call that tiny box home. You’d be wise not to call it names.”

James looked chagrined. “I’m sorry.” He led her towards the door, looking over his shoulder with that devilish look she loved so much. “But it
is
tiny, you can’t deny that.”

“It’s a roof over my head. It’s warm when it rains outside and the air conditioning keeps me cool when it’s hot. What more can I ask for?”

James didn’t respond, but as she stepped up onto the well-crafted porch and stepped into James’s spacious house, she could think of quite a few things she could ask for. Things she didn’t necessarily
need
, but things that would certainly be nice to have. He took the bags of food from her and dropped them in the kitchen and then guided her upstairs to a room across the hall from his.

“You’ve been busy,” she said, staring wide-eyed at the clean space.

“Not being drunk all the time has opened my eyes to some things.” James hung back and let her enter the guest room first. “Like mainly, I had become a nasty slovenly pig.”

Ellie wrinkled her nose. “You really did.”

“I’d be offended, but it’s the truth. There’s still quite a lot to do around here, but I’m making progress.”

James showed her around the sparsely decorated room, pulling open empty drawers and showing her the closet. Ellie plopped down on the king size bed and fell backwards, flinging her arms out to the side. “This bed is amazing,” she said.

James shrugged and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “It’s not much, but at least you can turn the lights on.”

“Not much?” Ellie pushed herself up on her elbows. “You could fit my entire downstairs in this one room. And the bed? Let’s just say I’ve been making do with just a little less. And by just a little, I mean to say that I may as well have been sleeping on a wooden box compared to this fluffy cloud of a thing.”

James smiled, but there was something sad in his eyes. “Well come on then, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Doubt and mistrust fidgeted in Ellie’s stomach. She hated surprises.

“Yep.” James crossed the room and offered her his hand, pulled her off the bed and led her out into the hallway and past his bedroom door to another door. Using one hand, he pushed the door open to reveal a bathroom lit in candle light, a massive tub filled with soapy water, and gentle music playing over some invisible set of speakers. “There’s no better way to erase a bad day than to soak in a bubble bath.”

James nudged her into the room.

“I’ll get some dinner started. You take your time in here. Join me downstairs when you’re ready.” He closed the door behind him and Ellie stared open mouthed at the luxurious room. Fluffy white towels stacked on a table near the tub. Candles on every imaginable surface. James had mentioned spending time with him would have its perks. She just hadn’t imagined those perks would include candlelit soaks in the tub while he prepared dinner for her after a long day.

A girl could get used to this.

J
ames tried not
to think of Ellie upstairs in his bathroom right now, that hot body all wet and slippery, soap bubbles hiding just enough of those perfect tits to make him want more. He tried, and he failed, and his dick flexed merrily in his pants as he forced his attention to deciding what he should make her for dinner. After several minutes of staring at the food he had in his fridge—not much—and the food Ellie had brought with her—even less—James gave up and called Harrison.

“Pop quiz,” he said after his brother answered the phone. “There’s a hot chick in your tub and you want to feed her but all you have is some eggs, a questionable block of cheddar cheese, and some completely frozen chicken breasts. What do you do?”

“Order out.”

“What’s the point of having a chef for a younger brother if the best advice he has for you is
order
out?”

“I’d say, considering the list of food you just gave me, I’d be thanking that younger brother for the fucking stellar advice he’s offering.” The hisses and bangs of the kitchen sounded through the phone behind Harry’s voice. Apparently, he was at his restaurant, Moore Good Eats, tonight. Harrison and Ellie had a lot in common on that end. She worked all day, every day, in her restaurant and he worked all night, every night, in his.

“Yeah, but you’re not me.” James opened the fridge and stared inside. “I’m one of a kind.”

“Yes, you’re most definitely one of a kind,” Harry said with just a hint of laughter.

“How come you make that sound like it’s a bad thing?” James dug around in the fridge for something else to feed Ellie. After a day like she had, that girl needed pampering big time.

“Because maybe, the way you do it, it is.”

“Nope.” James shut the fridge. “Not buying it. I am a magnificent specimen of a man.”

“Says the guy trying to impress a woman with moldy cheese and frozen chicken.”

“You at the restaurant tonight? Any chance you could run something out here?”

“I
am
at the restaurant, and you should know by now that we don’t do deliveries.” There was a huge bang and clatter and Harry called out to see if everyone was okay.

James waited for the all clear. “So, what you’re saying is, I’m on my own.”

“No, what I'm saying is, I’d order Chinese and have it ready on the table when she comes down. Use plates and silverware. Real glasses. She’ll be thrilled, I promise.”

“And if she’s not?”

“Just show her the options in the fridge.”

James thanked Harry and placed an order for delivery at Timmy’s Wok, the only place to get Chinese within twenty miles of Bliss. The guy who took his order was rude as hell, but James knew the food would be decent.

When he had heard the desperation in Ellie’s voice on the phone, his stomach had gotten upset. That woman worked her ass off. It wasn’t right that she had to struggle so much for so little when he had everything he could possibly need and then some and hadn’t worked a day in his life. It was a strange revelation and brought some pretty uncomfortable self-evaluation with it. Here he was, falling apart because Erin finally had the grace to stop pretending that what they had was working. He had blamed her for ruining everything when really, she was the one doing the smart thing. Going about it the wrong way, of course, with the cheating and sneaking around, but when James got really quiet and stopped throwing his little temper tantrum, he was grateful that they didn’t go through with the wedding.

So why the temper tantrum? Why the drinking and the fighting and the crash course on local women? The honest answer wasn’t very pretty. Didn’t make him look very good. The honest answer was that after a lifetime of getting what he wanted for very little effort, he didn’t get the happily ever after he thought he had earned. And his behavior the last couple months? One big pouting session.

And meanwhile, sweet Ellie went to work every day, working impossible hours with no end in sight just to make ends not quite meet. She didn’t give up. She didn’t dissolve in self-pity. She just kept putting one foot in front of the other and then had the strength to pick him up when he had fallen to pieces in front of her that night at Fantastic Sam’s. James shook his head as he set the table, choosing his best dinnerware and utensils. He poured her a glass of wine and considered pouring one for himself as well, but decided against it.

He couldn’t have timed it better if he’d tried. Dinner arrived and he’d just finished emptying the food from the little plastic takeaway containers onto serving plates when Ellie came wandering downstairs, dragging her hand on the banister, a warm smile plastered across her face. God, she was beautiful. Strikingly so.

“Holy shit, did you make Chinese?” Ellie wandered into the dining room and paused in the doorway, surprise painted across her lovely face.

James grinned. “Yep.” He pulled back a chair for her and helped scoot her in. “Used a cherished family recipe. From the old country.”

“The old country?” Ellie looked skeptical. “Your family is Chinese?”

“Clearly.”

Ellie nodded her head, still looking skeptical. “Sure.” She drew the word out and surveyed the table. “Timmy’s Wok?”

“You know it.” James shrugged. “It was that or eggs and moldy cheese. I thought you deserved better.”

Ellie laughed and scooped a heaping spoonful of General Tso’s chicken onto her plate. “You’ll get no complaints from me. This is my favorite and I never ever get to have it.”

They talked and they laughed through dinner and James found himself watching her time and time again. Studying the way she moved. The way she held her fork. The way she tilted her head when she smiled. He watched her sample the wine and sigh in appreciation. While he hated the circumstances that brought her here, hated them with a fervor that turned his stomach, he was glad to have her here. She brightened up the dark corners of the house, the dark corners where the ghost of the life he’d envisioned with Erin still hung. Ellie’s energy pushed all the sadness out of the place.

“Okay,” he said, sitting back and pushing his plate away. “I have another proposition for you. A business deal, of sorts.”

Ellie frowned and put her glass of wine back down on the table. “I wasn’t too fond of the last business proposition you brought to me, if you remember.” Oh, he remembered, alright. He had been surprised and more than a little surly after she got all bent out of shape when he had brought her his idea about faking a relationship.

“True, but,” James said, leaning forward and taking her hand. “You came around. And you have to admit, it turned out to be a pretty damn good idea.”

A blush flared across her cheeks and a flash of happiness danced in her eyes before it got chased away by something darker. And then the mask came down and it was just Ellie smiling sweetly at him. “I guess it hasn’t been a total bust.”

James didn’t like whatever darkness he’d just seen in her eyes. He didn’t like the mask she wore around him. Around everyone, really. He wanted to get past the barriers she had set up around her. He wanted to know
her
. The real Ellie Charles.

But first things first.

“I want to invest in Good Beginnings.”

Surprise dropped her jaw. “What?”

“I have faith in the owner. The business model. I want to support local business. Keep money in the area by funding a locally owned shop rather than letting a big corporate cafe come in and drain Bliss of our resources.”

Ellie was already shaking her head. “I can’t … you can’t …” She pulled her hand from his and sat back in her chair. He knew she would be a hard sell on this, but James was pretty good at getting what he wanted.

“I’m going to give you a couple hundred dollars every two weeks.” Ellie started to protest again and he just kept right on talking. “And you’re going to use it for whatever you need. Pay off credit cards. Pay bills. Upgrade stuff at the cafe. Because, sweet Ellie? What I’m really investing in, what I really believe in, is you.”

Her eyes glistened with tears and gratitude and shame. “I can’t let you do this.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do. My heart is set on this. And it’s fragile, remember? If you turn me down, you could send me into another downward spiral.”

Ellie laughed and swiped at her eyes. “That’s a low blow, big boy, and you know it.”

“Then it’s decided,” James said, leaning forward and claiming her hand in his own again.

She opened her mouth and then closed it several times, only to open and close it again. She shrugged and flared her fingers, blinking away tears with the practiced air of a professional.

“Ellie Charles. Are you speechless?”

She let out another choking laugh. “I’m speechless.”

“Is that even a thing? You not being able to say anything?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s really not. Typically, I find myself unable to
not
say anything.”

“I have another question for you. Do you need someone to help with the office stuff? Like, if I’m helping with the counter and the office, would you be able to work in the kitchen?” That damn mask came slamming down over her expression again and he couldn’t read her response. “I’m actually really good with numbers. If I hadn’t decided to go the spoiled trust fund brat route, I could have gone into accounting and been fine.”

She was shaking her head again, her eyes a million miles away. “James … I can’t let you do this.”

“Why?” What was it with her and not accepting help? “I want to help. I have the ability to help. Why won’t you let me?”

She sucked in her lips and closed her eyes. Held her breath. Everything about her went on pause and it took James a second to realize that she was frozen in fear and pain and trying to hold back a torrent of tears.

He stood, the chair scraping back against the tile, his napkin falling from his lap unnoticed, and pulled her into his arms. She took one ragged breath and sagged against him. He waited for her to unleash the sobs he knew she was holding in and she never did. Instead, she grew still again and let out one long, controlled breath.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He waited for her to continue. Waited for her to accept his offer or tell him to go to hell or make some sort of sound, any sound at all. The silent Ellie in his arms unnerved him. He didn’t know what to do or say and so he just held her, smoothing her hair and wrapping his arms around her small frame.

“James?” she asked, her tiny voice cracking with the weight of the emotion she held in.

“Yes, sweet Ellie?”

“Can I sleep with you tonight? We don’t have to do anything, but will you please hold me tight?”

James didn’t answer. He just swept her up in his arms and cradled her to his chest and took her up to his room.