Never Far Away (15 page)

 
  “OK…” Megan said, drawing out the word, obviously anxious about what Ella had to say.

 
  “We are moving to Salem so I can open another Poppy.”

 
  “Oh my gosh! Ella that’s so amazing.  You’re going to do great!” Megan pulled her into another hug.

 
  “And I want you to be the manager of Poppy in Portland, full time.”  Ella felt Megan freeze in her embrace.  Slowly, Megan pulled back.

 
  “You want ME to manage Poppy?”

 
  “Yes, I think you’re the best person for the job.  You did great while I was recovering and you’re looking for a job, right?”

 
  “Well, I mean, yes, I’m looking for a job, but I don’t know about this Ella.  What if I mess up everything you’ve worked so hard for?  What if I run Poppy into the ground and you have to close the doors and we all end up homeless?”

 
  Ella laughed at her sister’s over dramatics.

 
  “Megan, calm down.  You aren’t going to ruin anything.  You are going to be great, if you accept.  You already do a great job at Poppy.”

 
  “What about Brittany?  She’s worked there longer.”

 
  “Brittany will get a promotion to assistant manager.  I really think you’d be great at this.  You’ve got a degree in business; Brittany’s degree is in art history.  You’re qualified.  Please, you’d really be doing me a big favor by taking the job.”

 
  “You really trust me to take care of your ‘store baby’?”

 
  “Implicitly,” Ella laughed.

 
  “Well, I’d like to talk it over with Patrick, but I think I can unofficially accept,” Megan smiled at Ella.

 
  “I’m so glad, Megan.  It will make being in Salem so much easier if I know you’re taking care of Poppy here.  You don’t know how much this means to me.”

 
  “You guys are too much.  You make me want a sister,” Kalli laughed.

 
  “Ok,” Megan said, wiping away the rogue tear that had escaped.  “Enough with the sappy.”

 
  “Yeah,” Ella agreed.

 
  “We should go celebrate tonight!” Megan nearly shouted, making Ella laugh again.  Sometimes, more than others, the eight year gap between them was glaringly obvious.

 
  “I can’t tonight.  I am headed to Lincoln City to stay with Porter.”

 
  “So, go out there tomorrow,” Megan said with a shrug of her shoulders.

 
  “Can’t.  Porter and I made a promise not to spend any more nights apart.”

 
  “That might be the sweetest and sickest thing I’ve ever heard,” Kalli said and then gave Ella an apologetic look.  “Sorry.”

 
  Ella laughed.

 
  “It’s ok.  I know it seems sudden, perhaps especially to you, but we just don’t want to spend any more time apart.  Plus, since I’ve gotten my memory back, it’s difficult being at my apartment alone.”  Megan nodded in understanding.

 
  “Well, maybe we should all go out on Friday.  It will be so fun!  Patrick and I haven’t been out in ages! Kalli, you could bring a date.  Please?”  Megan practically begged, waggling her eyebrows at Kalli.

 
  “Ok, I’ll talk to Porter about it.  And this would be a good opportunity to hang out with Scott,” Ella sing-songed at Kalli.  Kalli blushed and nodded.

 
  “Well, Kalli, do YOU want to get a drink tonight to celebrate my new job?”  Megan asked, feigning insult and annoyance.

 
  “You know I’m always down for a drink.  But let’s find a dive this time, something more my speed.”  Megan laughed.

 
  “You don’t like my dance clubs?”

 
  “I did, when I was twenty-two.”

 
  “Hey! I am twenty-two!”

 
  “I know, but I will get you up to speed with us adults,” Kalli joked.

 
  The three women stood up and Megan thanked the consultant, promising to bring her mom back to see the dress.  They all hugged at the door before Ella left and headed for her car.  Before starting the engine she took out her phone and sent Porter a text.

**Leaving now.  Should be about two hours.  Do you need me to pick anything up for dinner?**

**No, I just need you.  Here.  Drive safely.  No hitchhikers.**

**So, should I kick out the one guy I already picked up then?**

**Very funny.  Be careful.**

**Always.  Love you.**

**Love you too.**

   When Ella pulled up to Porter’s house she was once again floored by the fact that he had built it with his own sexy, capable hands.  She couldn’t wait to begin the process of building their own house.  Honestly, she couldn’t wait to
watch
him build their house; it would be glorious, she was sure.

 
  She got out of her car and was immediately hit by the unusual warmth that she felt.  Granted, it was late June, but for it to be hot outside on the Oregon Coast was surprising.  She was grateful that she had worn a breezy skirt with a sleeveless top.

 
  She was also accosted by the screeching sound of what she thought was a power saw coming from behind the house.  She hadn’t been in the shop out back yet.  She blushed a little at the thought of most of their time together being spent inside the house in one particular room.  She ventured around the side of the house to see the big shop, big enough to house the sailboat he was building, and just as spectacularly built as the house.  Of course, the buildings matched.  He seemed to be somewhat of a perfectionist when it came to his work and it showed.

 
  As she came to the entrance of the shop, two large doors like you’d find in a barn, she could see a surprisingly large boat that was obviously in the midst of creation.  Porter had told her it was a twenty-five foot sailboat, but the numbers had really just flitted through her mind, not really taking hold.  To see in person a boat that size and realize that the hands of this man were responsible for it made parts of her liquefy.  She swallowed her arousal down, trying to maintain some semblance of a cool and unaffected demeanor.  She continued in the building and all efforts to stay cool, calm, and collected were thrust back out the door when her eyes found Porter.

 
  He was standing at a table saw, gracefully moving a plank of wood through the blade, shirtless.  He was wearing jeans that clung to his ass in the most delicious of ways, and God help her, a tool belt. Every cheesy picture of a construction buff flipped through her mind, one comparing to the glistening Adonis standing before her. As he pushed the wood through the saw the muscles in his back rippled and waved.  The forward and backward motions of his arms triggered his biceps to contract and bulge and Ella’s ability to stand up straight was stolen from her.  Her belly quivered, her core tightened, her hands painfully ached to smooth over the muscles that lined his back and arms. 

 
  Even in her hyper-aroused state, she knew it would be dangerous to sneak up on him while he was using a blade, so she used the moment to soak in the view, stowing the sight away in her mind to remember later.  Once he powered the saw off, she let out a breath, still trying to take all of him in.

 
  “I still maintain that there should be women lined up on your yard trying to win your affections.  You are one seriously sexy man.”  He turned towards her, obviously surprised to see her.

 
  “Hey, Babe.  I didn’t hear you come in,” he said as he started towards her.

 
  “Well, that’s because you were operating that beast of a machine over there.  You know,” she said with a gleam in her eyes, “women, mainly me, would pay good money to watch you work out here, shirtless, and see all your glorious muscles flexing and thrusting.”  She emphasized the last word with a sexy whisper.  He made his way over to her and gripped her hips.

 
  “You want to see me thrust?”  He asked with a smile.

 
  “Always.”  Her wicked smile stayed on her lips until his came down on hers.  Her hands, as if she had no control over them, slid all over his shoulders and down his arms.  He was slick with sweat making her hands glide effortlessly over the chords of his muscles still warm from use.  She rubbed on him and pulled him in closer to her.  He nipped at her bottom lip and pulled away to look her in the eye.

 
  “Ella, I’m covered in saw dust and sweat.  Let’s go inside and I’ll get cleaned up.”

 
  “Mmm, nope.  I like you dirty right now.”  Her hands came down between them and she started to undo the button on his jeans.

 
  “I’m warning you, Ella.  If you start this, I’m not going to be able to stop.  The doors to the shop are open.  It’s daylight, and I will ravage you in here.  But I won’t put the brakes on.  Your call.”  She kept her eyes trained right on his and slowly pulled his zipper down and cupped him over his boxers.  She watched as his eyes went from a chocolate brown to almost black as lust coursed through him.

 
  “I like your underwear, Porter,” she said.  He raised an eyebrow at her, half in playfulness, half in confusion.

 
  “Good to know,” he said as he flipped the tip of his nose against hers, a classic Porter move that had her heart fluttering in her chest.

 
  “Yes, well, I’m just wondering if you’d like mine as much as I like yours.”  Realization dawned on him and she watched with a smile as his eyes traveled down from her face and landed right on the apex of her thighs. 

 
  “Did you put something special on for me, Ella?”

 
  “I might have made a special effort when I was choosing certain undergarments this morning, hoping I would get the chance to be seen in them,” she said in a non-committal way, shrugging her shoulder.  He took a step back, putting a few feet between them.

 
  “Take off your clothes, Ella, and let me see.”  His voice was deep and demanding, sending shivers throughout her body.  She reached up to the buttons on the front of her blouse, slowing undoing them without removing her eyes from his.  Once they were all undone, she pulled the fabric apart at the center, just enough to show the canal between the swells of her breasts and her belly button.  She left it on and moved on to her skirt.  She reached behind her and pulled the zipper down the back, letting it float to the ground and pool around her feet.  His eyes followed the skirt but quickly came back to her.  She could tell he was anxious to see her, which was only exasperated by the fact that her shirt was still covering everything she was sure he wanted to see.

 
  “All of it,” he growled.

 
  “So impatient,” she scolded with a smile.

 
  “Damn straight, Ella.  I’ve gone too long without you for you to be standing here teasing me. Now take it off before I ruin it by ripping it off.”

 
  His forceful demand made her blood boil and run in thick, hot, rivers through her body.  He had waited for her and she would be eternally grateful for that.  She reached up to the collar of her shirt and pulled it down her shoulders, letting it join her skirt on the floor.  The low and throaty groan that came from his mouth was enough to set her nerves on fire.  His gaze was like flame, burning her everywhere his eyes roamed.

 
  She was wearing all white.  In a white-lace bra that pushed her up in a ridiculous way which was almost misleading, although she felt amazing in it.  The lace was a loose pattern that left nothing to the imagination, but was just decorative enough to be pretty.  Her panties were white satin and the silky feeling of them between her legs did nothing but spur on the heat that was expanding from her center outwards.

 
  “White, huh?  I’m a filthy mess here, Ella, and you come to me wearing all white?”

 
  “I don’t mind getting dirty,” she said, surprised at her own brazen attitude.  Porter cocked an eyebrow at her comment.  He stalked towards her with a smug grin on his face.  When he was within arm’s reach of her, he hooked his fingers in the dainty strings that held her panties to her hips and pulled her against his body.  She felt him grip the strings with more force and yank them apart.  A quiet rip she heard was the decimation of the pretty satin panties and she knew they had served their purpose well.  He reached behind her and unclasped her bra; her shoulders rolled forward as she let him slip it from her body and drop it to the floor.  He looked down at her naked body and she felt his eyes on every part of her.

 
  “You are one beautiful woman, Ella,” he said as his hands traveled along her body.  He was feeling all of her, everything his hands could reach.  One hand slid down the side of her hip while the other smoothed up her stomach, seeking out her breast.  “I love the way you feel under my hands.  I’m not sure I’m complete unless I’m touching some part of you,” his breath was hot on her skin and his words were felt in the very core of her body.  Her eyes rolled back in her head as his mouth found her neck.  He ran his tongue along the soft flesh and a slight moan escaped her.  His hand found her ass and hauled her even closer to him.