Bachelor Untamed - Brenda Jackson [19]
Because he couldn’t resist the temptation any longer, he glanced over his shoulder to Ellie’s bedroom window and noticed she was no longer sitting there reading. He wondered what had captivated her to the point that she’d sat in that chair by the window for at least four solid hours. He wondered too what happened to her plans to go through her aunt’s things today.
Reaching the conclusion that it wasn’t really any of his business, he turned his attention back to the lake and to another question he was wondering about. Did Ellie have a boyfriend? Was that the reason she’d been standing at the window last night? Had she been hot and restless for a lover who hadn’t been able to make the trip with her? Did that mean she would be expecting company any day now?
And why in the hell did the thought of that nag him?
He stared intently at the lake, refusing to dwell on the thought. Hell, if truth be told, he was probably the hot and restless one. He treated sex as the sport it was, and knew, without thinking too hard about it, just when was the last time he’d played. Valentine’s Day. The woman was someone he’d met at the Racetrack Café. They had dated a few times before she’d begun getting possessive. She’d found out rather quickly that he didn’t do possessive very well. On occasion she would call. He had yet to call her back. One day she would learn that most men appreciated women who knew how to curtsy out of the picture gracefully.
He decided he’d spent enough time out here on the pier. He always enjoyed fishing, whether he’d had a good day or not. There was something about sitting on the water, especially Cavanaugh Lake with a fishing rod and a six-pack. It was peaceful and relaxing. That was the main reason he’d bought the lake house from his parents.
He eased into a stand and gathered his tackle box and fishing gear and began walking back toward his house. He glanced up at Ellie’s window. She was back, and he immediately felt a tug in his gut. From the looks of things, she was back to reading again.
Something, he wasn’t sure what, made her look up at that moment, as their gazes connected. He felt it. More than a mere tug in his gut or a stirring in his blood. It was a rush of desire that he knew had everything to do with how he’d seen her last night while standing at that window. Sexy couldn’t get any better.
Figuring they didn’t need to pass the time away just staring at each other, he threw up his hand to acknowledge her presence. Smiling amiably, she waved back.
That was that. At least he quickly told himself so. Shifting his gaze away, he kept on walking.
Ellie watched until Uriel was no longer in sight, and thought that he was just as handsome as Grant Hatteras, the hero in the manuscript she was reading. Grant, the man who had captured Tamara Carrington’s heart.
In her mind, Uriel had all of Grant’s physical attributes. He was handsome as sin and had a body that could make a woman drool. And he could kiss you in a way that made your toes curl. She’d been only sixteen when she’d kissed Uriel, but that single kiss had made a gigantic impact on her and had been the basis of comparison for all the other kisses she’d shared since. No one had come close.
When she’d confided in Darcy about it, her best friend had rolled her eyes and said that every girl remembered her first kiss and thought it was special. But Ellie truly believed that, for some reason, it was more than that for her. And she wanted to believe that Uriel had gotten caught up in the kiss as much as she had, before Darcy had made a mess of things. She couldn’t help but wonder how far things would have gone if Darcy hadn’t shown up. What if the two of them had been completely alone, with no one spying on them? Would he have been her first in more ways than one?
She drew in a deep breath, thinking that reading about Grant and Tamara was putting her into a romantic mood. She could actually feel the chemistry flowing between them, the surge of energy