Bachelor Untamed - Brenda Jackson [30]
“No, Xavier, I really mean it. The fish have really been biting the last few days,” Uriel said to one of his godbrothers, the only one who also lived in Charlotte.
“If I didn’t have plans for this weekend, I’d be tempted to head your way,” Xavier was saying.
Uriel nodded. He didn’t have to figure what kind of plans Xavier had. Like him, all of his godbrothers were Bachelors in Demand, who had no desire to marry anytime soon—or ever.
He and Xavier talked for another fifteen minutes or so, and then they ended the call. Uriel had been enjoying a movie every night this week, and had been getting in bed before ten. That would be just fine if he slept through the night, but he did not.
Tomorrow, after his early morning workout, he would start cleaning all the fish he’d caught, and then, if Ellie still hadn’t made contact with him by Saturday, he planned to go over there and have a talk with her. She’d made it pretty clear she did not want to indulge in an affair, and that was fine, although he wished otherwise.
He noticed Daniel Altman hadn’t stayed long, and now the house was completely dark. The lights in the upstairs bedroom were off, which meant she’d gone to bed and was probably getting a good night’s sleep.
He decided to take a shower and then check out the sports station to see what was happening there. He didn’t want to admit it, but he missed seeing Ellie over the past couple of days and hoped he got a chance to see her tomorrow.
Ellie tossed around in the small bed, trying to get comfortable. Instead of sleeping in her aunt’s room for the past two nights, she had slept in the guest room, which was located on the opposite side of the house. That way, Uriel wouldn’t know when she turned on a bedroom light.
She hadn’t wanted him to know, especially that first night, that the kiss they’d shared had definitely made an impact on her. She knew he was still waiting on a decision regarding an affair, but she didn’t have one to give him. She didn’t want a short-term affair and he didn’t want a long-term one. A relationship would not work out between them, because they wanted different things in life. She had tried avoiding him, but eventually she would have to go outside.
And when she did she would see him. She remembered the kiss that nearly scorched her toes. The kiss that still could render her breathless, just thinking about it.
To keep Uriel off her mind, she had been able to pack up a lot of her aunt’s belongings over the past two days and had everything ready for the Salvation Army truck when it arrived. More than once, she had been tempted to call Uriel over to handle a big box for her, but had quickly changed her mind, not wanting to give him any ideas. He had pretty much told her what he was looking for in a relationship, and it wasn’t the same thing she wanted. He wanted a summer fling that would last while the two of them were here on the lake. But she couldn’t risk that because when it was over, her heart would break.
She’d had this crush on Uriel for years—one that had lasted through her adolescent years and all through her teens. Even after that incident that day on the pier, when he had walked off from her with anger in his eyes at what she’d done, she had still loved him and had come to the lake each year after that for five straight years, hoping the anger within him would have subsided. She had even tried calling him a few months later at college to apologize, after getting his cell number from his father, only to get cold feet and hang up when she’d heard his voice. When it became apparent to her that he would keep his word and not come to the lake while she was there, she had stopped coming.
And now, after ten years, they were both back at the lake; they were adults who were attracted to each other, though for her it went a little farther than that. A part of her still loved Uriel and would always love him. For some women, teen crushes faded over time; but not for her, which was why she could not consider a fling with him. She would need something