Bachelor Untamed - Brenda Jackson [52]
“No, I haven’t forgotten. And the way I figure, she’s probably rolling over in her grave, thinking about how you plan to treat her niece. Her favorite niece. Her only niece. Her—”
“If you’re trying to make me feel guilty, V, it won’t work,” Uriel broke into Virgil’s spiel to say.
Virgil shook his head. “In that case, we’re out of here. We’ll see you in Aspen in a few months, right?”
“I’ll be there.”
“And let L know we’ll be seeing her again soon,” York added. At the dark, threatening look that suddenly flashed in Uriel’s eyes, York couldn’t help but laugh. “Damn, man, you got it bad.”
The four men then got inside their car and drove away.
Moments later, Uriel was still standing in the same spot. The car was no longer in sight. Even when the last of the dust generated from the car on the dirt road was settling back down to earth, he remained in place.
He still hadn’t cracked a smile, because basically, his godbrothers were wrong. They were assuming things they shouldn’t. Things about his and Ellie’s relationship that weren’t there. He and his godbrothers were close, but they couldn’t read his mind. But still, they knew his situation better than anyone. They knew that, although he’d pretended nonchalance, his parents’ divorce had not only thrown him for a loop but had made him look at things differently.
Ellie was a nice girl, and he hoped she would meet someone who would give her all the things in life she deserved. That man was not him, and would never be. All there was between them was a casual relationship. Ellie knew the score. He wanted her, and yes, it was all about sex and nothing more, but she was a grown woman, not a kid. She could handle it. It had taken almost three days for her to make up her mind, which meant she had thought long and hard about it. That night she had appeared at the window undressed, and had waved her panties in the air, it had been an acceptance by her of that decision. Her acknowledgment of what was and what wasn’t. No love, just sex.
He glanced at his watch. He had been standing at the kitchen window this morning when he’d seen Ellie back her car out of the garage. She had gotten out of the car to go back inside the house to get something, and he’d seen she was dressed for church, evidently to attend early morning service. She’d been the epitome of a classy lady, from the dressy, wide-brimmed red hat she’d worn, to her red patent leather high-heel shoes. Her dress was black, with a huge, front-draped red sash around her small waist.
He had been tempted to go out on the porch and at least say good morning, and to tell her how nice she looked. Hell, nice wasn’t a strong enough word. She had looked absolutely gorgeous. But he hadn’t gone to the porch, for fear he would have eventually crossed his yard to hers and end up kissing her like a man with no control. Just as he was feeling now.
That was the main reason he knew he should get inside the house, trade his jeans for a pair of shorts, get a beer out the fridge and chill a while. Sit on his back porch and appreciate what a beautiful day it was, and be grateful, in spite of what was going on with his parents, that life was good. His business interests appeared to be productive and worthy of every cent he’d invested.
Going back inside and getting that beer sounded like a good plan. Then why was he still standing in the same spot, looking over his right shoulder at the house next door? Why was there an intense longing beginning to build in the pit of his stomach? And why was he turning, placing one foot in front of the other and moving in the direction of where he knew Ellie to be?
And now that he’d passed through the trees and was in the clearing, why was he making his heart rate increase even more by jogging the rest of the way? And why, the closer he got, could he detect her scent, like it was in the very air he was breathing, fueling his heat and intensifying his hunger?
The next thing he knew, he was standing at her back door, leaning against the frame, nearly out of breath