Bachelor Untamed - Brenda Jackson [63]
Donovan then asked, “So, how does our publishing company look?”
Uriel knew that the reason Donovan was asking had nothing to do with the possibility that they’d made a wrong investment. That wasn’t the case, since they had checked out Vandellas Publishing thoroughly before making the purchase. It had been financially sound. Their main concern was making sure it remained a viable acquisition over the next three years, until they were ready to sell.
“I haven’t finished going through all the documents as I’d planned.”
“I can understand why,” Donovan said, with a smirk on his face.
Uriel ignored him and said, “But I plan to do so this week. I’m anxious to go over their inventory lists to see how many books they published this year, and how many they plan to publish next year. I’m also curious to see who they gave high advances to and what promotional and marketing strategies they intend to use to make sure those books sell.”
They carried the luggage to the door and when they entered they could hear Ellie and Natalie chatting away. He glanced over at Donovan. “They’re still talking about hair products?”
Donovan grinned. “Sounds like it.”
“Then we need to pull them apart and give them something else to talk about, don’t you think?” Uriel said, winking at his friend.
Three days later, Ellie eased out of bed, thinking that this past weekend had been fun spending time with Donovan and Natalie, and in a way, she’d regretted seeing them leave. While Donovan had helped Uriel fry the fish, Natalie had helped her make coleslaw. And for dessert, Natalie had offered to make her aunt’s mouthwatering peach cobbler. That meant going to the grocers and getting all the ingredients they needed. During the drive, Natalie told Ellie her and Donovan’s love story and filled her in on their June wedding plans.
It only took being around the couple for a brief period of time to see how much in love they were. Ellie couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to be loved that much by any man, to know that you, of all women, had been the one he chose to be with for the rest of his life, to be cherished by him, deeply loved to the point where he would want you to be the mother of his babies, the woman he wanted to make love to for the rest of his days.
Ellie glanced back over her shoulder at Uriel, who was sprawled out naked on top of the mattress, heart-stoppingly breathtaking. From the way his erection was growing before her eyes, he was getting aroused all over again. “Make it go down,” she ordered, and couldn’t help but giggle as she slipped into the shorts he had removed last night.
Uriel’s hand, the one that had been thrown over his eyes to ward off the morning sun coming through the window, slid down just enough to look over at her. “You come back to bed and make it go down, because I sure as hell can’t. When it wants you, even a cold shower won’t work.”
Ellie figured there was no use reminding Uriel that it had had her several times during the night. But what she would remind him was that he’d promised to take her to dinner at that Italian restaurant in Gatlinburg. They were winding down the time they would be spending together, because in four days he would leave to return to Charlotte.
She glanced over at the bed and saw that Uriel had drifted back off to sleep. Would he ever give his heart a chance to share a love such as Natalie’s and Donovan’s? Or would he let what happened with his parents’ marriage be the reason he would never want that kind of love, that kind of relationship, for himself? And for that very reason, she would never let him know just how much she loved him, just how much her heart would break in a few days when he would be leaving, going back to a world without her in it.
She slowly walked over to the bed, leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. She then glanced around his bedroom, saw a pen and a piece of paper lying on the dresser, and scribbled a note, letting him know she was going back to her place to shower, and to then start packing the last of her aunt’s things.
A short while later,