Bachelor Untamed - Brenda Jackson [67]
Ellie climbed the steps to Uriel’s front door, surprised to find it cracked open. It was not like him to forget to lock the door behind him. She had expected him to come over to her place at least by noon, and wondered if he was still asleep. She was prepared to tell him everything.
She entered the house, and when she heard him moving around upstairs, she called out to him as she headed toward the stairs, “Uriel, I’m coming up.”
“Don’t bother.”
She looked up at him and saw that he was standing at the top of the stairs staring back. The look on his face sent chills through her body. And he had his luggage in his hand. She swallowed and wondered what was wrong. Had something happened to his father? His mother?
“Uriel, what is it? What happened?”
The laugh that emitted from his throat was just as cold and chilling as the look he was giving her. “You want to know what happened, Ellie? I’ll tell you what happened. Stupid me. Foolish me. Wanting to believe, after ten years, you had grown up and had matured, not just in body but also in mind—only to discover that, once again, you and your friend, Darcy decided to play me. This time, using me in the bedroom, since you’ve outgrown a mere kiss on the pier. You needed to finish your aunt’s book, and I was the perfect man to research those bedroom scenes you needed to write.”
At the surprised look in her eyes, Uriel laughed again and said, “Yes, I was coming over to see you and just happened to overhear your conversation with your friend Darcy. I heard everything you said. Go play games with someone else, and get out of my house. You aren’t welcome here.”
“Uriel, please listen. You didn’t hear everything, and I wasn’t playing a game with you. I had planned to tell you everything about Aunt Mable’s book and—”
“When? When had you planned to tell me, Ellie? Once the book was published, and my name appeared in the acknowledgments as the man who inspired you to write all those lovemaking scenes? The man who introduced you to all those various positions? The man you used once again, ten years later.”
“Uriel, I—”
“Please leave. And you can have Cavanaugh Lake all to yourself, because I am going back to Charlotte.”
He came down the stairs and stood in front of her. The anger on his face was reflected in his eyes as well, when he said, “Now, please leave so I can lock up the place.”
Ellie met his gaze and knew that no matter what she said to him, he would not listen. So she turned and headed for the door. But not before looking back one final time, hoping, just hoping, she would once again see his eyes and a smile curve his lips. She saw neither. Instead, she saw the hard, cold expression of a very angry man. A man who had all but told her he did not, would not, allow her back into his life again.
She turned and walked away, opening the door and then walking out of it. She kept walking, refusing to stop until she was safely inside her own home. And then she made it to the sofa, slumped down and covered her face in her hands. It was only moments later, when she heard the sound of his car pulling away, that she let the tears fall, unheeded, down her face.
Kicking off her sandals, she decided to lie down, doubting her legs would be able to carry her anywhere right now. And she closed her eyes and cried some more.
Ellie opened her eyes and looked around, and when she glanced out the window she saw that dusk was covering the earth. She pulled herself up, not believing she had actually slept for over five hours.
But she had slept, and while doing so she had dreamed. It had been a pleasant dream, one of her and her aunt. They had laughed and they had talked, and then her aunt had held her while she cried. It had seemed so real, but she knew it had been merely a dream.
Still, she had come away with something very important. Her aunt wanted her to finish the book, and in doing so, she would be stronger when she confronted Uriel again. If he thought he had seen the last of her, he was sadly mistaken. She would give him time to cool his anger,