Faking Bliss (The Moore Family Book 2) by Abby Brooks

Author:Abby Brooks [Brooks, Abby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Bird Publishing, LLC
Published: 2020-05-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Ellie

James arrived at Ellie’s promptly at six o’clock Wednesday evening, sober. His somber face lit up when he saw her. “Damn, you look fantastic.”

“Why, thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself.” Ellie intended to keep the evening light and fun and to shy away from anything that might elicit feelings of any sort from either one of them.

“So,” he said as she closed and locked her door. “Listen, about the other night—”

Ellie pressed a finger to his mouth, squishing his lips closed. “Don’t say a word. There’s no need. We’re good. We’ll just play this light and easy and realize that sometimes one of us might trample on something that hurts and we need to ease off. In the meantime, we’ll put on a good show for everyone out there.”

She paused, trying not to fall headfirst into those mahogany eyes as she waited to see if he understood what she meant. When he nodded, she smiled and took off down the sidewalk, her heels clicking nicely on the concrete. Wind blew in off the ocean, carrying the first hint of fall with it and lifting the edges of her dress around her thighs.

She looked back over her shoulder at James who was still leaning against the brick, his hands shoved into the pockets of his dress pants, the tails of his button-down shirt hitched over his wrists. “You just gonna stand there, or are you coming with me?”

James pushed off the wall and shrugged. “Can’t help it if I like the view from back here.” He strode toward her, his gait strong and sure, muscular and controlled. She thought of things like tigers and wolves and great, powerful beasts that fought for what they wanted and instilled fear in those lesser creatures around them. It was the first time she’d seen him look like that and it sent a charge through her body. What was different? Was it because he was sober?

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, pushing away thoughts of what he looked like naked. This was a business partnership. Nothing more, nothing less.

“I thought that since you forced this date on me, you’d be taking me somewhere.”

Panic set Ellie’s stomach into a series of tumbling flip-flops. She couldn’t afford to take him anywhere. She’d gotten a disconnect notice from the power company that very morning. “James,” she said, coming to a stop and wrapping her arms around her stomach. “I can’t—”

“On my dime.” He touched her shoulder. “Our deal was quite specific. You hang on my arm for a few months and get my family off my back. I take you out and show you a good time. All I meant was that you might have an idea as to where you want to go.”

“Oh.” Ellie’s shoulders slid down from her ears, and she took a minute to think. “It’s a gorgeous night. What about walking to Hurricane’s?”

“Sounds like a plan.” James wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. They chatted about everything and nothing as they walked, and he never let her go.

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