C H A P T E R 3 4 : T H E A C C I D E N T I N T H E M I D S T O F S T O R M
E L L A S T A N F O R D
Ella opened her eyes to smile at him. “Just about. I must admit, this sunshine is soporific.”
“Sop-what now?” he asked oddly. “What does it mean?”
“It makes me feel sleepy,” she said, laughing.
“Then it certainly a word that does not describe you,” he said, uncaring of Javier’s listening presence. “You do not affect me like that at all. In fact, you made me wide awake.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. In the past such a remark from a young man might have irritated her, but she treated it lightly now. Her realisation that she loved Javier had given the world a new brightness, freeing her from many of her cherished inhibitions. She felt laughter bubbling inside her chest. Happiness see
C H A P T E R 3 5 : W H E N H E O P E N S U P A N D S H E G I V E S I N E L L A S T A N F O R D Javier shrugged. “At least we are alive,” he said. “All I hope is that we can start the car again. We are about a mile from my brother’s cottage and there is no village for hour miles back. The nearest garage is about seven miles off.” They got back into the car. “Okay, let’s try again.” he said, starting the ignition. Astonishingly, it sprang to life at the second attempt, and he carefully reversed back from the tree. They started to drive around the corner and emerged on to a flat narrow road bordered on one side by trees through which she could just see a river bank. On the other ran orchards whose blossom-covered branches tossed wildly to and fro in the wind. Javier sighed with relief, dr
C H A P T E R 3 6 : T H E A R T O F L O V E M A K I N G ❗ W A R N I N G ❗(not that you need any) This chapter contains explicit content. E L L A S T A N F O R D She leaned back against the door and watched as he reached down his back, grabbed a fistful of his drenched shirt, and pulled it over his head. The bottom of his shirt lifted from the waistband of a pair of worn Levi’s resting low on his hips. It rose up the narrow dark line of hair on his flat, six packs belly. His happy trail circled down his navel then climbed up the ridges of his abdomen. He used it to wipe his face then dropped the shirt on the floor. He stood before her in wet jeans and damp skin. He shook his head like a dog, sending droplets everywhere. One droplet landed on her top lip and she took a breath in a
C H A P T E R 3 7 : P I E R S J O S E P H S U M M E R S J A V I E R S U M M E R S Later, she lay in his arms, in the warmth of his embrace and soft glow of good sex and soothing heat from the fireplace. If someone had told her a month ago whether she would end up in a stranded cabin in a wood somewhere in Sicily, naked with her boss's body — also naked— pressed against hers as if they were lovers, she would have laughed out loud. Yet here she was. Would she regret it? In all honesty, she did not know. She was probably going to regret it in the morning, when this dreamy reality would lose the word dream and became nothing more than just a reality — something she had to face head on. What if he was going to leave her in the morning? What if when the sun rose up, he would tell her that this had been a mistake? What would she do then? Her brain wanted her to rethink about all of this but her heart was t
C H A P T E R 3 8 : T H E B O N D O F B R O T H E R H O O D E L L A S T A N F O R D Ella pointed at the post it note and he took it off then turned it around. Right behind it, there was a happy birthday note. “This must be my birthday present. My birthday was last month.” Javier looked at it frowning. “So he did not forget,” he stared at her as if he needed a confirmation, anything to convince him that this was real and not just his mindless dreaming. “Jiev, I don’t think your brother has ever forgotten you.” His eyes widened and she did not think they could get any bigger. “What makes you say that?” “Come here.” She brought him closer to the wall where all the canvases were stacked against the wall. “What am I supposed to be looking at?” She moved the canvases away and when
C H A P T E R 3 9 : T H E I S S U E O F T H E P A S T J A V I E R S U M M E R S Javier planted a kiss on her forehead. “I will buy you some time to get dressed.” He picked up his pants off the floor, put them on, then walked away. He came to a halt by the door to look over his shoulder and smiled as his eyes landed on her stretching her body on the bed. “Could you stay here for at least a few minutes? I would like to talk to him as well.” “Sure,” answered Ella with a yawn. He closed the door behind him and went downstairs. Sure enough, his brother was standing in the kitchen with his hands on his waist. He seemed to be focusing on the stove on the right hand side. He took a deep breath and greeted his brother. “Piers?” His voice sounded a little unsure. His brother turned around, eyes widened. He blin
C H A P T E R 4 0 : T H E B L A T A N T S T A T E M E N T E L L A S T A N F O R D Despite Piers’s wish for the two of them to stay longer, they both packed the next day, claiming that they had to work on Monday morning. Piers drove them to their hotel and would then drive them again to the airport. Albeit Javier telling him that they could simply ask a driver of one of their hotels in Italy, Piers insisted to drive them anyway. They were greeted with curiosity and surprise at the hotel. Ella was slightly embarrassed by the stares she received as her clothes were disheveled here and there but she held her head high—convincing herself that she was at least dressed. Javier inquiries about their rooms and the manager appeared, bowing, and politely assured him with an obsequious smile that he had indeed held their rooms, imagining that they would be returning since Mi
Ella POV “W-what?” Accidentally choked by the ice tea, Ella ended up coughing quite violently. Her hand reached for the napkin and she wiped her mouth. “I am sorry.” Piers patted her back, trying to help but unsure whether he should get her something to drink or soothe her. “I should not have said it like that.” Ella soon calmed herself. She leaned back against the back of her chair, her eyes were narrowed as her gaze fixated on Piers. It was not every day that someone said something like this to her, let alone her boss’s brother. Furthermore, she was pretty sure Piers got the gist that there was something going on between her and Javier especially since Javier had once mentioned her as his lover thus she could not quite comprehend why on earth Piers was telling her this now. They had not even known each other that long. “Please do explain yourself,” she responded, her voice turned formal and business-like.
Ella hung up the phone, then pulled her Disney T-shirt over her head and take off her pajama pants, keeping her panties on. Right now, wanting to get into trouble with Javier won out over the regret she would feel in a few hours. She hurriedly brushed her teeth and hair and grabbed her slick black raincoat from her closet. She shoved her feet into a pair of silver, comfortable pumps and dropped her keys into her coat pocket on the way out the door. The second her eyes landed on him, she sucked out of breath. There he stood next to his black Jaguar parked heading the wrong way next to the curb. Darkness surrounded him, and a cool breeze from the wind blew, tossing several strands of her hair in front of her face. “Miss Stanford.” “Sir.” He opened the passenger door. “Nice coat.” She stepped in front of him and looked through the darkness into his face. The same breeze that