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 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

Javier POV She stood perfectly still at first but then her hands were around his head, pressing him on, eager, demanding, expressing an urgency that was wild for satisfaction. All the erotic thoughts he had had about Ella for the last two weeks raged through his mind. He remembered her rounded behind tempting him whenever she walked in and out of his office — as it had always reminded him of how she had looked like when she had been naked in his bedroom and walked to the bathroom, and he ran his hands over it, wanting to squeeze the fullness of her cheeks. But the fabric of her skirt was stiff, not soft and giving. He hauled it up and pushed it away from her panties. Nothing to get in the way and he reveled in the lovely bare curves, cupping them, lifting them to fit her more closely to the rampant hardness stirred by her readiness to come his way. Her way, too. No doubt about that. She wriggled against him. S

C H A P T E R  4 6 : W H E N  H E  G O T  H U R T , H E  W E N T  R O U G H E L L A  S T A N F O R D  The brush of something warm across Ella’s shoulder brought her out of a sound sleep. Her lids fluttered open and she turned to stare into a pair of brilliant blue eyes a few inches from her face. Smile lines appeared in the corners as he lightly bit her shoulder. “Good morning,” he said against her skin. She closed her eyes again, smiling. She could not believe that this was actually real. Since that dinner which led to another session in his bedroom, she gave up fighting a lost battle. There was no point of trying to deny the connection between them. As she stretched her body on the mattress, she asked, “What time is it?” “A little before noon.” “What?!” Ella immediately sat up, the dark grey sheet slid to her waist. “It is la

C H A P T E R  4 8  : S U R P R I S E  D R O P  I N  E L L A  S T A N F O R D Another week passed by like the previous week. There was little to no communication from Javier. What was more frustrating was during a team dinner on Thursday, he had completely ignored her although she had been sitting right next to him. He had talked with everyone, even Maria, but so little to her. If she remembered correctly, he had only asked her whether she would like another drink and that was it. On the other hand, Ella had taken it like a champ and did not shed a single tear. In return, she acted as if he did not exist. Every now and then during the event, she could feel his eyes on her but she brushed it off and pretended that she was not affected by it. Instead, she conversed with Thomas, one of the marketing team leaders. Apparently, Thomas really liked hiking and he even invited her to