Never Far Away (The Never #2)(51)

“Well, we make a matching pair then, because you are smoking hot as well.” She batted her eyelashes at him playfully.

“I am pretty cute.” He shook his head and laughed at her. “Hey, by the way, Kalli and Megan want us to go out with them on Friday night. Megan wants to celebrate her promotion by going to a club.” Porter shot her a look that clearly said he wasn’t interested.

“Ella, when have I ever given you the impression that I am a ‘club’ kind of guy?” He asked sardonically.

“Never, actually. But I definitely got the impression that you were a ‘hang out with my girlfriend and maybe get to watch her shake her ass’ kind of guy.”

“I could get you to shake your ass for me at home,” he said with a smug grin.

“You’re right. That’s true. Tell you what, you stay home and I’ll go shake my ass for all the other guys who go to the club.” She never even saw him approach her, she just knew that the next moment she was in his arms and his breath was on her face, eyes locked on hers.

“That was not the smartest thing to say,” he growled at her and used his teeth to nip at her bottom lip.

“Hmm… maybe not, but I like the reaction it got out of you.”

“You want me to go clubbing with you and your friends?”

“I want to spend time with you. And I think it could be fun to go to a club. We don’t have to dance, but I was looking forward to pressing my body up against yours and feeling all your muscles,” she smiled playfully.

“Well, that doesn’t sound all bad. But won’t we be the oldest people there? Crashing the college kids’ party?”

Ella tsked-tsked at him. “Porter, don’t you watch Portlandia at all? You’re not cool in Portland until you’re thirty.” He laughed at her.

“Ok, I’ll go, but you owe me big time. And I expect prompt payment.”

She smiled up at him. “Anything you want, Baby.”

He roughly kissed her on the lips, groaning into her mouth as her tongue slid along his.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he rasped at her.

“I never do.” With that he slapped her ass and walked away from her shaking his head.

“I’ve got to leave for work in twenty minutes. Is that going to be enough time for you?” he asked as he walked away from her into the closet. Her heart constricted a little, knowing he had picked up on the fact that she was afraid to be in the house alone.

“I’ll be ready,” she answered softly.

Twenty minutes later he walked her to her car and kissed her softly.

“I will be in Portland by seven tonight. Will you be ok until I get there?” He asked, rubbing the back of her hand down her cheek, sending chills down her spine. She put a bright smile on her face, hiding the doubt she had.

“I’ll be fine, Porter. Take your time.” He looked into her eyes for a moment, seemingly searching them for something. Finally, he took her lips with his again, kissing her senseless, as he had a tendency to do. She pushed away all the uncertainty and let herself feel him and everything he was giving to her. She pushed her hands up his hard chest, wrapping them around his neck, tugging his hair gently, pulling him closer. He groaned and his hands found purchase on her ass, holding her to him. After what seemed like hours of him kissing her deliciously, he pulled away.

“I had you not an hour ago and I still want more of you,” he said in a voice so deep and sexy she almost pulled him back into the house.

“That’s good, Porter. It will make the day go by faster,” she said as she winked at him.

“Highly unlikely,” he grimaced.

“Go to work. Be a man. Hammer some nails. Work out your sexual frustration.” He laughed at her.

“I’d rather work out my sexual frustration on you,” he whispered directly into her ear, which might as well have been a direct line to her core because everything south of her belly button constricted and ached with his words.

“Sounds like a plan for later,” she answered with just as much frustration.

“Text me when you get to Portland safely,” he requested.

“I will.” She tipped up on her toes and placed another quick kiss right on his lips. “I love you, Porter.”

“I love you too,” he answered against her lips.



Ell made it to Portland and went directly to Poppy. The sun was out in full force again and there were only a few white puffy clouds in the sky. The beautiful weather made everything seem a little more tolerable and pulling up to the store, it felt a little less nerve racking than it had the day before. She still needed to take a few deep breaths to steady herself and tried not to let her thoughts drift towards the man in the hoodie. It took her a fraction of the time to get into the store, and smiled when she saw Brittany and Megan behind the counter.

“Ella, I was just talking to Brittany about all the changes happening at the store,” Megan said with a bright and infectious smile.

“Are you really going to promote me to assistant manager?” Brittany asked hopefully.

“Don’t sound so surprised, Brit. You do an amazing job here. Does your excitement mean you’ll accept the position?”

“Of course I will! I can’t believe this,” she said with such a big smile, it made Ella’s cheeks hurt just looking at her. All of a sudden, though, her face became sad. “Does this mean you won’t be around as much?”