Never Far Away (The Never #2)(80)
“Does this Wendy still live around here?” She asked with a smile.
“Why?”
“Maybe we should be getting her flowers.”
He groaned. “No more flowers. Let’s go give these to my mom and get home. I’m not done with you.” She turned and walked away from him towards the door and he heard a yelp as his palm smartly connected with her ass. She turned back to him, leering at him as best she could while hiding a grin, and he just flashed her his best satisfied smile.
“You’re terrible,” she said still trying not to smile.
“I’m amazing. Let’s go,” he gestured towards the doors. Once they were inside he found his mother and walked over to her and handed her the flowers as he placed a small kiss on her cheek. “Thank you for hanging out with Ella today. I appreciate it.”
“Porter, these are beautiful,” she said as she buried her nose in them, taking a big breath in. “But you don’t have to get me flowers for spending time with Ella. I love Ella. I wish I could spend more time with her. Besides, we had a fabulous time today.”
“It’s true,” Ella said as she plopped down on a stool on the other side of the bar. “Your mom and I spent the entire day talking about you. It was very educational.”
“There’s absolutely nothing my mom could have told you that I wouldn’t have told you anyways. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Maybe not, but I liked getting your mom’s perspective on a lot of things about you. Don’t worry, Babe, I’m teasing. I still love you just as much as I did this morning,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.
“Ella,” his mother jolted them from their banter. “Do you still have that list we made?”
She reached down and patted the front pocket of her jeans. “Right here. Thank you for helping me make it.”
“What list?” Porter asked.
“It’s just a list of things I need to buy and make for the cookout for the 4th. It’s the day after tomorrow,” Ella reminded him. He knew exactly when the 4th was. He was looking forward to the cookout they had planned. A day to relax with friends and not worry about work or any of the craziness that seemed to be following them around.
“Do we need to go to the store tonight?” He asked, really not looking forward to going any place other than home. He really needed to be alone with her, wanted to feel her beneath him and use his hands to hold on to her.
“Nope,” she said, looking pleased with herself. “Megan is going to come by tomorrow and we’ll go while you’re at work. Megan, Brittany, and Sarah all rented a beach house for a few days and Megan is going to come down early to help me get ready. Then after they close Poppy, Brittany and Sarah will come down too. They’re all really looking forward to it.” Porter was relieved that they could head home, but tried not to let it show.
“Well, Mom, thanks again for everything.” He placed a kiss on his mother’s temple and turned to Ella. “You ready to go home?”
She smiled at him. “Always.” She got up and went to his mom and wrapped her up in a big hug that made him smile even wider.
“Thanks for such an awesome day, Tilly. And thanks for lunch too.”
“Always,” his mother said, repeating Ella’s words back to her. They smiled at each other and then Ella headed towards him with her hand extended to him. He took it and led her out the door of the restaurant and to his truck. He helped her in and then jumped in himself. He looked at Ella sitting in the passenger seat, shook his head at her, and patted the bench right next to him, signaling her to move over. She grinned, but did as he asked. Once she was buckled she leaned into his side, nuzzling his chest.
“You smell like wood, and soap.”
“One of the perks of the job,” he said.
“It’s ridiculously sexy, Porter.”
He leaned down and kissed her gently before he started the truck and took them home.
Chapter Eighteen
Ella
Ella was pretty impressed with the culinary skills she had pulled out of her back pocket in the last two days. It wasn’t complicated French cuisine, but the spread her and Megan had prepared for this cookout was no small feat either. Her and Megan had just finished setting up outside and Ella stood back to admire their hard work.
Picnic tables that, of course, Porter had built stood proudly in the middle of his large front lawn, draped with red checkered table cloths. Atop the tables were different varieties of red, white and blue foods. Strawberries, blueberries, and sliced bananas, cups with layered jello in them topped with whipped cream, deviled eggs dyed with food coloring, sugar cookies. They even had blue tortilla chips with salsa poured over a brick of cream cheese. They had basically prepared enough appetizers to feed an army and were leaving the main course of hot dogs and burgers to the men who insisted on running the grill. Patrick and Porter could stand in front of the hot grill all they wanted and she was fine with that. She wanted to sit in a lounge chair drinking the red sangria that Megan had found a recipe for.
“Well, Fella, I think we did pretty well. This is my first themed party and I am really impressed with our skills at the moment.”
“I agree. It looks great. Just don’t forget that we’ve got a lot more skills that are useful outside of the kitchen,” Ella said, trying to sound like the older and wiser sister she was.