It's Only Love(31)

At eight o’clock, an hour after the time Gavin usually started work, they dragged themselves out of bed and into the shower, which became about much more than getting clean when he started kissing her under the hot water. He declined breakfast, telling her he’d grab something later as he pulled on his leather jacket.

Dazed and confused and zonked from not sleeping, Ella followed him to the door, wearing only the silk robe she’d greeted him in the night before.

“Don’t let a tree fall on you or anything today,” she said, suppressing another yawn. She was far, far too old to be up all night having sex. And she was far, far too old to have only just now experienced all-night sex.

“I won’t,” he said with a chuckle. “Don’t worry about me.” He hooked an arm around her waist and looked down at her, seeming to catalog her every feature. “What a great night.”

“Best night ever.”

“Mmm,” he said, kissing her. “For me, too.”

Because she couldn’t resist touching him, she buried her fingers in his hair and kissed him like she hadn’t spent all night kissing him, like his tongue hadn’t spent nearly as much time in her mouth as his own. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Groaning, he pulled back from her. “Witch, let me go to work before I get fired.”

“You own the company. Call in sick.”

“I can’t,” he said, groaning again. “And neither can you with your big event on Friday.”

Ella would never admit to having forgotten all about one of the biggest events of the year for her at work. She was the lead on the staff retreat, and it needed her full attention this week.

“My parents invited us for dinner tonight,” he said.

“Us?”

“I asked if I could bring a friend, but I didn’t tell them who. My mom said I was torturing her. Do you want to come? Mom is making ribs. They’re so good.”

Ella smiled up at him, enjoying the lightness she saw in his eyes this morning. “I’d love to.”

He kissed her again, lingering long enough that she wondered if he was considering calling in sick. “See you later?”

“Yes, you will.”

“I’ll miss you today.”

Hearing those words from this man . . . “I’ll miss you, too.”

After one last tongue-twisting kiss, he tore himself free with another tortured groan, grabbed his helmet and backpack and was out the door before Ella knew what hit her.

For long moments after he left, after she heard the motorcycle start up and drive away, she stood by the door, stunned and exhausted and exhilarated and happy. God, she was so damned happy. More than once during the difficult months since that kiss on the beach, she’d contemplated the possibility that the reality of Gavin might not live up to the man she’d built him up to be.

But he’d more than lived up to her expectations. In fact, he’d surpassed them in every possible way. She could still feel his hands on her, the scratch of his whiskers, the stroke of his tongue, the almost painful stretch required to accept him into her body. She shivered, reliving the incredible pleasure.

And that they got to do it all again tonight . . . She’d never survive until then. How was she supposed to get through eight long hours in the office when she’d so much rather be with him?

Somehow she managed to dry her hair, get herself dressed and fed and filled with as much coffee as she could handle. Her eyes were gritty and her body buzzed from the need for sleep as well as the caffeine. Licking her lips, she discovered they, too, were sore. She’d put them through a hell of a workout the night before. Thinking about the workout caused her nipples to tighten—painfully. They’d also been through a hell of an ordeal.

Ella giggled to herself as she pulled into the parking lot at the store and turned off the engine. She was close enough to walk to work, and she did most days, but today was not most days. Today was . . . Well, today was already the best day she’d ever had, and she was saving all her strength and energy for more of the same tonight.





CHAPTER 10




There is no medicine like hope, no incentive

so great, and no tonic so powerful as

expectation of something tomorrow.

—Orison Swett Marden



Every muscle in Ella’s body protested the journey up the stairs and into the office, where she greeted Mary, their administrative assistant, and her brothers Will and Hunter before heading into her own office. Sitting behind her desk, she winced at the bite of pain from between her legs but tried to ignore the insistent throb as she powered up her computer. Maybe if she was able to get through her long to-do list by early afternoon she could take a half day and go home to nap before dinner with Gavin’s parents. She feared what she might look like by dinnertime if she didn’t get some sleep.

With her goal of a nap in mind, she finalized the plans for Friday night with a company-wide e-mail that reminded everyone that the festivities began at five with presentations from Ella and Lincoln, followed by dinner and dancing with a DJ until midnight. She had a phone call with the management of the Grange Hall to make sure everything was set for Friday, and then she called the caterer to check in.

All her meticulous attention to detail was paying off. Everything was ready to ensure a good time for the employees and their families before the holiday shopping crush began.