Chapter 11

Axel

Ellie was pissed about something. I had no fucking clue what it could be, and I wasn’t going to waste too much time wracking my brain to try to figure it out. Women were complicated creatures, after all, and I had never been able to make sense of them.

I pulled the list out of my pocket that Ellie had given me. It was a rundown of all the tools and equipment we would need before we took on any customer jobs. Her writing was neat and slightly slanted.

I folded the paper up and crammed it back in my pocket. Why the fuck was she suddenly giving me the silent treatment? And why was it setting my teeth on edge? This wasn’t how Ellie typically behaved.

I turned back around and headed back into the shop. Ellie was pulling old calendars of half-naked women off the walls and dropping them into a garbage bag. She looked up when she heard me coming and then went back to pulling tacks out of the wall. The calendars, I noticed, were from four years ago. Clearly, the old employees had left them up on the pictures they liked the most.

I crossed my arms and cleared my throat. She didn’t so much as look at me.

Now, I was mad.

“What’s the matter with you?” I asked. My tone demanded an answer.

She looked over at me, finally, and I saw anger in her eyes for the first time in years. Maybe my approach had been a bit too forceful. I should have gone about it with a bit more … sensitivity. Even if I had tried, I probably wouldn’t have pulled it off. I always came out of the gate strong.

Luckily, Ellie knew that about me.

“Nothing. Sorry. I’ve been in a bad mood all morning.”

That was more unusual than seeing the anger in her eyes. “Come clean,” I said. “If I did something, you’d best tell me. I won’t ask twice.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

I rubbed the stubble on my chin with my thumb and forefinger. Suddenly, a thought clicked into place. Was she bothered about Jamie being around?

“Jax asked me to hire his cousin, Ellie. For the record. I’d never met her before today. Do you think she’ll fit in?” The question I posed was an attempt to get her approval. If she really didn’t want Jamie around, I would consider hiring someone else for the front desk.

The tension in Ellie’s shoulders evaporated. “No. It’s nice that you were able to help her out so quickly. I’m sure Jax appreciates it too.”

“Yeah.” My tongue felt thick in my mouth. “Listen, Ellie. You should come over tonight. I’ll make you dinner.”

At first, I was certain she was going to say no. Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine as she chewed the inside of her lip. “What time?”

“Seven.”

She nodded but didn’t smile. “Okay.”

We didn’t say anything to each other for the rest of the day. She didn’t seem angry, by any stretch, but she wasn’t her normal self either. I hoped she had heard what I told her about Jamie. There weren’t any expectations about her being around. I was just doing Jax a favor. The same way he would for me if the tables were turned.

I heard Ellie buzz herself through the gate at about five to seven. She was always punctual. I went to the front door and left it open for her to come in once she had parked her car.

She came in a few minutes later. I heard her taking off her shoes and then listened to her pad quietly down the hall to join me in the kitchen.

“Hey,” she said, pausing in the archway like she was waiting for instructions.

She looked fine as hell. I didn’t know if she had done it on purpose or not. Her hair was down, as it always was when we weren’t working. It was loosely curled, and a few strands hung around her bright eyes. She was wearing a tight black T-shirt beneath a leather jacket. Her jeans were snug and formfitting and full of rips and tears that revealed patches of smooth, tanned legs.

In her right hand was a bottle of red wine.

“Hey,” I said. It felt like too much time had passed between our greetings. “You didn’t have to bring wine.”

She blushed. “I didn’t know what kind of conversation you wanted to have. I wanted to be prepared.”

I walked around the counter between us and took the bottle from her hand. “Then, I’ll pour us each a glass.”

She smiled. “Okay.”

She was nervous. Really nervous. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and she was fiddling with her fingers and spinning the silver ring on her right pinky round and round. I uncorked the wine and filled a glass for her. Then I handed it to her, and my fingers grazed hers. She pulled back quickly, holding the glass to her chest for a moment before taking a sip. She never met my eyes.

“Dinner is already on the table. Come on. Let’s sit.” I made for the table outside on the patio. The weather was comfortable. The sun was just setting, and I found it peaceful out in my backyard. The view might not have been the nicest—it was just my shop and a decent patch of grass—but it would do.

I pulled out Ellie’s chair for her, and she thanked me before settling into it. She put down her wine glass and tucked herself into the table. “You cooked all this?” She looked up at me as I took the seat across from her.

“Yes. Try not to sound so surprised.”

The corner of her mouth twitched, and she shook her head. “Not terribly surprised. Pleasantly surprised. There’s a difference.”

“Sure,” I said as I plucked my steak knife from its napkin and set to cutting into the steak on my plate. Ellie followed suit. We were quiet for the first couple of bites.

“This is delicious,” she said, pointing at the meat with her fork. “Thank you.”

“In your world, would this constitute as pampering?” I arched an eyebrow.

She smiled despite having a mouthful of potatoes. She kept her lips firmly sealed and blushed. Then she covered her mouth and looked at her lap as she hurried to chew. When she had swallowed, she beamed up at me. “It would.”

Feeling quite pleased with myself, I took a sip of wine.

Eating the rest of the meal was enjoyable. We talked about how pleased we both were with the new shop. Ellie seemed thrilled about having extra space, although at one point, she mentioned how it meant we would be working farther apart.

“I mean there’ll be more space between us. Physical space.” She took a large sip of wine. “We just won’t be able to talk as easily.”

I did my best not to laugh at her. “More space for a new employee to make you jealous?”

Her eyes went wide, and she went completely still. “Was I really that obvious?” She whispered.

I nodded.

“Oh my god.” She shrank in her chair, drawing into herself, and covered her face with her hands. “I don’t know what came over me. She showed up and I just-I just—”

“It’s all right, Ellie.”

“I’m not that kind of girl, I swear. I don’t know why it made me so upset that she was there. She seems nice enough. I know she wasn’t trying to like, swoop in and—” Ellie stopped talking and loaded a bite of steak into her mouth to shut herself up.

It was hard to keep my composure. I was equally as bemused as I was turned on by her rambling. It was way too fucking cute, and she had no clue.

“Did it occur to you that maybe Jamie isn’t even my type?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and swirling my wine around in my glass. I waited for her answer. I liked putting her on the spot like this.

She shook her head and gave me an apologetic smile. “No. I don’t know what you’re into. For all I knew, you liked the whole preppy lawyer’s assistant thing she had going on.”

I laughed. “That’s exactly how I would have put it too.”

“I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions and blowing you off today.”

“It’s fine,” I said.

She shook her head. “It’s embarrassing. It’s not like I have any right to be upset about who you’re hiring or working with. I can’t believe I acted so silly. It won’t happen again. And I’m sorry for assuming she was the kind of girl you wanted.”

Ellie was rambling again. I let her.

“I mean, who am I to know who you’d be into and who you wouldn’t?” she asked. Then she began answering her own question, words spilling out of her in an endless fountain of nonsense.

I chuckled, more to myself than to her, and leaned across the table. I cupped her cheek in my hand. She fell silent, and her eyes fell on my lips as I closed the space between us. When I kissed her, she melted into me.

She tasted like raspberries and wine.

The table became an instant nuisance. I stood and pushed it aside. The legs scraped on the concrete, and the dishes danced. One crashed on the ground. It didn’t matter.

I pulled Ellie to her feet and held her to me. Our kiss became wilder, more intense. Her hands held my face as she explored my mouth with her tongue. Her fingers slipped into my hair and tightened into fists as my grip went to her ass. I gave it a good squeeze, and she giggled into our kiss.

I lifted her up, holding her ass in my hands, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I carried her like that through the patio doors and kitchen. We went down the hall, bumping into things and catching our shoulders on doorframes as we went. Somehow, Ellie managed to shrug out of her leather jacket and T-shirt by the time we reached my bedroom.

I tossed her down on the bed. She landed with another outburst of giggling and popped the button of her jeans open.

I descended upon her and worked her jeans down her hips and thighs. I kissed new skin as it appeared from beneath the denim. She sighed as I went, and in a flourish, I pulled her jeans off and let them fall to the floor.

Now, she was in nothing but a thin, lacy red bra and a pair of black panties. The bra was see-through and lacked padding. Her nipples peeked through the lace, whispering sweet hellos to me as I kissed her flat stomach and took her panties off.

Fuck, she was sexy, and she was strong. Every muscle served a purpose. Their current purpose to tremble with all-consuming orgasms.

“I’m going to take care of you, baby,” I said against the warm skin on her belly.

She sighed and relaxed deeper into the mattress.