Chapter 17

Joe

Should I feel awkward every time I do laundry and some of Ella’s underwear ends up in my load? Every time I see a tiny black thong or a lacy bra, I wonder if she’s wearing them around the house just for me.

I do notice, boy do I ever. She’ll bend over to reach something and my heart will race with the thought of running my hands around her hips with my fingers twisted in the lace of her panties. It drives me wild.

To be honest, a lot of things about her drive me wild. The way she hides behind her hair when she’s embarrassed, when she bites her lip, the way her cheeks go pink when she looks at me. Ugh, why is this so difficult?

No, why does she have to make it so difficult? With her gorgeous face, chest and hips…

It’s been a couple of days, and I’ve been working late so I’ve not had a proper opportunity to ask how she’s settling in. Marnie seems to be enjoying having her around all the time, so much so that she’s been neglecting to hang out with her friends. So, I’ve decided to invite everyone that we know over for a BBQ this afternoon. Hopefully that will help everything settle in properly.

So, I’m outside Ella’s door now and she’s left it open a little, maybe that means she’s not busy.

“Morning Ella, just wondering how you’re settling in.” I open the door and freeze in shock. Ella is standing there in a towel, having just left the bathroom. She jumps and freezes as well, holding her towel tightly to her body.

“Gosh, I’m so sorry,” I say, looking pretty much everywhere except at her.

“No, uh—no, I’m sorry,” she laughs awkwardly, “I shouldn’t have left the door open.” She pauses, then continues. “It’s sweet of you to check in on me.”

“Of course,” I say, and I can feel myself blushing a little.

I do love the way her hair looks when it’s all wet. When it’s scraped back like this, she can’t use it to cover up her beautiful face.

“So, what’s the plan for today? It feels like I’ve not seen you in ages.” she laughs.

Oh shoot, have I not told her? Oops.

“Actually,” I say awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. “In the excitement of moving I may have forgotten to tell you that we’re having a BBQ today. Some of Marnie’s friends from school, their parents and a few of my friends are invited.”

“Oh really? That sounds lovely. Do you want me to help with anything?” she asks.

“Are you kidding? No. not at all! You’re a guest as much as anyone. I’ve got everything covered, so don’t worry about a thing.”

She smiles and looks around her room awkwardly.

“Okay! I’ll let you get ready,” I say. “Also if there’s anyone you want to invite, feel free!”

She thanks me with a small nod and a giggle. I leave, closing the door behind me.

* * *

“Wow, it really is nice around here,” Michael says. “You’re almost making me want to move out here.”

“I can’t imagine you in the suburbs, Mike.” I laugh, trying to focus on not burning the food.

“So, what were you trying to tell us earlier, Joey? You’ve actually got that hot nanny living with you?” Jeff asks, his eyes widening.

“Yeah, she lives in the guest room,” I reply.

“I don’t know about that, man,” says Michael. “Never mix business with pleasure.”

“Isn’t that all you do?” I ask, raising my eyebrow. The guys all burst out in laughter, “And besides, there is no pleasure. Just business.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jeff asks, looking up at Ella, who is saying goodbye to the parents of one of Marnie’s friends. “Do you ever ask her to get something from another room, just so you can watch her leave?”

I laugh, “Don’t be ridiculous.” I search around for a change of subject, but the afternoon is kind of winding down. All of Marnie’s friends have left and she has gone inside. It’s just me, Ella and my old friends from college. Now that Ella has been taking care of Marnie, I have a lot more time for myself, and I thought making an effort to have some friends might be good.

Speaking of friends, “Where’s Mark anyway? Didn’t he say he was coming?”

“Yeah, he’ll be here,” Michael rolls his eyes, “Says he’s bringing his new girlfriend as well.”

“He wanted to get here after all the kids had left,” Jeff adds.

“Oh God, I don’t want him to bring another crazy bimbo around, you know the kind of chicks he’s into.”

“Actually, she’s from around here, says she knows Ella.”

“You’re kidding!” one of Ella’s friends maybe? But she said they were both busy…

“Look, there he is now!” Michael says.

Mark walks in with a tall slender woman with very short blonde hair, who immediately notices Ella and runs over to hug her. Ella seems a little confused, but is also happy to see her. Mark heads right over to us.

“Wow Mark, I bet Alice hates her,” Michael laughs.

“Alice has not met her,” he frowns.

“How did you meet her?” I ask. This is just so crazy.

“Well, I thought back to when you told us about Ella, and I wondered if there were any other wonderful creatures hiding out down here,” he grins. “Turns out, she owns the coffee shop a few blocks away.”

I laugh to myself, knowing from Ella that she does not actually own it.

“Well, that sounds great,” I say.

Ella and her friend head over to us, giggly looks on their faces.

“We’re going get in the pool if you guys want to join us,” they say.

Mark and I freeze for a moment before being unable to say yes quickly enough. Michael and Jeff seem annoyed that they don’t have dates.

Well, I say dates. Ella isn’t exactly my date, but she’s more mine that anyone else here.

Which makes me feel a bit dizzy for some reason.

Ella and her friend stand by their chosen loungers and remove their tops with their backs to us, I hadn’t realized they were wearing their swimsuits under their clothes. The others hadn’t either, judging by the looks on their faces.

The girls turn to us with their bikinis on and pause for a moment. Ella is giggling away, as if her friend is encouraging her to be a little more cheeky than usual. Which I love. We should have her over more often.

Ella’s body looks incredible, her assets covered only by two thin pieces of patterned fabric.

It’s the same one from her photo, and I can’t let her know I’ve seen it before. Her curves are so amazing that I want to run my hands over them any chance I get.

“You coming boys?” her friend asks.

Mark and I look at each other then back to the girls. “Yes!” we both shout at the same time, throwing off our shirts and jumping straight into the pool.

“Uh, what about the food?” Jeff asks.

“Its fine, I’ve already made loads, and it’s still hot!” I shout back to him. There is no way I am missing out on this.

The girls jump into the pool and swim over to us. Ella is a little shorter, so she has trouble standing. It’s adorable. I look down through the water and see her body again. She really does drive me wild.

I hope it’s not too obvious in these shorts.

“Ella, this is my friend, Mark,” I say, trying to move the conversation on. “We went to college together.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ella smiles politely. I can tell she knows it was his fault I was drunk the other night.

“My pleasure,” Mark grins. “Joe, not sure if you’ve met Cam before,” he adds, introducing us.

“No, I haven’t!” I shake her hand and she stares a little bit, like she’s just met a celebrity.

“Hi,” she grins.

“Come on, Cam, don’t be crazy!” Ella laughs. “You know I’ve been working for him,” she blushes a little.

“I know!” Cam snaps, “Sorry, I just, I’ve read a lot about you in magazines,” she says, blushing furiously.

“Oh well, it’s mostly made up, I’m sure.” Gosh, I hate those awful magazines. I don’t know why they fixate on me so much.

I feel like Mark is getting a little jealous of his date talking to me, so when he ducked under the water and came up pulling her onto his shoulders, I wasn’t surprised.

Cam screams a little and wobbles as she tries to stay up on Marks shoulders by clinging to his head.

“Come on! It’ll be fun, we’ll have a competition!” Mark laughs.

I look over to Ella who’s still hiding behind her hair, I shrug and smile, as she bites her lip, eventually nodding and letting me help her onto my shoulders.

“Don’t drop me, okay!” she says, as she locks arms with Cam.

They push and shove for a moment, but Mark is providing a stronger base than he looks capable of.

I might actually lose this, mainly because I can’t focus on anything but the feel of Ella’s thighs against my cheeks.

Ella and Cam have the same idea as they both try to twist each other in opposite directions, causing all of us to topple over at the same time, landing with a huge splash.

“We won, I think?” Ella shouts giving me a big hug.

“No, we did!” Cam shouts back.

At that moment, Mark jumps up behind Cam and undoes her bikini top, thankfully I was not looking anywhere near her at the time.

“Oh no, look what happened! Don’t worry I’ll save you!” Mark shouts as he covers Cam’s breasts with his hands.

“You are such an embarrassment!” Cam laughs as she turns to kiss Mark and pushes him back under the water.

“It’s fun guys, you should join us!” I shout over to Jeff and Michael.

“No, we’re ok.” Michael shrugs.

“Oh, come on!” Ella shouts, “You’ve just got to figure out who’d be the bottom!” her eyes widen in shock as she realizes what she’s just said.

Everyone turns to look at Jeff and Michael who glance at each other and turn away in shock. Then, we all erupt in laughter at Ella’s accidental insinuation.

She however goes bright red again, and I smile at her reassuringly.

* * *

As we cleaned up hours later, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Ella, still clad in her bikini with only a thin short dress. It was sheer dress, leaving little to the imagination. The guests had left and Marnie had long since gone to bed.

“I think it went really well,” Ella said with a yawn. “Cam said she had a great time. She and the guys are going out for a few drinks.”

“You really don’t have to stay and help if you’re tired.”

I smile as I place the unused plates back into the cupboards.

“No, it’s okay, I’ll stay.” she smiles back.

“Alright. Well, I’m glad everyone had a good time.” I reply.

“Yeah, we should do that more often! And I’m sorry if I was really heavy on your shoulders.”

“You? Don’t be silly.” I roll my eyes at the thought. She was light as a feather.

“Totally crazy about Cameron though, right? Did you know they were dating?” she asks.

“No, I had no idea.” I laugh and shake my head. I can’t imagine it will last very long, although he’s never brought anyone else out. Maybe he does actually like someone for a change.

After an awkward pause, we laugh a little and Ella yawns again.

“You know what, I think I might actually head to bed now,” she says.

“Alright, let me know if you need anything.”

“I’ll be okay.”

She goes to walk past me, but I accidentally step into her way, thinking she was going to walk the other way. We both reacted, but ended up moving the wrong way again, this time laughing about it.

So, like an idiot I decide to grab her by the waist, lift her up and turn her around, placing her down on the other side of me.

She giggles and blushes uncontrollably, “Suppose I should have tried that first.”

“Sorry,” I laugh awkwardly, “Uh, goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she says turning and walking away.

She heads to the stairs and I can’t take my eyes off of her. Just before she hits the bottom step, she looks back at me and smiles before disappearing upstairs. I laugh to myself.

She looked back.