C H A P T E R 2 8 : T H E B A D T I M E T O H I D E T H E T R U T H
E L L A S T A N F O R D
“I never think that you are,” he replied cautiously.
Yet she did not seem to hear him as she continued, “Nor do I care to be sheltered or covered in bubble wraps like some fragile things.” Now her head tilted upwards and she looked at him. Her eyes had turned hard.
“I am not sure I am following you,” he said, frowning with confusion.
“I am talking about the fact that you just lied to me and how you casually answering all of my questions with generic answers!” she nearly yelled, her face flushing to a tomato red. “Is this what our relationship has been based on? L
C H A P T E R 2 9 : T H E T H I N G A B O U T F R U S T R A T I O N A N D D E S I R E E L L A S T A N F O R D She whipped her gaze toward a scowling Javier and watched in frustration as he came to her side in a matter of seconds. “I was looking for my crutches, but I could not find it.” An angry frown slashed his brow. “I told you to wait for me.” “I am not helpless, Javier, and I do not want to be treated like I am a baby. I think I can manage to walk to the bed, if you will lend me your arm for support.” “No way. I am carrying you.” “But—” “No buts,” he said firmly. Releasing a breath, he closed his eyes a second, and when he opened them again, his expression had softened. “Listen, I know you can do
C H A P T E R 3 0 : H E R W O R S T F E A R A N D B R U I S E D A N K L E J A V I E R S U M M E R S “Jiev.” That nickname seemed to be his undone. Her smoky voice rippled over him, obliterating any remote possibility that he could think clearly. His brains simply refused to function for the time being. Not when the only thought running through his brain was that she had murmured his name in that same way while lying naked in his arms, her body joined intimately with his. And as though Ella had been caught under the same sensual spell as he had, she suddenly scrambled beneath the covers. The difference was that she cried out in pain. “What is it?” Javier demanded, rushing to her side. “M-my ankle,” she finally answered. Her voice was shaky and her eyes were in pain. “I must have tw
C H A P T E R 3 1 : B R E A K F A S T A N D E N G A G E M E N T R I N G J A V I E R S U M M E R S Javier woke up with a painful backache. The couch was too small for his large body but still, he persevered throughout the night, knowing that Ella was safe and sound in her bedroom only a few meters away from him. After stretching his tired body, he rose to his feet and went into the bathroom. In less than half an hour, he was already showered and was wearing one big towel around his waist when he realized that he needed his new change of clothes and most of his clothes were already inside the suitcase in his car in the basement. He had left about five pairs of clothing in the cupboard but the tricky part was that the cupboard was located inside the bedroom. Thus, in the end, he had no other choice but to wait until Ella woke up before he
C H A P T E R 3 2 - A F L A S H O F M E M O R Y E L L A S T A N F O R D At first, Javier seemed to be surprised at her odd request however his shock turned to curiosity shortly after. Yet his self restraint held him from asking her the reason behind her adjuration. “I think it was in your luggage from the hospital. They had to remove all of your pieces of jewelry while you were under intensive care and put them in a sealed plastic bag.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “Let me get it for you.” Ella nodded and offered him a smile. “Thank you.” It did not take him longer than five minutes to get the luggage and grabbed the engagement ring in his palm. But most of the time, at least one full minute was spent staring at the ring. The ring had once belonged to his mother however she had promised him, a long time ago, that
C H A P T E R 3 3 : T H A T D A Y A N D T H A T G O R G E O U S R E D D R E S S E L L A S T A N F O R D While Javier was putting his coat on, Ella helped Damon carry the dishes and placed them on the sink. Her best friend of ten years gave her a pointed look and said, "You." He nudged his arm with her elbow as he continued, "I do not need your help here, Darling, go and put on something pretty." He glanced at Javier who was tidying himself up by the coat hanger and added, "Maybe we can even hit the club. You could meet some handsome people the city could offer." Javier gave no reaction at all. Clearly, he was not as childish as Damon wanted him to be. "Okay. I will be read in a minute," answered Ella as she walked towards h
C H A P T E R 3 4 : S H O P P I N G A N D W A L K I N G D O W N M E M O R Y L A N E E L L A S T A N F O R D “Do you think Javier is a good guy?” Ella suddenly blurted out the question. Even though her heart had told her numerous times that he was good and she had seen him being super patient with her, there was a part of her that felt that he was hiding something from her. That was the only thing that caused her not to be able to trust him completely. Damon's eyes once again widened in surprise. “Of course, he is! I would not let you date him, let alone get engaged to him if he is not.” Upon realizing that he had come too strong, her best friend backed away and explained further, “Look. I know you did not remember this and I believe Javier could not even tell you this since he has no idea about it but we dressed you up real good at his last birthday party.”
C H A P T E R 3 5 - I M P R O M P T U L U N C H D A T E E L L A S T A N F O R D The next morning was just like her usual morning spent at her flat. These days, Javier had gotten up early and by the time she was walking out of her bedroom, he was already on his way to the front door. He planted a kiss on her forehead, wished her a good day, then left for work. He seemed to be busy too as he did not come back until much later in the evening and by the time he had gotten home, she already had her dinner with her mother or Damon and Tanner. They usually exchanged a brief conversation before going to sleep. She was in her bedroom and he was on the couch. Today Ella had woken up slightly later than usual. Right after her eyes were opened, she jumped off her bed,
J A V I E R S U M M E R S Two days later, sitting behind his desk at the Summers Entertainment headquarters, Javier kept telling himself for the last two hours that it might be enough that Ella wanted him. Even though his inbox was full of emails from various departments, demanding his attention, he ignored it all and stared blankly ahead. His desire fisted in his gut as he recalled her taste and her touch. Every cell in his being had screamed for him to lead her back to the bedroom or bring her over to the couch, to tumble with her, and feed the hunger that had held them both in its grip. Damon’s arrival two days ago had come in the nick of time, because he had been dangerously close to doing just that, and had he done so, it would have been a mistake. Because he wanted more from her than for her to feel desire for him. He wanted her to trust him which was why he had been waking up earlier than usual and dashed off to the office because he knew, one more look at her in her nightgo