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
C H A P T E R 3 7 : T H E C H I M E A N D L O S T M E M O R Y E L L A S T A N F O R D
C H A P T E R 3 8 : M E M O R Y A N D T R A G E D Y E L L A S T A N F O R D In all honesty, it made him nervous. This Ella was unpredictable. Not that the old Ella was predictable but at least he was rest assured that she loved him. This Ella however acted like a complete stranger and the look she kept giving him showed how little she actually trusted him. “What is it?” he dared himself to ask. “Tell me about that day.” She took a deep, calming breath then locked her eyes with his as she sat on the couch next to him. “Tell me what happened on the day I had an accident. And please, keep your promise in mind while you are at it.” “It was my fault,” he started with a gloom note. “Growing up, you seemed to hate your father and blame him for everything so I decided to
C H A P T E R 3 9 : T H E S T O R M W I L L P A S SJ A V I E R S U M M E R SBoth Javier and Ella had gotten out of the flat with a smile on their faces. He had opened the car door for her and help her to get inside. She had gotten in, biting her cheek to refrain herself from smiling again. He had been so sweet and caring and everything a girl would dream of in a man. Even though she had avoided Damon’s question the other day, not confirming whether she liked Javier or not, she knew that there was something about him that pulled her in.He brought her to a really nice Korean barbecue place and had taught her how to grill the meat. She tried kimchi (a traditional side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish, made with a widely varying selection of seasonings, including gochugaru, spring o
C H A P T E R 4 0 : T E M P T A T I O N A S I T S F I N E S TE L L A S T A N F O R DIt turned out that not remembering any of your coworkers was one of the issues that Ella had to face on her first day back to work. Somehow it reminded her of her childhood, when she had moved schools every few months because her mother would have packed her bags and driven to a new town, new neighborhood. Back then, she had had to learn everyone's name and tried to remember for at least the next few months before her mother would have taken her on the road again.For the first two days, Clarabelle had been there with her and helping her back to her work. It had appeared that not many people were aware of her memory loss because every now and then someone would ask her about things that Ella had no recollection of. It seemed th
C H A P T E R 4 1 : T H E D I N N E R A N D P I L L O W T A L K J A V I E R S U M M E R S And he would have taken her right then, right there, standing up with both of them half dressed and her pressed against the kitchen countertop had it not been for the angry hisses and spitting coming from the stove. Javier jerked his mouth free. Darting his gaze to the stove, he swore. The pot of pasta was bubbling furiously, sending starchy foaming water sliding down the sides of the pot onto the burner and splattering all over the stove. “Damn!” He swung her to his left and reached over to turn off the fire. Moving around to the front of the island stove, he threw on the oven mitts, grabbed the handles of the hissing pot, and carried it over to the sink where he dumped the pasta into a colander. “How bad is it?” Ella asked from behind him. He glanced at her. He