“I believe that, and thank you for taking care of me last night. I owe you one!”

I looked at my watch, and if I didn’t get going, I was going to be late for my meeting. I quickly responded back to her. “Consider it repayment for when you got me home safe. I have a meeting I need to get to. TTYL!”

“Bye, Connor.”

I stepped out into the hallway where Ashlyn was waiting for me.

“Denny is waiting in the limo for us,” she said.

“That’s where he waits every day, Ashlyn,” I sighed.

We climbed into the limo, and Ashlyn made her attempts on me. She leaned over and grabbed my tie.

“Why don’t we get together tonight and have some fun? It’s been way too long, Connor, and I’m going through withdrawals,” she whined.

I removed her hand from my tie. “I have plans for tonight. I’m sorry.”

“You always have plans lately,” she whined. “This doesn’t have anything to do with that girl you were with last night, does it?”

“Ellery doesn’t have anything to do with it. I’ve explained to you a thousand times that I’ve been busy. You work at Black Enterprises; you know how hard I’ve been working trying to secure the acquisition of that company in Chicago.”

She reached over and grabbed my hand. “Connor, you need to take a break. I worry about you.”

I pulled my hand away. “Remember the rules, Ashlyn,” I scowled. She turned away and looked out the window. I could see Denny glaring at me from the rearview mirror. We finally arrived at Black Enterprises, and Ashlyn stepped out of the limo and onto the sidewalk. I followed behind her. As I got out of the limo, I adjusted my tie that she messed with. I looked over into the crowd of people, scurrying to get to their destination and saw Ellery a few feet away, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, and staring at me as she held a Starbucks cup in her hand. She lightly smiled and waved. I was furious at that moment because she must have seen Ashlyn getting out of the limo. The look on her beautiful face was sad. God knows what she must be thinking right now. She tried to fake her smile, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she was hurt. I saw the pained look on her face when she looked at me. I couldn’t force a smile because I was upset that she saw us like this. I wanted to walk over to her, hug her, and tell her how much I enjoyed last night, but I could only managed a small wave as I walked into the building. Fuck, what am I going to do now? I hurt her again, just like last night when I put her in the limo by herself to send her home.

***

My meeting had ended on a positive note, and I was in a fairly good mood. I had an idea, so I sent a text message to Denny.

“I will be having dinner tonight with Miss Lane. I believe she told me last night that she gets off work at 6:00 pm. I need you to pick her up from her place of employment and bring her to The Steakhouse where I’ll be waiting for her.”

“Does she know she’s joining you for dinner?” he asked.

“She will when you pick her up.”

“Very well, Connor.”

I got the impression from that last text that Denny didn’t believe Ellery would have dinner with me tonight.

I wrapped up the day and looked at my watch. It was already 5:30 pm. I stepped out of the office and hailed a cab to the restaurant. I sat in a booth and waited for Ellery to join me. I wanted to talk to her about what she saw this morning. I didn’t know how I was going to explain it, but I had to think of something quick. It was 6:30 pm, and Denny should’ve been here by now. Just as I was about to pull my phone out and call him, I noticed him walking towards me.

“Miss Lane told me to tell you she’s not available this evening and that she has plans. She also said that if you want to have dinner with her, then you should pick up the phone and ask her,” he started to laugh.

“I’m glad you’re finding this amusing, Denny.”

“I’m sorry, Connor, but she doesn’t take orders from anybody. She’s one-of-a-kind.”

I shook my head and looked down. “She’s mad about this morning. I know she is. You’re right, Denny, she is one-of-a-kind, and I need to make things right. Take me to her apartment,” I said as we exited the restaurant.

“She’s not at her apartment,” Denny said.

“How do you know?”

“I followed her after she declined your dinner invitation. She’s dining alone at a pizza place called Pizzapopolous.”

“Then it looks like I’m having dinner there tonight.”

I stood in front of the window and watched her as she sat at a small table, fumbling for something in her purse. She looked just as beautiful as she did last night. I walked through the door of the small restaurant and sat down across from her. She looked up at me and rolled her eyes. That attitude of hers was arousing.

“So this is where you want to have dinner?” I asked.

She cocked her head to the side. “Yes, Connor, this is where I’m having dinner tonight, and I don’t believe you were invited.”

I put my hand over my heart. “Ouch, that stings, Ellery. I invited you to dinner, and you turned me down, so I took it upon myself to join you.”

“How do you know I want company?” she asked.

I put my hands on the table and folded them. “I don’t, but since I’m here, we might as well dine together,” I said as I looked around the restaurant.

She shook her head and lightly smiled. I opened up the menu and glanced at it as the waitress stopped at our table to take our orders. I used to eat pizza when I was a kid. I haven’t had it in years and I wasn’t about to start now. Just as I placed my order for an antipasto salad, Ellery reached over and grabbed the menu from my hands.

“You can’t sit in a pizza place and only get a salad.” she said.

The waitress was eyeing me and wouldn’t stop to look at Ellery. She cleared her throat to get her attention.

“We’ll have a large deep dish with pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives, and a large antipasto salad with an order of bread sticks,” she smiled.

I brought my finger up and rested it on my lips, “Do you actually think I’m going to eat that pizza?”

“I don’t think you are; I know you are,” she smiled.

Damn that smile. I’m finding it very difficult to say no to this girl. It’s like she has some control over me, and I just can’t help it when I’m around her. The waitress brought the pizza and set it in the middle of the table. I looked at it and then at Ellery who was putting a slice on my plate. I grabbed my fork and knife and started to cut into it when out of nowhere, she startled me.

“What, are you kidding me?! Put that down right now, Connor Black!”

“What? What the hell is wrong?”

“You are not eating pizza with a fork and knife,” she said as she leaned over the table and took them from my hands.

“Then how the hell am I supposed to eat it?” I frowned.

“Like this; pick it up and bite into it,” she said as she chewed.

“That’s disgusting, and don’t talk with your mouth full.”

She cocked her head, and a smirk came upon her face. “If you won’t do it, then I will,” she said as she grabbed the pizza from my plate and held it to my mouth.

“Bite,” she demanded.

I raised my eyebrows at her, “Do you have any idea how sexy that sounds?” I winked. That was the sexiest thing coming from her, and I started to get aroused.

I couldn’t deny this beautiful woman who was holding a slice of pizza in my face, so I opened my mouth and took a bite. It was worth it just to see the smile on her face.

“My turn,” I smiled back at her.

“Your turn for what?” she asked.

I took the pizza and held it up to her mouth.

“Bite,” I demanded.

I couldn’t help but smile because she was so damn cute when she took that bite. We sat and talked about art while we ate pizza, salad, and bread sticks. I was having a great time in Pizzapopolous, sharing pizza with Ellery. A part of me was glad she turned me down for the first dinner invitation.

Her phone rang and she answered it with a strange look on her face. I pulled out my phone to check my messages, and I looked up to see a tear running down her cheek. Her face turned from happy to pain in a matter of seconds. Without even realizing what I was doing, I reached for her hand that was resting on the table. She was as white as a ghost when she hung up the phone, and I became worried.

She had received the devastating news that her aunt and uncle were just killed in a car accident. She said she needed to get out of there as she quickly stood up from her chair. I threw some money on the table and followed her out of the restaurant. She looked confused as she stepped onto the sidewalk. I put my arm around her and held her as she stumbled on the sidewalk a couple of times. She was in shock, and I needed to get her into the limo so she could sit down.

I helped her into the back seat and climbed in beside her. I didn’t say a word; I just wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me to let her know that I cared. She clenched my shirt in her hands and started sobbing into my chest. I kissed her on her head and held her tight, letting her cry for as long as needed to.

Chapter 8

When we arrived at her apartment, I followed her inside and lightly closed the door. She headed to the kitchen area and asked me if I wanted some wine. I politely declined because I had a meeting with Paul in about an hour. I asked her if she was ok because she was standing at the kitchen window just staring out into the world. She opened the bottle of wine, poured some in a glass, and turned around, placing one hand on my chest.

“Thank you, Connor. I want you to know that I truly appreciate you being here for me.”

I raised my hand and brought it to her tear soaked cheek and gently wiped away a couple of tears that were left as I said, “I know you do, and you’re welcome.” All I wanted to do at that moment was brush my lips against hers. I wanted to take her pain away, but I couldn’t. We’re friends, and I won’t cross that line, at least not yet. She gently smiled at me, patted me on the chest, and told me to go to my meeting.

“If you need anything, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to call me,” I told her as I pressed my lips against her smooth forehead.

I walked out of her apartment and started heading towards the limo. This poor girl has experienced more death than she should have in her life. I couldn’t let her be alone tonight. My head was telling me one thing, but my heart was telling me to bring her home with me. I walked back up to her apartment and knocked on the door.

“Hey, what are you still doing here?” she asked.

“Pack a bag because you’re staying with me tonight,” I said as I walked through the door.

She looked at me with a stunned look. “No, I’m not; I’m staying right here.”

Why can’t she just listen to me for once? “Elle, for once, just once, please do as I say,” I sighed.

Her face became angered. “I’m not a child, Connor, and frankly, you can’t order me around. I thought we had this discussion already?” she said.