focus. “Okay. So what’s the plan for after you leave? Does Sergeant Schilling step in as my new flavor of the week or what?”
He didn’t even touch the can in front of him. Just as well, because she was probably going to need it, too.
“But I guess if Kurt doesn’t show his face soon, there won’t be much anyone can do, right? It’s not like Tory can keep showing up at my store every time he buys himself a cup of coffee, and you said it yourself, you guys are stretched pretty thin as it is, so at some point—”
She could stand there sputtering about Kurt all night long; it wasn’t anything about him that made her feel this way, that made her throat so dry or her breathing so hard to control. It wasn’t anything about him that made her insides feel like she’d been mainlining caffeine for four days straight or made her heart feel raw, like it was laid bare and bleeding.
Breathe. The deeper she inhaled, the deeper her fingers tightened around the can, until the flimsy aluminum crunched inward.
“Okay, I can’t do this. I need to get dressed.”
“Stop.”
“It’ll just take me a minute. I’ll be right back.” She’d only taken one step before he was in front of her, his hand reaching for hers, but Ellie shrank back, shaking her head. “Please move.”
“No.” He held his hands up a little, showing her that he wasn’t going to touch her but he wasn’t going to let her by, either. “Don’t hide from me—not in the bathroom, and not behind your clothes or your makeup or anything else. Talk to me as you, not as the Ellie the rest of the world gets to see.”
Snap. She wasn’t prepared for that, or for the fact that he wasn’t finished making his point.
“You always look great, Ell…and I’m talkin’, like, really great.” His eyes widened a little as he blew out a breath and nodded slightly. “But how many people get to see you like this? Anyone?”
She couldn’t lie, but that didn’t mean she’d help him prove a point, so she shrugged slowly and sighed. “My mom.”
He blinked over her pathetic excuse of a response. “When I see you like this—and holy shit, it’s a good look—I know I’m getting the real Ell, bare bones, no hiding, no act, no nothing. Just you at your most honest, and that’s what I need right now.”
Oooh, the honesty card. That was low, only for some reason it calmed her, brought her back to where she could relax a little. Not completely, but a little, and the more she stood there looking at him, the less vulnerable she felt. How the hell did he do that?
“Does everything always have to be about you and what you need?” She lifted one brow in a slow, mocking arch. “Every once in a while, can’t it just be about me? Is that asking too much?”
Instead of firing back some smart-ass comment like she thought he would, he took a couple of big steps back as his face broke out into one of those oh-so-rare huge grins, dimple and all.
“Okay, maybe I was wrong,” he laughed. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to think straight sitting here in a freakin’ hotel room with you looking at me like that. Go throw something on and let’s get the hell out of here.”
She’d just stepped into the bedroom when he called after her: “Leave the glasses on.”
—
Brett was wrong. He’d thought that if he wasn’t looking at her in her pajamas, he’d be able to tamp down the fire burning in his gut.
Wrong wrong wrong.
It wasn’t just the way she looked that did it for him; it was the way she looked at him, the way she could be so strong and yet so soft at the same time. Maya was right: Ellie was pretty amazing once you got past all that lippy crap. The thing was, though, he loved the lippy crap; it was part of what made her so amazing.
They cut back behind the hotel and followed the sidewalk along the harbor, through the park, and around by the marina, where he made it about ten steps before reaching for her hand. Ellie didn’t hesitate, just threaded her fingers through his and smiled up at him.
“Wasn’t sure if that was allowed or not.”
“What?” he asked, shooting her a quick wink. “It’s a safety issue, that’s all. You never know when one of those sailboats is