him and jump into bed with him. And that would be wrong. Although she couldn’t quite remember why.
But at least she had told him the truth. At least he knew that he had upset her. The truth was important, she thought. But while she was telling Aidan the truth, maybe it was time for her to face the truth about herself. She was her mother’s daughter. Was she turning into that woman? Ellie hated to think so, but she did seem to be wrapping herself up in Aidan’s world more and more. And if that continued, she would eventually lose herself. And that frightened her more than anything else.
She stared at the stack of twenty neatly ironed napkins and the three smoothly folded tablecloths beside them. She wasn’t nearly finished thinking about her problem and glanced around for something more to iron. Would it be too silly to iron her dish towels?
“Oh, no, you’re not obsessed much,” she muttered, and quickly put the iron and ironing board away.
*
He never should’ve said a damn word.
Knowing he’d upset Ellie was like having a drill pierce a hole through his gut. Over and over again. Her words played constantly in his head until he thought he would go crazy. He still couldn’t believe that she’d apologized for being unfair to him. She’d tried to comfort him, for God’s sake.
He thought he’d been doing the right thing for Ellie, but he was wrong. All he’d really wanted was for her to choose him over Blake. He’d wanted to hear her say the words. Like his own ego needed so much massaging? What the hell was wrong with him?
“Damn it,” he muttered, as he slammed the tennis ball across the net. She was so sweet, he obviously didn’t deserve her. But screw that. Even if she was too good for him, the bottom line was she was stuck with him. And let’s face it, if she was too good for Aidan, then she was way too good for Blake. And that settled it. She wasn’t going back to that worthless guy again. Not as long as Aidan had breath left in his body.
“Heads up, bro,” Logan called from the other side of the net after the tennis ball whizzed right past Aidan’s ear. “You’re completely out of it today.”
That was pretty much true, Aidan thought. The fact that he hadn’t found Ellie in his bed that morning, for the first time in weeks, had rendered him almost useless today. He was going to have to do something about it, and soon. But he wasn’t about to admit any of that to Logan.
“I can still beat you with one hand tied behind my back,” he yelled. “Serve another one.”
*
It was day seven without sex.
Aidan saw Ellie every day in the office, where she was the epitome of professionalism. She worked as hard as she ever had and was cordial and helpful at all times to Aidan and everyone else in the company.
It was driving Aidan insane. He had reached the end of his rope. Telling Ellie she was free to go back to Blake was surely the worst idea he had ever come up with.
Last night he’d actually gone into the bar to find a woman, any woman, to have no-strings-attached sex. He’d seen a few attractive women he knew would be willing to go for it, but every time he approached one of them, he changed his mind. They weren’t that appealing, after all.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Aidan looked up and saw his brother standing in the doorway of his office. “Buzz off.”
Logan ignored that and walked over to his desk. “Your temporary secretary is threatening to quit and Sarah from the mail room is in tears. What is your problem?”
“She forgot to sort my mail,” Aidan griped.
Logan leaned closer. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I heard you right.”
Aidan refused to repeat the idiotic complaint he’d just uttered. Instead, he grumbled, “You heard me.”
“You’re right, I did. And I’m wondering something.”
“What?” Aidan glared up at him.
“Who the hell died and made you King?” Logan shouted in his face. “Sort your own damn mail!”
That’s exactly what he was doing, but he wasn’t about to admit it to Logan. “Thanks for your advice. Now you can leave.”
“Not until you tell me what bug crawled up your ass and died.” Logan began to pace back and forth in front of his desk. “You’ve been acting like a jackass for days now and everyone in the