Ella sighed and admitted, “Better than I could have imagined. I thought I would explode just from a kiss.”
“Oh, baby,” Beth giggled, “there is nothing better than a kiss from a man who knows what he’s doing. And if Declan kisses anything like he looks, oh yeah!”
Suddenly, Ella heard a male voice in the background and she had to laugh as she overheard Nick say, “I’m going to try not to take it personally that you seem to have spent a lot of time checking out Declan. It could be worse. At least you aren’t discussing Gray.”
Beth laughed and Ella heard a smacking kiss that she assumed had been delivered to Nick. “Oh, honey, I’m just supporting my friend. You know I haven’t really looked at Declan. It’s just some girl talk.”
“Um, should I let you two go now?” Ella asked.
“Oh no,” Beth assured her. “He just left for the grocery store. I’m dying for some strawberries and Cool Whip. There is no way he would be going without complaining if he wasn’t hopeful that I would eat at least half of the Cool Whip off of . . .”
“No, no, please don’t finish that sentence!” Ella pleaded “I have to see him every day. It’s bad enough the things that Suzy has put in my mind about Gray. At least Claire doesn’t share quite as much about Jason.”
“Alright, I’ll spare you tonight. So let’s get back to Declan. What are you going to do? I can’t believe he told you that any man would make you feel the same way that he did. Is he crazy?”
“I don’t know about that, but he clearly doesn’t see me as a woman. I don’t know why I even bother; he can be such a butthead.”
“Ella Webber, you bad girl,” Beth teased. “You must be hanging around my sister too much. Before long, those four-letter words will be rolling off your lips as easily as they do hers. All kidding aside though, I know you care about him and it’s pretty obvious that he’s attracted to you. I sure don’t buy the fact that he just happened to be jogging in your neighborhood. Keep your eyes open because I would be willing to bet he makes a point to go by your house. This is just the first time you almost ran over him. I bet that was a bit of a surprise.”
Ella finally relaxed and a chuckle escaped her. “It was pretty funny, now that I think about it. He’s always so calm and controlled but he looked anything but that when my bumper stopped two inches from him. Do you think he was jogging past to try and check up on me?”
“Oh yeah. I know Myrtle Beach isn’t a huge place, but that’s too much of a coincidence. Let’s get the girls together tomorrow and see if we can plan our next move. Did you get any more replies to your personal ad?”
“I’ll check my e-mail when we get off the phone. I have a few that I haven’t replied to yet. One of them was older than my father, ugh. Why would a man want to go out with a woman who is that much younger than him?”
“Oh Ella, my naive friend, they didn’t get the saying, ‘men are pigs’ from nowhere.”
Ella promised to have lunch with Beth, Suzy, and Claire the next day and hung up the phone. Nick had made it back with the strawberries and Cool Whip and Ella had been anxious to end the call before she heard more than she could ever forget.
What must it be like to have a relationship like the one Beth had with Nick? She knew it hadn’t always been easy for them, but they were in such a good place now. Nick seemed to adore Beth and she knew the feeling was mutual. He wanted to marry her immediately and she wanted to wait until after the baby was born. She said she couldn’t bear to be huge in her wedding pictures. Everyone else thought she was crazy, but Ella could imagine that for someone who had battled a weight problem for most of her life, it was very important to her to look her best on her wedding day.
Thoughts of Declan pushed back into her mind as she imagined a wedding day with him. Men like him probably didn’t do marriage. Was that something she was willing to give up for him? The memory of how he’d kissed her as if he wanted to consume her meant she’d consider it. She had felt a fire roaring through her blood that had never been there before. From the feel of his hardness pressing into her stomach, he had also felt the same. If by some miracle she was able to start a relationship with Declan, would it be enough? Would she be satisfied by the type of flame that had burned through them for those brief moments or would she eventually want more from him and their future?
All of a sudden Ella felt like she was in over her head. Having such a limited experience with men had never bothered her until now. If not for Beth, Suzy, and Claire she would be lost. She certainly couldn’t discuss sex with her mother. Her overprotective parents were still trying to talk her into moving back home. Her room was exactly as she had left it, a shrine to the nerd that she had been. Back then, books and school had been her only life. Dating was something that would never have been discussed in her parents’ house. Until she got the job at Danvers International, she was set to be a spinster and live with her parents forever. Some days she still couldn’t believe the girl who looked back at her in the mirror. Beth had helped her to look like the person that she had always dreamed of.
The old Ella would never have had the nerve to go after a man like Declan. Sure, like most women, she would have looked twice at him, but that would have been it. Now, she not only wanted him, she was determined to make him accept that he wanted her too. And if this was what it took, she would go on boring date after boring date until she had the experience that she needed to seduce a man like him.
Chapter Four
Declan barged into Nick’s office the next morning without bothering to knock. Nick raised a questioning brow in his direction and motioned for him to take a seat while he finished the call he was on. Rather than sit, he continued to prowl around the office until Nick was free. “Hey, Dec. What can I do for you?”
Never one for small talk, Declan got right to the point. “Have your girlfriend drop Ella from the dating service that she signed her up for.”
Hearing Nick’s groan, Declan turned back to face him. “Shit, has every woman in this building joined at one time or another? Beth used them too. I even crashed one of her dates. I’m not saying I agree with it, but I don’t know what I can do about it. Ella is a grown woman and I don’t think she’s interested in my opinion on her dating life.”
“She may not be interested in it, but I’m sure she would listen to Beth.”
Nick leaned back in his chair and studied him. “You know, Dec, this is probably the longest conversation we have ever had about anything that didn’t pertain to business. I thought we would eventually ease into a friendship. Maybe enjoy a few drinks while we watch a game. I never imagined we would be discussing your woman problems this soon in our relationship.”
Declan allowed a smirk to curve his lips as he acknowledged the truth of Nick’s statement. He didn’t hang out with much of anyone and that included Nick Merimon. This was certainly the most personal conversation he had had with anyone in the office, besides Ella, since coming to Danvers. “I don’t have woman troubles. I’m just trying to protect a friend.”
“So Ella is just a friend to you? If that’s true, why do you care who she dates?”
Declan raked an impatient hand through his hair. “Because she could get hurt. She knows nothing about men and is far too trusting. I don’t want her to end up in a situation that she has no idea how to handle.”
“Look, I don’t think Beth would put her in a position to get hurt. I’m sure they have all of that covered. If you’re worried about her, maybe you should talk to Ella. Hell, give her some self-defense classes. You would be a pro at that. I’ll mention your concerns to Beth, but don’t expect it to help. One thing you should know about that group of women is that once they have made up their minds, you just have to step out of the way and hope for the best.”
“Damn, Nick, that’s not good enough! She could be in danger. I know firsthand what can happen to someone like her when they trust the wrong person!”