The Infamous Ellen James(36)
"I bet you're an awesome uncle and spoil her rotten. Do you miss her?"
"I make a point to bring her a new Barbie doll every time I see her, and yes, of course I miss her, but I'm extremely happy about what Charlotte has brought me." He waggles his eyebrows and grins devilishly.
Good god, he's this irresistible combination of charming and sexy. This combination is lethal and dangerous, yet I just want to dive head first with my tongue.
"That's freakin' adorable, Trent. I would love to meet her someday." I let that little statement leave my lips before thinking about the fact that I'm openly admitting to wanting some sort of future with him.
Son of a bitch.
"Elle, I would love for you to meet Mia. Honestly, she's a lot like you. She's adorable, yet she has this sarcastic quick wit to her that keeps me laughing constantly. My sister Leah wants to strangle me most of the time because I seem to encourage her precocious personality."
He gives a sexy wink before turning his attention back to grilling the steaks.
I tell Trent about my family in Louisville—my wonderful parents and older sister, Elizabeth. My parents own a small diner that's conveniently located near the University of Louisville's campus. I tell him about my waitressing days, and he seemed to get a kick out of the idea of me in an apron. I still talk to my mom and dad daily but haven't really spoken with Lizzy in a while. She's married to a successful lawyer and always seems to have a benefit or charity function to attend.
Lizzy is six years older than me, and although we are similar in looks, we are complete opposites. She's conservative and, in my opinion, a little uptight. Lizzy worries about appearances and strives for nothing short of perfection in everything she does. I'm more of a free-spirit, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. I'm spontaneous and seem to make a career out of being found in embarrassing, ludicrous situations. Lizzy hates spontaneity, and I'm sure you can see why we're not as close as most sisters. Despite our differences, I still love her and would do anything for her. I would just rather do it from a distance in order to avoid her judgmental attitude. Because that's just Lizzy; she can be a little pretentious at time.
"I'd really like to see the two of you interact together," Trent says with a grin. Yeah, that's probably not going to happen anytime soon. The next time I see Lizzy will be when I head home for Thanksgiving in the fall.
We take our conversation into the dining area, and Trent refuses to let me help with anything. He grabs me by the shoulders and leads me towards the dining table when I attempt to help him with dinner.
"I'm making you dinner tonight, so sit your cute ass down and relax."
Once dinner is ready, Trent refills my glass of wine and sets my plate in front of me before sitting down at the table. My mouth is watering at the sight of this delicious meal. New York Strip, asparagus, baked potato, and bacon-wrapped-scallops. I take a bite of my steak and moan out loud with appreciation.
Holy shit this guy can cook.
Our dinner conversation is easy, relaxed. There are never any awkward silences or uncomfortable small talk, and I find myself wondering why I was even nervous about this date.
Trent continues to make me laugh about stories of him and his brother getting into trouble growing up. It sounds like his mother had her hands full with those two boys together. They are only eighteen months apart, and if Josh is anywhere near as good-looking as Trent, I bet they had quite the female fan base in Seattle. I share a few stories of my own about Elizabeth and me. Most of my stories end up with me making an ass of myself and Lizzy being pissed. Trent finds this extremely sidesplitting. I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds her dramatic reactions comical.
I once dressed up like Lizzy for Halloween when I was eleven. I wore pearls, my grandmother's cardigan set, and a hideous pencil skirt. Let's just say her reaction was less than enthusiastic. She was furious. The costume was pretty damn accurate though, if I do say so myself. Lizzy never left the house in anything but conservative cardigan sets and prim-and-proper skirts.
I'm not really sure how she landed her husband. I guess he gets off on the Lizzy-look. It's a cross between "my husband is running for a presidential campaign" and "I'm the school librarian." It's hard to believe a sixteen-year-old girl was dressing like that in high school, but that's honestly Lizzy. Conservative, prim-and-proper, prudish Lizzy. If my parents weren't so head-over-heels in love with each other, I would strongly entertain the idea of me being the mailman's kid.
We move our conversation to the comfy leather couch in front of the ginormous flat screen television. I'm a little buzzed from the wine and can feel my face flushing as I register the fact that I might get into Trent Hamilton's pants tonight.