Yours Completely(24)

“You look a little pale. Perhaps you could use some lunch,” Delores observed. “I'll have Allison bring up up some.”

“That's really not necessary,” he assured her. All he wanted to do now was go back to his room and be alone. “I need to get some work done.”

With that, he turned from her and headed back up the main staircase and up to the master suite. He'd made sure that Madelyn and Jason had the two best suites, but his room was still just as good as any he'd ever had. This place had great potential for higher end clients.

He locked the door behind him, hating that he was thinking of Ella and her dream of making the inn better. She wasn't his. Couldn't be his.

He was such a fool for even thinking she wasn't taken. She deserved to have someone amazing, and no matter how much he was tempted to use his wealth and status to woo her, he couldn't do it. Not to her.

Jace sighed, running his hands through his hair as he went to the window and stared outside. Sitting on the windowsill was a small bouquet of fresh flowers, accenting the beauty of the lake outside.

Flowers were a stupid idea, anyway, he told himself.

A knock on the door didn't even pull his attention from the lake. He wished he could go back in time and not have tried to kiss her. She was engaged. What kind of person was he, trying to kiss soon-to-be married women? A terrible one.

“Mr. Connor?” A quiet voice on the other side of the door called out. For a moment, Jace thought it might be Ella and his stomach lurched. “Jace? It's Allison. I brought you lunch.”

His heart sunk further. “I'm not hungry.”

“Oh. Um...” He could practically hear her thinking of what she should do next. “You sure? I can get you anything you want. Just open the door and let me in.”

The obviousness of her mother annoyed him. Allison probably had two buttons undone on her blouse to reveal as much cleavage as possible. It wouldn't be the first time mothers sent their daughters up to him for “anything he wanted.”

For a moment, he considered the easy conquest. It would take his mind off of Ella. But just the thought made him nauseous. He would hate himself. All he really wanted was Ella, not a substitute.

“That isn't necessary. Thank you, Allison.” He turned from the lake and sat at the big desk, staring at his closed computer. He would just stay here for the rest of the day and work through the night. “I'm working right now.”

There was a long pause on the other side of the door. “Okay. If you need a break, just let me know. Anything you want, Mr. Connor.”

Anything I want? thought Jace.

I want Ella.





Chapter Nine


“Are you sure I should be wearing this?” Ella asked, straightening one of the oversized purple sequins on the dress Madelyn had her wearing. The bride had insisted that Ella join them on her bachelorette party.

“Yes,” Gwen answered, putting the finishing touches on her lipstick in the bathroom mirror beside her. “You're coming with us, so you need to dress like it.”

“It's just so... sparkly.” Ella looked in the mirror and needed sunglasses. Purple sequins the size of silver dollars flashed and gleamed on the strapless, tight dress. “I feel like a disco ball.”

“A sexy disco ball,” Gwen corrected. She handed Ella a tube of lipstick. “Here, put this on. It'll look great on you.”

“It's a bachelorette party,” Clarissa added stepping into the bathroom. Her hair and makeup was already flawless, but she messed with it anyway. “We're all supposed to look like sexy objects tonight.”

“What sexy object are you?” Gwen asked, looking at her in the mirror. “A wine glass?”

Clarissa's dress was bright red, skin tight and her legs looked about a million miles long. Her dark hair spilled around her shoulders and her lashes looked long enough to start a windstorm.

“Yup, and you in that gold dress and red hair are a sexy, sexy Christmas tree ornament,” Clarissa replied with a grin.

“What does that make me?” Madelyn asked, putting in a pair of sparkly earrings as she walked in. She wore a short white lace dress that showed off every single inch of her curves. It was a good thing the bathroom was huge. All four of them barely fit in the mirror.

“A sexy cloud,” Gwen answered. Clarissa laughed.

“So, we have a cloud, a disco ball, a wine glass, and an ornament,” Madelyn said, ticking off each one on her fingers. “All those lampshades and shoes better watch out.”

Ella giggled. She felt honored to be included among these friends. Technically, this was a second bachelorette party, as Madelyn had one last week in the city. That event had made the papers. This was a low-key celebration just for friends. They were going to a local bar and having a good time. The goal was to get tipsy, but not so drunk that any of them would be hung over tomorrow.