31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) (6 page)

‘We are talking about Gabriel still?’ Robert’s son
could well have been spawned by myself or Logan from what I’d heard of his
reputation for one night stands.

‘Yes, it rather took me by surprise. He’s even
proposed he’s that serious about her. So there’s hope for you yet, Oliver,’ he
replied with a pat on my back. I shook my head, what was it with everyone and
their focus on my lack of a love life recently?

‘It’s a fine thing when a twenty year old is
showing me up. Send him my best and you know the boathouse is always available
to him if he wants a romantic getaway.’

‘I’ll let him know. I’d better go, my plane’s on
standby to take me home.’

‘Thanks again, for everything,’ I replied
sincerely as I shook his hand. His high fees were minute in comparison to the
money he’d just saved me.

‘You’re welcome. Call me when you’re ready to
swallow up the next software firm standing in your way.’ I walked him to the
lift before turning to find Stuart waiting patiently in calling range.

‘Do you have an update on Miss Baxter for me?’

‘She’s had a massage, facial, “mani-pedi” whatever
that is and a haircut, Sir. She’s now retired to her suite, after rejecting the
advances of another male guest, alone.’

‘Excellent,’ I smiled.

‘She must be quite a woman to have you distracted
in the middle of a takeover meeting.’

‘Yes, she is,’ I nodded. ‘Do you have the package
I asked for?’

‘Yes, Sir. It’s on your desk. Would you like me to
call James for you?’

‘Please, if he can give me an hour to give me time
to tidy up some paperwork.’

‘Do you need me for anything else?’

‘No thank you, and thanks for coming in on a
Saturday. Take a few days off next week. I won’t need you again until
Thursday.’

‘Are you sure?’ he asked as his face broke into a
smile.

‘I’m sure. Go before I change my mind.’

‘Thank you Sir and congratulations,’ he called as
he disappeared.

I sat back in my chair and looked out over the
panoramic skyline of London. I’d just closed the biggest deal of my career,
which was set to make millions and set me in good standing to take on the
largest software corporations in the world. Business thrills had always got me
off, that feeling of power and control, yet today’s high didn’t even compare to
what I’d felt when Ellie had eagerly parted her thighs for me that first time after
she’d nearly drowned. I spun around and picked up the jewellery box on my desk
and opened it and took a deep breath. Was this too much? Was I crazy spending
this sort of amount on her after only knowing her for a few weeks? I poured
myself a scotch, if I couldn’t have a drink to celebrate my good fortune today,
when could I? I knocked it back and cracked on with some paperwork, before
pocketing the box and heading out to go and change into my tuxedo for this
charity event. If mother hadn’t warned them no photographs of me I’d give her
back full barrels in Portuguese.

‘You look so handsome, carino,’ she smiled, as I
stepped off the podium after giving the after dinner speech.

‘I have you to thank for that, you look as
stunning as ever. Father’s ready to flatten the next guy who puts his hand on
your backside.’

‘Always with the jealousy your father. I’m so
proud of you, this was a major coup today, no?’

‘Yes,’ I sighed.

‘Then why do you still have this face of misery?’
she asked as she gesticulated with a perfectly manicured finger adorned with
the largest diamond I’d ever seen. My father spoiled her, as any man should do
his woman.

‘Just tired I guess,’ I shrugged. ‘I didn’t sleep
well and it’s been a long day.’

‘Or more likely you are wishing you were back home
where a certain young lady awaits you?’

‘Am I that transparent?’ I chuckled.

‘Just to Magda and I. Go.’

‘But your event?’

‘You’ve given your speech, I’ll say you had a
business crisis. Be honest with her this time, tell her that you’re crazy about
her and don’t let her go.’

‘I’m thirty-four years of age, mother,’ I
protested. ‘I run one of the most successful businesses in the world, making
multi-million pound deals before breakfast, I don’t need advice on my sex
life.’

‘Hmmmm, I beg to differ. Now go, before I put you
on that helicopter myself.’

Sunday 6
^th
July ~ Year One

Ellie

I was fast asleep when I
heard the knock at the door and squinted at the alarm clock. It was nearly two
a.m.
What the hell was going on?
Surely if there was a fire an alarm
would sound. I turned on a bedside light and headed to the en-suite to grab a
dressing gown, wrapping it tightly around me before walking to the main door. I
quickly ran my hands through my hair, trying to smooth it down. The door
knocked again, a bit firmer.

‘Ok, ok I’m coming,’ I muttered as I tiptoed up
and looked out of the peephole. I nearly landed on my backside again as I
caught a glimpse of Dan, looking devastating in a black tuxedo with his bowtie
hanging loosely around his neck. ‘What are you doing here?’ I uttered as I
opened the door and felt my stomach flip at the sight of him, with a five o’clock
shadow darkening his tanned complexion. ‘You weren’t due until lunchtime and
it’s the middle of the night. And why are you dressed like that?’

‘Have I ever told you that you talk too much?’ he
growled as he stepped in, grabbed me and kicked the door shut. I barely had
time to think of a protest, let alone say it, before his hot lips were on mine,
his tongue prising them apart as he took my mouth in a possessive kiss. Six
months of pent up frustration and desire were pouring out of each of us as I
clutched his shoulders, and he grabbed my backside and the back of my head, as
he walked me backwards into the bedroom and I sighed into his mouth. Our
tongues thrashed as the sensation of pleasure permeated every fibre of my
being. As I landed on the soft bed, him following me down as he groaned, I
suddenly stiffened up, right as his erection did against my belly. Pleasurable
as his kiss and the weight of his body was on top of me, and desperate for sex
as I was, he had some explaining to do before I even considered letting him
tear this gown away.

‘Stop,’ I gasped as I pulled my lips from his.
‘Stop.’

‘Don’t, it’s been fucking months. I’m desperate
for you, as desperate as you are for me.’

‘I … I can’t,’ I moaned as he moved to kiss the
side of my neck and turned my insides to liquid. ‘Talk, then maybe sex.’

‘Definitely sex, then talk,’ he countered as I
started to tremble in his arms.

‘Dan,’ I meekly protested, as he ground his pelvis
against mine and my treacherous body rose to meet him. ‘
No
.’

‘Yes! Don’t deny me Ellie. I’m used to getting
what I want and I want you. Now.’

‘I want you too, but not until you’ve told me the
truth. You hurt me, you
really
hurt me. I can’t sleep with you again just
like that, no matter how much I want to. This …
passion,
my body’s response
to you
is an uncontrollable chemical reaction, but my mind’s saying no.’

‘God damn it woman, you’d try the patience of a
fucking saint,’ he groaned as he rolled off me. I quickly got up, my legs
trembling, and clutched my dressing gown tightly to me as his hungry eyes roved
over my concealed body.

‘Order some coffee, for both of us, and a mountain
of food for you. If you can’t fill your sexual appetite then you may as well
fill your other one,’ I ordered, as I tore my eyes off his sensational body and
that huge erection tenting his black trousers.

‘I can’t believe you don’t want me,’ he uttered in
disbelief.

‘O, and there’s Mr. Arrogant back. Well god’s gift
to womankind, maybe a woman needs to be in the right frame of mind to be fucked
sometimes and knowing all the lies you told me, that you
still
haven’t
explained, sort of puts me in the “Thanks but no thanks” frame of mind. You’re
telling me a woman has
never
turned you down before me?’

‘One,’ he sighed as he gripped his erection through
his trousers making me even more lightheaded. ‘And that’s how I ended up buying
this damn hotel.’

‘O my God. You’re so
bloody
complex,’ I
uttered, as I headed to the wardrobe and grabbed some clothes.

‘Where are you going?’ he asked, as he sat up with
a frown on his face.

‘To put on some extra layers of protection for
while we talk.’

‘I’ll be fucking you one way or another when we’ve
cleared the air Ellie, I don’t care how many layers I have to rip off you.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ I retorted, as I dashed to
the bathroom and locked myself in. How could I want someone who’d hurt me so
badly? Was I a sadist? Did I enjoy being with guys who hurt me? I shook my head
as I pulled on some knickers, jeans and a bra and t-shirt. No, I couldn’t be.
I’d left Matt and Zac as soon as I realised what they were hiding from me and
I’d left Dan behind too. Part of me trusted him, part of me had always trusted
him, but all the evidence that had presented itself had made me doubt my
judgement. I didn’t exactly have a great track record with men so I wanted
conclusive proof that he wasn’t lying to me anymore, before I even thought
about letting him inside me again. I brushed my hair and took a calming breath before
heading back out to the bedroom and cursed to see him lounging on the bed in
just his boxers. His body looked even more toned than when I’d last seen him
naked in December. I glared at him, trying to cover up my interest.

‘What?’ he protested with a smirk, obviously not
fooled. ‘It’s damn hot in here.’

‘You’re not kidding,’ I muttered, as I skirted the
bed and flung open the balcony doors. Damn him, looking all bloody male model
muscly and sexy, lounging on my bed, testing my resolve. I was going to crack
like a Piñata if we didn’t get this conversation out of the way soon. I sat on
one of the large rattan chairs provided, angling it so I was facing the room
and could see him, while still keeping some distance. ‘Talk.’

‘Christ Ellie, you can’t even sit inside with me?’
he frowned. ‘I really hurt you that badly?’

‘Of course you did, Dan. Sorry Oliver, or Ollie,
or whatever the hell you want me to call you this month. I trusted you, I fell
for you and then … You know what, let’s not go over old ground. I want
answers.’

‘Ask me a question then,’ he shrugged.

‘Don’t you
dare
use your question limitations
or avoidance tactics on me tonight,’ I warned.

‘I’m an open book Ellie, but you may not like what
you hear,’ he sighed as he turned onto his side and propped himself up on his
elbow.

‘Why now? Why not just be honest with me from the
start?’

‘I was attracted to you when I saw your file,
which hasn’t happened to me in …
forever
. I wanted to see if you liked
me, without knowing who I really was. By the time I realised you were falling
for me, I was scared of losing you if I told you the truth, but I lost you
anyway. I guess if I tell you the truth now and you still hate me and bail at
least I’ll know. No regrets or what ifs.’

‘So you’re Oliver Davenport, not Dan?’

‘Yes, but I told you Dan’s my middle name and
that’s what people up here know me as. I didn’t just invent a completely fake
character with the intention of deceiving you.’

‘Why pretend to be Dan?’

‘Everyone here knows me as Dan. Only my
housekeepers, Pete and Conn know my real identity and the hotel manager and …
my wife’s parents.’ He said the last part quietly.

‘Why are you up here, hiding away?’ I asked. I
wasn’t sure I was ready to ask about his wife yet. If he was still raw about her
death my natural instinct would be to go to him and comfort him.

‘I came for New Year, met … Moira,’ he swallowed
as he watched me nervously. ‘We got married and the next day … we had the
accident.’

‘The day after your wedding?’ I whispered, as I
battled tears. No wonder he was emotionally fucked up. To marry the love of
your life and have her die the day after?

‘Ellie, I … I told you it’s not what it seems.
Please don’t cry for me. I didn’t love her, I never loved her. I made a stupid
mistake trying to impress her, to get her into my bed and she realised I had
money. She got herself deliberately pregnant to trap me. I married her to save
her family shame and because I … I actually did love someone once, a long time
ago. Her name was Rebecca. I never told her that I loved her, not until she was
dying while trying to give birth to my son. I’ve always regretted not telling
her sooner and … the guilt I felt at losing her … at losing them both ate me up
inside …’ he stalled as his voice broke, then sat up on the edge of the bed and
put his head in his hands as I felt some tears trickling down my cheeks. He’d
lost the love of his life
and
his child, only for it to happen again
with this … Moira? I felt my heart breaking for him. ‘I vowed I wasn’t ever
going to let another woman down ever again,’ he whispered. I hated myself for
fighting the urge to run to him and wrap my arms around him. My poor, poor Dan.
‘I never got attached to women after Rebecca. It was just sex, no emotional
attachment. I’d sleep with them a few times and move on.’

‘Until you married this Moira, out of some
honourable intentions?’ I choked. He looked up at me with tears clinging to his
lower lashes, which lanced my heart.

‘Yes,’ he nodded.

‘And she died in the accident? Your baby too?’

‘Ellie, I … please don’t hate me,’ he said quietly
as he quickly rubbed the heels of his hands over his eyes. ‘She didn’t die.’

‘So you have a wife
and
a child?’ I asked
horrified. Tom was so sure she’d died. Maybe that was where he went every day
to see his son or daughter, as he obviously didn’t have a normal relationship
with this Moira.

‘No. I was badly hurt, but she … she was thrown
through the windscreen and broke her neck and back and went into a coma. She’s
on life support, but she lost our baby. I fucking lost another baby and nearly killed
her, Ellie. Do you have any idea how sick I feel every day when I visit her and
see her lying there with that tube down her throat? The guilt I felt at
forgetting all of that when I was with you, when you were in my arms? You see
why I warned you to stay away from me? I’m fucking cursed,’ he groaned as he
fell back onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. I blinked back my
tears, stunned at his confession. He’d been visiting her nearly every day for
all these years? Why couldn’t he forgive himself? No wonder he’d been so
confused when I’d stayed, why he relaxed when he was with me, but stiffened up
again at the reminder of her. I heard him try to stifle a sob and could no
longer stop the carer in me, the part of me that was still in love with him,
from running to the bed to comfort him. I climbed next to him and curled tightly
around his upper body. ‘I’m responsible for all of this fucking mess.’

‘Dan I’m
so
sorry,’ I whispered, as I tried
to soothe him by running my fingers through his hair.

‘I hate myself,’ he sobbed as he buried his face
in my lap and I held him. I couldn’t believe this was Dan, big strong alpha
male Dan, sobbing in my lap. Tears poured down my face as I thought about what
he’d been through. To lose the woman he was in love with and a son, then to try
and do the right thing by a woman who played him, to only lose her and their
child as well? This was why he didn’t want to sleep with me, he was trying to
be decent, to honour his marriage vows even if he’d been tricked into it. He
was scared of getting attached to someone again in case he lost them too. And
I’d kept pushing him, goading him to sleep with me, pushing him for more.

‘You’re a good man Dan,’ I whispered, as I stroked
the top of his head. ‘You did the right thing by her, when many men would have
walked away. It was a tragic accident that could have killed you too. You can’t
blame yourself.’

‘I do,’ he answered quick as a whippet.

‘Why? Why do you blame yourself?’

‘I was … I was driving when it happened.’

‘What happened?’

‘I may have been drunk,’ he whispered, so quietly
I wondered if I’d actually heard right. Despite trying my hardest not to, I
stiffened up automatically. I deplored drunk drivers, I lost my own parents to
one. I still supported his defenceless innocent child who’d not only lost his
father that night I lost both parents, but then his mother to cancer soon
after. Drink driving was inexcusable.

‘You … you were …
driving
while you were
drunk?’ I uttered as I held my breath, praying for it not to be true. If it was,
I wasn’t sure if I could handle that.

‘I was drunk on the Friday night, the night of my
wedding, because I was so unhappy. The accident happened on the Saturday
afternoon.’ He unfurled himself from his foetal position in my lap and wiped
his eyes on his arm, looking embarrassed at his melt down. I’d warrant not many
people saw him cry, which told me that his feelings for me were genuine. As he
looked into my eyes, I dropped them to focus on my dark blue jeans, stretched
across my bent knee. I couldn’t look at his face and I remained silent trying to
process this latest bombshell.