Game of Love (7 page)

She drew her shaky hand back to her lap. “Why did you get so many?”

Because I needed to feel something after you left, and pain was better than nothing
. “I don’t know. Tell me what happened, Ellie.”

She nodded and lowered her eyes to her lap. She drew her brows together, then clenched her eyes shut tight and blew out a breath. When she opened her eyes, she looked at him quickly—for a second, maybe—then dropped her eyes again.

Dex held his breath, unable to believe she might actually let him in.

“I woke up to the guy Dina brought home bent over me, with his awful breath in my face and his…He had no pants on.”

Dex pushed away from her, fully awake now. “Did he hurt you? Touch you?” He’d kill the bastard.

“No. I think he was still drunk and trying to figure out who was on the couch, but it freaked me out and brought up all sorts of memo—” She cleared her throat. “All sorts of awful things. So I took off.”

Dex pulled her close again. “I’m glad you had sense enough to come here.”

“I didn’t really have any other options. After I left, some guy stole my purse.” She tucked her feet beneath her and leaned against him.

“Jesus, El. Did you call the police?” Dex hated that she was going through this kind of shit. Ellie was such a good person. He remembered one day when they’d been taking one of their silent walks home from the bus stop and she’d seen a cat for the second day in a row, sitting in the tall grass by the creek. The next day she’d saved part of her lunch and given it to the cat. She’d done the same thing every day thereafter until she’d been sent away, at which point Dex began to feed the damn cat.

“No. I figured the guy was long gone, and then the only place I could think to go was here. I promise I’ll find another place to stay tomorrow.”

“Stay, Ellie. I like having you here.” He wrapped both arms around her and brought his legs up on the couch beside them. She nuzzled against him, and fifteen silent minutes later, she was breathing the peaceful rhythm of deep sleep. Dex couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so whole and so scared at the same time. Oh wait. Yes, he could. He remembered it all too well. As he rested his cheek on her head, his heart already wrapped around her again like a cocoon, he knew she might do the same thing to him again, but having her in his arms was so much better than having her only in his dreams. He closed his eyes, willing to put his heart at risk one more time and praying she’d still be there in the morning.

ELLIE’S PHONE ALARM sounded at eight in the morning, startling her. She scrambled to pull her cell phone from her pocket and turn it off. Dex mumbled something and tightened his grip around her waist.
Shit
.
What was I thinking? How could I let us get close again? And why do I want to crawl right back into your arms?
She felt as if she’d slept for two days, even though she’d had only a few hours’ sleep, and she knew it was because she was with Dex. She peeled herself from his grip and stepped from the couch. He rolled over and she caught sight of his formidable erection. What was it with New York men and erections? Unlike the reaction she’d had the night before with the drunken stranger, she felt a thrill run through her.

The last time she’d slept beside Dex, she’d asked him if he’d love her forever, no matter where they were or who they were with. She’d thought she meant love her like a friend, but she’d realized as the word left her mouth that she hadn’t meant like a friend at all. Without hesitation, he’d smiled with that cockeyed, sexy grin of his and responded,
You can always be sure of me. Always.
He’d leaned over and kissed her then. A heart-stopping, toe-curling kiss that had scared the shit out of her. She’d felt his arousal against her belly, but he hadn’t made a move beyond the kiss, and she’d been too scared to. Dex had been her best friend, and she loved him.
God, how I loved you. I had no choice but to leave you
.

Ellie surveyed the living room. It looked different with the sunlight streaming across the hardwood and the fright of the evening not hovering around her. She saw more of Dex in the room. The leather couch was distressed. It wasn’t dark brown but a caramel color with low, thick wooden feet that gave it a homey, broken-in appearance. There were two large television screens and chunky wooden furniture with an enormous computer monitor on the top. She smiled as her eyes danced over stacks of gaming and computer magazines and piles of books.

She warmed at the sight of pictures of his family that were haphazardly placed around the room. She looked over the family photo that sat atop the marble mantel. His father’s stern eyes and stoic expression, above his starched white collar, contrasted sharply with his mother’s smiling eyes and long gray hair, which flowed wildly over the shoulders of her colorful bohemian blouse. She remembered each of his brothers, even though she’d only met Jack once or twice. They could have been cloned, their handsome faces and dark hair were so similar. But their eyes told different stories. His mother, Joanie, his brothers Kurt and Rush and his sister, Siena, had vibrant blue eyes, while the others’ blue eyes were as dark as night. A smaller photo of Dex and Siena when they were little was placed beside a larger photo of Jack, Sage, and Dex. In it, Dex looked to be about thirteen years old. She ran her finger along his lanky body, all elbows and knees at that age. She glanced back at him snoozing on the couch, broad chested and rippled with strength. His tattoos made him look even manlier than he had four years ago. Oh yes, he had grown into a fine specimen of a man.

She went into the foyer and retrieved her suitcase, then wound her way down the hall looking for a bathroom. She passed the closed door where Regina was sleeping and wandered into Dex’s bedroom. The bed was unmade, and the room carried a chill. She touched his dresser, a bold, manly wooden piece of furniture with thick legs and solid wooden handles. The top of the dresser was littered with gaming magazines and drawings. A small frame caught her eye, and she picked it up. She should feel as though she was snooping, but with Dex, she never felt that way. She’d come in and out of his bedroom so many nights that it had felt like it was hers as well. That was stupid, and she knew it, and she’d never been in this bedroom. So why did she still feel as close to him?

Her hand shook a little as she studied the photograph of the two of them. She remembered the day the picture was taken.
I remember almost every day we’ve ever spent together.
She ran her finger over his image, shocked that he’d not only kept it, but framed it and had it on his dresser.
He must think about me as much as I think about him
. Along with the realization came a stab of guilt, which she tucked away, focusing instead on the photograph. Dex had been seventeen and she was sixteen. It was June, just before the end of the school year. Dex had needed a haircut. She remembered teasing him about it. His hair fell over his eyes and he wore no shirt. She was pressed against his chest.
I was always pressed against his chest
. A stranger would never know who was behind that mop of dark hair that his hand was buried in. She could still feel his heart beating against hers, his hand covering her lower back, the other cupping the back of her head, and the way his embrace had felt like he was claiming her as his own.

“REMEMBER THAT DAY?” Dex leaned against his bedroom doorframe.

Ellie started and put the photograph she was holding back on his dresser. “Dex, I’m so sorry. I was looking for a bathroom, and I…”

He smiled and picked up the picture. “It’s my favorite. Do you remember taking it?”

She nodded, and he wondered if she felt the same longing for that time as he felt when he looked at it. The picture had been taken two weeks before she’d been sent away. Siena had just gotten a camera and was always taking pictures. Ellie hated getting her picture taken. She’d had on a halter top. Dex remembered thinking how pretty she was and that she never wore shirts like that. She’d turned away, and he’d wrapped her in his arms. Her back was warm and soft, and Dex had wanted to hold her forever. He’d told Siena to stop, but Siena had taken the first shot—the picture in the frame—and she’d caught the happiness on his lips, the look of love in his eyes. She’d caught his heart on film, and though the next five pictures showed a very different and protective Dex because Siena hadn’t listened when he told her to stop taking pictures, he’d kept this one for himself.

Ellie nodded. “Siena was always up for mischief.”

“She still is. I’m having lunch with her tomorrow. Want to come?”
Please say yes.
Having Ellie with him last night brought back so many memories and forced the ache of missing her to the forefront. He knew he shouldn’t get close, but resisting Ellie was not in his bailiwick of skills.

“I can’t. I need to find a job and I need to find a place to live. Oh, and call the bank to cancel my credit card.” Ellie ran her hand through her hair, and her fingers tangled in its thickness.

He set the picture down. “What about reporting it to the police?”

“That sounds like a headache. There was nothing but a little cash and one bank card in my purse. I’d better shower.” She started to walk past him, and he stopped her.

“Ellie, use my bathroom. The only other full bath is in the room where Regina is sleeping. How are you getting to your interview?”

She shrugged. “Walk, I guess. I’ll figure it out.” She opened her suitcase and began to unpack her clothes for the interview.

“I’ll give you money for a cab.”

She spun around. “No. I don’t need—”

“No shit. You don’t need money for a cab. You’ll walk twenty blocks or however long it is to the school. I know you can and will, Ellie. But until you get the bank thing worked out, just take the cab money. You can make breakfast to pay me back.” He smiled, knowing she was going to fight with him about the money and almost relishing in it. She was too tough for her own good—and so damned cute when she got ornery.

“I suck at cooking.”

“Then you’re in luck, because I don’t.”

She shivered. “It’s chilly in here.”

He crossed the floor and closed the window. “Old habits.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“I sleep with it cracked every night. Always have. Well, ever since…”
Ever since you showed up at my bedroom window that first time.
He realized his mistake as soon as he’d said the words. He’d just given her another reason to run.
Don’t get close to Ellie Parker or she’ll take off.
That could have been written under her photo in her high school yearbook. The week his mother invited her to dinner, Ellie didn’t walk home with him once. It had taken her almost two full weeks to find her way back to him again. But like a fish to water, she’d come back, and then she’d eased into his family’s hearts the same way she’d snuck into his.

She shifted her gaze from the window to her toiletry bag, clearly ignoring his comment.
Damn it.
He had enough going on in his life that he didn’t need the roller coaster ride that was Ellie Parker. But he’d be damned if every part of his body didn’t crave her now that she was close.

“I’ll be really quick in the shower, and I can walk, but thanks anyway.”

AFTER CALLING THE bank and checking directions online for the school, she realized that walking a few miles in heels might be a bit much after sleeping only a handful of hours the night before. She’d swallowed her pride and borrowed cab fare from Dex, ignoring the smirk on his handsome face. He’d wished her luck before she left, and as she walked into the old brick building, she realized that luck hadn’t been on her side in months. Maybe even years. Or ever. Although, what else could running into Dex have been?

The halls of the elementary school were bright and cheerful. The school had that unique elementary school smell of paste and cafeteria food. She missed the kids she’d worked with in Maryland, and she hoped they were getting the attention they needed from their new teacher. When Ellie was teaching, she didn’t have shivers of doubt. She was confident in her teaching skills, and although school had been a painful experience—Ellie had always felt like a misfit—it was the one place she could prove herself. She’d excelled at schoolwork, earning A’s in most of her subjects despite feeling out of place. Grades were all about her. She controlled how much she studied and how intently she paid attention. No one else could take credit for her grades, good or bad.

“Ms. Parker? I’m Principal Price. I’m glad you made it.” Principal Price was an older woman with pencil-straight salt-and-pepper hair worn in a severe blunt cut just below her ears. Her smile was forced, which Ellie noted went along with her feigned kindness. She imagined this woman, who was as vertically challenged as Ellie, hovering somewhere around five foot three, had a default scowl that took hard work to mask.

“Thank you. I’ve heard a lot about your school.” Ellie followed her into a small office, which was impeccably clean save for a small stack of files on one side of her desk.

With her nose in Ellie’s file, Principal Price said, “On your application you stated that you were moving to New York to return to your roots. Is that right? So you’re from the city?”

Was it? Or was it to be closer to Dex?
Focus, Ellie
. “Not the city, just outside. You know what they say…” Shit. Ellie had no idea what they said, much less who
they
were. “Once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker.” She pressed her hand to her knee in hopes of settling the nervous bounce that had taken over.

“Tell me about your teaching style.”

Ellie had practiced for her interview nonstop on the train to New York, and she rattled off her prepared answers. “While I follow the outlined curriculum for the students, I cater how I teach each lesson to the needs of the children. I work with the kids who need more time or depth to understand a concept while the ones who do understand are working their way through the problem. I find that holding up the entire class for one or two children’s needs tends to cause the kids who do understand to lose interest.”

Principal Price wrote something on her clipboard.