Never Close Enough (5 page)

Chapter Six

Porter

   There had been no words to describe the instant possessive feelings that had come over him when he turned and saw J
osh drooling all over Ella.  He wasn’t a violent man, and would avoid confrontation usually, but at that moment he wasn’t opposed to physically removing Josh from the bar.  Luckily for him, Josh made the right decision and left Ella alone.  The moment Ella had stepped out of her car, Porter had known he was a goner.  She looked amazing with her hair curled around her face, and she was wearing those damn boots that made her legs and ass look spectacular.  Porter knew he was in for a rough night of playing it cool, and being the gentleman, but all bets where off when he caught another man looking at her.  He would be the only one to talk to her while they were together.

  They had a few drinks and it became clear to Porter she was having the same visceral attr
action to him.  He caught her eyes roaming over his arms a few times, and she always gave him a sweet smile whenever he locked eyes with her.  The red color of her sweater was making her blue eyes almost glimmer.  “So,” Porter took a drink of his beer, “I’ve told you about my family; let’s hear about yours.”

  “Well, there’s not a whole lot to tell.  My mom and dad are still married and they still live in the same house they have lived in all my life.  My mom works for a school district on the board of dire
ctors, and my dad use to be the CEO of a marketing company in Portland.  He retired a few years back and now just spends most of his time hiking and fishing.  I have a little sister, Megan, and she and her fiancé live near Portland, too.”

   “Do you and yo
ur sister get along?”

   “I guess you could say that.  There is 8 years between us, so we were never really at the same stage in life.  I have no idea why my parents had us so far apart.  I think she might have been a surprise,” she laughed a little.  “Meg
an is really sweet and good at of a lot of things.  But I think she really just wants to be married and have a family.  She met her fiancé, Patrick, in college and they’ve been inseparable ever since.  They will both graduate from college this June and then they plan on getting married next Spring.”  Ella took another sip of her drink.  “She always knew what she wanted and she just went after it.  She’s fearless that way.”  The description of her sister made him smile.

   “You’re pretty fearless, too.  You
got into a car with a complete stranger last night and let him drive you home.  Then you let him into your house that had no lights.  He could have really taken advantage of you,” he said with a smirk.

   “Hey, that was alcohol-fueled desperation, mixed wi
th a little stupidity, I suppose.”

   “Well, consider yourself lucky.  If I hadn’t been here to help you, another man would have helped you out, and I’m definitely the best looking man in town,” he said, trying to feign cockiness.

   “Oh, really?  Lucky me then.  I guess I got the better end of the deal.”

   “I don’t know about that.  I got a pretty good deal, too.  I mean, you’re here with me, right?  I may be the best looking man in town, but there’s never been a more beautiful woman in this bar.”  Porter
watched as a very slow smile moved across Ella’s face and a small blush filled her cheeks.  Her smile made his heart beat faster and the lightness he felt from it was addictive.  He felt that given the opportunity he would do anything to see her smile.  He took another pull from his beer.

   “You know,” Ella took a sip of her drink, “if you keep saying sweet things like that and I’m going to start thinking this is a date.”  She put her drink down but kept her eyes on Porter.

   “You think this should be a date?”

   “No. I just ended a very long relationship and you’re a handsome stranger.  I don’t think this should be a date.  But I think it feels like a date and I think I want it to be a date.”

   Porter definitely wanted a date with Ella.  “Listen, I want it to be a date, too.  But when I date women, I pick them up and we go someplace nice, not a bar.”

   “You don’t like your mom’s bar?”  She seemed surprised.

   “That’s not what I meant, but there is something to be said for not having your mom spy on you while you’re out with an attractive woman.  It’s usually a mood killer.”

   “Usually?”

   “Let’s just say there’s little in this world that I think could distract me from you.  So, even though my mom is probably behind the bar telling all her customers about us, I couldn’t care less and would stay here if it’s what you wanted.”  Ella’s eyes wandered to the bar.  He saw her smile and he knew that he was right about his mom.

   “She does look a little preoccupied by us,” she said as she looked back at him. 
“Ok. I’m game.  When and where is this date going to happen?  I’m here all week,” she winked at him.

   “Are you doing anything tomorrow night?”

   “Looks like I’m going on a date with you.”

   “Great.”  His smile widened as satisfaction rolled through
him.

   “Let me see your phone,” she said as she held out her hand to him.   Porter gave her a strange look, but once he handed it over he realized she was programming her phone number into it.  “There, now you can call me if anything comes up or you need
to cancel or something.”

   “That was slick,” he smirked at her, laughing.  “I have never gotten a woman’s phone number without even asking before.”

   “I’m sorry.  Was that too forward?  I haven’t given my phone number to a man in years.  I guess I didn’t even think about it.”  She looked worried.

   “No, I am glad you gave me your number, but I won’t be canceling on you,” he said with promise.  He kept his eyes on hers hoping she understood how much he wanted their date to happen.

   “Ok, well, use it if you need to.”

   “I will,” Porter paused.   “Do you mind if I ask you about the guy?”  Ella was mid-sip and coughed a little bit at his question.

   “You mean Kyle?”

   “Yes.  The ex.”

   “Um, ok.  What do you want to know?”

   “Well, how long were you tog
ether?”

   “Four years.”

   “Wow, that’s a long time.”

   “Yes, it is.  It is the longest I’ve ever been with someone.  Seems like kind of a waste of time now.  What’s your longest relationship?”

   “Right after I graduated from high school I dated a girl for a little over a year.  I wasn’t a very good boyfriend.  Eventually she realized that and dumped me.”

   “What made you such a terrible boyfriend?”

   “I guess I just didn’t give her all the attention she wanted or deserved.  I’ve found it very difficult in the past to move past the ‘get to know you’ stage of a relationship.  She wanted more, and I couldn’t give it to her at the time.”  Ella tilted her head to the side and smirked at him.

   “Her loss,” she smiled.

   “Nah, the next guy she dated she was with for a few years and eventually they got married.  I like to think of myself as a stepping stone to her happily ever after.”  Ella wrinkled up her nose at his words.

   “It sounds so sad and pathetic when you say it like that.  I get the feeling you e
njoy your bachelorhood.  I don’t buy into your pity party.”

   “Well, you’re right and you’re wrong.  I enjoy being a bachelor, but only because none of the women I’ve ever met have I wanted to spend more than a few evenings with, and I’m ok being alone. 
I guess it’s going to take a special person to grab my attention and hold on.” Porter took another drink of his beer.  “And you live with this Kyle guy?  What are you going to do about that?”

   “I asked him to move out of our apartment while I’m here at t
he beach.  I guess that might have been a little harsh, and come to think of it, I don’t know if I want to live in that apartment anyway after what I saw.  Maybe I will just let him know to take the bed.”

   “That bad, huh?”

   “Um, yes.  I have never seen actual gymnastics performed during sex before.  Someone should have been in there holding up score cards.”

   “It couldn’t have been that bad.”  Porter laughed out loud.

   “Oh, yes, it was.  I will never be able to watch the Summer Olympics again.”

   “O
k, well, I will make sure our date tomorrow doesn’t involve any gymnastics meets.”

   “I would really appreciate it.  So, what are we going to do?”

   “It will have to be a surprise, I suppose,” he said with a smug grin.

   “Well, I think I had better head
home now.  Thanks for meeting me here tonight.  I needed something to take my mind off things and you are a very handsome distraction.”  Ella looked at Porter for just a few seconds and then rose to grab her purse off the back of the chair digging for her wallet.

   “I’ve got the drinks, Ella, my treat.  Let me walk you to your car.”  Porter followed Ella out to the parking lot.  “So, how about I pick you up at your place around five tomorrow evening?”  He asked as they approached her car.  He held his han
ds out for her keys and even though she gave him a curious look she handed them over.  He took the keys, unlocked the door, and opened it for her.  She smiled shyly at him and took her keys back as he handed them to her.  He had pulled the door open in front of him so that it was between them, and she stood on the other side.

   “I will be ready at five,” she said.  He watched as the breeze blew her hair around her face making the curls bounce in the wind.  He wanted to reach out and touch her hair, tuck it
behind her ear, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.  He really wanted to kiss her, but felt it might be too soon.  He knew that he would have to let her set the pace.  They stood at the car staring at each other, then finally Ella made the first move.  She leaned forward placing her hand on Porter’s arm for balance, and gave him a small kiss on his cheek.  She lingered there for a few seconds and he could smell her hair.  The vanilla scent seemed to follow her everywhere.  He turned his face into her cheek and he could hear a small sigh escape from her that made fire run through his veins.

   “I can’t wait for tomorrow,” he whispered in her ear.  She slowly pulled away from him and a blush had warmed her cheeks.  He brushed a thumb over her cheek
and said, “Drive safe.”

   “You, too.  See you tomorrow.”  She slid into her car and he shut the door once she was inside.  She backed out of her spot and gave small wave to him as she drove away.

   Porter watched her drive away and headed back inside to settle the bill.  Tonight had gone better than he had expected, minus Josh making his appearance.  He knew Ella was beautiful and that he was going to be attracted to her.  He hadn’t expected to like her company so much, or to feel like he already had some sort of claim on her.  He thought they had just brushed the surface of the deep connection he was sure they shared and had very few ideas on how he was going to keep his hands to himself tomorrow night.

Chapter Seven

Ella

   The non-date with Porter had been surprisingly comfortable.  She had been worried that he would expect too much from her, or even worse, not expect anything and really only be meeting her because he felt sorry for her.  He seemed happy to be there with her, interested in what she was saying, and it had been a total turn on when he’d stood up to the creep who tried to hit on her.

   She’d driven back to the house with her face still tingling from his touch.  She had definitely reacted to his hand on her face and his mou
th so close to her ear.  She had immediately felt giant butterflies crammed in her stomach and she couldn’t really remember the drive home.  She’d made it in the house, and after she’d put on some pajama shorts and a tee-shirt, she crawled into bed.  She was checking her email on her phone when she got a text message.  She didn’t recognize the number but knew it was from Porter.

**Hoping you made it back to the house safely.**

She felt a slow smile inch across her face.

**Yes, I most certainly did.  Thank you.**

**No problem, I had a great time tonight.**

  Ella was trying to gauge how brave she was feeling, and decided that the beauty of texting was you didn’t have to look the person in the face while you said embarrassing things to them.  She gathered her courage.

**I did, too.  I’m kind of regretting going for the cheek though.  Wishing I had just gone for it and gotten a real kiss out of you.**

   Ella waited for a response and it seemed to take forever.  She realized she was holding her breath when there was a burning in her lungs and she remembered to exhale.  Finally her phone pinged.

**I could always drive over to your house to rectify the situation ; )**

  She couldn’t believe he had just used a winky face.  Was he flirting with her?  It made her giggle a little bit at how juvenile she felt.  Is this what teenagers did these days? 

**That’s kind of you, but I am already in bed.**

**Well, I think I would able to work in those conditions, for your benefit, of course.  I wouldn’t want you losing sleep berating yourself for not giving me a proper kiss goodnight.**

   She couldn’t help the enormous smile that was plastered across her face.  She had a hard time reconciling the fact that this funny and sweet man who was flirting with her over text messages was the same man who was yelling at her for being irresponsible the night before.  She wasn’t sure what had made him turn into this charming man, but she was glad she got to see this side of him.

**Fortunately for both of us, the alcohol I’ve consumed will help me sleep.  So that will save you a drive all the way over here.  I do appreciate your attentiveness though.**

**Alright, I will let you sleep.  But in regards to the kiss, don’t make the same mistake tomorrow.  Goodnight, Ella.**

   She still had a stupid grin on her face and thought that there was no way she was going to be able to stop herself from getting the kiss she was after tomorrow night.  She pulled her covers up to her chin and snuggled into the soft sheets, feeling more lightweight than she had in months.  She fell asleep smiling, thinking about Porter’s gentle touch on her face.

   The next morning she woke to beautiful bright light shining through the sheer fabric of the bed.  It appeared as if the weather gods had smiled upon her and given her a sunny day at the beach, which was a rarity this time of year on the Oregon coast.  She stretched her arms and legs and after remembering the sweet way Porter had said goodnight to her at the bar and their text conversation, the butterflies returned with full force.  She was going to have to try to keep her mind occupied for the day unless she wanted to slowly torture herself with replaying the whole scenario in her head over and over again.  She decided to take a jog on the beach to clear her mind.

   It wasn’t terribly early, but the beach was still relatively empty.  Ella had the whole beach pretty much to herself, and took joy in the openness it afforded her while she ran along the shore.  She had her iPod on and was us
ing the upbeat dance music to keep her pace up.  There were a few large, white, puffy clouds in the sky, but the sun was out in full force and it felt wonderful against her face.  After a while, when she felt like she’d run long enough to counteract the drinks she’d had the night before, she found her way back to the house and sat on the porch steps admiring the crashing waves.  She had been thinking about absolutely nothing when she suddenly felt her phone vibrating in the pocket of her jacket.  She saw her sister’s name on the screen and answered with a smile.

   “Hey, Megan, what’s up?  How is Patrick?”

   “Patrick is good.  We are getting ready to go and look at a venue for the wedding.  We are torn between getting an outdoor or indoor venue.  You can never be too sure about the weather here, but we just want to see what’s out there. Ya know?”

   “Totally.  Maybe you can find a place that has both, so that you’re safe either way,” Ella offered.

   “You are brilliant, sister of mine.  Anyway, I was just calling to see how your romantic birthday trip was going.”  Ella’s stomach dropped.  She had been disconnected from her family and the real world for the last three days, and it hadn’t occurred to her that she hadn’t told anyone that she and Kyle had broken up.

   “Well, that’s an interesting story.  Do you have a few minutes?”

   “Yeah, I don’t have anything planned until later this afternoon.  Is something wrong?  You sound weird.”

   “Yes, everything is fine, but Kyle and I broke up on Friday.”

   “Wait, what?”  Megan sounded just as confused as Ella had expected.

   “Well, it turns out that Kyle was seeing someone else and I walked in on them together on Friday.  So we decided to end the relationship.”

   “End the relationship?” Megan parroted.

   “Yes.”

  “Ok,” Megan said slowly, drawing out the word while her brain processed all the new information.   “So, Kyle was cheating on you?  And you walked in on them, like, together?”

   “Yes.  I saw them together, bolted, and came to the beach alone.”

   “Oh my gosh, Ella.  Are you ok?  Do you need me to drive to the beach to be with you?”

   “No, no, no.  I’m fine.  Don’t drive all the way out here.  Besides, it’s for the best.”

   “Ella, Friday was your birthday.  This all happened on your birthday? I’m so sorry.”  Ella could hear the genuine concern in her sister’s voice and she had to remind herself that in reality she should be more upset about what had happened.  Anyone else in her situation would still be crumpled on the floor, eating ice cream by the gallon, crying over the man she had lost.  It wasn’t typical that she felt relieved and content; it was strange.  “And what the hell is Kyle’s problem?  Who is this slut he’s having an affair with?”  Ella smiled at her sister’s loyalty.

   “Megan, it’s a long s
tory. He met a woman at a work thing and they slept together.  She showed up at our apartment on Friday and I had the unfortunate luck to walk in on them mid-romp.  I left.  He called.  We broke up.”

   “Wow.  So now what?”

   “I don’t really know, Meg.  I’m here at the beach and I’ll be here until Sunday, while Kyle moves out of the apartment.  After that, I guess it’s back to life as we know it.”  The thought of going back to Portland made her a little nervous.  It made her think about Porter and what might happen between them.  She felt silly for even thinking about him, seeing as how they hadn’t even had a real date.  Still, the idea of being two hours away from him made her feel uneasy.

   “And you’re sure you don’t want some company?  I could drive out
there tomorrow and stay the night.  We could have a girls’ night,” Megan said in a sing-song voice, trying to convince her.  Ella started to refuse, but then thought about how long it had been since she and her baby sister had really had any time together alone.

   “You don’t have class?”

   “I have one early class tomorrow morning and I could drive out after.  Then I don’t have class again until Wednesday.”

   “If you’re sure you want to and it won’t be any trouble, I’d actually really love to see you.”

  “Great!  I will be there late morning; just text me the address.  I’m excited to see you, Ella.  I am so sorry that Kyle turned out to be such a jackass.” Ella laughed.

   “Thanks Meg, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.  Oh, don’t tell Mom and Dad.  I haven’t
called them yet.”

   “I won’t, promise.”

   Ella ended the call, and was genuinely excited to spend some time with her sister.  She took a moment to text the address of the house to Megan and then sent a second text to her:

**Do me a favor. Text Kyle and tell him to take the bed with him**

   She got up from the porch steps and decided she would spend the next few hours relaxing, reading her book, and taking her time preparing for her date that evening.  She had gone to the closet upstairs and picked out her date outfit with a little trepidation simply because she didn’t know what they were doing.  She decided that she would go for a little dressier than the night before seeing as how this was a ‘real’ date.  Around one o’clock she had run out of things to do and got an idea.  She got her phone and started looking up numbers for salons in Lincoln City.  She called a few until she found one that could fit her in right away.  She figured that a little pampering was deserved and she also hoped it would help alleviate all the nerves that were building up.  She grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

   A few hours later Ella was back from the salon and she felt amazing.  The women who worked at the salon were so thankful that Ella had saved them from a slow
Sunday; they made sure she looked her best when she left.  She had told them the story about her breakup and how Porter had come to her rescue, albeit reluctantly, and that now he was taking her out on a date.  The women were almost as excited as she was about it and it showed in their work.  Ella’s hair had been expertly braided from the top part, around the front, and down the side creating a waterfall of hair that came together at a delicate and low side pony.  The ends had been curled and the finished product looked completely feminine.  Her makeup was minimal with a little shimmery eye shadow, mascara and a pale pink lip gloss.  Her freshly manicured nails matched the pink in her lips.  She looked at the clock and saw she had a half hour until Porter came to pick her up.  She headed upstairs and smiled with excitement to think about the final touch of her preparation.  The Dress.

   She had seen this dress when it came in on a shipment for her store, and she fell in love with it right away.  It was a med
ium blue, strapless, sweetheart dress with a black lace overlay that covered her shoulders with capped sleeves.  The sweetheart neckline accentuated the swells of her breasts and did fabulous things for her cleavage.  The blue shell of the dress came to a few inches above the knee, and the lace extended a few inches below, giving the illusion of skin with the without being scandalous.  The last detail was a skinny little black belt that sat right at her waist. 

   She looked in the mirror and decided that
if this dress didn’t work for Porter, nothing would.  She pulled on her black matte pumps and did one final check in the mirror.  Now she just needed her date to arrive.