The Fairy Tales Collection (14 page)

“Interesting,” he said.

There was a bit of awkward silence and he
gave her a small smile and started walking.  She kept pace with him.  “So,
what’s on the menu for tonight?”

“Risotto,” he said.

“Wow.  I’ve never had risotto before.  Is
it good?”

“I like it,” he replied.  There was more
silence before he gave her a quick look.  “Have you been to visit your
grandmother lately?”

She shook her head.  “No, but I’m planning
on going there this weekend.  I’ll hear it from Nana when I get there.”

A rare grin crossed his face.  “Your
grandmother has some very strong opinions.”

“You’re telling me,” Rowan said with a
grin.  “Do you know her well?”

“Her cabin is close to mine.”

“Oh really?  I had no idea.  Nana never
told me.”

“Well, I suppose close is relative.  I’m
about a mile from her place.  I drop by every few days to make sure she’s doing
okay and, secretly, eat a piece of her delicious apple pie.”

Rowan laughed.  “She does make amazing
pie.  I talk to her almost every morning but the conversation usually centers
around how I need to visit her more.”

“You used to go there every summer, didn’t
you?”

“I did.  My mom sent me there for a few
weeks every July.  Between you and me, I think she just wanted a break from
me.”

He laughed and she gave him a delighted
grin.  “I couldn’t imagine why.  I was a perfect angel as a teenager.”

He laughed again and she gave him a mock
scowl.  “Are you doubting my angel claim?”

“Not at all,” he said with a small grin. 
His gaze drifted over her flame-coloured hair before dropping briefly to her
small breasts.  His brief look brought butterflies to life in her stomach and
she took a deep breath and threw caution to the wind.

“Mr. Taggert – Rafe – would you like to
have a drink with me sometime?”

She rested her hand on his arm, very aware
of the hard muscle below her fingers, and he immediately stiffened before
pulling away.

“I cannot, Ms. Jameson.”

“Why not?”  She asked bluntly.

“I’m sorry, I really need to go,” he said
suddenly.  “It was nice to see you again, Ms. Jameson.  Take care.”

He walked away and she groaned inwardly
before turning and walking in the opposite direction.  Dammit, why the hell was
she so taken with a man who obviously didn’t want anything to do with her?

* * *

“So you have your first client?”  Belle
gave Ella a look of delight.  “Honey, that’s wonderful!  Congratulations!”

“You did hear the part where I said it was
Duncan Gillis, right?”  Ella said.  She smiled at Jeannie when the waitress set
her plate in front of her.  It was an order of dry toast and Belle frowned at
her.

“What’s with just dry toast for breakfast?”

Ella shrugged.  “I’m trying to lose some
weight.”

“Ella, you’re the one who’s always telling
me that beauty comes in every size,” Belle said.  “Since when have you felt the
need to diet?  You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“My blood pressure was a little high at my
last check-up and so was my cholesterol.  I’m doing it for health reasons.”

She stared down at her plate, knowing that
Belle and Rowan would see the lie on her face if she didn’t.  She’d gotten a
perfect bill of health at her last doctor’s visit.  She might have some extra
weight but she exercised on a somewhat regular basis and, for the most part,
ate a balanced and healthy diet.  She was just one of those women who had some
curves and it had never really bothered her.  Until, that was, Ana had made
that comment about people not wanting a fat woman to massage them.  What if it
was true?  She couldn’t have her business fail just because of the way she
looked.

“That’s weird, isn’t it?”  Belle said. 
“You’ve always been really healthy.”

“I guess the extra weight is just catching
up to me,” Ella mumbled unconvincingly.

“Ella, what – “

“Rowan, you’re being really quiet,” Ella
said hurriedly.  “What’s up with you?”

She smiled at the redhead and Rowan sighed
before saying, “I asked Rafe Taggert out.”

“What?”  Belle stared wide-eyed at her. 
“That’s awesome!”

“No, it was decidedly not awesome,” Rowan
said.  “I bumped into him at the grocery store yesterday and we were having a
pretty good conversation.  Usually the guy just gives a polite hello and moves
on but I thought we were kind of connecting, you know?”

“What happened?”  Ella asked.

Rowan propped her chin in her hand.  “I
asked him if he wanted to have a drink with me and he couldn’t get away from me
fast enough.  The look on his face…”

She trailed off before groaning loudly and
sipping at her coffee.  “I made a fool of myself.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Belle said
reassuringly.  “Besides, Rafe is interested in you.  I know he is.”

“He’s definitely not,” Rowan replied. 
“Seriously, Belle, the guy ran like his ass was on fire.”

“I’m sorry, Ro,” Ella said softly.

Rowan shook her head.  “It’s fine.  I
tried, he said no.  No big deal.”

“It seems like a big deal to you,” Belle
said.

“It isn’t,” Rowan said.  “I don’t want to
talk about it anymore.  I’m getting embarrassed all over again just thinking
about it.”

She took a bite of her oatmeal before
smiling at Ella.  “Congratulations on getting your first client.  You know, I’m
personally not surprised that it’s Duncan.  Are you itching to get your hands on
that hard body of his or what?”

Ella blushed lightly.  “It’s therapeutic
massage, Ro.  I’m going to be professional.”

“I know you will, honey,” Rowan said
immediately.  “I’m not trying to suggest that you won’t be.  I’m just saying
that in this particular case, your new career has some added benefits.  Plenty
of women would love to get their hands on him.”

“Plenty of women have, remember?”  Ella
said dryly.

Belle laughed.  “That’s true.  Duncan does
love the ladies.  Although,” she paused thoughtfully, “I haven’t seen him
dating anyone in months.  Have you?”

Rowan shook her head.  “Now that you
mention it, no.  He comes into Gaston’s on a regular basis and women hit on him
all the time but he hasn’t left with any of them in,” she thought back, “at
least six months.”

“That can’t be true,” Ella said.

“It is,” Rowan answered.  “I swear it.”

Ella sighed before saying, “Ana’s going
after him.  I mean, really going after him.  She’s convinced he’s going to ask
her to the Centennial Celebration and she’s already planning their wedding.”

“Shocker,” Belle said.  “I’m surprised it’s
taken this long for her to try and sink her claws into him.  Don’t worry,
honey, Duncan won’t be interested in someone like her.”

“She’ll get what she wants,” Ella said
morosely.  “She always does.”

“Maybe you should take what you want
first?”  Belle suggested gently.

“I don’t want Duncan Gillis,” Ella said. 
“In fact, if Ana wants him she can have him.”

Rowan glanced at Belle.  “Have you ever
heard a woman more in denial than our Ella?”

“Nope,” Belle said cheerily.

“Subject change,” Ella said loudly.  “What
are you doing after this, Belle?”

“Going home and boinking Bennett’s brains
out,” Belle said.

Ella and Rowan burst out laughing and Belle
gave them a sweetly innocent look.  “What?  The man’s got mad sex skills.”

“I’m surprised you can even walk,” Rowan
said. 

Belle laughed before shrugging.  “Honestly,
if it keeps up the way it is, I’ll probably have to book Ella for weekly
massage appointments.  I need to stay limber.”

Ella grinned at her before biting into her
piece of toast.  “If you book weekly appointments, I’ll give you a discount.”

“Sweet,” Belle said happily.  “What time
are you going to Duncan’s tomorrow?”

“Seven but he’s coming to my place,” Ella
said.  “I was a little surprised by that because he said my idea of going to
client’s homes was a good one.”

“Weird,” Rowan said.  “Maybe he’s super
messy and doesn’t want you to see his place.”

Ella shrugged.  “Ana cleans his house every
week.”

“Really?”  Belle said.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you that?  He hired
Cinders Cleaning a few months ago.  Ana insisted on getting his house to
clean.  I guess she was already putting her marriage plans in motion.”

A wave of jealousy, so intense it surprised
her, washed over her.  Three months ago she hadn’t given a rat’s ass that Ana
was cleaning Duncan’s house but that was before Duncan had started talking
about how she belonged to him and nearly beat the crap out of Marty for
touching her.  His occasional flirty behaviour had been turned up to full volume
and she tried to ignore the ripple of excitement in her belly.  She wasn’t
interested in being another notch on his bedpost, she wasn’t.

As her two best friends dug into their
food, Ella took another bite of her toast and tried not to think about tomorrow
night.  She was both nervous and excited about her first official client
booking for her new business.  She reminded herself firmly that it was not
because she now had an excuse to touch Duncan Gillis.

Duncan glanced at his watch before rapping
lightly on the door.  It was ten to seven.  He was a little early for his
appointment with Ella but he couldn’t pace at home any longer.  He took a deep
breath as he heard Ella’s footsteps.

Behave yourself, Duncan.  Don’t make a fool
of yourself just because Ella is touching you.

The door opened and Ella, wearing a white
shirt and a pair of dark pants, smiled tentatively at him. 

“Hello, Duncan.”

“Hi.  I’m, uh, a bit early,” he said.

“That’s fine.  Come in,” she said.

Duncan followed her into her apartment,
slipping off his boots as he glanced curiously around.  She lived in a bachelor
apartment over a garage and although it was extremely tiny, it had a warm and
cozy feel to it.  To the right was the kitchen, it consisted of a narrow
counter with a smaller-than-average fridge and stove and a row of cupboards
above it.  A round café table with two wooden stools was crammed into the spot
at the end of the counter.  Directly in front of him was her massage table.  A
wooden tray was at the head of it and it held a variety of bottles.  Beyond
that was her double bed.  A green checkered quilt covered it and his mouth went
a little dry as he pictured Ella lying naked in it.

Stop it, Duncan.

There were two doors to the right of the
bed.  He assumed they were the bathroom and a closet and he studied them
briefly before his eyes wandered again to her bed.  He had half-hoped that he
would be lying on Ella’s bed for the massage and his inner voice berated him.

You’re kind of an idiot, you know that,
right?  Ella is a professional and this is her damn job.  Stop acting like this
is going to end with the two of you having sex.

He dragged his eyes from her bed and stared
at her living room.  It was too small for a couch but there were two worn but
comfortable looking chairs situated in front of a small television sitting on
top of a bookshelf.  A small desk was to the right of the bookshelf and it held
a laptop and a few books.

“Oh, um, you’re not allergic to cats are
you?”  She suddenly asked as a fat grey tabby emerged from under one of the
chairs.

He shook his head, stupidly pleased that
she had a cat, and she gave him a look of relief.  “Oh good.  Gus won’t bother
you, he doesn’t like strangers, but I’d feel terrible if…”

She trailed off as the cat, recognizing one
of his own kind, rubbed up against Duncan.  He bent and petted the cat roughly
as it purred loudly.

“Oh my God,” Ella said.  “He – he never
goes near strangers.”

Duncan grinned at her and couldn’t resist. 
“Pussies love me, Ella.”

She blushed furiously and his grin widened
before his attention was caught by the collage of frames hanging on the wall
over the desk.  He made a grunt of surprise.  “You’re into art?”

She nodded and didn’t protest when he moved
to the art wall and studied it carefully.  “Yes, I love it, actually.  I have
no artistic ability but I’m fascinated by people who do.”

The art in the frames were all by the same
artist and he stared at the familiar pieces.  “Is this guy your, uh, favourite,
or something?”

“He is.”

He watched as the nervousness on her face
faded away to be replaced by enthusiasm.  “Have you heard of him?”

“Um, no not really,” he lied.

“His name is Samuel and his work is just
amazing.  He’s a local artist and there’s a rumour that he’s from Newport.  I’ve
been following his work for years.  He’s a bit of a mystery, actually.”  She
leaned forward and traced one of the pieces of art.  “He’s very well-known in
the art world but no one knows what he looks like.  He never does interviews
and he doesn’t go to his exhibitions.  Even the fact that he goes by one name
is a little mysterious, don’t you think?”

He didn’t reply but she didn’t notice. 
“There’s also a rumour that Samuel is actually a woman but I don’t think he
is.  The paintings have the bold brushstrokes of a man.”  She blushed a
little.  “I know that sounds strange but I’ve studied art since I was a
teenager and there usually is a difference in the work between male and female
artists.  Plus, a good ninety percent of his paintings are of females.”

“Which one is your favourite?”  He asked
abruptly.

“This one.”  She pointed to the frame
hanging in the middle.  A little girl, her blonde hair hanging in two long
braids down her back, was swinging on a tire swing that hung from a large oak
tree planted in the middle of a vast field.

“Why?”  He asked.

She shrugged.  “I don’t know really.  I
guess I love that even though it looks like she should be lonely, she is in a
middle of a field and completely alone, you get the feeling that she isn’t. 
Like this is her favourite place in the whole word.  There’s no one around to
bother her, no one to – to make her feel bad about herself.”

She blushed again.  “Sorry, that’s not a
very good explanation.  Our high-school art teacher, Mr. Jillin – do you
remember him?”

He nodded and she smiled softly.  “Mr.
Jillin told me once that what made a person drawn to a particular piece of art
or artist was different for everyone.  He said it was what made art so
amazing.”

He stared at her lovely face.  She was
nearly glowing from her enthusiasm and he had to bite back his over-whelming
urge to kiss her.  Instead, he turned away and studied the art again.  “Did you
print these off?”

She nodded.  “Yes.  I really want to
purchase one of his paintings but his work is incredibly expensive.  Still,
they make me happy so I printed some photos of his work off of my computer and
had them framed.  I feel a little guilty about enjoying his work without paying
for it but it’s not like Samuel’s going to come knocking on my door, is it?”

He cracked his knuckles nervously.  “No.”

“He has a sale and show tomorrow night in
Newport,” she said with a tinge of excitement in her voice.  “It’s the first
time his work has been shown in his hometown and he’s revealing his latest
work.  Belle and Bennett and I are going to it.”

He jerked in surprise.  “You are?”

“Yes,” she replied.  “Are you kidding me? 
I wouldn’t miss it!  I won’t be bidding on any of his work but I can’t wait to
see it in person.”

A grin crossed his face and she blushed. 
“Sorry, here I am going on and on about art and I’m supposed to be giving you a
massage.”

She walked toward the massage table.  “So,
um, it’s a full-body massage so you need to, um, remove all of your clothing. 
You can place your clothes here,” she pointed to the wooden chair at the end of
the massage table, “and lay on your stomach.  I’ll be starting with your upper
body so drape this sheet over your lower half.”  She patted the sheet folded
neatly on the end of the table.  “I’ll wait in the bathroom.  Just call me when
you’re ready, okay?”

He nodded and she gave him a nervous smile
before disappearing into the bathroom and shutting the door.  His own nerves a
tangled jumble, he stripped quickly before climbing onto the massage table and
draping the sheet over his lower body.  She emerged from the bathroom when he
called her name and he watched as she turned on two small lamps before shutting
off the overhead light.  The room was comfortably dim and she moved to her
laptop and clicked a few buttons.  Soft music began to play and he tried to
relax as she approached the table and picked up a bottle of oil from the tray. 
“Is vanilla-scented okay?”

“Yes.”  His voice was hoarse and she gave
him a quick look.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No,” he said before clearing his throat
roughly.  “Maybe a little nervous.”

She smiled at him.  “Nothing to be nervous
about.  If at any point you don’t like a particular touch or it hurts, just let
me know, okay?”

“Sure,” he said.

She rubbed oil into her hands and he jerked
wildly at the first touch of her soft hands against his back.  “Duncan?  Are
you okay?”

“Yes,” he gritted out.  Already his cock
was stiffening painfully against the table and he closed his eyes.  Jesus, this
had been an extremely bad idea.

As her hands began to rub and massage his muscles,
he tried desperately to control himself.

“You’re very tense,” she murmured.  “It’s
good that you booked an appointment.”

He made a low mutter of acknowledgement and
tried not to jerk again when her hands drifted over his shoulders and rubbed
firmly.  She was quiet as she worked and he breathed in the combined scent of
vanilla and her own personal one.  She always smelled slightly of cleaning
supplies - pine and lemon - and his cock stirred again.  Jesus, only he would
be turned on by the smell of Pine-sol.

For thirty torturous minutes she rubbed and
kneaded his back and arms.  When her strong hands moved to his hands he made a
soft moan.  His hands were generally quite sore, in his line of work it was
nearly impossible for them not to be, and for the first time he relaxed a
little.

“That feels really good,” he rasped.

“People don’t realize how much tension they
carry in their arms and hands,” she said quietly.

She finished and he shifted uncomfortably
against the table.  He had a raging erection and he realized his lion was about
five seconds away from trying to claim the woman in front of him.

Enough
, he
muttered inwardly and his lion made a low hiss of disapproval as Ella moved
down to his lower body.  She shifted the sheet upward until it covered only his
hips and ass and he was unable to stop the loud purr when her hands touched the
back of his thigh.

She paused, “Duncan?  Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he rasped again.  Fuck, he had never
purred in front of a woman before.  Even during sex he had always managed to
contain it and now he was fucking purring like a kitten just because Ella
touched his damn leg.  As her hands gripped his thigh just below his ass, his
lion made a roar of need and panic soared in him.  He needed to leave right
now.  He had been a fool to think he could have Ella touch him and resist the
urge to take her to bed.  He had made a terrible mistake.

“Ella, stop!”  He said loudly.

She immediately released her grip and took
a step back.  “Did that hurt?”

“No.”  He shook his head and sat up with
his back to her, awkwardly clutching the sheet around his middle.  His erection
was painfully obvious against the thin sheet and he hopped off the table,
keeping his back to her.

“Duncan, what’s wrong?”

“I have to go,” he said.

“But, you paid for a full body massage,”
she said.  “I’m not finished.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.  “I really need to
leave.”

He grabbed his clothes and ran for the
bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Ella stared blankly at the closed bathroom
door.  Her very first booking and somehow she had fucked it up royally.  She
should have known it wasn’t going well.  Duncan’s body was unbelievably tense
when she started and, shamefully, it had only gotten worse as she worked on
him.  He should have been limp and relaxed but he had just tensed up more and
more the longer she massaged.  She started for the bathroom door before turning
and moving into the kitchen.  Her hands were soaked in oil and she turned on
the faucet and ran them under the tepid water.

There was a loud grinding noise from under
the sink and she cursed under her breath before squatting and opening the
cupboard door beneath the sink.  The pipes were rattling and another horrible
grinding noise, this one louder than the first, made her clap her hands over
her ears.  Gus, who had wandered over to investigate with her, made a sudden
hiss and sprinted under the bed.  With a loud bang, the biggest pipe burst and
water sprayed out.  She screeched and fell onto her butt, sputtering and
choking on the water that soaked her head and body as she struggled to her
knees and tried to reach past the spraying water to find the shut-off valve on
the pipe.

Hard hands grabbed her arms and yanked her
away and she pushed her dripping hair from her face as Duncan, wearing only his
jeans, reached under the sink.  The water stopped abruptly and she lurched to
her feet as Duncan stood gracefully.

“Are you okay?”  Duncan asked as they stood
in the large lake of water on her kitchen floor.

“Yeah.” She wiped at the water clinging to
her eyelashes before wringing the hem of her shirt.  “Fuck.  I’m really sorry.”

“For what?”

“You’re soaking wet,” she said.  Her gaze
drifted down his body and her breath caught in her throat.  Water was dripping
down his naked chest and she bit at her bottom lip as she studied his broad
chest and – oh good lord – his six pack.

His chest was hairless but a narrow trail
of golden-coloured hair snaked from below his belly-button to disappear beneath
the waistband of his jeans and she bit her bottom lip as she imagined
unbuttoning his jeans and following that delicious trail of hair.