Everyone drifted off toward their offices and Declan had to wonder why being social was so exhausting. He felt like going home to take a nap. At least it was Friday and he had another date tonight with Ella to look forward to. Although in the interest of taking things slowly, he probably should have waited a few days instead of asking her before he left last night, but he extended the invitation before he could think better of it.
He liked the way he felt with her. He didn’t remember ever enjoying talking to a woman like he did her. He was afraid it would be awkward taking things to a different level, but she was still his sweet Ellie and even if he had sat through Die Hard with a hard-on of his own, it had been worth it. When she had admitted to trying to seduce him, it was all he could do not to throw her down on the couch and take anything and everything she offered. The drink in the crotch was probably pretty well-timed. He had stood in a cold shower for several long minutes when he got home. One thing was certain, his water bill was bound to go through the roof until he finally slept with Ellie.
***
“Shut up! No, you did not!” Ella had to laugh at Beth’s dramatic reaction to her klutz fest from the night before.
“Oh, yeah I did. I practically mauled the man before he finally decided to run for his life. He mentioned something about me strangling him with my robe. He doesn’t even know about the container of powder I dropped in the bathroom.”
“What were you doing with powder?”
“Well, after I fell on the floor, I went to the bathroom and noticed that my face was shining. I looked like I had just run a marathon or something. So I took out a small container of powder and accidently opened it from the bottom. It exploded all over my bathroom and me. I was in there for like twenty minutes trying to beat the powder off my clothes. I used my hair dryer on low to blow it out of my hair and the middle of the floor, in case he needed to use the bathroom.”
“Oh my God,” Beth gasped, as she laughed until she looked about to cry. “Were you embarrassed?”
“Actually, it wasn’t too bad. If this had been the first time we had met it would have been worse, but I’m comfortable with Declan. He was a good sport and never made me feel like he was making fun of me.”
“Sooo,” Beth asked, “When are you going out again?”
Ella tried to contain her excitement, but failed. “Tonight! He asked me before he left last night.”
“Oh man, he isn’t playing around. Where are you going this time?”
“I’m not sure, he didn’t say. I think we can pretty much rule out bowling or anything that requires me to throw a heavy object. He will probably also want to skip sitting beside me when I’m drinking anything hot like coffee. That narrows down the field some.”
Beth giggled and nodded her agreement. “Yeah, you’re safe there. He might take you somewhere childproofed, like Chuck E. Cheese’s.”
Ella’s phone rang and cut their conversation short. “Ella dear, your father and I wanted to see if you could come home Saturday?” Without pausing long enough for her to answer, her mother continued on, “You could spend the night and go to church with us on Sunday. I know everyone would love to see you.”
“Oh, um . . . I can’t, Mom. I’m staying with Beth this weekend. Nick is going to be out of town.” Beside her, Beth shook her head and wiggled her finger.
She could hear her mother’s huff loud and clear. “You know I don’t approve of you spending so much time with that unmarried girl. Why won’t the father of her baby marry her, or is he not even the father?”
“Mom . . .” Ella warned. She was sorry that she had mentioned Beth. She had temporarily forgotten how vocal her mother was in her disapproval over her best friend’s marital state. She honestly couldn’t understand why her mother was so judgmental of others. Of course, she didn’t know why she was surprised. All of her mother’s friends were exactly the same way. Her mother’s behavior embarrassed Ella and she hoped she would never be tacky enough to hurt Beth’s feelings. “I’ve got to go, Mom, my break is over now.”
“Your break? I thought you worked in an office,” her mother huffed.
“I do, Mom, but we can’t stay away from our desks all day. I have to get back to work. I’ll call you tonight.” She could still hear her mother’s sputtering protests as she clicked to end the call.
Beth gave her a nod of approval. “Look at you, girl. Lying to your parents and making out with Declan all in the same week. Your training wheels are well and truly off now, aren’t they?”
Ella put her head down on her desk, groaning. “I love her, I really do, but she drives me crazy. She spends all of her time worrying about how other people view her and sadly, she is right to be paranoid because her friends are just as bad as she is. I’m a huge disappointment to her right now because she is being forced to lie about why I’m not at church every Sunday. Even worse, I seriously believe she is debating whether it would sound worse to just tell her friends that I’m g*y or a single spinster.”
“Oh honey, you’ve heard the horror stories about my parents, so I’m right there with you. They are trying to behave a lot better right now, but Suzy and I both know that they would gladly trade us in for a couple of Harvard graduates. I think the only reason they are being halfway decent about the baby is because they hope it will be some kind of prodigy child and live up to their impossible standards. I would hate for them to know that their future grandchild moves like a pole dancer when “Baby Got Back” is playing.” At Ella’s smirk, Beth added, “Hey, don’t judge me, my gym plays a variety.”
After Beth left, Ella was surprised when Declan walked up a few moments later. “Hey, Ellie,” he said in that oh-so-sexy voice.
Fighting the urge to melt at his feet, she smiled and said, “Hey, yourself. Are you having a good day?”
“Not bad. I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight.”
The heated look in his eyes made the urge to melt even stronger. “I’m looking forward to it too. What are the plans? I could make us dinner if you like.”
“If you’re feeling brave, I thought I would cook for us. I know it sounds like a guy thing, but I grill a mean steak. You do like steak, right?”
“Oh yeah, I love steak, I’m a huge meat eater! Oh gosh, did I actually just say that? What was wrong with a simple, yes, steak sounds perfect.”