Dragonfly Awakening

CHAPTER THREE

Chapter Three

Ellie

Paul pushed open the door to The Inn and waited for me to enter. The warmth of the fire bit against my nose as we walked into the empty foyer. I had been the only guest at The Inn since the holidays ended. The whole place had been nice and quiet. My initial thought for staying here was that the quiet would help me deal with my thoughts; however, my thoughts were consumed by the man I was now leading upstairs to my suite.

When we approached the barren hallway, Paul grabbed the bag filled with food that I had been holding, and I dug the room key out of my purse, unlocking the door for us. I walked in and took off my gloves and hat, and while I unbuttoned my jacket, I turned to Paul, who just stared at me. My body hummed with need; I still tingled from his touch. I covered up my desires by evoking a friendly smile.

“Well, don’t just stand there, Paul. Get comfy. I’m gonna talk your ear off all night.” I had to or I would jump him, I was sure.

He walked toward me and placed the bags on the floor. After taking off his gloves, he peeled off his jacket and my eyes roamed his chest. I had to distract myself, so I crouched down to the bags on the floor.

“What do you have in here? Anything that needs to be chilled?” I opened one bag and pulled out a bottle of wine. My heart fell. He never drank wine. He must have been bringing this home to his girl. Oh, God, he’s married. He probably has kids too. And they’re probably all blond and look like their mother.

I steeled my reactions as I peered into his eyes. He lifted his hat off his head and placed it on the dresser. His eyes never left mine. I blinked away again, opened up the mini-fridge nestled inside the dresser, and slid in the bottle of white. I couldn’t allow myself to keep staring at him. The pain of finding out he was no longer single started to creep up on me. I just needed to finish this task, and then be the friend I had always been.

I dug in the bag again and pulled out a six-pack of beer. I felt him shift down to a crouch next to me.

“You know how Mrs. Ethel is … always taking care of everybody.”

I wanted to hope that it was just Mrs. Ethel taking care of him and not his woman. He was so close to my flushed cheek. I hoped he didn’t realize the effect he had on me.

I pulled out one of the bottles and offered it to him. “Shall we?”

His lips rose into the sexiest smirk I had ever seen on him. I couldn’t help but lick my bottom lip again. His face became serious as his eyes flickered to my mouth. God, he was killing me.

His hand grazed over mine, his touch sending a dire need down to the pit of my stomach. I kept reminding myself over and over. This is just Paul. He’ll only ever be a friend. However, that look in his eye made him seem as desperate for me as I was for him, and I so wanted that to be true.

He twisted open the domestic brew and handed it back to me. I handed him another bottle, and after he opened it, he reached out his hand to help me off the floor. He pulled me up and I became eye level with his chest. I wanted to rip away the blue and black plaid. I never hated the sight of plaid more in my life.

“Here’s to reconnecting.” He held out his bottle toward me. I clinked it with a curt nod and raised the bottle to my lips.

While I sipped from the bottle, his little smile faltered and his eyes remained on my lips. This devil of seduction came over me and I darted my tongue out over the rim. His chest heaved as his eyes flickered back to mine. He then took a long pull from his bottle, and I turned toward the small table in the corner and sat in the chair facing the room.