“Ellie.”
She met his gaze. “What?”
“Come back with me.”
The fork dropped out of her hands and landed on her plate with a loud clatter. “Please, Luke, just stop.”
“Ellie—”
“No, you don’t get it, do you? This is my life now. I’m happy here. I like this town. I like the people here. I’m not going back.”
“Why not?”
Because I have nothing to go back to.
“I just told you why. So please, leave me alone.”
“I can’t.” He sounded unhappy.
“What’ll it take to get you to go?” she demanded, challenging him with her eyes. “Money? The promise that I’ll be okay? How about—”
A thought flew into her head, making her stop mid-sentence.
There was only one thing that had ever made Luke Russell so uncomfortable he backed down.
Me.
He’d always been so determined to view her as nothing more than Josh’s little sister. Whenever he’d started to notice she was more than that, that she was a red-blooded woman, he’d shut her out.
She thought about her eighteenth birthday, when they’d danced together at her party, the way he’d barely looked at her. She’d worn her new strapless mini-dress, and it had been obvious that Luke was trying hard to remain unaffected. He’d left early that night, and it was months before she’d seen him again.
Then she remembered the way he’d looked at her in her dressing room last night, after he’d torn her robe open. He’d liked what he’d seen, she was sure of it.
And she could use that against him.
“I told you, Ellie. I’m not leaving without you. You might as well accept it.”
Accept it? No way. She was finally beginning to put the past behind her. She’d resigned herself to the fact that the future in store for her wasn’t the one she’d always imagined.
And nobody, not even Luke, would make her face the pain again.
As if a light bulb lit up over her head, Ellie glanced at Luke, her eyes taking on a glint of determination. Then, clearer than if it had been written in the sky, she knew what she had to do.
And boy, was it going to be fun.
Chapter Three
“So how is this going to work?” Vivian asked the next afternoon, sipping on her pi?a colada.
Ellie bit her lip. “I’m not really sure yet. But trust me, it’ll work.”
The two women sat in the backyard of Ellie’s small bungalow, though in this case, backyard actually meant beach. Situated a few yards from the shoreline, the quaint little house had found a place in her heart the second she’d seen it. So different from her San Francisco condo, a high-security, cookie-cutter apartment on the fifteenth floor, where breathing in fresh air meant facing her fear of heights and stepping onto the balcony. Here, all she had to do was open the back door and the scent of salt, ocean and coconut just drifted in.
After she’d moved in, she’d purchased a white wicker patio set that she positioned right on the sand. The legs of the chairs sank into the sand a little, but there was nothing more relaxing than sitting out here on her evenings off, eating dinner while listening to the sound of the waves lapping against the shore and the gulls squawking in the distance.
Vivian came over at least a couple times a week for lunch, since Ellie didn’t own a car and was not interested in doing so. She hadn’t driven since the accident that took her baby and ballet career and the thought of sitting behind the wheel again made the back of her neck break out in a cold sweat. Thankfully, Vivian understood, and stopping by Ellie’s bungalow had become a routine for her.
Despite the twenty-year age difference, Ellie had come to rely on Vivian’s friendship. Not only did she owe her big time for giving her a job, but she’d also grown to depend on Vivian’s gentle humor and practical advice.
Today, though, she didn’t like the advice being dished out.
“I think you’re going to get in over your head,” Vivian said.
“Why do you think that?”
“Let’s just say that Luke Russell is fire, and you’re playing with him.”
Ellie rolled her eyes as she reached for her glass of lemonade. “Playing with fire? Come on, I’ve known Luke for more than half my life. He’s harmless.”
Vivian shot her a wary glance. “Really?”
“Yes.”
No.
All right, so Luke Russell was most definitely not harmless. A part of her wondered if she’d ever really gotten over him. She’d always told herself her attraction for Luke was just a silly teenage crush, and when she’d fallen head over heels for Scott Whelan during her senior year of high school, she’d thought she’d gotten Luke out of her system for good.