Page 7 of Defying Ella
After two weeks of this, I could get more than used to it.
Maybe I wouldn’t leave when the time came.
I didn’t have a job to get back to. Now that the tour had ended, my time as Phoebe’s childminder had, too. I could find a job at one of the ski resorts and finish out the winter here. Give in to my travel-bug tendencies and enjoy all the wood fires. Maybe learn to ski.Oh, the possibilities.
Bonus, Jared couldn’t throw his flings in my face if he couldn’t find me. I could already feel my mind relaxing, no longer on guard for the smallest attack.
For the first time in weeks, my entire body sagged. The only way I could relax more would be to uncover the hot tub on the back deck and let the jets and steamy water beat my aching muscles into submission.
I sighed at the mere thought. Plan for tomorrow.Bliss.
The front door slammed open and I jumped out of my ever-loving skin. A screech may have escaped me. It took my foggy brain a couple of seconds to catch up to the sight before me.
“No way in hell. What are you doing here?” I shot to my feet, almost growling at the damn drummer I just couldn’t shake.
White glistened in his hair while the front of his half-heartedly zipped-up coat was plastered in snow.
“What did you do? Take a swim in it?” My voice might have squeaked a little at the end.
Jared continued to stare at me, his fists clenched at his sides.
This can’t be happening.
He stood in the entryway with the door wide open, blinking at me while he let all the heat out.Men!
“Stop gawking and shut the door before you let all the heat out.”
Why didn’t you tell him to shut it on himself, Ella? For fuck’s sake.
Jared didn’t budge. His mouth opened and closed as he continued to stare at me and my growing irritation.Did I have to do everything with this idiot?
I raced towards him and he flinched.
Flinched!
Because of me.
Had I fallen asleep? Was I having a bizarre nightmare?
Outside, snow flurries fell, blanketing everything in its path. It hadn’t been that bad when I’d arrived, but then that must have been hours ago.
I flung the door shut behind him, blocking out the bone-freezing cold. The crack of the wood meeting the frame echoed around the open space. His shock cleared only to be replaced by a scowl and just like that, the blissful, relaxed feeling evaporated.
“I repeat, what are you doing here?” I circled him and stopped with my arms crossed, a scowl to match his overtaking my face. “How did you even find me?” I dragged a hand through my hair as the possibilities unfolded in his silence. “Scratch that. I don’t want to know what stalker shit you pulled off for this.”
“I’m not stalking you, dipshit.” Jared sneered. “I have better things to do with my time. Andy gave me the place for the month.”
“You’re a lot of things, Jared. I didn’t peg you for a liar.” My head tilted as my eyes narrowed. “Forgetful, yes. Terrible at communication, abso-fucking-lutely. A liar, no.”
“I’m not lying.” He took a jerky step toward me before catching himself. “How do I know you’re not the one stalking me? I already told you we’re done, sweetheart, you don’t need to follow me to the Alps.”
I glared at him but chose not to rise to his baiting. Gettingrid of him would be the priority, not correcting his screwed-up sense of reality.
“Andy gave us the lodge for two weeks. The girls will be here tomorrow.” My hands fell to my hips. “Tell me again how you’re not lying?”
Jared’s jaw shifted and had it not been for the reality of the situation I would have taken great joy in his annoyance.
“You’re lying.”
