Should she say anything? Did she want to ruin this moment?
“Just thinking about work,” she lied. “I'm thinking, 'what if I could make every wedding as good as this one.'”
She could feel Jace smile and he hugged her. “Just don't sleep with all the bride's brothers, okay?”
Ella giggled, giving him a push. “Depends on if he's cute.”
“Hey!” Jace wrapped his arms around her tighter, squeezing her so tightly she could barely breathe.
“Okay, okay...” she gasped, trying to wiggle free, but not trying very hard. “He has to be at least as cute as you.”
“No one is as cute as me,” Jace informed her.
“Then you have nothing to worry about.” Ella tried not to think of where this conversation was going. It was getting dangerously close to the 'what happens next' conversation that she was trying to avoid. Although, from the way he was talking, it sounded like he wanted something to happen.
Dating was hard.
Jace's phone, still in the pocket of his pants and half way across the room started to buzz. They both stared at it, wishing that it would just stop. It did, but only to start buzzing again.
“We should probably get going,” Ella said, not moving a muscle. She tried a little harder to send stronger brainwaves to turn off the phone.
“Yeah.” Jace's eyes bored into the phone.
It still rang.
“On three?” Ella offered. Jace nodded. “One, two, three.”
Neither one moved.
“That didn't work as well as I was hoping,” Jace murmured. “You go first. You're on top of me.”
“Not fair,” Ella replied. She took a deep breath in and out. “Give me a push.”
Again, neither of them moved. There was no push. The phone stopped and Ella held her breath, hoping it wouldn't start. But it did.
“On three again,” Jace said. “One, two, three.”
This time they both stood up. She was cold without him pressed against her. She shivered, and hurried over to her dress, quickly putting on her things and wishing the whole time that she could just go back to that chair.
Jace picked up his pants, pulled out the phone, and then glared at it. Ella just watched him, enjoying looking at Jace without his clothes on and committing everything to memory. He was such a gorgeous specimen of man that it was hard not to stare. He slipped on his shirt, oblivious to her stares.
“Okay.” Ella tugged her dress back into place and smoothed her hair back in place. “We should probably get going. I'm sure the winery wants this room back and it looks like there's things that you need to get done.”
“Unfortunately.” Jace's face darkened. “I'm sorry, Ella. I wish we could just stay here for the rest of the day. The rest of the month, really.”
Ella walked over and kissed his cheek. She loved the way his face softened when she did that. It wasn't much, but a shift in his lips to a slight smile made her feel like she made a difference to his world. “It's okay. Promise. I should get back and make sure that the inn hasn't burned down.”
“Come here,” Jace commanded, grabbing her hand and pulling her back to him. He threaded his hand behind her neck, drawing her i
nto his lips for a core-shaking kiss. Ella melted, falling into the him and letting her body take over. Her body knew that Jace was the right man for her, even if her head was trying to tell her to be cautious. Ella's world spun on Jace's axis for a moment, and she forgot how to stand or even to breathe.
“Wow,” she whispered as he let her go. “Many more of those and I won't be able to walk out of here.”
Jace grinned, cocky and pleased with himself. “That's kind of my plan.”
***
Ella paused before getting back on the helicopter. Knowing what was coming, she wasn't sure how much she wanted to get back on the flying death machine. It wasn't like she had much of a choice though. It was a several hour long car ride back to the inn from here and she didn't have a car. Ella had no doubt that Jace would get her one, but she didn't want to go without him.