Wounded Love (A Rocky Harbor Novel Book 3) Read online

  “I made you a sandwich.” Her angelic voice from below yanked him out of his funk.

  Colton looked down and saw her holding a plate in one hand and a glass in the other. Every man’s wet dream. A beautiful woman serving him food and drink and being at his beck and call.

  Only that wasn’t Colton’s dream. He didn’t need a woman to serve him. Hell, he didn’t need a woman at all.

  “It’s a loaded Italian and some Doritos and a water. Nothing fancy.”

  Change up the water for a beer and his life would be complete. That and Ellie naked. In his bed. Shaking the lust from his head before he tented his pants, Colton carefully climbed down the ladder, his left foot heavy as it found each rung.

  “Thanks.” He slapped his hands against his leg, a cloud of sawdust and shavings filling the air. “Maybe I should wash up first.” He held out his painted hands and grinned. “I’m a mess.”

  “Oh. Sure. Sorry. I didn’t think of that.” Ellie walked briskly into the house, Colton at her heels.

  ***

  Ellie

  I’m such an idiot. Ellie set Colton’s lunch on the counter, keeping her back to him as he washed his hands in the sink. She meant the lunch to be a sort of peace offering after the way she treated him the other day. When they were teenagers she was too young and naïve, too much in love to notice Colton had left her out of his personal life. Now that she had some insider information from Rachael, she figured it was due to their differences.

  Ellie never thought about money. About material things. Anything she needed or wanted was given to her. She’d had her share of materialistic, snobby friends in school, girls who would only date boys who came from their social circle. That’s why meeting Colton in a different environment had been so…refreshing.

  He didn’t seem to care about her father’s wealth and stature, never once asking about her parents. The other boys she dated always sucked up to her father and mother, hoping one day Thomas Fairfield would remember them and offer them an internship, write them a recommendation. Who knew?

  Colton, however, was only interested in her. Not Eleanor Fairfield, daughter of a senator, but Ellie Fairfield, who liked swimming in the pool, going for walks along the ocean, and licking ice cream.

  Their summer romance was so freeing. So innocent. So…long ago. They’d both changed dramatically over the years. Here they were, a decade later and just as unfamiliar with each other as they had been when they were young.

  She heard the faucet shut off and the rip of a paper towel.

  “Thanks for lunch. I packed my own so you didn’t have to do this.”

  “Oh.” Ellie turned around and looked down at the sandwich. “You don’t have to eat it then. I can wrap it up and—”

  “Not a chance. This sub is a hell of a lot better than the cold leftover pizza I have.”

  “Okay then.” Not sure what to do with her hands, she twisted them in a knot in front of her. “I’ll get out of your way.”

  “Aren’t you going to eat?”

  She hadn’t thought of her own lunch, too caught up in slicing the pickles and onions nice and thin like Colton had liked when they were young. She enjoyed making his sandwich, remembering how he used to tell her about the art of making the perfect Italian.

  “I’m not really hungry.”

  “You sure?” When she nodded he picked up his sub and bit into it. “Oh wow,” he said around a mouthful of food. “This is perfect.”

  Smiling at his compliment, Ellie relaxed her shoulders and poured herself a glass of iced tea. Tamping down her pride, she figured now would be a good time to apologize for her behavior the other day.

  Keeping the kitchen island between them, she held her glass tightly and cleared her throat. “I need to apologize.” He stopped chewing and looked up at her, his green eyes unreadable. “I didn’t mean what I said, or at least for it to come out that way. CJ’s been sick a lot lately and I didn’t know how to introduce you and I was nervous and sad and scared.” Ellie knew she wasn’t making any sense.

  There had been so many emotions running through her lately. Her fears and concerns for her son, and then seeing Colton again, knowing she needed to tell him the truth. It was all too much.

  “You’re scared of me?” Colton dropped the rest of his sub and stood abruptly, the legs of the barstool scraping against the tile.

  “No! Not you. Scared for my son. He’s been sick a lot lately and the doctors don’t know why, and then seeing you again.” She didn’t mean to cry, but motherhood had turned her into an emotional woman. Ellie didn’t ever let CJ see her cry, often holding her tears until night when he was sound asleep.

  Colton rounded the island, stopping just shy of being in her personal space. “Your kid, it’s just the flu, right?”

  Ellie shook her head. “It’s the flu this week and next week it will be something else. The poor boy has been poked and prodded constantly for the past year. He hasn’t grown much in the past two years and is tired all the time. I’m hoping his new specialist can—” She hiccupped and an unattractive noise erupted from her mouth right before her eyes flooded with tears.

  No longer able to see, she felt Colton take the glass from her hands and draw her into a hug. Leaning on his strong, hard chest for support, she wiped her tears onto his work shirt while she cried, his tender hands rubbing up and down her back.

  CJ was her life. Her everything. His health and wellbeing was all that mattered to Ellie. Every time he complained of a stomachache or a headache, her heart burned with fear. Not being able to help her son made her feel weak and helpless as a mother.

  It had been ages, ten years, since she’d had a man’s arms around her, someone to comfort her. Colton’s scent wasn’t the same as she remembered from their teen years. His shirt smelled like fresh laundry and his neck that was so close to her lips smelled of wood and man and comfort.

  Time stood still or continued on, she had no idea which. When her shudders finally subsided, she dropped her arms from around his waist and stepped out of his warm embrace. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to slobber on you.” She touched the wet marks on his chest, and his hand covered hers, trapping it to his body.

  “That’s okay. I’m used to it.”

  Ellie stepped back. Of course he was. Colton was every woman’s fantasy with those broad shoulders and beautiful eyes.

  “Sadie’s a pretty big drooler.”

  It took her a moment to connect the dots. “Your dog.” He compared her to his dog. “Thanks.”

  Colton laughed, a sound she hadn’t heard in decades, and it warmed her heart, and other places long forgotten.

  “I guess that didn’t come out like I meant it to either.”

  “So we’re even?” Ellie gnawed on her bottom lip, hoping he’d continue smiling at her, looking at her like he wanted her. When Colton’s gaze lowered to her mouth she released her lips from her teeth.

  Colton swallowed deeply, his Adam’s apple moving up and down in his throat. The tension in the air thick, this time not with anger but with…something else primal and raw. His chest rose and fell in steady deep breaths, his hands clenched by his sides. Finally or unfortunately—she wasn’t sure which—Colton stepped back and picked up his plate.

  “Thanks for lunch.” He popped the rest of the sub in his mouth, followed by the glass of water, before setting his plate in the sink and heading back outside, leaving her alone, confused and horny.

  Something had definitely changed between them. A smile, a heated stare, a joke. They were on their way toward making amends. Ellie stood at the kitchen sink looking out the window and watching Colton bend over to rub Sadie’s ears.

  “Nice ass,” the words slipped easily from her lips.

  “Checking out the help?”

  “Dear God.” Ellie jumped, clutching her hands to her chest. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  Rachael stood in the doorway, an unapologetic smirk on her face. “I heard you guys talking and didn’t want to inter
rupt, so I’ve been sitting in my car waiting until my brother went outside before coming back in.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.” Ellie opened the dishwasher and loaded Colton’s plate and glass. “He was taking a lunch break, that’s all.”

  “Does he often eat with you glued to his body?”

  “You saw that?”

  “Yup.” Rachael glowed with excitement as she sat on the stool Colton recently vacated.

  “It wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “Uh, huh. My brother isn’t the touchy feely type. I hug him every chance I can and it’s like he lost an arm instead of a leg. I have to force him to hug me back.”

  “Wait, what?” Ellie thought her eyes would bug out of her head. “Colton has two legs.” Very sexy legs. His thighs nearly bulged out of his fatigues and work jeans. She’d spent enough time ogling him to know.

  “Crap.” Rachael cringed. “Guess he hasn’t been too talkative lately, huh?”

  “Lately? You mean ever. He seriously lost a leg?”

  Rachael nodded. “It’s why he’s home now.”

  “But…” Ellie turned toward the kitchen window, Colton no longer in view. “He’s walking, climbing up on the ladder. Oh god, he shouldn’t be on the roof.” Ellie ran for the back door. Rachael’s voice stopped her before she pulled it open.

  “Ellie. Stop.” Rachael stood next to her, taking Ellie’s hands in hers. “He’s not going to be impressed with you or me if you go running out there like this. Come on. Let’s sit and talk for a minute.”

  “I can’t sit.”

  “No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sit. You’re always on the move. You work too hard.”

  “I have an inn to run, a son to take care of.”

  “Yes, and you need to take care of yourself as well.”

  “I thought we were talking about Colton.” He’d been working so hard, carrying heavy equipment and ladders, climbing the roof, and she’d been nothing but snippy with him. He should be resting, taking care of himself.

  “Come here.” Rachael guided Ellie to a bar stool and gently pushed down on her shoulders. “Have you eaten yet?”

  “I’ll finish my iced tea.” Ellie picked up her glass so she’d have something to do with her hands. “Tell me about Colton.”

  “And I thought he was stubborn.” Rachael rested her elbows on the island, reversing the positions of Ellie and Colton not too long ago. “I respect my brother’s privacy about some things, but the leg isn’t exactly top secret.”

  “I had no idea.” The limp, she’d noticed. A missing leg? She’d never have guessed.

  “Okay, maybe it is. Was. Anyway, he and his crew or platoon or unit, I don’t know what they’re called, they encountered a suicide bomber in Iraq nearly a year ago. Everyone died but Colton. He lost the lower half of his left leg. He has a prosthetic from the knee down.”

  Too stunned to speak, Ellie stared at Rachael, new tears forming in her eyes. How awful. How traumatic to see your peers die before your eyes.

  “I’m no shrink but have seen my share of them, and would guess he’s dealing with a case of survival guilt, PTSD, and a whole bucket of grief over losing his buddies and his leg.”

  “And here I was dumping my problems on him. He shouldn’t be working on the Inn, or putting up with my tears.”

  “Work is the best thing for him, in my opinion. Jake and I’ve talked a lot about it, since we can’t get anything out of Colton. He needs to feel normal, useful. I know my brother and know he’d be pissed off if we coddled him because of his leg. He needs to get his life back and I think you’re the perfect person to help him.”

  “Yeah, no pressure.”

  Rachael patted Ellie’s hand. “I don’t know anything about your teenage love affair, unless you want to give me all the dirt now.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Ellie nearly laughed. “But I see the way he looks at you, the way he subtly asks about you.”

  “He does? What does he say or ask?”

  “See?” Rachael laughed. “You’re in love, too.”

  “I’m not in love.” Yet. Or again. Not that she didn’t want to be.

  “You’re both stubborn and are fighting your attraction to each other. It’s cute.”

  “I’ll admit I find your brother very attractive, but it has nothing to do with love.”

  “I agree with you one hundred percent on that one. Don’t fight the attraction, though, and maybe it will turn into love.”

  Like it did ten years ago. “Why are you here anyway?”

  “Snippy are we?” Rachael teased. “Kidding. I have a zillion pie orders for Thanksgiving and figured I’d get a jump on them. Mind if I take over your freezer?”

  “Not at all. I can’t promise I won’t break into a pie or two, though.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Ellie left Rachael to the kitchen while she folded laundry and cleaned the guest bathrooms. When her phone alarm beeped signaling it was almost time to meet CJ’s bus, she jogged down the stairs and bumped into Colton.

  “Sorry.” His strong hands gripped her biceps, their torsos touching once again. His beautiful green eyes steadied her shaking body.

  “That’s…okay,” she gasped.

  Neither one of them made any attempt to move, and she found herself pressing her body more firmly into his.

  “Ellie,” he whispered before touching his lips to hers. She readily accepted his light kiss. Wanting it to go deeper, she grabbed on to his forearms and stood on her tiptoes, but he pulled back before the kiss could turn into anything more than a brief caress. Colton released her, keeping his gaze locked on hers, and backed out the door. The darkened hue in his eyes and the trace of a grin on his lips didn’t go unnoticed by her. Not one little bit.

  Chapter Seven

  Colton

  After three weeks working on the inn, his job was complete. There were other projects he noticed needing to be done around the place, but he didn’t want to come across as a desperate man looking for work. If Ellie wanted the repairs done, or even wanted any advice, she’d ask him.

  The fact that she hadn’t retreated into a hole or smacked him after he kissed her the other day was a step in the right direction, or rather, in a direction. Too bad he didn’t know where he was trying to go. He didn’t know why he kissed her either. It wasn’t planned, for sure. He’d just finished for the day and was coming inside to report on his progress and bumped into her.

  With lips pink and wet, and eyes as blue as the cloudless sky, Colton couldn’t resist. The fact that he kept it light and simple proved he had more restraint than he believed. Something between them changed. The peace offering in the form of an Italian and his tear-soaked shirt softened him, and her as well.

  Maybe the new Ellie Fairfield wasn’t as stuck up and snobby as he thought. There’d been traces of the young, carefree girl he fell in love with and he begged for those simple days again.

  Days that started out on his bicycle heading out to meet a skinny seventeen-year-old girl and ended with entangled hands, and lips and bodies. He’d looked forward to going to work, knowing Ellie wasn’t far away, most likely watching him from her bedroom window, and on warm days, by the side of the pool.

  Yesterday, while up on the roof, he caught her watching him from a bedroom window. He nearly had a heart attack and took a tumble, but he found his footing and dropped to his knees. Frantic, Ellie whipped open the window and called out to him, her voice filled with fear and concern.

  And just like that his knee stopped throbbing. “Oh my God, Colton. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Checking up on me, were you?”

  “No, I…I was changing the linens and saw you out here and…”

  Yeah, she was totally checking him out, and not the work, but him. If he hadn’t been on his knees on a sloped roof, he would have called her on her bluff and made love to her mouth. Instead he took the high road, flashed her a grin he hadn’t used in years, and pulled himself to sta
nding.

  “Are you okay? Your leg? Should you be out here if—”

  And just like that his inflated ego deflated. He read the sympathy in her eyes as her gaze lowered to his leg.

  “I’m good.” He bit back the string of curses and put downs he wanted to say, knowing she didn’t deserve to be the victim of his self-pity wrath. So maybe he had picked up a few things from his therapists.

  They’d told him he’d be tempted to lash out at those closest to him and to own up to it when he did. Instead of dealing with the hurtful things he wanted to say and then the ass kissing afterwards, Colton secluded himself and avoided conversation with his family.

  The concern in Ellie’s eyes had softened and she’d smiled up at him and bam his chest had nearly exploded with…something.

  “You’re doing a wonderful job, Colton. When I was looking for someone I was only expecting some touch up work. I appreciate you being so thorough and not covering up the rotting wood. Most men wouldn’t put in the extra effort.”

  While he’d wanted to know what kind of men Ellie had been hanging around, he accepted the compliment with one word.

  “Sure.” They did their silent awkward moment thing before he ruined it. “You should close up that window. No need in letting all this cold air in.”

  Ellie nodded and closed the window. He’d noticed her throughout the day smiling at him through the other rooms’ windows. It was nice. Kind of like working side-by-side doing the domestic thing.

  Stunned at the direction of his thoughts, he climbed down the ladder when the last piece of trim was painted and began packing up, Sadie at his heels. “Sorry I’ve been ignoring you, girl. The roof isn’t a good place for a dog.” She rubbed up against his good leg, her wagging tail flapping like a plastic bag in the wind.

  With the shed back in order, he did one last check of the lawn, making sure he didn’t leave any stray nails or scrap pieces of wood lying around. Telling Sadie to sit at the bottom of the steps, he let himself into the kitchen and called out for Ellie.