31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) (33 page)

‘Starving, on both fronts.’

‘Please, you “ate” before breakfast.’

‘Still not enough with you in the house, tempting
me all the time.’

‘Then I’d better give you your fill on the food
front hadn’t I?’ She smiled, but I saw a slight frown as she carried on
preparing a potato salad. ‘Are you regretting asking us to move in?’ she asked
quietly.

‘No,’ I retorted quickly.

‘Then what? And don’t say nothing, or I may fling
this bowl at you. I’m almost waiting for you to tell me that I’m out of
personal questions for the day again.’

‘You’re like a dog with a bone,’ I groaned.

‘And you’re like an ostrich, burying your head in
the sand hoping that whatever’s bothering you will go away. You wanted a
relationship, relationships mean sharing, supporting each other when needed.’

‘I’m not used to sharing. This is all new to me,’
I uttered feeling frustrated. The last person I wanted perceiving me as weak
was Ellie.

‘You know I’ve just realised what you meant, when
you told me all that time ago that you weren’t used to two way conversations. I
thought what an odd thing it was to say, but you were talking about sitting
with Moira every day weren’t you? And I guess being the boss of your company,
you’re more used to telling people what to do, not communicating with them on a
friendly or emotional level.’

‘I communicate on a friendly level,’ I objected.

‘But you give nothing away. It was like pulling
teeth that winter here with you.’

‘Well yes, but I was trying to conceal who I was,
the fact I was married and what had happened.’

‘Ok fair enough, but now there shouldn’t be any
secrets between us. I don’t cope well with you hiding things from me, as that
winter proved. What are you scared of? Telling me something that will make me
run from you?’

‘Are you always so bloody insightful,’ I laughed,
as I crossed around and took the knife off her and pulled her against me and
swept her long soft hair over her shoulder. ‘I’ve just been alone and single
for so long, I’d forgotten what it was like to be truly happy.’

‘So being happy gives you a miserable frown?’ she
looked up at me confused, her stunning luminescent green eyes searching mine
for answers.

‘I haven’t been happy like this since … since …’ I
blew out as I felt myself tense up. I’d blocked out all my feelings that
reminded me of the way I felt about Rebecca and our baby when I left the
country all those years ago.

‘You shut down emotionally after such a loss and
it’s hard for you to go there again,’ she nodded, as she reached up and gently stroked
my face, her caring touch affecting me in ways I wasn’t used to. ‘Loss changes
us, but it doesn’t mean we have to stay lost, not when we have people to take
our hands and guide us back to the right path. Let me be your person.’

‘You are Ellie Baxter, but its early days. I love
you, but opening up about my feelings is going to take some getting used to.’

‘You know what, maybe I’m the wrong person to get
you to embrace your emotions and feelings as they’re too close to what you felt
for her,’ she sighed as she lay a soft kiss on me, that had me close my eyes as
the sensation surged through my whole body.

‘Then who?’ I asked puzzled, as I looked back down
at her. If my own mother and Magda couldn’t coax me to delve deep, let alone
Ellie, no one could.

‘Go and spend some time with your son. If anyone
can pluck at your heart strings he can, have some alone time with him every
day, play with him as you talk to him and tell him how you’re feeling, because
he can’t judge you, he won’t interrupt or talk back and he’ll love hearing his dad’s
voice. We’ll have lunch and then I’ll go for a run and leave the two of you
alone.’

‘Alone?’ I tensed back up again. I had no
experience with babies at all.

‘Yes,’ she laughed.

‘What if he needs you?’

‘He only needs me for love, fun and milk. He’ll
have had his feed and you’re more than capable of giving him the rest and you
also know how to change a nappy now too.’

‘That was the bit I was concerned about,’ I protested.

‘Just keep your mouth closed this time,’ she
grinned.

‘And my nostrils.’

‘As long as you don’t drop him, or lift him up so
high you smack his head on the ceiling you can’t go wrong.’ She kissed me again,
but this time I didn’t let her go until I’d kissed her properly and smiled as
she looked at me slightly dazed as I released her lips. I loved that she got
turned on by me so quickly, she was affected by me just as I was by her. ‘Food,
then baby time before you even think about sex again. You’ve given me friction
blisters on my vagina you’ve been that vigorous during all the sex we’ve had
since Friday.’

‘Seriously?’ I uttered, feeling a mixture of guilt
and pride at the same time.

‘Wow and I never thought gullible would be on your
list of qualities, I guess I still have a lot to learn about you, Dan.’ Her
laughter and smile cheered me up, even if we weren’t having sex again until
later.

I watched her head off for her run, with a large
bottle of water, her backside looking seriously sexy in those cut off shorts
and went to stand and look at Oliver still sitting in his rocker staring at the
mobile above him and he smiled as he saw my face and started kicking his arms
and legs.

‘Do you want to come out of there?’ I asked,
wondering if it was normal to ask questions when he had no idea what I was
saying, in addition to not being able to answer back. He just carried on
babbling, so I undid the seat belt and lifted him up and held him against my
shoulder, as I just looked at his smiling face and big round eyes. I wondered
what my son with Rebecca would have looked like? Rebecca and Ellie were similar
with their green eyes and blonde hair, though Ellie was stunning in a different
league. Was the expression third time lucky really true? I hoped so, because
I’d rather die than let something happen to either of them. ‘You’re one good
looking little dude,’ I told him as I kissed the top of his head and he
giggled.

I took him over to the lounge, where we had a play
mat with raised soft edges and a teddy bear head, so he could lie in the middle
gently propped up. When he was safely inside I lay down on the floor next to
him and gave him my finger to hold and felt a swell of pride when he grabbed it
immediately and gripped on tightly, as he watched my face. I took a deep breath
and started to tell him how well I was going to look after him and his mother.
Ellie was right, having someone to talk to, that didn’t talk back, felt
therapeutic. Maybe if I could vocalise things I’d not been able to yet, to my
son, it would help me actually go there with my therapist, instead of holding
back.

‘O my God,’ I gasped about an hour later, when my
nostrils were assaulted by the foulest smelling odour known to man. He just
giggled his head off as I screwed up my face in disgust. If drinking breast
milk was responsible for that smell, no way was I trying any. I ran upstairs to
get the changing mat, baby wipes and a clean nappy. ‘You my boy are not going
to pull women if you keep doing shits like that,’ I chastised him, as I got him
undressed. I undid his nappy and groaned to see what was in it, which made him
laugh again. I quickly scooted it out of the way, and learning from last time I
plonked a clean baby wipe over his penis to shield me if he decided to spray
again. Feeling pleased with myself I cleaned him up and turned to get the clean
nappy only to find I’d forgotten it. I sighed and ran upstairs grabbed one and
ran back down to find him still lying there thrashing, with a big smile on his
face. I smiled and set to work and stood him up to examine if I’d done a good
job, before dressing him again.

‘Piece of cake,’ I nodded, as I gave him a kiss
and lay him back down on his mat. I stood up and froze to feel hot, soft,
wetness under my left foot. ‘No, no, no,’ I groaned. I looked down and sure
enough I’d trodden on his damn dirty nappy and had shit all over my foot. As if
he knew what I’d done he burst into a fit of the giggles. I managed to lower
myself to the floor and wipe up with a wet wipe and figured that was why Ellie
had bags and tied the offending items up straight away. I scooped him up and
strapped him in his rocker and took him upstairs to the bathroom and sat him
facing me in the shower as I headed in to clean up, shuddering at the thought
of what had just happened. I jumped when I felt a pair of hands go around my
waist and Ellie’s body press up behind me.

‘I know why I’m showering again, but why are you?’
she asked as she kissed my shoulder.

‘I trod in baby shit,’ I muttered.

‘Trod in it? What was it doing on the floor?’ she
laughed, as I spun in her arms to face her.

‘I’m a fucking amateur and left the soiled nappy
on the floor and forgot it was there.’

‘O dear, it seems there
are
some things the
mighty Mr. Davenport isn’t capable of doing well,’ she teased as she kissed me
and I felt myself harden again.

‘Trust me I won’t make the same mistake twice.’

‘So did you have fun, other than getting shit all
over you?’

‘We had a long chat, I’ve warned him about the
ways of women,’ I nodded, as she lathered up some of her lime body wash. ‘How
they tempt you with their looks and bodies.’

‘You’re a fine one to talk,’ she retorted, as she
grasped my stiff cock in her soapy hand and had me hiss through my teeth. ‘For
once you’re going to do as you’re told, lean back against the wall,’ she
ordered. I raised my eyebrows at her. ‘If you want me to give you a blow job,
you’ll lean back and spread your legs now. Don’t make me repeat myself.’

‘Oliver’s watching,’ I objected as he seemed to
stare right at us.

‘He has no idea what he’s looking at.’

‘It’s weird,’ I retorted and quickly pulled away
and headed over to pick up his rocker and turn it around. Ellie burst out
laughing as I went back to join her. ‘He’ll be scarred for life seeing you
touching me sexually, let alone sucking my cock.’

‘He’s a baby, he’s not old enough to remember or
understand. Are you trying to tell me you’re not in the mood?’

‘Trust me, I’m always in the mood, but if I agree
to let you do this, you have to agree to let me lick you out, then fuck you
when I’m done.’

‘You drive such a hard bargain,’ she sighed with a
smile, as she sank to her knees and I closed my eyes and gave into it.

Ellie

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in
one of his luxurious soft towels and applied my moisturiser. While I was
excited about having a proper night out with him again, I was nervous about
leaving Oliver. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Mrs. McAdams, I even got nervous
when Brooke or Molly were looking after him at night, while I was having a
well-earned rest. I guess all mothers felt the same at first, maybe always. I
slathered in body moisturiser, pleased that my skin had a hint of glow about it
from an unusually hot summer and padded out to the bedroom as instructed, to
find my gift from Dan. There were four boxes on the bed, ranging from tiny to
large. I opened the smallest one first and held my breath as I saw the small
square velvet box. No way was he proposing, it wasn’t exactly my idea of
romance either to have a ring left on the bed with no heartfelt words, but
anyway it was way too soon. We needed to give this living together a go before
we thought that far ahead. I let out that breath gently, as I saw it was just a
pair of earrings. Then again “just a pair” wasn’t a very fair description at
all. They were a simply stunning pair of art deco round emeralds with a halo of
diamonds around the edge, hanging from a diamond encrusted platinum dangling
stud. They matched my bracelet he got me last year perfectly and I was so glad
that I’d thought to bring it with me. The other smallish box contained three
more charms for my bracelet and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying
when I saw the ones he’d chosen. I opened the medium sized box and found a pair
of emerald green suede laser cut peep toe shoe boots. They were stunning with
slender high heels. The last box contained a beautiful emerald green dress,
with a plunging neckline, the parts covering my breasts held together by a
silver link, matching the links around the neck area leaving my back exposed. I
held it up against me to find that it came to just below the knee. I laughed as
I saw the card in the box that had one word written on it. “Accessible.”

As it was hot, I pulled my hair back into a sleek
high pony tail, which would also show off the lovely earrings. I went without
makeup, except for mascara and eyeliner, then spritzed a little perfume and
slid the dress on, leaving my knickers off as instructed, and sat on the chaise
to do up my new shoes. The colour really suited my skin tone and I was thrilled
when I took in the effect in the mirror and did a twirl, happy to see the dress
didn’t ride up enough to give anyone a glimpse of my naked flesh. I grabbed a
small silver clutch for my lip gloss and phone and headed over to the nursery
to wake up Oliver from his nap and made sure his nappy didn’t need changing.