31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) (4 page)

‘Then you’d better chalk me up as the one that
didn’t follow orders and if you touch me I’ll scream the place down. Get the
hell away from me and stay away,’ I snapped, fury pumping through my veins. I
thought Matt’s betrayal had hurt, it was nothing compared to the pain I was
feeling now.

‘Thank God, Ellie. I was starting to get worried
about you. I’ve been waiting to eat our dessert for ages.’ I turned to see Tom
approaching. Christ could this get any more complicated?

‘Sorry Tom. I bumped into … someone I used to
know.’ I managed to summon an apologetic smile, while on the inside I was
shaking with anger.

‘Mr. Davenport,’ Tom gasped, then smiled as he
recovered his composure. ‘A pleasure to see you again.’ He stepped forwards to
shake Dan’s hand.
What the hell was going on?
Tom knew Dan? I kept
thinking of him as Dan, but he wasn’t Dan, he was Oliver.

‘Tom, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, Sir. I interviewed you for part of my
journalism thesis, quite a few years ago. You have an excellent memory.’

‘Just one of my talents,’ Dan smiled, with a
knowing look at me.

‘Yes, well you don’t get to where you are without
plenty of those. I’d heard you’d left the country and taken a back seat in Davenport
Technologies.’

‘Then you heard wrong, I can still manage my
company from anywhere I choose. Please excuse me, I accompanied my mother to
dinner and I’ve neglected her while I caught up with Miss Baxter.’

‘So I have you to blame for ruining my date,’ Tom
laughed as I cringed.

‘And how is it going do you think?’ Dan asked and
raised his eyebrows as I narrowed my eyes at him.

‘Really well thank you, other than her having been
missing for ages. We have a lot in common. You wouldn’t believe how long it
took to convince her to see me, but she was worth the wait,’ Tom turned to
smile at me, while Dan glared behind his back.

‘Actually Tom, it’s a date I’d like to continue. As
we’re already paid up shall we head back to your house?’ I suggested and heard
both men inhale, shocked.

‘But … our dessert?’ Tom uttered, as he looked at
me in amazement.

‘Trust me, I’m very sweet,’ I smiled, as I started
walking towards the revolving door.

‘Ellie,’ Dan growled, as he strode to catch me up
and caught my arm. ‘We were going to have that discussion in the bar. I don’t
offer a package like this to everyone. It’s an exclusive limited deal, so if
you’re courting offers from elsewhere I won’t be coming down to London with
this offer for you ever again. It’s now or never.’

‘I’ve already considered your offer and I’m afraid
it’s not in my best interests,’ I replied as I held his determined gaze and let
him see that I was done with him. Who did he think he was? Ordering me to deal
with him or he’d walk away? Well I was going to walk away, and
he’d
have
to deal and soak up all that guilt over his despicable behaviour. ‘What you
propose offers far too much risk. Given my past track record and poor
judgement, I’ll stick with safe stocks from now on thank you. Goodbye, Mr.
Davenport,’ I added with a trembling voice. His face fell and he swallowed hard
as his eyelids blinked rapidly, while he still held my arm.

‘I truly believe that you’ll live to regret that
decision, but as you wish. Goodbye, Miss Baxter. It was a pleasure, as always.’
He dropped his hand and I felt Tom take mine and this time didn’t avoid him
staking his claim. If Dan really was sincere about wanting me, I wanted to hurt
him, to let him feel how I had when I’d heard he was married.

‘Goodbye, Sir. Nice to see you again.’

‘You too, Tom. Please look after her, she’s a very
special lady.’

‘I think so,’ Tom replied and leaned in and took
me by surprise with a kiss on the lips. He jerked his head back in surprise as
an audible growl came from Dan’s throat. What was with all the male
testosterone and posturing? I cast one last look at Dan to see his eyes were
dark, there was a deep crease in his forehead, his jaw was clenched and his
hands were bunched in fists at his side. He really was jealous. He was still as
complex as ever, I was better off without him, no matter how much my heart said
to stay and hear him out. He spun on his heels and walked away, back to the
restaurant, as Tom ushered me outside and straight into a taxi. I felt so sick
and confused. Was anything Dan had told me the truth? He’d gone out of his way
to not show off his wealth. He’d ensured that I lived in his stunning house, at
a ridiculously low rent, without even saying it was his, or trying to earn
brownie points for it. My mind was simply spinning and all I knew was that I
wanted to cry again. Part of me wanted to slap Dan for what he’d put me
through, part of me longed to be beneath him again, to feel his lips caressing
mine, his body weight smothering me, making me feel safe as he took me back to
heights I knew I’d never achieve with anyone else. Tom obviously sensed my need
to be alone with my thoughts for a while and we were halfway across London
before he finally spoke. ‘So how do you know Mr. Davenport?’

‘He’s … he’s my landlord,’ I shrugged, not wanting
to divulge our history.

‘I can’t believe I’ve seen him. He’s been
incognito since the accident, rarely spotted in London now. If I was still in
journalism that small meeting would have been headline news tomorrow.’

‘What accident?’ I asked, as I broke my
concentration stare out of the window and turned to face him.

‘You don’t know? It was major news back when it
happened, he virtually disappeared overnight and pictures of him miraculously vanished.
He became a ghost.’

‘What accident?’ I repeated.

‘Rumour has it that he got married and the day
after he was in a car accident somewhere in Scotland with his wife. Apparently
he was pretty banged up for a few months, but she didn’t make it.’

‘His wife died?’ I whispered, sickness clawing its
way up my throat. I tried desperately to remember what hurtful things I might
have said in my answer machine rant when I found out he was married, and all
along he was a widow? Why hadn’t he just told me that? Why would he think I’d
react so badly to that?

‘That’s what I heard. He went from the most
notorious bachelor in London, renowned for bedding women and leaving them after
a couple of days, to suddenly getting married and leaving the social scene. Apparently
he was driving at the time of the accident. I guess the guilt got to him and
made him change his ways. Damned decent bloke, womanising aside. Amazing
reputation for fairness in his business dealings and a seriously low turnover
of staff. Everyone who works at Davenport Technologies says it’s an amazing
place to work with very generous packages. I should have gone into IT instead
of journalism.’

‘You really think he’s an honest man?’

‘I think so and rumour on the street agrees. Even
in his womanising days he was always upfront that he wasn’t available.’

‘Did he inherit the business?’ I asked, trying to
comprehend how someone as young as Dan could be so wealthy.

‘No,’ Tom uttered with a look of mortification at
me. ‘He’s completely self-made. I think he’s one of the richest men in the
United Kingdom, possibly the world. He used to put a lot of hours in, a serious
workaholic, it was a nightmare to schedule an appointment with him. He worked
hard and played hard. He must have some serious server network wherever he
lives to run his empire from.’

‘I’ll bet,’ I sighed as I thought of the locked
room in the house. So that was what he was doing when he claimed to be busy, he
was working. That’s why Pete looked so confused when I asked about Dan’s boss.
He didn’t have one, he
was
the boss and he was working while he wasn’t being
distracted by me. It didn’t explain why he’d lied about his name, or his
marital status if his wife was dead, or why he was so insistent on us not
having a relationship, let alone where he went every day, but I suddenly felt
bad for not giving him the chance to explain. It appeared that there were
reasons he did what he did. Maybe he really was sincere about his feelings, his
actions when Tom kissed me certainly seemed to back that up. I loved him, no
matter what I’d thought of his deception and behaviour I still loved him, even
before I got this semi-explanation. Was I really prepared to ignore that and
give up on something before we’d had a chance to see if it really could be
something? I made my mind up instantly. ‘Tom, I’m so sorry, but do you mind if
we cut this short? I think I’ve been too hasty rejecting Mr. Davenport’s offer.
I’d like to go back and see if I can catch him.’

‘O, right.’ He sounded disappointed, why wouldn’t
he be? I’d pretty much indicated we were going back to his for sex, now I was
dumping him for what he thought was a stocks meeting. ‘Would you like me to
come with you? I could wait out of earshot if you don’t want your finances
being discussed with me there.’

‘No honestly, I’ll be fine, besides I’ve no idea
how long the meeting would take and it’s unfair to ruin your Sunday afternoon,’
I smiled, as I asked the taxi driver to turn around. I rapped my hand on my
knee as we headed back to the hotel, unsure of my emotions, they were so messed
up. We remained silent on the journey back, me trying to picture how my
discussion with Dan was going to go, Tom probably pissed at my despicable
behaviour. ‘Tom, I’m sorry to cut this short, I had a really nice time. I’m
back in the office on Wednesday, I’ll see you then.’ I kissed him quickly on
the cheek and leapt out of the taxi and virtually ran inside. I couldn’t wait
any longer, I wanted to know everything. I tried to take a few slow breathes to
calm down, my heart was racing crazily.

‘Can I help you, Madam?’ smiled the Maître d’ as I
approached the restaurant doors.

‘I was here earlier and bumped into my friend Dan
… sorry, Oliver Davenport. He was eating with his mother. I wondered if you
could pass him the message that Ellie Baxter is waiting in the bar and would
like to speak to him.’

‘I’m afraid he left about ten minutes ago.’

‘Left?’ I felt my heart sink.

‘Yes, Madam. His driver picked him up outside.’

‘O, right. Well thank you.’ I managed a polite
smile as I walked with a heavy heart back to the exit and the doorman
immediately opened a taxi door for me and helped me in. I remained silent all
the way home, to
his
home, my mind racing. I had so many questions, so
many things that didn’t make sense and only Dan could answer them and I’d just
blown it. I didn’t even have his number anymore, I’d deleted it in a fit of
temper, along with his email address.

‘Damn it Ellie, I really thought you’d be going
back to Tom’s and shagging like rabbit’s, what more do I have to do?’ Brooke
moaned, as I headed up to the lounge and found the two of them curled up
watching a film. ‘You’ll never get over him if you don’t screw him out of your
system.’

‘You’re not going to believe what happened,’ I
sighed as I pulled off my black heels and tucked my legs up on the large sofa
and filled them in.

‘He’s a
billionaire
?’ Brooke uttered for
about the fourteenth time.

‘Yes, but that’s not the issue Brooke. I fell in
love with Dan the wood cutter, not Oliver the CEO.’

‘They’re both parts of his personality babe and if
his wife
was
killed in an accident and if he blames himself, some of
what he did makes sense. He was protecting his identity while he mourned her.
He obviously didn’t expect to fall for you.’

‘There still so much unanswered though.’

‘So, book a few days off and go up there and get
the truth. You haven’t had any time off since you were promoted and you’re
going to drive yourself even more crazy than when you left Scotland if you
don’t get answers.’

‘She’s right, Ellie. If he can give you a
reasonable explanation maybe you can try a relationship. I mean you still love
the guy right? In spite of what he did and what you thought?’

‘You make it sound so easy,’ I sighed, avoiding
her questions, I didn’t want them to think I was crazy for still caring for him
like that.

‘It is. Book a hotel and flight, go and see him
and listen to what he has to say. You’ll either be pissed off with the answer
and it will close the door on another disaster, or you could end up with the
guy you’re still obviously madly in love with and have simply amazing sex for
the rest of your life, as well as be bought loads of expensive gifts,’ winked
Brooke and I laughed and hit her with one of Dan’s expensive cashmere cushions.

Friday 4
^th
July ~ Year One

Ellie

I arrived back in Scotland
at the tiny airport Friday evening and blew out a deep breath. I must be crazy.
I’d not been able to contact Dan, for all I knew he wasn’t even back, or maybe
he was in one of his other properties, like his main home in San Francisco. The
boathouse was showing as booked for the next few months, so I’d splashed out
and booked a room at the Spa Hotel on the loch and had a return flight on
Wednesday evening. If Dan wasn’t here, then for the next five days I’d need
something to do to keep me occupied, other than adding the last finishing touches
to the novel I finally finished. Maybe being back in Scotland, where I’d
started it, would give me the momentum I needed to read it again and revise and
fine tune, before letting one of the other editors test it out for me. I headed
out with my small case and was surprised to see a chauffeur holding a sign with
my name.

‘Miss Baxter, I assume?’ he smiled as I approached
him.

‘Yes, but I don’t understand. I didn’t organise
for a chauffeur, I was going to get a taxi.’

‘All part of the hotel service,’ he smiled as he
took my case for me, reminding me of my first meeting with Dan. This time,
however, there was no sexual chemistry.

‘You do this for all guests?’ I asked as I walked
alongside him.

‘No, just the VIPs.’

‘I’m hardly a VIP,’ I laughed. ‘This is my first
visit to the hotel.’

‘I can’t comment Miss Baxter, just following
orders,’ he replied, as we stepped outside. It was a total contrast to the last
time I’d arrived. The temperature was in the early eighty degrees, which for
the UK was positively balmy. I stripped off my jacket and raised my eyebrows as
he led me to a black Mercedes.

‘Thank you,’ I smiled as I sat inside. Dan must
have known I was coming, how else would a chauffeur be sent for me? But how
would he have known? I sincerely hoped he didn’t have his investigator tracing
me still, that would be unacceptable. I felt my heart racing and looked down to
see my hands were trembling. I’d tried desperately not to get my hopes up that
everything that had happened could be rationalised, that I could forgive him,
and that we could have an honest discussion as to where we were going to go
from here. But seeing him again had opened the floodgates on all the feelings
for him that I’d tried so hard to suppress. The thought that he was probably
waiting at the house for me, maybe stuck on a business call, waiting for his
driver to take me to him filled me with excitement. I kept watch out of the
window, appreciating that the ride this time was a lot smoother. I was
disappointed when we passed the turn for the island and headed on down to the
village and up to the hotel. I got out and stretched as I looked around. It was
like a miniature twin turreted castle, with the most magnificent view of the
loch. The driver carried my case into the baronial style hall and disappeared
before I even had a chance to think about tipping him.

‘Good evening, Miss Baxter,’ smiled the lady
behind the desk.

‘Good evening. Is there any way you can pass this
tip to the chauffeur, he left rather quickly.’

‘There’s no need for a tip, for any of the staff,
it’s all part of the service,’ she smiled. I raised my eyebrows. Was this some
Scottish expression everyone used? ‘So you’re in the luxury tower suite, I’ll
arrange to have your bags taken up. Evening dining has closed, but room service
will deliver anytime through the night.’

‘I’m sorry I don’t understand, I didn’t book a
luxury suite.’

‘Bear with me a moment,’ she smiled again as she
looked at her computer screen and I wondered what the hell was going on. ‘Ah I
can see that you didn’t, however you’re on our VIP list so you’re automatically
upgraded to the best available suite in any of our hotels around the world.’

‘And what did I do to deserve being placed on your
VIP list? I’ve never stayed here before?’ I asked, perplexed.

‘My records show that there’s a standing
instruction from the owner. If you book in at any of his hotels you’re given
VIP service,’ she smiled. I swallowed hard as an idea formed in my mind.

‘I don’t suppose the owner is Oliver Davenport?’

‘Yes, Miss Baxter. He purchased us a few years
ago, then proceeded to open other luxury spa resorts in various international locales.
You’ll find a brochure in your room, along with one for the spa treatments if
you wish to book any in.’

‘Thank you. I don’t suppose there’s any way of
contacting Mr. Davenport to say that I’m staying here and wanted to thank him?’

‘He’ll already be aware. All hotels are under
instruction to contact him immediately if we take any bookings from you.’

‘Right,’ I nodded, still a bit dazed. So much for
the down to earth hired help I fell in love with.

‘Here’s Callum, he’ll take your case up for you if
you’d like to follow him. Breakfast is served from seven to ten-thirty in the
main dining room, or you can order room service for no extra charge.’

I raised my eyebrows again as I walked into my
suite. I had a lounge and dining room with an amazing view down the loch, the
island just visible in the distance. I opened a set of double doors to the
master bedroom which had been done in sumptuous shades of gold and purple. There
was a large bouquet of brightly coloured gerbera daisies on the bedside table,
my favourite flowers, and I noticed a card propped up against them addressed to
me. I opened it to find a typed note.

Miss Baxter. Welcome back to Scotland. Order
anything you like, food, treatments, Champagne. The bill is on me. Mr. Complex

I laughed at his sign off. Was he here? The
thought that I’d get to see him tonight had my heart beating wildly again. I’d
planned on getting a taxi down to the island at midday tomorrow to wait for him
as he came to the mainland for his daily ritual. I jumped as the phone rang.

‘Hello?’

‘Ellie.’ His voice was like a sensuous caress and
my body shivered in delight.

‘Dan. Or do I call you Oliver?’

‘I actually prefer Ollie.’

‘I’m not sure if I can adjust to that, plus Ollie
and Ellie’s a bit weird. It sounds like one of those children’s TV programmes
like Rosie and Jim, but they didn’t rhyme where Ollie and Ellie does rhyme, it
just don’t sound right at all. I know you as Dan, it’s like me asking you to
call me ... Bridget or something.’

‘Still as talkative and random as ever,’ he
chuckled.

‘Still as complex as ever,’ I retorted and he
sighed.

‘Why are you in Scotland, Ellie? In particular at
the loch? You made it quite clear that you wanted nothing to do with me.’

‘Maybe I was a bit rash in refusing to hear you
out.’

‘So now you know who I really am and have had time
to let that sink in, you suddenly want me again?’

‘That’s unfair,’ I bit back immediately. ‘You said
you knew, you knew that I’d fallen in love with you before I even left the
island. I had no idea who you were. I fell in love with Dan the maintenance
guy. Don’t you dare make out that I’m only here because I found out you’re
someone else, someone with money.’ I felt tears stinging my eyes and heard a
deep sigh.

‘I’m sorry, that
was
unfair of me. I’m just
thrown, Ellie. You made your distaste for me apparent, I left assuming I’d
never hear from you again. What changed in the last few days?’

‘I … I … maybe I trusted that you were a decent
man and that you lied to protect me. I came back to the hotel to talk to you on
Sunday, but you’d already left.’

‘You did?’ he sounded surprised.

‘Yes. I want answers, Dan.’

‘Are you still seeing your boyfriend?’ he asked
quietly.

‘Tom? He’s not my boyfriend, we had a lunch date
and I’ve told him that I’m not ready for a relationship.’

‘Because you’re still in love with me?’

‘Dan,’ I sighed as I covered my eyes.

‘If I’m not going to lie anymore, neither are you
Ellie. Did you have sex with him?’

‘That’s none of your business,’ I protested, too
embarrassed to say that in spite of everything I couldn’t bear the thought of
anyone but him touching me.

‘I’m a possessive and jealous man, Ellie. I need
to know if you slept with him, or any other men, since you left Scotland in
January?’ he demanded.

‘No,’ I whispered and heard him breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Have you?’

‘No, no men,’ he chuckled.

‘Dan!’ I scolded, wondering if I could ever get my
head around calling him Ollie.

‘No women either Ellie. I meant what I said. You
got to me. You’re the only woman who’s managed to get to me since … trust me,
you’re all I can think about. I’ve really missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you too,’ I responded as my heart
warmed at his declaration. ‘But I’ve not forgiven you yet.’

‘I can understand that. So, you really want to
listen to my side of the story?’

‘Yes,’ I breathed. ‘But it needs to be full
disclosure, no more lies or cover ups or I walk away for good this time. I
won’t stand for that anymore, I deserve better.’

‘You do deserve better and I promise, full
disclosure.’

‘When?’ I asked, hoping any second that the door
would knock.

‘I’m still in London,’ he sighed. ‘I have some
commitments I can’t get out of, but I can be back Sunday lunchtime. I’ll pick
you up and we can talk, this isn’t something I want to do over the phone. Ok?’

‘Ok,’ I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. I
was disappointed, I was hoping to see him tonight, to finally get to the bottom
of this, to see if we had a chance or not. All this waiting and secrecy was
killing me.

‘I need to go, I have a conference call to make to
California. Please make use of the spa tomorrow, anything you want.’

‘It’s pricey,’ I replied as I looked at the brochure.

‘Trust me, I’m good for the money,’ he replied and
I could hear the smile down the phone. ‘I have a close connection with the
owner.’

‘Still as cocky as ever.’

‘Still as infuriating as ever. Don’t make me spank
you again by not doing as you’re told. I’ll see you on Sunday, Miss Baxter.’

‘I’ll see you on Sunday, Oliver Daniel Davenport,’
I replied and heard him make some weird groaning noise. ‘Are you ok?’

‘You’ve no idea how badly I wanted you to call me
by my real name,’ he sighed.

‘That’s why you kept asking me not to call you Dan
when we … when we were …’ I stalled.

‘Having mind blowing sex?’ he growled. ‘Yes. In
the spirit of fair warning I hope that you’ve kept limber, because if you hear
me out and forgive me I’m going to be ripping off your clothes and fucking you
furiously to make up for the drought of the last six months.’

‘O God,’ I groaned. ‘You went three years, six
months is nothing.’

‘Three years was easy when I didn’t have the
memories of sex with you to tempt me. God damn it, I
have
to go.
Sunday.’

‘Sunday,’ I agreed and realised he’d gone. I threw
myself back on the bed and covered my eyes. His explanation had better clear
everything up and leave me with no doubts, as frantic furious sex with him was
too tempting an offer to try and resist. I quickly sat up and dialled Brooke to
fill her in.