Never Close Enough Read online

  “After I left your place last night I went to Bob's house and got them. You know, just on the off chance I could convince you to let me help.” Porter said.

  “I see,” Ella said, thinking it was adorable that he had planned this the night before, “so now just off to your mom's bar?”

  “That's the plan.”

  “So, tell me what you do for work. Oh my gosh,” Ella said quickly, “You’re not missing work for this, are you?”

  “No, it's fine. I work for myself.” Ella let out a sigh of relief, glad she wasn’t compromising his work. “I’m a contractor. So I will do almost anything that involves tools, power equipment, and lumber. You name it, I can build it.”

  “Not to mention, you fix dishwashers.”

  “Oh no. I am no plumber. Along with my mother's keen eye for pretty girls, she also feels like I am far more capable at handy-man duties than I really am. You want a deck? I can do that. You need an addition built on to your house? I'm your man. But I do not mess with the plumbing or electrical. She just thinks way too highly of me.”

  “Aw, she just loves you, I'm sure. Plus, you probably charge her a lot less, right?” Ella said laughing.

  “I guess that's a good point. I might have to raise my rates among family,” he said smiling back at her. “So, tell me, what do you do?”

  “I own my own boutique in Portland. I opened it a few years back and it's been doing pretty well. I am pretty hands on, so I put in quite a few hours at the shop. But it is the best feeling to be your own boss, right? That's something we have in common.” She looked over him and their eyes met as he turned to look at her.

  “Yeah, I agree. I really like that I get to choose how I am going to spend my time and that I can make my own plans. But there's also a lot of pressure. I've got three guys working under me. I know that if I can't pull it together and do right by them, their families will struggle. That's a big driving force behind my work.”

  Ella agreed quietly and nodded her head at him. What he had said really resonated with her. She often felt the same pressure. Although she only really employed two other women who were both working through college, so the pressure wasn't as high. However, she not only understood what he was saying, but admired the fact that he was aware of his responsibility to his employees. He sounded so grown up and responsible, and surprisingly to her, that was a huge turn on. In spite of his acute bout of grumpiness displayed the night before, he was being completely friendly and open to her today. She was doing her best to reconcile the fact that he was someone she would normally be very attracted to, had she been in a place emotionally to have an attraction.

  “So, tell me Porter, how old is Lincoln City's most eligible bachelor?”

  “Bob is at least 65,” Porter said deadpan.

  “Oh, really? I guess that's not too old for me, as long as he has money.”

  “Oh, he's loaded,” Porter said, finally breaking a smile towards Ella.

  Chapter Four

  Ella

  Porter had taken her to her car where he was currently hooking some cables up to their batteries. He seemed more than capable, so Ella let him handle the task. She felt her purse vibrating and then realized that the phone had been on silent since yesterday. She took her phone out and saw ‘Kyle’ on the screen. She hesitated, but then thought she’d have to face him sooner or later. “Hello?”

  “Ella! You answered. I’m so glad. Listen, we need to talk,” Kyle said

  “Kyle, I don’t really think there’s anything to talk about.”

  “Of course there is, Ella. I am so sorry about what you saw. I don’t know what I was thinking. That never should have happened.”

  “What shouldn’t have happened, Kyle? You cheating on me or me walking in on you in the act?” Ella’s voice was rising. She knew Porter could hear her and that he was politely pretending not to listen to her conversation.

  “All of it Ella, I shouldn’t have cheated on you and I am so sorry you had to see what you did. I know I totally messed everything up and that you deserve better. I don’t know how to explain everything that’s been going on.”

  “Start from the beginning Kyle,” Ella said softly, not entirely sure she wanted to hear it, but the need to hear answers to her questions won out.

  “Ok, well, you remember about three months ago, when I went on that business trip to Miami?” Kyle asked.

  “Yes,” Ella remembered him going to Miami for a week and nothing seemed suspicious.

  “Well, when I was in Miami, I met Tiffany at one of my conferences. I swear to you I didn’t go there with the intention of sleeping with anyone. When I first met her, we were together for work purposes, and things just kind of happened. We went out to dinner with some other people at the conference, we had some drinks, and we just talked all night. We spent the week together and before I left we slept together. I am so sorry Ella.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? And this has been going on for three months?!” Ella yelled.

  “No. Yes. No. Jesus!” She heard a loud smack like he had slammed his fist into a table, and then she heard him inhale deeply. She waited for him to calm down and he eventually continued. “We only slept together once in Miami. After I came home I wanted to fix things with you, Ella. Things have been off between us for a while now; I know you felt it, too. I wanted to make sure that I was giving us the shot we deserved, the shot you deserved. This wasn’t your fault Ella. It was mine. Anyway, for the last three months Tiffany has been emailing me at work, asking me to come back to Miami to be with her. At first it was friendly, but she started getting really insistent. I kept trying to tell her that I wasn’t sure about her and me and that I needed to see what was happening with us. I told her that we were going to the beach, and that I was hoping it would help our relationship, that it would fix us. And I really was, El. I wanted to not feel guilty anymore and to be happy with you.” Kyle was quiet for a few seconds and Ella could hear him trying to gain control. She could tell he was near tears. Ella had a few rogue tears slipping down her cheeks. This was not what she was expecting.

  “Tiffany showed up here yesterday afternoon unexpected,” Kyle continued. “I wasn’t expecting her to be here and I wasn’t expecting to feel the way I did when I saw her. I just kept thinking about how far apart I feel from you and how close she was. She wanted me Ella. I haven’t felt that from you in years.”

  “Don’t you dare try and turn this around on me, Kyle! I was trying just as hard as you were. I was feeling alone too. I never found some convenient yoga slut to make me feel better!”

  “I know. Damn, Ella, that’s not what I meant. I should have talked to you about it. I shouldn’t have slept with her. I will never be as sorry about anything else in my life. But it happened and I can’t take it back. Believe me, I would.”

  “Where is she now, Kyle? Is she still there with you?”

  “No, I made her leave after you walked in on us.”

  “Was she the only one?”

  “Yes, I swear.”

  Ella believed him and she was relieved to know that he had only been with one person. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  “I think we are over, Kyle,” Ella said softly.

  “We can work through this El. Don’t give up on us.”

  “I think you should move out of the apartment.”

  “Are you going to stay at the beach?”

  “I think that’s best.”

  “I’ll be out by the end of the week.”

  “Bye, Kyle.”

  “Bye, El.”

  Ella ended the call put her phone back in her purse. She used her hands to knead the back of her neck and felt no amount of pressure would relieve the tension she felt in her body.

  “Everything ok, Ella?”

  Ella turned around and looked at Porter. She had forgotten he was so nearby and knew he’d heard the whole conversation.

  “Well, if by ‘ok’ you mean ‘totally fucked up’, then yes. Everything’s dandy,”
she said with more sadness in her voice than anything.

  “Anything I can do to help?” Porter asked.

  “Buy me a drink?”

  “Ella, it’s nine o’clock in the morning.”

  “Ok, fine, buy me a drink in twelve hours.”

  Porter laughed, “Ok, I can do that. You want to get in your car and see if it’ll start?”

  “Sure,” she replied. She got in and sat with one leg in the car and one leg out. She put the key in the ignition and it turned over without a problem. She smiled excitedly and said, “And you said you weren’t an electrician.”

  “Well, I guess I missed my calling.” Porter walked over to her car, unhooked the cables, shut her hood and then went to her open door and leaned on the frame of the car, boxing her in slightly. “Seriously, are you going to be ok?”

  Ella shrugged, “I think so. It’s over, and honestly, it’s been over for a while. He went about it in a pretty shitty way, but we were destined to end. I’ve been trying to put it off, trying to fix whatever was wrong, but maybe it’s better this way. Relationships should take work, but it shouldn’t be work. Maybe once it’s broken it’s too late. We’ve been broken for a while. I just want to go back to the house, take a hot bath, and relax.”

  Porter looked down at Ella, and then took a step backwards, reaching for his keys in his pocket. “Do you need to follow me back to your house or do you remember the way?”

  “I remember the way. Thanks Porter, for everything. I don’t know how I would have gotten here to fix my car without you. I am going to hold you to that drink tonight.”

  “You’re on. I will meet you back here in twelve hours, sharp,” he said with a smile.

  Ella smiled back at him and then closed her door. She backed out of the parking space and waved to Porter as she pulled away. Was she really going to meet him tonight at the bar? She didn’t necessarily think anything scandalous would happen, but she was newly single and he was single too. Would she be giving him the wrong impression by meeting him? What if he was expecting something from her? Well, honestly, if he had wanted something from her he had certainly had a few opportunities. So if he hadn’t tried something already, she was probably in the clear, right? Did she want to be in the clear?

  She had just broken up with her long term boyfriend, but she didn’t feel as upset as she thought she should. She was a little sad, and a little angry for the way it had all ended, but she wasn’t destroyed. Was there something wrong with her? She decided that not being an emotional wreck was ok, and that meeting a nice man who had helped her tremendously for a drink wouldn’t be the end of the world.

  Porter

  Porter watched her car pull out on to the road, and smiled as he removed the cables from his battery and put them in the bed of his truck. He turned towards the bar and headed inside and felt the sides of his mouth turn up. She had a way of making him smile. He felt bad that she was going through something rough, but he also felt good about being able to help her feel better. As he walked into the bar, he saw his mother bring an order to a table of older, retired men. He recognized them as regulars, and knew that they came here almost every morning to eat and flirt with his mom. It was harmless and Tilly was good at making anyone she came into contact with feel special. It didn’t surprise him that she could bring customers back day after day.

  Tilly saw him come in and after giving the men their food and a thousand watt smile, she met him back at the bar. “You want some coffee, son?”

  “Yeah, thanks”

  “What are you doing here this morning? I usually don’t see you until the afternoon,” Tilly asked as she poured him a cup of coffee.

  “I picked up Ella and brought her to get her car. She just left.”

  “Well, isn’t that nice of you,” Tilly said, trying to hide her smile from him.

  “Calm down, Mom. It was nothing. I didn’t feel right about leaving her there without a way to get back.”

  “That was very nice of you, Honey. I’m sure she appreciates your help.”

  “She did. She has told me ‘Thank You’ a few too many times,” he said as he took a drink of his coffee. It was delicious. His mom made the best coffee. He’d have to come here in the mornings more often. It tasted even better because he knew his mom wouldn’t take any money from him. Free coffee only partly made up for all the times his mother tried to fix him up with unsuspecting women.

  “Maybe she’ll think of a way to repay you,” Tilly said with a wink.

  “Mom, honestly, you’re ridiculous. Ella just broke up with her boyfriend. Five minutes ago. In the parking lot. She doesn’t need you trying to put your nose in her business and neither do I.”

  “I am simply suggesting that maybe she doesn’t need to be alone right now, perhaps you should keep an eye on her.”

  “Ok, Mom. Well, as it happens, we are meeting here tonight for drinks.”

  Tilly got an excited look on her face, “That’s my boy!”

  “That’s my cue to leave. You’re too much.”

  “Have a good day, Son! See you tonight,” she said as he was walking towards the door.

  “Love you, Mom. Call me if you need anything.” He walked behind the bar and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he headed to the door.

  Porter shook his head as he walked to his truck. His mother was relentless. Sometimes he thought he should just find a woman he tolerated to marry just so his mother would back off, but he knew that was a bad idea. He’d never really met a woman he wanted to spend more than an evening with, let alone a lifetime. Would he want more than an evening with Ella? The thought had crossed his mind. He was attracted to her, that was simple. Her blonde hair was enticing, and looked soft enough to touch whether it had been up in a bun this morning, or swirling in the wind last night. Her small frame was highlighted by her curves and he had tried not to get caught admiring her body. She was slender with just enough roundness to hold onto. He doubted he’d get an opportunity to hold on to anything of hers and that was ok. He wasn’t into rebounds and he wasn’t a desperate man. He could spend time with a beautiful woman as a friend without expectations. It didn’t mean he couldn’t think about getting ahold of her.

  Chapter Five

  Ella

  Ella had spent the rest of her day relaxing and she enjoyed it immensely. She had taken a much needed bath in her giant jacuzzi tub, gone out for lunch, and then stopped to do some grocery shopping so she could eat meals without having to leave the house. Then she grabbed the latest book she had been reading and headed to the beach. It was a warm and sunny afternoon and reading on the beach had been calming and relaxing.

  The evening came and brought cool breezes with it that forced her back inside. She figured she had better start getting ready to meet Porter at the bar. She had been thinking all day about how she should approach this situation. Was she preparing to simply meet a friend at the bar, or should she be treating this like a date? What should she wear? She was pretty sure it wasn’t really socially acceptable to be going on dates on the very same day you break up with your boyfriend, but she wasn’t sure she cared about what was acceptable. She didn’t feel newly single. She felt newly freed. She thought she would spend the day thinking about Kyle and being sad about their abrupt ending, but she found herself thinking more about Porter. She remembered the way he looked when he’d come to her house this morning in his black shirt that clung to his strong arms and how his hair seemed to always be perfectly messy.

  She decided that regardless of how long she’d been on the market she was going to make sure she looked nice when she met Porter at the bar. There was nothing wrong with wanting to look your best, right? She had packed date outfits for her weeklong stay and she wasn’t about to let them go to waste. This might be the only opportunity she got to wear them and what did she have to lose?

  When Ella was done getting ready, she did one last check in the mirrored closet door. She had chosen to wear her favorite skinny jeans, a cream-colored lace camisole,
and a sheer burgundy cardigan. She also had her suede boots that came up just below her knee which matched the creamy color of her cami, and added three inches to her height with a stiletto heel. Her hair was hanging in big, loose curls, and she had put on just a little bit of mascara and tinted lip gloss. She looked at her reflection and was pretty satisfied with her appearance.

  As she drove towards Tilly’s, she tried to ignore the nervous feeling she was getting in her stomach and kept thinking about how this definitely wasn’t a date. Just as sure as she was that it wasn’t a date, she was sure that Porter didn’t think it was a date either. He knew she’d just ended everything with Kyle. Hell, he had been standing right next to her. She just needed to reassure herself that this was nothing but a friendly meeting of two people for drinks. However, when she pulled into the parking lot, her head and the butterflies in her stomach started having a serious disagreement.

  She saw Porter sitting on the lowered tailgate of his truck and he looked ridiculously hot. She debated turning the car around and going back to the beach house. She thought she was ready to do this, but she wasn’t expecting to be so surprisingly attracted to him. She saw recognition in his eyes when he saw her car, so now the brilliant idea to bail was no longer an option. She parked her car a few spots over from Porter, took a few deep breaths, and then managed to get out of her car. She walked towards him and he was looking in her direction waiting for her.

  He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that seemed to be just the right amount of tight in all the right places. She thought his shirt earlier had shown off the muscles in his arms, but these jeans were highlighting muscle definition in a completely different area, accentuating his sturdy legs. She had never really noticed a man’s thighs before, but she was definitely a fan of his, and now a fan of whatever brand of jeans he was wearing. His legs were almost like tree trunks. If he looked this good in his jeans from the front, she was sure the view from the back would be deadly. She would have to remind herself to not check out his ass. Because honestly, people who are just friends meeting for drinks don’t check out each other’s asses. She was almost positive that no good could come of that.