Connor sucked in air through his teeth. “He’s determined to get us all married off. Except for London, but she has a couple of years.”

Blake turned his attention to the youngest Montgomery. The only girl in the family, London was beautiful with long, dark hair and expressive green eyes like her oldest brother, Drew. Unlike Drew, London actually laughed more often than not, and her eyes seemed to laugh with her.

God help the man who attempted to date her.

“Not happening, York,” Connor growled.

“I’m thirty-five... not interested in girls fifteen years my junior.”

Connor must have heard the truth in Blake’s voice because he said, “My apologies. Most men stopped giving a damn about London’s age once she turned seventeen.” He tipped his drink in Ella’s direction. “As for me, I prefer a more mature woman.”

“She’s thirty-four, hardly what I’d call mature.”

Connor leveled him with a blue-eyed gaze. “You know what I mean, and since I don’t work for Montgomery Industry, that fucking rule doesn’t apply.”

Blake wanted to argue with the man, but what would he say? That Ella belonged to him? That Ella was in love with his brother? “Perhaps not, but she doesn’t date Montgomerys.”

“Shame.” Connor took another drink. “Always had a thing for women like her.”

“Redheads?” Though Ella’s hair was a deep, rich auburn.

“Intelligent.”

Nonplussed, Blake stared at Connor for a moment. “Never took you for a brain man.”

Connor gave him a grin, the kind that made every available female in the room take notice. “I like other parts, too. But eventually, we’re going to have to talk. Prefer it’s with someone who can hold their own.”

“Cheers, mate.” Blake lifted his glass to Connor’s.

“You know, I just remembered the funniest thing,” Connor said in a low voice. “When you were hired, Ms. Simpson asked William about you, and she must have shown more interest than what my father liked, so he told her that you liked men.”

Blake nearly choked on his drink. “Pardon?”

Connor’s grin grew. “Then he said he was joking, but that you were involved with someone.”

“The hell he did.” Blake hadn’t been involved with anyone, not for years now. His last relationship had been six months before he started at Montgomery Industry. His former career hadn’t lent itself to permanent relationships.

“Thought you’d want to know she was interested in you first.”

“My thanks.”

Blake wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with that knowledge. Punching out the man who initially hired him seemed wrong, especially given that William was pushing seventy and had recently been hospitalized.

He ground his teeth together, something he hadn’t done since childhood when he was stressed.

When he risked another glance at Ella, she caught him staring at her. That familiar pull called to him. She was lovely in the extreme. Now that he knew every inch of her body, he wanted more. He wanted it all with her.

But fucking hell, she wanted another.

The room became stuffy, suffocating.

“If you’ll excuse me,” he murmured to Connor, needing to get away from the dinner.

As he left the room, he could feel Ella’s gaze on his back, but she didn’t come after him. However, at this moment, he wasn’t sure he wanted her to.

Chapter Eight

Ella didn’t see Blake again until the wedding the next morning. Since they weren’t walking together, she didn’t have the chance to ask him to have dinner with her that night.

They needed to talk. They needed to discuss everything. Every misunderstanding needed to be unraveled until the truth was all either of them could see or hear.

Ella craned her neck, looking for Blake, but he seemed to have disappeared.

“Dance with me,” Drew said, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. He and Hannah had already shared their first dance together, and there were numerous guests dancing.

With a beautiful smile, Hannah caught Ella’s gaze and waved. Ella smiled back, but she continued to look for Blake.

Where was he? She needed to talk to him.

Then she caught herself. Here she was, dancing with the man she’d written hundreds of emails to, with the man she’d spent countless hours daydreaming about, and yet, all she could think about was Blake.

“He left, Ella.”

She almost stumbled, but Drew spun her around. “What? When?”

“Ten minutes after the ceremony. He had to deal with some family stuff back home.”

“As in Ravenswoodshire?” she asked.

“Yes, and I’m afraid he won’t be coming back. You see, he turned in his resignation and...” Drew began, but Ella was already out of his arms.

“Thank you for the dance. Best wishes to you and,” she ran over to Hannah and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “you as well. I want nothing but happiness for y’all.” She meant every word. Finally, she was truly happy for them.

“Go get him, sweetie,” Hannah whispered, hugging her tightly.

Picking up her dress at the hem, Ella raced for the front of the hotel, hoping to catch Blake before one of the shuttles left with him on it. Several shuttles serviced the resort each day, taking guests to and from the dock where they would travel by boat to the larger island that held the international airport.

But just as she got there, the shuttle pulled away.

“Blake,” she screamed over and over, running after it as she waved her hands in the air like a wild woman, but the van didn’t stop. It kept going and going until it disappeared around a bend in the road.

She stopped running and bent over, resting her hands on her thighs as she caught her breath. It wasn’t easy running in heels.

“That’s okay. I’ll pack my things and take the next one. He’ll have to wait for a flight,” she mumbled to herself as she turned to go back inside.

“He won’t take a commercial flight,” Drew said, meeting her at the door. “You’re welcome to take my private jet instead. I can call ahead and have it ready for you.”

“Thanks, but—”

“Allow me to do this for you. You’ve been an amazing personal assistant, Ella, but even more than that, you’ve been an incredible friend to me over the years.” Drew’s face was serious. “And you’ve done what I never could have for Hannah.”

She scrunched her nose. “What’s that?”

“You gave her a peace of mind that goes beyond having faith in me or in what I say. That is something I’ll never forget and never be able to repay,” he said. “Get packed, but take your time. I’ll arrange everything for you.”

Tears filled her eyes, but they were ones of gratitude. Rising up on her tiptoes, she lightly kissed his cheek. “Goodbye, Drew. Thank you for everything.”

*

The jet couldn’t travel fast enough for Ella’s liking. Yes, it was luxurious and filled with amenities that weren’t even available in her uptown apartment, but all she could think about was getting to Blake.

Never in her life had she made such a rash decision to go after a man, but her heart and mind were of one accord on this.

“How much longer do we have?” she asked the attendant.

“Four hours, ma’am.”

Ella’s heart sank.

Blake had a three-hour start on her. By the time he arrived at Heathrow, he would be well on his way to the country estate where his family lived.

However, Drew had promised a car would be waiting to immediately whisk her away to Ravenswoodshire. Whether her appearance would be welcomed was another matter.

She tipped up her chin and accepted the glass of white wine from the attendant, determined to relax. There was nowhere she could go, and this was the fastest way to get to him.

Maybe she could take the remaining hours to practice what she would say to him. Only, she had no idea how to start. The always-prepared-for-any-situation-type-A personality in her rebelled at the thought.