Chapter 23

Tyler Chasez sat at a small back table in L.A.'s trendy Nobu restaurant waiting for JC and Ellie, the woman who could now formally be deemed as his brother's girlfriend.  He'd spent a little time with them over the course of the past forty-eight hours.  The more he realized how serious things had become, the worse he'd felt for giving them both such a hard time when he'd first come back into town.  Clearly, his brother had made some changes in his life.  It was time to acknowledge and accept those changes.  Single guy JC was fun for little while, but he did have a tendency to get a little out of control—like last time.  That whole situation had caught Ty totally off guard, but he finally was getting over it.  

It was almost like his brother had become someone else for a while when all that happened.  He was glad that JC was back to his normal self.  He guessed he should thank Ellie for that.  She probably had no idea the positive affect she'd somehow had on JC.

He was sipping his sparkling water when they came into view.  JC was smiling proudly, Ellie one step behind him, loosely clutching JC's right hand with her left.  She was smiling too, looking like she'd just barely pulled herself together after a fit of giggles.  They both had that obvious twinkle in their eyes... love.  It was so obvious they were in love, even in the dimly lit restaurant he could see it.

Ty found himself just a bit jealous.  He'd been so busy with college and internships, he really hadn't found time to fall in love.  He realized that Ellie knew nothing about him.  She had no idea what he did, or what he was working so hard to become.  It was probably time to tell her.

JC pulled out her chair for her, the one between the two of them.  It was a square table for 4, fairly intimate, close enough that he could smell Ellie's perfume—clean and sweet.  Ty understood his brother's attraction to her.  Ellie was more than just a pretty girl, she came across as very put together but in a real and natural sense.  She seemed to be very true to herself, which could be unusual to find period—let alone in Los Angeles.  Ellie felt like someone they would have known back home.  Ty liked that about her, and now that things were more comfortable he felt he could let down his guard and be OK with that feeling sinking in.  

"I'm starving," she spoke as she situated herself in her chair.  She was dressed conservatively in a dark blue fitted blazer, nude loose-fitting blouse and dark jeans.  Tyler was far from a woman's connoisseur of fashion or shoes, but he'd recognized the high-dollar nude heels on her feet when she walked in too—only because he couldn't help but think of how different she looked all dolled-up compared to when he'd seen her the day before wearing JC's oversized pajamas.

Finally focusing on his brother, Ty noticed the goofy grin on JC's face... almost like the words "I'm starving" had some hidden meaning.  With the way those two had been going at it, they probably did.  He heard things coming out of JC’s bedroom the day before that he’d like to just erase from his memory.  He was sure they’d had no idea he’d even been by the house.  It was best to keep it that way.

Without further hesitation, he turned to them both and put forth the manners that his parents had raised him with—something he should have done the first night he and Ellie had met.  “Thanks for coming, guys.  JC, I’m glad we can get back to being brothers again.”

“Me too,” JC responded simply before taking a sip of his water.

“Ellie, I realize you probably think I’m a big freak.”  He caught JC’s curious expression just briefly before turning back to her.  "Let's just say I haven't been acting like myself these past couple of weeks."

Ellie smirked.   She found him being completely sincere for the first time.   “I don’t think that.  I have siblings too.  I understand how things get sometimes.”

He grinned appreciatively and then looked at JC.  “I’m buying tonight, bro.  No arguments.”

JC shrugged, not saying a word.  Then the 3 of them turned to their menus and began discussing their meal.

It didn’t take long for things to settle into a normal rhythm of discussion, and after three-quarters of a bottle of wine between the them, Tyler was easily dishing out stories of JC as a kid—how he’d been so into dancing that he’d practiced hours on end in his bedroom.  The desire to giggle was hard to surpress.  Thoughts of a young JC—determined and strong-willed—did funny things to her heart.  The overwhelming desire to learn everything about him was something she had to control, because as smitten as she was feeling, she didn't want to appear overly so.

She still had to keep her cool as best as possible.

An hour later they had finished eating and Ellie was more than ready to get JC home and have her way with him.  She was tired of holding back because they were in public.  The desire to touch every part of him was indescribable—the word ache wasn't strong enough; magnetic didn't describe it either. That electrifying pull she felt in her limbs, the yearning to just be closer to him...it was a force to be reckoned with and she was tired of fighting it.

Ellie grabbed her purse from the back of her chair and automatically checked her phone.  She had several text messages, much more than usual.  An instant knot formed in the pit of her stomach and it had nothing to do with the amazing sushi they'd just ate.  Especially once she realized the majority of them were from an unknown number.

"What?" JC asked softly.  He must have noticed the look of peculiarity on her face.

With a casual shake of the head, she averted answering him.  Instead he got the cue that it was time to go and initiated their goodbyes.  Once safely in the car, Ellie pulled out her phone again.  "What is it?" JC asked again as he was safely maneurving his black Mercedes onto the street.  

"Someone blew up my phone and I don't know who it is."  She was scrolling through the messages as she spoke.  They were all alarming and strange...

I know who you are. Was the first one she read.  "What the?" she remarked out loud.  You have information I need.  Please contact me.  This is important.  

There were several more all along the same lines.  Ellie felt extremely confused.  This had to be a wrong number.  The last thing she needed was more drama in her life.  This had to be a mistake.

Tossing her phone back into her purse, she gazed at JC next to her.  "You can read them when we get home."

He looked at her with confusion laced in his handsome expression.  Ellie tried to push the thought of the random texts from her mind and instead focused on the desire to touch him.   There was no need to hold back any longer.  Instantly she grinned and smoothed a hand to his thigh, reveling in the strength of him beneath her touch.  

Later that night, as Ellie curled up against JC, content and satisfied in his big comfortable bed, the thought of the messages returned and she realized she had never let him read them.  Stretching out of his hold, she reached for a shirt from the floor—his—and pulled it over her head.  It was a bit chilly in the house, especially when leaving his warmth that had been beside her.  She went to her purse and pulled out her Blackberry.  

"My number is private.  These have to be a wrong number."  She handed JC her phone and climbed back into bed beside him.

Quickly he scrolled through them, speed reading.  "Let's find out," he remarked and then reached into a cabinet in his nightstand.  She couldn't help but eyeball the muscle definition in his back as he stretched and then returned with his MacBook Pro.  Sitting on his lap, he powered it on and waited for a few seconds while it started up.  "We can do a reverse search," he said.  "It's a 415 area code.  I believe that's San Francisco."

"Yes.  I lived there before I moved to LA," Ellie remarked.

"I remember you saying that," JC continued as he brought up the search engine.  He stilled then except for his head, which he turned to give her a sly grin.  "You look extremely hot in my t-shirt, by the way."

She felt her smile spread up to her cheeks.  "You look extremely hot NOT in your t-shirt," she countered, feeling extremely proud for coming up with that one on the spot.

A gruff chuckle escaped his voice in response.  It was one of the sounds that made Ellie want to slam the laptop shut and pounce on him.  Unfortunately she was far too curious about those messages at the moment.

JC must have been too because he immediately refocused.  "So how long have you had this phone number?"

"Not very long.  Since James and I first separated."

JC exhaled a long deep breath, his shoulders straightening, and then slumping forward as he typed something into the browser.  Even in such an unflattering position, the man had a body to die for.  "OK," he said a moment later.  "Here we go.  That phone number last belonged to someone named John Mackey.  Does that ring a bell?"

It did.  But first she wanted to know how he'd done that so quickly.  "How did you do that?"

"I told you, I did a reverse search.  I know a little bit about stuff, ok?"

Ellie felt her brow furrough in confusion. "I do know him.  Not well, but I know him.  He is an ex-associate of my ex-husbands."

"Ahhh.... so this comes down to your confidentiality agreement then."

"Yes, meaning I cannot speak with this man.  Tomorrow I will change my number."

"Good idea."  JC slapped his computer shut and returned it to the cabinet in the nightstand.

For some reason, Ellie couldn't just drop it though.  "Don't you typically have to pay for a reverse search? I did not see you pull out a credit card."

The look on JC's face told her that he didn't want to explain, but his mouth opened anyway.  "I may or may not have a subscription."

Ellie's brow furroughed again.  "Why?"

"I'd rather not say."

Now her brow was really furroughed.  "Why would you have a subscription to a people search engine?"

"Let's just say I needed it at some point and never canceled."

"Does this have to do with your promiscuous past?" Ellie found herself asking.  It made sense to her.  From the implications he'd given about his time as a bachelor, it's possible he'd needed to find things out about some of the random women he'd encountered.

"No." He shook his head, clearly aggravated with the question.  Then he grumbled something that she couldn't understand.  

"Sorry, but you're being so mysterious about the whole thing.  Why else would you not want to say?"

His expression suddenly turned serious as he reached out to clasp her hand, still sitting up next to her.  Ellie suddenly felt the need to scoot closer.  "It was family stuff... and kind of depressing.  Not something I really want to talk about at the moment.  Not that I have anything to hide and not because I don't want you to know everything about me.  We can talk about it another time."

Ellie found herself reaching out to touch his face, she smoothed her palm down his cheek, her fingers slipping into his messy dark hair.  "Oh.  I'm sorry," she told him softly.

Sweetly he reached in and pressed a moist kiss to her lips.  "It's ok," he whispered.  "And I don't blame you for thinking the other.  I know I deserved that."

That night Ellie dreamt of mystery and drama—a secret rendesvous with someone who had insider information on not her ex-husband but her hot, sexy, current  boyfriend.  It started as a faceless woman that suddenly morphed into Jill.  Ellie woke up startled, realizing that dream was partly reality.  Would she ever be able to shake the idea of knowing the man she'd fallen completely in love with had slept with her best friend?  

Shaking the thoughts away, she managed to fall back into slumber.  Unfortunately the dream continued, only this time Ellie was a third party watching her best friend have a romantic dinner with her boyfriend.  They were lovely and touchy, like two people in love.  

Again, she woke with a jump.  This time her actions stirred JC.

With a very deep, distinct groan he rolled toward her and smoothed a hand to her stomach. The t-shirt had come and gone, her skin bare underneath the bedding.  He found her flesh easily and knew just how to touch her, his body fitting comfortably into her side. The hand that had started on top of her stomach smoothed fluidly up to her left breast, where he cupped her gently.

She realized he was only half awake.  The visions of her dream were still vivid in her mind.  She shooed them away again, annoyed that they had surfaced in the first place.  With a simple turn of her neck her nose was pushed against the top of his head, his messy hair tickling her nostrils while the scent of his him delighted her senses.  She found herself taking in a deep breath.  He moaned against her and finally grumbled, "you ok?"

She responded softly with an "mmmm hmmm" and closed her eyes, reveling in the closeness they shared... the intimacy that she found so amazingly fulfilling.  She knew he had never shared this with Jill, or any other random hookup for that matter.  Ex girlfriends were a different story, one she wasn't brave enough to broach.  But that didn't matter either.  It was obvious she was the only thing he was interested in.  

The next day JC was taping all day.  It gave Ellie the time she needed to get some things done around the house and also to review some projects she had given to Daphne.  The money from her settlement with James was being wired to her by the end of the week.  She agreed to all of his terms and in return she was receiving the $50 million, minus the expense of what he'd paid for her home, which was being drawn into her name instead of his.  Ellie was happy to finally have closure.  Aside from some minor drama, the ordeal had been relatively painless.  Of course, she did have a lot of information on James that she knew he didn't want to get out.  

Basically he was paying her to keep quiet.  She had every intention of doing that.

The text messages from John Mackey did leave question in her mind, but whatever it was he wanted, she could not help with.

It was after 11 AM when Jill called. She invited Ellie to join her for a drink.  Feeling like she finally needed to get past the whole Jill and JC issue, Ellie accepted.  It was time to move on.  Besides, she wanted to talk to Jill about the weird text messages.

It was just after 5:30 PM when Ellie valet parked her Mercedes at the Beverly Hills Hotel and headed to the Polo Lounge to meet up with Jill.  She found the statuesque red-head situated at a square table for four, speaking to a tall, dark and handsome man in an obviously expensive, tailored suit.  Jill spotted Ellie and stood, quickly introducing the man--he was the manager of the restaurant.  Once that was over, Jill greeted her with a friendly hug and whipsered quietly, "Thank you for seeing me.  I miss you."

Ellie grinned, tight-lipped.  She missed Jill as well, but she wasn't totally comfortable saying that yet.  

They sat down and Ellie tried her best not to make things awkward.  Instead she felt the need to be completely honest.  "I am still struggling," she explained.  "But I will get past all this.  I miss you too," she finally managed.

Jill beamed, flipping her red hair over the right shoulder of her black blazer.  She was conservative Jill today, black pantsuit from head to toe.  Her hair stood out like fire against a dark sky.  The contrast was eyecatching.  Of course, it was the hair that brought on the visual.  Jill and that damn red hair.

Ugh, she mentally shook the thought away and scolded herself in her head.

"So what has been going on?  You have to catch me up on stuff," Jill urged.

And Ellie found herself doing just that.  And she realized that it felt good to talk about everything.  Suddenly she realized that she needed to connect with more women, she really didn't have enough girlfriends.  She'd felt so isolated while married to James.  Everything had been so off limits or overly structured.  The friends they'd associated with were for appearance sake only.  It was time to change that, one way or another.

Ellie waited till the end, once her glass of cabernet savignon had kicked in, to talk about the random texts messages.  She left off the part of how she discovered who the messages were from.

Jill was running one long nude colored fingernail up and down the stem of her wine glass as she pondered over the situation.  Ellie could practically see the wheels spinning in her head.  "I really wish you could tell me some of that stuff.  It must be pretty juicy," Jill finally remarked.

Ellie gave her a look from the tops of her lids, dodging the remark all together.  "I'm just going to change my number.  In fact, I already ordered a new phone.  That new thing from Apple."

"An iPhone?"

Ellie nodded and then changed the subject again. "I'm not sure my life can produce anymore weird, random drama."

"Oh, don't say that.  That's just asking for something else to pop up."  Jill took the last sip in her glass.  "Let's talk about something more exciting... Like how you plan to leverage your 50 million into 100 million."

Ellie smirked, if anyone could help her do that it was Jill.