his enthusiastic embrace, and the next—air.
And then an Australian accent. ‘You don’t want to do that, mate.’
She blinked, focused, and saw that Aaron James was holding Tom in an embrace of his own, standing behind him with one arm around Tom’s chest. How had he got from the bar to the pool table in a nanosecond?
‘I’m fine,’ Ella said. ‘You can let him go.’
Aaron ignored her.
‘I said I’m fine,’ Ella insisted. ‘I was handling it.’
‘Yes, I could see that,’ Aaron said darkly.
‘I was,’ Ella insisted, and stepped forward to pull futilely at Aaron’s steel-band arm clamped across Tom’s writhing torso.
Tom lunged at the same time, and Ella felt a crack across her lip. She tasted blood, staggered backwards, fell against the table and ended up on the floor.
And then everything swirled. Black spots. Nothing.
The first thing Ella noticed as her consciousness returned was the scent. Delicious. Clean and wild, like the beach in winter. She inhaled. Nuzzled her nose into it. Inhaled again. She wanted to taste it. Did it taste as good as it smelled? She opened her mouth, moved her lips, tongue. One small lick. Mmm. Good. Different from the smell but … good.
Then a sound. A sharp intake of breath.
She opened her eyes. Saw skin. Tanned skin. White next to it. She shook her head to clear it. Oh, that hurt. Pulled back a little, looked up. Aaron James. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘What happened?’
‘That moron knocked you out.’
It came back at once. Tom. ‘Not on purpose.’
‘No, not on purpose.’
‘Where is he?’
‘Gone. Don’t worry about him.’
‘I’m not worried. He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.’ Ella moved again, and realised she was half lolling against Aaron’s thighs.
She started to ease away from him but he kept her there, one arm around her back, one crossing her waist to hold onto her from the front.
‘Take it easy,’ Aaron said.
A crowd of people had gathered around them. Ella felt herself blush for the second time that night. Intolerable, but apparently uncontrollable. ‘I don’t feel well,’ she said.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Aaron replied.
‘I have to get home,’ she said, but she stayed exactly where she was. She closed her eyes. The smell of him. It was him, that smell. That was … comforting. She didn’t know why that was so. Didn’t care why. It just was.
‘All right, people, show’s over,’ Aaron said, and Ella realised he was telling their audience to get lost. He said something more specific to another man, who seemed to be in charge. She assumed he was pacifying the manager. She didn’t care. She just wanted to close her eyes.
‘Ella, your lip’s bleeding. I’m staying here at the hotel. Come to my room, let me make sure you’re all right, then I’ll get you home. Or to the hospital.’
She opened her eyes. ‘Not the hospital.’ She didn’t want anyone at the hospital to see her like this.
‘Okay—then my room.’
She wanted to say she would find her own way home immediately, but when she opened her mouth the words ‘All right’ were what came out. She ran her tongue experimentally over her lip. Ouch. Why hadn’t she noticed it was hurting? ‘My head hurts more than my lip. Did I hit it when I fell?’
‘No, I caught you. Let me …’ He didn’t bother finishing the sentence, instead running his fingers over her scalp. ‘No, nothing. Come on. I’ll help you stand.’
Aaron carefully eased Ella up. ‘Lean on me,’ he said softly, and Ella didn’t need to be told twice. She felt awful.
As they made their way out of the bar, she noted a few people looking and whispering, but nobody she knew. ‘I’m sorry about this,’ she said to Aaron. ‘Do you think anyone knows you? I mean, from the television show?’
‘I’m not well known outside Australia. But it doesn’t matter either way.’
‘I don’t want to embarrass you.’
‘I’m not easily embarrassed. I’ve got stories that would curl your hair. It’s inevitable, with three semi-wild younger sisters.’
‘I was all right, you know,’ she said. ‘I can look after myself.’
‘Can you?’
‘Yes. I’ve been doing it a long time. And he was harmless. Tom.’
‘Was he?’
‘Yes. I could have managed. I was managing.’
‘Were you?’
‘Yes. And stop questioning me. It’s annoying. And it’s hurting my head.’
They were outside the bar now and Aaron stopped. ‘Just one more,’ he said, and turned her to face him. ‘What on earth were you thinking?’
Ella was so stunned at the leashed fury in his voice she couldn’t think, let alone speak.
He didn’t seem to need an answer, though, because he just rolled right on. ‘Drinking like a fish. Letting that clown slobber all over you!’
‘He’s not a clown, he’s an engineer,’ Ella said. And then, with the ghost of a smile, ‘And fish don’t drink beer.’
He looked like thunder.
Ella waited, curious about what he was going to hurl at her. But with a snort of disgust he simply took her arm again, started walking.
He didn’t speak again until they were almost across the hotel lobby. ‘I’m sorry. I guess I feel a little responsible for you, given my relationship with Brand and Tina.’
‘That is just ridiculous—I already have a father. And he happens to know I can look after myself. Anyway, why are you here?’ Then, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember. The documentary.’ She grimaced. ‘Should I have known you’d be here now?’
‘I have no idea. Anyway, you’re supposed to be in LA.’
‘I was in LA. But now—It was a sudden decision, to come here. So it looks like we’ve surprised each other.’
‘Looks like it.’
Aaron guided Ella through a side door leading to the open air, and then along a tree-bordered path until they were in front of what looked like a miniature mansion. He would be in one of the presidential-style
