Chapter 39:

ELLIE

Bastard! I felt my cheeks heat up, so I turned my face away. I settled into my seat, determined not to say another word to him for the rest of the flight.

How could I feel attracted to someone like him? So arrogant and such a jerk? That was the problem with guys with huge dicks—they thought they owned the world. My theory was that since they had big dicks, they acted more arrogantly and confidently, and confident men always seemed to attract me more. So usually, a big dick meant an arrogant asshole, like Mr. Morgan.

*

I don’t know how, but I survived the flight, and surprisingly, without uttering a single word or insult to Mr. Morgan for the rest of the time. And although I felt his gaze on me a few times or sensed that he wanted to say something, he didn’t. He maintained a surprisingly austere demeanor for the rest of the trip. I noticed him keeping even more distance once we landed.

After a few more hours of driving, we finally arrived at the country house Zoe had rented in the Burgundy region, near the town of Beaune. The place was charming and much bigger than I had imagined.

I could barely contain my excitement. How could I have thought about giving this up because of Morgan? The château-style house had stunning architecture, with gray stone walls and white French windows. The place looked like a small castle.

This part of France felt so welcoming, and our travel plans to visit vineyards, castles, and taste the finest wines seemed more appealing by the minute. Zoe had mentioned that we would find some of the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the world here, and I couldn’t wait to get drunk and relax. I felt more relaxed just imagining it.

The landlord, an older Frenchman probably past middle age, spoke heavily accented English. He was about to leave after giving us a tour of the house, and I was even more impressed when I discovered the pool and a small lake at the back of the property. The place was a paradise, surrounded by fields and forests.

We were all in the living room, ready to unpack and claim our rooms, when Anna’s brother, Jason, and his girlfriend, Phillipa, arrived, along with Neil, Jack’s brother, and his girlfriend, Rosie.

Seeing Jason always brought back memories of the mistake we’d made one drunken night a few years ago. I could barely forgive myself for sleeping with my best friend’s brother.

Although Anna hadn’t been exactly mad, I preferred to pretend it had never happened, blaming the alcohol for making the sex seem so incredible. But what I couldn’t help thinking whenever I saw him and Phillipa together was that it could have been me in her place if I had accepted Jason’s invitation to date.

However, they seemed perfect for each other, and that brought me nothing but happiness, so it was easy to forget about that thought.

After exchanging some hugs and greetings, we turned our attention back to our luggage. Then, suddenly, I remembered something I thought I’d heard Mr. Beauchamp mention during the tour.

“Wait, I could be mistaken, but I think I heard Mr. Beauchamp say there were only six rooms.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

“Nonsense, I’m sure I mentioned that we needed seven rooms,” Zoe said.

But after what she’d done, forcing me to sit next to Ethan during the flight, I couldn’t trust her.

“Hold on, I’ll check,” Will said, heading upstairs.

I couldn’t help but look for Mr. Morgan. Unlike me, he didn’t seem the least bit concerned.

He caught my gaze, which only made me angrier at the possibility that Zoe had set this up. I shifted my attention to her. Bennett was giving her that disapproving look. Crap. That could only mean one thing, she really had done this.

Will came back down a minute later, with a less-than-encouraging expression that confirmed what I was thinking.

“Yeah, I think there was a mistake,” he said, stopping on the last step.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I growled at Zoe, feeling my anger surge.

“Ellie…” Anna stepped forward, trying to calm me down.

“No! I’m not going to let her think she can do whatever she wants! You think it wasn’t bad enough having to sit next to him on the plane?”

“Look, that was just a coincidence, and Mr. Beauchamp probably didn’t pay attention when I mentioned the number of rooms,” Zoe said, trying to defend herself.

“Do you really think anyone here believes that?”

“Well, it’s the truth.”

“Go to hell, Zoe!”

“Calm down, Ellie. We’ll figure this out,” Will said, trying to soothe me.

“No need to freak out, Brown. I can sleep on the couch,” Ethan said, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, completely unfazed.

“No! Don’t be an idiot! She’s the one who should sleep on the couch. We don’t have to pay for something that’s her fault.”

“We’ll sort it out, okay?” Anna said, squeezing my shoulder.

Ten minutes later, we finally got Mr. Beauchamp on the phone. He said he could arrange a single bed by the next morning, but that didn’t solve the issue of the insufficient rooms.

Although the girls offered to share a room with me, which would mean Ethan would have to bunk with one of the guys, I wasn’t going to be selfish enough to accept and keep the couples apart. The worst part of all this was that I couldn’t even be mad at Morgan, after all, it wasn’t his fault.

"Thank you, girls, but it won’t be necessary. Mr. Morgan and I can share the room, I mean, the bathroom and storage space. But you will sleep on the couch." I pointed my finger at him, sitting on the other couch.

“Fair enough,” he said simply.

“Are you sure, Ellie?” Anna asked with concern.

I nodded.

“Great. Can we unpack now?” Zoe asked.

She’d be dead by now if looks could kill.

I sighed, sinking into the sofa and closing my eyes, trying to push away the frustration and stress as everyone got up and started carrying their bags upstairs. Things were not going well.

When I opened my eyes again, it was just the two of us left in the room. He was still sitting on the sofa, watching me. I got up, ready to take my things upstairs. I could try to keep pretending he didn’t exist.

Who was I kidding? How was I going to do that when, on top of spending a week in the same house, we’d have to share the same room?

“You don’t have to worry, Miss Brown. It’s not like I’m going to molest you,” he said as I turned my back to him.

“Oh, really?” I teased, feeling a wave of humor crash over me, brought on by the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

“You must think I’m an asshole, but I would never disrespect your decision," he said firmly, wiping the smile off my face.