“Very much,” he confirmed. He lifted a hand to cradle the side of her face while the other one removed the tinted glasses that hid so much of her features. He placed the glasses down on the table before gazing into her eyes. “Such a beautiful aqua-blue,” he murmured in wonder. “So gorgeous. Like the rest of you.”
Ellie was still reeling from the surprise of having a man like Knox Wilder—older than her by fourteen years, sophisticated in a way that was so much a part of him it had to be inborn, his intelligence beyond doubt—now stating his personal interest in her in that blunt way. Combine that along with his imposing looks, and Ellie would dare any woman not to find this ruggedly handsome man, and that sexy English accent, irresistible.
She certainly couldn’t resist.
But she shouldn’t be attracted to Knox, she inwardly warned. He might seem like a good man, but that didn’t mean he was. Andrew had that same outer appearance of goodness. Until he didn’t.
No, history had told her that a man’s appearance could be deceptive, and as such, she dared not allow herself to be fooled a second time.
Both of Knox’s hands cupped the sides of Ellie’s face now, his thumbs gently caressing beneath eyes that glittered with unshed tears and distrust. “Hey, there’s no need to look so worried,” he assured. “I just want you to know you aren’t alone anymore, that I’m here for you, if you need me to be.”
She gave a shake of her head. “You don’t even know me.”
“Sure I do,” he cajoled. “Your full name is Eleanor Hall, you’re twenty-nine years old, an only child of older parents who both died while you were still at university.”
Knox was convinced this was the main reason why it had been so easy for Andrew Day to latch onto Ellie and convince her she was in love with him. Her parents had left her a lot of money from savings and the sale of their home, enough for Ellie to buy an apartment and later open a business with Day.
Once Knox had accepted that Ellie wasn’t going to be banished from his thoughts, he had done some checking up on how she and Andrew had met and fallen in love. He hadn’t liked what he’d discovered.
Ellie had been top of her class, an A-plus student who had left university summa cum laude. Day scraped through at best, a C student, barely passing those same exams Ellie had. Knox had a feeling Day had only achieved that much with her help.
Day would never have made it on his own, academically or financially.
Knox also discovered that Day was a selfish bastard who had very quickly started having affairs behind Ellie’s back, and later, he had begun to gamble away the profits of their company.
Ellie was better off without him. As Knox had been better off without Maggie. But that didn’t stop their betrayal from hurting like a son of a bitch.
He leaned forward and kissed Ellie lightly on the softness of one of her cheeks before sitting back to allow the waitress to place the steaming bowls of pasta in front of them. “Thank you.” He gave the blushing young waitress a warm smile.
“Do you do that on purpose?” Ellie teased as they both watched the waitress bump into a table, then a customer, after continuing to smile at Knox rather than looking where she was going on her way back to the kitchen.
He raised innocent brows. “Do what?”
Ellie chuckled for the first time since he’d met her. Her whole appearance was changed by that laughter. Those gorgeous lips curved upward. Her cheeks were flushed. And her eyes now glowed with warmth and humor.
Ellie was so stunningly beautiful that looking at her took Knox’s breath away.
Yeah, there really was no way he was walking away from this woman unless he was forced to do so. By Ellie, no one else. He might feel as if he had been hit over the head with a garden rake, but that didn’t mean Ellie felt the same way about him. All he could do was hope she did. Or would.
“You know how you look, and the effect your charm has on other people.” Ellie was still smiling as she picked up her spoon and fork and began twirling some of her pasta onto the latter.
“It’s good you think I’m charming.” Knox did the same with his food, but most of his attention still remained on the beautiful woman sitting next to him. “How do I look?” he encouraged.
Her smile widened. “Like a suave but even more dangerous Jason Statham. The tattoos are a nice touch,” she admired before eating the pasta off her fork.
Knox instinctively pulled down the cuffs of his shirt where he knew some of those tattoos were visible. “They aren’t meant to be nice.” His voice sounded rough. “Each year, I have a new flower tattoo added,” he revealed, his voice even rougher, this time with the pain of loss he knew would never go away. It didn’t hurt as much as it once had, but it would never completely fade. Nor did Knox want it to. “Always on my daughter’s birthday.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. “You have— No,” she answered her own question as she studied him intently. “You had a daughter,” she realized softly.
CHAPTER SIX
Ellie knew, from the absolute devastation on Knox’s face, that he had been the father of a daughter, but that daughter was no longer with him.
Because she was with her mother?
Or because she had died?
The pain of grief was in Knox’s chocolate-brown eyes, in the stiffness of his shoulders and the way his fingers tightly gripped the spoon and fork he held. It took several seconds for him to place those utensils carefully back in the bowl with the rest of his uneaten pasta. His face was very pale by the time he leaned back against the leather seat of the booth.
