Weathervane

15. Paparazzi

Ellis opens the bathroom door for me and I walk out, slightly embarrassed for being caught. The man outside the door shoots daggers at me with his eyes, that is, until Ellis steps out behind me. The stranger's face quickly changes into a smirk, silently congratulating Ellis. Ellis grabs my hand as we walk back to the table.

We finish eating as quickly as possible, both feeling the urgent need to get out of here. The food is exquisite, but there's something I'd rather be doing right now. Ellis pays for our meals and we head toward the door.

Lights flash outside, blurred in the darkened glass. Ellis stops in his tracks. "I knew they'd find out eventually. Honestly, it took them longer than I expected." He groans and pulls me closer to him.

"What are you talking about, Ellis?" I look up at his annoyed expression.

"The paps, Ada. Paparazzi."

My eyes go wide and I lean into Ellis' side.

"It'll be fine, Ada. They won't hurt you. We have to leave, might as well go now."

I stand on my tiptoes and whisper in his ear. "I would like to continue what we were doing before we were so rudely interrupted."

Immediately, Ellis wraps his arm around me and practically runs out of the restaurant doors. I laugh as I'm hit with a wall of cameras flashing and shouts questioning my identity. Ellis ignores the paps and walks through them like they're a swarm of annoying flies.

Thankfully the valet had already brought the car up for us. Ellis opens the door, helps me in, and then gets in on his side. As he's driving away, he looks over at me. "You okay?"

I nod. He places his right hand on my thigh and slowly rubs circles in the fabric of my dress. We ride in silence.

Ellis pulls through the gates of his house and gets to the front door quicker than I've ever seen.

Knowing the drill, I wait in the car until he can open my car door for me. Ellis helps me out of the car, hands on my hips. His hands linger there long after my feet hit the ground. Our eyes meet and thunder cracks in the background. Rain starts to pour down on us, drenching us both in an instant. We run to the front door and step inside, creating a pool of rainwater at our feet.

I laugh. "What do we do now? I don't want to get your whole house soaked." Ellis rakes his eyes across my figure, admiring how the water caused the fabric to cling to my skin even tighter than before. I smirk and slide one of the straps off my shoulder, watching for his reaction. He swallows hard and stares.

I turn around and sweep my hair to the side, exposing the low back of the dress along with the zipper. I move my head to look back at him. "Could you?" I gesture to the zipper. This breaks Ellis out of his trance. He steps toward me, slowly, and places his hands on my shoulder blades. He traces a path down my back gingerly, all the way down to the small of my back where the zipper is. He undoes the zipper and I hold the dress so it doesn't fall down yet. Ellis bends down, nudging my shoulder with his nose. He feathers kisses on the back of my shoulder, and up my neck.

"Ellis," I breathe.

"Hmm?" He hums, not breaking contact with my bare skin.

"Do you have clothes I could change into?" I turn around, Ellis' hands sliding across the fabric draped on my hips.

He slowly stands up, gripping my hips in his hands and pulling me to him. Our bodies are flush, pressed tightly against each other. My breath catches in my throat as I look up at Ellis. His pupils are dilated. He softly grasps my chin, titling it up while he leans down. He closes his eyes, so I follow his lead. I place my hands on his sides, feeling the ripples of his muscles through his soaked shirt, his jacket long discarded.