Free Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) by L. L. Collins Page B

girl, and we have chemistry. It’s not going to go anywhere. It can’t.
    Today would be a test of his willpower, but that was okay. He could do it. Slipping on a light cotton shirt and khaki shorts, he made his way for the kitchen to start some coffee. The house was quiet, and he was glad. He needed to get his mind around what was happening today. He was going to have to watch Sam in her music video for the majority of the day. Not only was he going to have to listen to her voice, but he would have to see her in whatever outfits they came up with. He knew already they would show off her amazing body.
    Starting the coffee maker, he looked out again at the beach. Workers were already out there, marking off their section of the beach to the public and setting up sound equipment and props. When he really stopped to think about it, he was a little starstruck. Here was this celebrity singer, and she wanted to kiss him. Not if she knew anything about you, that nasty little voice reminded him. But he knew that was true, and that was exactly why he could never let it go on past just an infatuation, a crush. She didn’t need to be associated with the likes of him. Even if she did feel like he saw her for who she really was.
    “Morning,” her sultry voice came from behind. Ellis turned from the window and watched Sam walk to the coffee pot. She was wearing a pair of running shorts and a tank top, her dark hair piled on top of her head.
    “Morning,” he finally repeated. “You’re up early.”
    She smiled. “So are you.”
    “I’m an early riser,” Ellis explained.
    “Me too,” Sam sipped the hot coffee and made a small moan of approval. Ellis watched her, unable to turn away. “Hey, I need to go for a run. Can you come with me?” When Ellis didn’t respond, she continued. “Brian usually goes with me, but since I…”
    “No problem,” Ellis finally found his voice. He needed to call Dev later, get him to straighten him out. He was becoming just plain stupid over this woman. “Let me just change.” Now he was going to have to go running with her?
    Ellis thought he was in good shape from his hours spent in the gym, but after running three miles with Sam, he was tired. The girl could run! Maybe the problem was he wasn’t focused at all while they were running and his mind was all over the place, and he had to fight with himself over wanting to watch her body move the whole time. Whatever it was, it wasn’t helping his resolve to stay away from her.
    “So you live here, right, in the Sunset Beach area?” Sam sat on the step of the stairs to the beach house.
    Ellis nodded, downing his water. “I just moved here a few months ago from Miami.”
    “What brought you here?”
    “Work,” he answered.
    “Not a woman?” Sam bumped him playfully.
    He looked at her, that feeling in his chest again. “No.” He said it with finality, so she knew he didn’t want to go down this road.
    “Hey, we are going to have a fire tonight after the video shoot with the crew. Would you like to invite some friends?”
    Ellis stared out at the water. He knew that the girls would love coming to meet Sam, especially Jessica. Thinking of her made his stomach clench in guilt. While they weren’t anything official, and he wasn’t planning to be serious with her or anyone else, it still made him feel bad to think that he hadn’t even thought about her once since meeting Sam. He cared about her; he just knew he was no good to anyone.
    “I’ll call them and see if they can come out. I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”
    When Sam grinned, he knew he said something wrong. “They would, huh?”
    Ellis laughed. “Who wouldn’t? You are Sam Kerrigan, world famous country singer.”
    “Ha,” she scoffed. She stood up and brushed sand from her backside. “I need to go shower and get ready. I’ll meet you back out here in an hour, okay?”
    He stood up, noticing he was eye level with her since she was standing on the first step. And