Elly in Love (The Elly Series) Read Online Free PDF

Cadbury made circles on the pavement.
    Back at the apartment, food sounded good, but she was too tired to even think about eating. Elly fell into bed, her pajamas crumpled below her round hips. In the dark, somewhere between her cartwheeling thoughts and hallucinations of red roses tromping down Tokyo, there was a twinge of disappointment. Keith hadn’t done anything. She had told him not to, but she didn’t expect him to actually listen to her. Leave it to Keith to not understand the universal rules of womanhood: do what I think, not what I say. But still— he hadn’t even called . Elly gave a huff and pulled her pillow over her face. It was just another Valentine’s Day, hell on Earth, where she had worked all day for very little love. Did it really matter though? Keith was great. Elly ordered herself not to overthink it.

    Elly woke up to the feeling of something being wrong in her house. Something was off. She sat up in bed, her hair a tangled mess, and her pants bunched around her hips. What is going on right now? Her sleep daze made her clumsy and slow. She shook her head, as if to shake the blurry thoughts free. Cadbury. Where was Cadbury? He usually woke her up by whining at the side of her bed. That or she was choked out of deep sleep by a haze of dog farts.
    “Cadbury?” she called. There was no response. The apartment was a silent tomb. Still half-asleep, Elly pulled herself out of bed and limped down the hall. She winced as she turned the corner—her arm, chest, and shoulder were sore from the mountain of designing she had done yesterday. Elly took a step toward the kitchen. A thin sound penetrated the silence, and she jumped, her heart thundering against the front of her chest. It was a low voice, rising gently over the waves of “Moon River.” Keith? Elly quickly smoothed down her hair.
    “Elly, come out … I know you’re in the hallway.”
    Elly licked her finger and tried to frantically wipe off any lingering eye makeup. What was he doing here? She cursed the day she gave Keith a key and decided to take it back immediately. Keith seeing her in “morning mode” was just not an option. Not yet, anyway.
    “Elly?”
    Elly took a deep breath and turned the corner, plastering a fake smile on her face and vowing not to kill him with her morning breath. But it didn’t matter, because she suddenly had no breath at all.
    Her dining room pulsed with a bright, happy glow. The piles of dirty dishes and mail had been put away —hadn’t her bra been on the table? —and sitting on it instead was a luscious breakfast spread. Red serving plates held stacks of pancakes, trays of bacon and eggs, a bowl of fruit, pastries, and a bottle of champagne. Harsh February sunlight filtered through a pitcher of juice, sending orange light dancing across the room. Keith stood by the table, radiating nervousness, his Italian flag apron wrapped tightly around his waist. Cadbury sat patiently by his side and stared up at him with pure adoration. On the middle of the table sat Elly’s arrangement, the “Designer’s Choice,” looking even more lovely than she remembered it. The Maria Theresa roses had opened, their opulent petals spreading wide. Soft green viburnum seemed to hum in front of her bay window.
    Elly felt tears in her eyes. “How did you …?”
    Keith gestured for her to sit down. “I let myself in a couple of hours ago. I’m lucky you’re such a sound sleeper. And that you have a microwave.” He paused. “And that you snore so loud. I dropped a dish, and you didn’t even hear it.”
    Elly grimaced as she looked up at the clock. He knew she snored . Awesome. “It’s eleven! How did I sleep so late?”
    Keith gave her a knowing look. “It was Valentine’s Day. Kim told me that you started designing at five a.m. yesterday.” Kim. That dirty little spy!
    Elly smiled, filled with a deep love of her friend, who always had Elly’s best interest in mind. She sat down at the table, dazzled by the spread,