Page 13 of Blake

The smell that was coming from her kitchen made her belly grumble and she remembered she hadn’t eaten since lunchtime yesterday, and then only a chicken salad with no carbs in it at all.

Making her way carefully down the stairs she found Blake setting her table with knives and forks and filling two glasses with orange juice. She smiled despite herself—he looked good in her kitchen. Pax stamped that thought out before it could take root and made her way towards him as he looked around and saw her.

“Perfect timing. The eggs are done,” he said as he moved past her, putting his hand to her belly and running it along the gap where her waistband and top met in a completely natural move that made her feel warm inside.

Sitting at the table she felt her mouth water as he placed a plate with soft fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, fried tomatoes, toast, and hash browns in front of her. “Wow you can cook!”

“Yeah, as I said, I have sisters and those sisters learned to cook from my mum and so did I. My mum was adamant that no son of hers was going to rely on his woman to cook for him, so yeah, I can cook. Eat up. Give me the verdict.” He dug into his own plate.

Pax placed a fork with the eggs in her mouth and groaned in pleasure. They were the best eggs she’d ever had and considering her family had chefs when she was growing up, that said a lot.

“Good?”

She opened her eyes that had closed in culinary ecstasy. He was watching her, his own heavy with desire. “Very good. Please pass my thanks to your mother,” she said without thinking.

“You my woman, Pax?”

Pax had the unsettling feeling she’d trapped herself and given her growing feelings towards Blake away. “No, of course not.” She laughed and waved her hand. “I’m thanking her on behalf of womankind in general for teaching you to cook for your… um… future woman.”

“You’re my woman.” After that muttered pronouncement, Blake carried on eating his food while she stayed silent not knowing what to say for a second. She knew if she argued he would think she was protesting too much, but if she didn’t, she was accepting it. She went with a dismissal instead.

“Pig.”

He threw back his head and laughed at what was fast becoming her standard response to him.

The rest of the meal was eaten in a relatively comfortable silence until she whimpered when the bacon caught her throat which was sore from being strangled.

Blake’s face went stony as she pushed the plate away and drank the fresh juice instead. “Go rest. I’ll clean up and then we can talk.”

Pax had the unsettling feeling that he would talk, and she would be expected to listen. “Fine.”

Standing, she made her way to the living room that was cool and faced away from the heat of the midday sun. It was so unusual for the UK to have such high temperatures but to her it was normal, although she missed air conditioning more than she thought possible having taken it for granted all her life. She turned the fan on and opened the window that faced the back garden to circulate some air in the room and sat on the sofa.

Blake joined her a few minutes later and instead of taking the seat opposite, he sat beside her. “You want me to go first?” he asked as he twisted to face her.

Pax turned her head to look at him not wanting her body all twisted. “Well, you seem to have more to say than I do so go ahead.”

Blake nodded. “I came here this morning because I’d changed my mind about wanting to help. I have my reasons for saying no and I won’t go into those, but I do want to help you. That being said, this,” he waved a finger at her, “changes things. I won’t let anyone get away with putting their dirty hands on a woman and especially one that means something to me.”

Pax felt her heart jump and her abdomen get heavy at his declaration. She wanted to ask him what he meant about her meaning something to him but didn’t want to look weak and needy. It wasn’t her style, at least not anymore. “So what is the plan?” she asked, ignoring his words.

“Right now, we get you healed up and then we travel to the US and confront your father head-on. There’s no way to go in undercover now. They know you’re on to them.”

“My father wouldn’t have done this.” The need to defend the father she still loved even as she fought to bring him down was not lost on her.

“Maybe not, but he needs to see what’s going on and I need to get a read on things.”

“But I don’t need you for that,” she said back peddling suddenly as she realised that being in her home country with Blake would feel too intimate. They would be away from the issues of working for opposing companies and him being a playboy with the power to hurt her. Everything would get muddied away from the UK and she knew it was a danger to her heart.

“You may not need me, but you have me.” He took her hand rubbing the soft skin of her palm. “I want to help, Gracie. Let me, please? I wasn’t bullshitting when I said I care about you. I do. Do I want to fuck you five ways from Sunday? Yes, I do. Will I hurt you intentionally? Absolutely not. I care, but if you want this to be strictly platonic, I’ll pretend you’re not hot as fuck and be your friend.”

Pax had no idea what to say to that because he’d said all the right things. The problem was she didn’t know if she wanted him to fuck her five ways from Sunday or be her friend. She very much feared it was the first and she couldn’t bring herself to feel sorry about that. The delicious shiver in her body and the tingle in her clit as he’d said the word fuck made her want to climb in his lap and have him start now but she controlled herself.

“Deal.” She stuck out her right hand for him to shake.

Blake took it and kissed the inside of her wrist. “You didn’t say which it would be.”

Pax could see the light dancing in his eyes and had the feeling she had bitten off more than she could chew this time. “All right, Romeo, tone it down a little.” She smirked at him to cover the way his words and touch affected her.