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Blake shakes his head. “I like to keep things as they are. The businesses go on as before; they just have a different owner. It’s not fair to take away from those who invested everything. I just give them a bigger safety net to do what they do best.”
“That’s… really nice of you,” I say, sipping my wine.
“Nice?” he asks.
I nod. “It sounds like you’re a modern day saint, giving back what people lose and letting them do better. It’s like a second chance. You deal in forgiveness.”
Blake laughs and the sound is unexpected and warm. He looks as surprised by his sudden expression as I feel.
“I’ve never thought of myself as someone who does good. Dealing in forgiveness… very poetic, Rachel. Thank you for that.”
I want to tell him I didn’t mean to just flatter him; it really sounds like he’s doing something nice for people without too much personal gain. Or rather, withoutonlypersonal gain. There has to be some gain for Blake, or he wouldn’t be a good businessman. But to buy up other companies to save them rather than to kill them offisa nice thing to do, no matter how surprising that is.
“Another glass of wine?” Blake asks when I finish mine.
I want to say yes. The wine makes me light and airy, and I want Blake to keep talking. I can listen to his deep voice all day. It’s soothing when he speaks. And he’s not nearly the quiet grump everyone makes him out to be. He has a dimension to him that shows after a bit of time, and I want to see more of it.
But that’s the problem.
I shake my head. “I should get going. I’ll start work on a concept for your new wardrobe first thing in the morning and present it to you next week.”
“Okay,” Blake says and he pays for the wine before he escorts me back to the door. When we stand on the curb, a valet brings his car around and I stare.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“What?”
“That’s a Mercedes GLE 63 AMG,” I say when the valet hops out from behind the wheel and hurries around the car to give Blake the keys.
He chuckles. “Do you like cars?”
I blush and nod. Idolike cars. Especially fancy cars like that. “It’s a secret obsession. I’m supposed to be crazy about fashion, you know, I’m supposed to be agirl. But car design and clothing design is a lot the same in my opinion.”
Blake’s eyes twinkle. “You’ll let me take you for a ride sometime, then.”
When he says it, his voice is low and his eyes drowning deep. I glance up at him. The way he says it makes me hot, the sound brushing against my skin.
“I’d like that,” I say and swallow. God, I’dlovefor Blake Ford to take me for a ride. And not just in his car.
“Can I walk you to your car?” Blake asks.
I shake my head. “It’s just over there.” I reach for my key and unlock my car so the lights flash and he can see my veryboringToyota Prius a few cars down.
Blake nods and leans in a little. I let my eyes slide down to his lips and wonder what it would be like to kiss him. He takes my hand and brushes his lips against my knuckles. When his lips make contact with my skin, I tingle all over.
“Good evening, Rachel,” he says softly. “I’ll see you soon.”
I swallow and nod. When he lets go of my hand, I spin around and hurry away from him toward my car. I have to get away from him. I don’t trust myself around him. He gives me butterflies. He makes me feel like I’m walking on air.
And that’s dangerous.
I’m in my car when my phone pings with an incoming text.
And???
It’s Samantha. She wants to know about tonight—I told her I’m coming to see him for a business meeting.
Are you home?I reply.
