AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Perfectly fine. How was your day?” I asked.
“Good,” he replied curtly and stopped before turning to leave. “I picked up some chicken salad if you’re hungry.”
“Okay, thank you. I’ll be down in a bit,”
I decided to stay in my room a while longer to read. Blake would probably be hiding out in his office like he had been every other night and I’d be eating alone.
I was so lost in my book, I didn’t realize how late it was until my stomach growled in protest. I headed downstairs.
As I approached the dimly lit kitchen, I saw a figure sitting on a stool. I yelped as I clutched my chest, but quickly realized it was Blake.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, his voice laced with concern.
“That’s ok.” I let out a breath of relief. “I thought you were asleep. What are you doing sitting here?”
“Just having a drink,” As he refilled his glass from a bottle of whisky. The amber liquid swirled as he took another sip. His eyes were dark and relaxed like he’s had a couple of drinks before I came down.
His gaze lingered on me, and he heaved in a breath before he looked away to the fridge.
“Hungry?” he asked, his voice soft.
I nodded and walked over to the fridge to pull out a container of the salad that Blake had picked up.
“Thank you,” I said, holding it up. He nodded.
As I ate standing up by the counter, my eyes drifted towards Blake's glass of whisky.
He must have noticed me eyeing it because he lifted his eyebrows as he tilted his glass. “There’s wine or beer if you prefer something lighter.”
“Wine sounds good.”
He gestured for me to take a seat as he stood to get a glass and a bottle of red from the cabinet. I sat on the stool next to his. After filling my glass, he placed it on the counter before returning to his seat.
He took a long sip of his drink before turning to me and asked, “So, tell me, are you seeing anyone I should know about?”
His out-of-the-blue questions caught me off guard, so I sipped my wine to stall. The part of me that hoped he was asking because he wanted to hear that Iwasn’tdating anyone started doing somersaults.
“No, no one serious,” I replied, as I tried to gauge his reaction.
He tilted his head, assessing me. “Then just casual dating? Hooking up?” he probed further.
I shook my head as I brought my glass to my lips again.
He cleared his throat. “I’m asking because I need to know if someone could show up here who might make you want to sneak off again and put yourself at risk.”
My somersaulting, hopeful Callie tumbled to the ground.
I sighed, and said, “Nope, not dating anybody even casually at the moment. And casual dating is all I ever do, so there’s no one.”
“Good.” Blake nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
“What about you? Any future Mrs. Donovan on the horizon?”
He smirked as if he was amused by my attempt. “I’m not the one being protected,” he said, almost playfully. “So I don’t have to answer that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, I answered your question.”
He looked away and ran his fingers through his hair as if he was gathering his thoughts before looking back at me again.
