AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks for the heads up,” he said. “I did it because you told me that you felt as if I was stalking you. I stayed away from the bar to give you some space, so you wouldn’t cancel our date.” He’d do just about anything to avoid her canceling their date.
“I didn’t mean for you to miss out on important meetings at your club. You didn’t have to stay away, Blaze. I just said that it was creepy the way that you were staring me down that night.”
“The night that I had too much to drink, and you had to drive me home?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Sorry about all of that,” he said. “I didn’t mean to drink so much, or need a ride home, but I wasn’t sure how to handle asking you on a date.”
“So, you bargained for one?” she asked. “You stayed away from the Smokey Bandits so that I’d go out on a date with you?”
He reached across the console and pulled her hand into his own, masking the surprise that he felt that she actually allowed it. “I’d quit my club altogether, if it meant that you’d give me another chance, Blair,” he admitted. Blaze meant it too. He loved his brothers and his club, but he found out the hard way that he loved her more. She walked out on him and took his heart with him. Since Blair left, he had plenty of time to think about what happened and how to fix everything between the two of them. Most of the time, he came up blank, not knowing how to get Blair to agree to give him another chance.
“Blaze,” she whispered. “I don’t want you to give up your club,” she insisted. “I want you to come into the bar. I missed you this week.”
“You did?” he asked. He was surprised to hear her admit that she had missed him.
“I did,” she said.
“Well, I missed you too,” he breathed. For the first time, in a long time, Blaze felt that damn hope that he usually tried to ignore. He just had to figure out if he could trust that feeling now or if he was only setting himself up for heartache again.
Blair
Blaze took her to a steakhouse that had become one of her favorites when they were together. It was kind of their place, and she knew that he was sending her a clear-cut message—he was still in love with her. That worked for her because she was in love with him too, she just didn’t think she could give him forever. That was the future that he wanted with her, and it was a promise that she couldn’t make to him right now. Hell, she wasn’t sure if she could ever make him that promise, but a small part of her wanted to try, even if that scared her to death.
“You okay?” he asked, reaching across the table to take her hand into his. She loved that he so freely touched her. It was one of the things that Blair missed most about Blaze. She craved his touch and the way that he held her while they slept in his bed. It was all she could think about in the middle of her lonely nights back at her apartment.
“I am,” she said, linking her fingers through his. “I’m just surprised that you brought me back here,” she admitted.
“Well, this is our place, right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she quickly agreed. “It is, and I guess that is what has me a bit rattled.”
“Don’t think about it too much. I love the steaks here and I know that you do too. Hell, it was either this place or the Smokey Bandits and I took a wild guess that you wouldn’t want to go to work on your night off.”
“You guessed right,” she agreed. “I love this place too,” she said. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“Thank you for agreeing to go on a date with me, Blair,” Blaze breathed. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand, and she was sure that she could feel the same damn sparks that she used to feel with Blaze every time he touched her. Her traitorous body didn’t get the memo that they had broken up and she wasn’t about to remind herself of that fact. She wanted Blaze, even if it was only for one night. She wanted to wake up in the morning, surrounded by him, in his bed.
He laughed, getting her attention and she couldn’t help her smile. “I like the way that you’re thinking,” he said. Blair gasped. How had he guessed that she was thinking about him and falling into bed with him again?
“Oh, and what am I thinking, Blaze?” she asked.
“That you want to come home with me tonight,” he said. “Tell me that I’m wrong, Blair, I dare you.”
She shook her head, “How did you know that?”
“You get this look in your eyes when you are thinking about sex. Hell, it always turns me completely inside out with need when you look at me the way that you are.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” she whispered across the table. “We just ordered our food, and we can’t leave now.” Blaze flashed his wolfish grin and held up his hand to call for the waiter.
“We’d like to have our dinners wrapped up to go,” he said. “Something has come up and we need to go home. Can you do that for us?” he asked as soon as the waiter appeared by the side of their table.
“Of course, sir,” the waiter agreed. “It will just be a few more minutes and I will have your meals wrapped to go, and out to your table with the check. Will there be anything else?” he asked.
“No, thank you,” Blaze said. The waiter disappeared back into the kitchen and Blair looked Blaze over as though he had lost his mind. “Don’t look at me like that, honey. I’m not giving you the chance to change your mind about me. We’re going back to my place and having a romantic dinner for two in my bed. Then, I plan on keeping you there for the rest of the night. You good with that?” he asked. “If not, tell me now.”
There was no way that she’d tell him that she wasn’t good with everything that he had just promised her. She wanted all of it from him and so much more. “I’m good with it,” she breathed. The waiter brought their bag of food to their table along with the check. Blaze handed the guy his credit card and didn’t take his eyes off Blair until he had to sign the receipt.
