by Emma Lea
“How much of this has to do with him not telling you his name and you finding out that he’s related to your boss?” Willa asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Willa took a deep breath. “Well, if ‘The Tanner Affair’ hadn’t happened, then would you be so upset about this right now?”
“If ‘The Tanner Affair’ hadn’t happened I’d still be working at FMR and Tanner and I would still be together. Your question is moot.”
“Stop being a dickhead,” Willa said with a roll of her eyes. “You know what I mean. Tanner was an arsehole who used you. How do you know that was Blake’s end game? Did you even let him explain about the whole name thing? Did you even ask what it meant for the two of you working together?”
“No I—”
“You just assumed he would throw you under the bus like Tanner did.” Willa crossed her arms and stared Zoë down. “Tell me the truth. If you didn’t think your job was on the line, would you have forgiven Blake for withholding his last name?”
“You sound like my mother,” Zoë said. After Blake had disappeared in a helicopter leaving a minor dust storm in his wake, Cassie had spilled the beans to their mother and then Zoë got the third degree. She came clean about the whole ‘fake relationship’ thing and then her mother demanded to know why she’d let Blake leave. “That arsehole wrapped my whole family around his little finger. They’re all firmly Team Blake and it’s unfair.”
“Honey, I think you’re Team Blake too, you’re just hurt right now, which is entirely understandable. But don’t cut your nose off to spite your face.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You could be throwing away a chance here for something spectacular. Are you willing to walk away from it because of one misunderstanding?”
“This is a little bigger than a misunderstanding,” Zoë retorted. “You’re supposed to be on my side, Willa. You’re my best friend. You’re supposed to suggest we go and egg his house or knife his tires or something. You’re not supposed to be pleading his case to me.”
“I love you Zoë,” Willa said. “And if you really don’t think there is ever a chance that you and he can get past this then I will absolutely help you take revenge on him. But I want you to think about it first. Don’t do something stupid just because you’re angry and hurt. Don’t do something you can’t take back.”
“Fine,” Zoë said, “but will you at least help me find a killer dress for the New Year’s Eve party? If I’m going to see him again, I at least want him to see what he’s missing out on.”
“Now that I can do,” Willa replied.
Zoë took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and scanned the function room of The Mayfair. She knew exactly zero people here—the curse of starting a new job. The only reason she’d come was on the off chance that she might get to see Blake in his natural environment.
She wasn’t ashamed to admit she’d Googled him since she found out who he really was. He was the second son and one of the heirs to the Austin fortune. His social media had been full of parties and women up until a year ago. Since then…nothing. The only other hit she’d had on his name was his travel blog. She’d debated reading it, but then had broken down in the middle of the night when she couldn’t sleep. She been enthralled by it and had no idea that he’d spent the previous year doing so much. She’d assumed he’d just been backpacking and then when she’d found out who he was, she’d assumed he’d been spending his trust fund on booze and five star hotels. She’d been wrong.
Coming to the party had been an attempt to reconnect with him before they had to work together. They needed to clear the air, if nothing else, or working with him was going to kill her. She didn’t know what the reality of working side by side with him was going to be but she’d managed to do it with Tanner for a couple of months after everything hit the fan so she was sure she could pull up her big girl panties and do the same now. This job was important to her and she wanted to make a good impression on her new bosses and colleagues so that meant finding some equilibrium with Blake.
But so far, he was nowhere to be found.
“Zoë, hi!”
Zoë turned to see Rebecca, the HR manager, coming toward her.
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Rebecca said, leaning forward to air kiss Zoë on both cheeks.
“Thanks,” Zoë said, plastering a smile on her face to hide her nerves. “I have to admit I feel a little like a fish out of water here. I don’t know anyone.”
“How about I introduce you around?”
“That would be great. It would be good to get to know some of the team I’ll be working with before I start.” And, she hoped, Rebecca would introduce her to Blake and they could finally have the conversation they should have had days ago.
Rebecca led her around the room and Zoë shook hands and smiled, trying to remember faces and names but knowing that it was a hopeless endeavour. All she was really interested in was finding Blake, but no matter how many hands she shook, none of them were the one she wanted. She thought she’d spotted him once, but it turned out to be his brother, Jack Austin. Her big boss. He’d greeted her distractedly and despite him and Blake having a strong resemblance, he did nothing for her. Not that she expected him to, but with the way her stupid heart had been behaving, anything was possible. The last thing she needed was to fall for another Austin…not that she had fallen for Blake. That had just been orgasms.
“Sorry, Rebecca,” Zoë said. “Can you please excuse me. I really need to visit the ladies’ room.”
“No problem,” Rebecca said, her cheeks rosy with the free flowing champagne she’d imbibed.
Zoë broke away from the crowd and headed for the bathrooms. The night was turning out to be a bust. Either Blake was avoiding her or he wasn’t here.
She pushed through the door into the ladies’ room and retreated into a stall. She’d just closed the stall door when she heard the outer door open and a woman talking.
“Where are you Blake?”
Zoë stilled and held her breath as she listened. Blake’s voice came through the tinny speakers of a phone. Whoever was out there must be talking to him on speaker phone.
“I’m not coming Rory,” Blake said. He sounded tired. “Didn’t Jack tell you?”
“I only just got back. I haven’t spoken to Jack yet. Or Dad.”
Dad? Was that Blake’s sister? Zoë slowly lowered herself to sit on the closed lid of the toilet.
“So let me be the one to break the good news to you,” Blake said. “I resigned.”
“What?” Rory’s screeched cause Zoë to cover her ears. “You resigned? Why?”
“You and I both know how much I hate that place. I came back because Dad threatened to disown me, but I finally realised that it’s not worth selling my soul for.”
“You’re an idiot,” Rory said. “You only needed to do six months or so to placate him then you could have skipped off to wherever the hell you wanted to. No one expected you to stick anyway.”
“Gee thanks, sis. Glad to know I’m thought of so highly in my own family.”
“Stop being a baby. You knew it was a test.”
Zoë heard the loud exhalation of Blake’s breath across the phone. “It’s just not worth it Rore,” he said. “Nothing I do is good enough. Having the last name Austin is more of a curse than anything.”
“Is this about that woman?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it—”
“You told me you’d fallen in love. Does your resigning have anything to do with her?”
“Yes, but not in the way you think.”
“Let me guess, she convinced you to throw in your job so the two of you could bum around the world living off your trust fund?”
“No. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with me and it’s because I’m an Austin, not because she wants me for my money.”
“I don’t understand,” Rory said. “She doesn’t like you becau
se you’re rich?”
“No. Look it’s complicated, alright? Just leave it. I’ve been offered another job and I decided to take it. I know Dad will have a melt down over it but I’m done trying to please him.”
“Well thank you very much,” Rory said, and Zoë could hear the pout in her voice. “I’ve just convinced Dad to stop trying to set me up with the sons of his business associates. You were supposed to be my buffer, Blake. Now he’s going to be back on my case about getting married. I refuse to marry one of those self-entitled pricks he keeps shoving in my face.”
“Yeah, I’m done being a buffer,” Blake said and Zoë’s heart hurt at the sadness in his voice and it killed her. She should be happy, shouldn’t she? Isn’t this what she wanted? Hadn’t she promised herself that the next time she got close to getting screwed, it would be on her terms and she’d be the one walking away with a smug smile on her face when it was done? So why didn’t it feel like a victory. Why did it hurt so much knowing that Blake was hurting just as much as she was?
“Happy New Year, sis.”
Zoë heard the disconnection beeps and Rory swear. She shifted on the seat of the toilet and banged her elbow on the toilet roll holder.
“Who’s there?” Rory asked.
Zoë sighed. “Just me,” she said, standing. She flushed the unused toilet before opening the door and stepping out to come face to face with Blake’s sister.
“Who are you?” Rory asked as Zoë crossed the bathroom to wash her hands.
“My name’s Zoë,” she said, watching Rory in the mirror.
“Why were you eavesdropping on my private conversation?” Rory snapped.
“I wasn’t. I was in here first.”
“So, you should have said something.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right but the thing is…” she swallowed and couldn’t believe she was about to admit this. “I’m the girl Blake was talking about.”
“What?”
“Blake told you he met someone over the holidays. Right?” Rory nodded. “That was me. Blake and I spent Christmas together.”
“So you’re the reason he resigned?”
“I didn’t know he resigned,” Zoë said. “I didn’t even know he was Blake Austin until a couple of days ago.”
“How could you spend Christmas with him and not know who he was?”
“He told me his name was Blake Spencer.”
“He gave you our mother’s maiden name? Why?”
Zoë shrugged. “No idea and I didn’t give him a chance to explain. When I found out who he really was, we had a fight and he left.”
“So you’re here to what? Make up?”
Zoë shook her head again. “I work here.”
“In the hotel?”
Zoë rolled her eyes. “No. I work for Austin Industries, or I will. I start the day after tomorrow.”
“So you were using Blake to get a job with us?”
“God, no. I didn’t even know who he was when we met.”
“But when you found out, you made him resign.”
“I didn’t know he’d resigned. Fuck, don’t you listen?” Zoë took a breath and tried again. “I came here tonight to talk to him and find out just how our working relationship was supposed to work after…”
“After you ripped his heart out?”
“I did no such thing. He was the one who lied to me.”
Rory rolled her eyes. “Of course he did. Do you know how many times we get asked for money or a job or an audience with our father? So if you didn’t ask him to resign, then why did he?”
“I don’t know, but I’d like to talk to him about it. Do you know where he is?”
Rory looked at her and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know whether to trust you or scratch your eyes out. How do I know that you’re not just trying to get to him to try and con him into giving you a leg up in the company or put him in a compromising position so you can fake a pregnancy?”
“You really think I would do that? Seriously?”
“It’s happened before,” Rory said. She chewed her lip before coming to a decision. “Fine. He’s in room two-oh-nine. But I know who you are and if you do anything to hurt my brother I will hunt you down and make you regret it.”
27
Blake sat on the bed and flipped through the channels on the television. The New Year’s Eve party was happening downstairs, parties were happening all over the city...country…world, but he was in his room feeling sorry for himself.
Declan had invited him to the party he and his friends were having, but Blake didn’t feel like celebrating. His professional life looked like it was going to sort itself out in a way he’d never expected, but his personal life was still a steaming pile of shit. He didn’t know how to reach out to Zoë. He didn’t know how to make things right with her.
He held the photo of him and Zoë at the bush dance, his knuckles whitening as he gripped it. They were wrapped in one another’s arms with eyes for no one but each other. He wished he could go back to that time. He wished he could go back to the beginning and start all over again with Zoë, without the lie this time.
There was a knock on his door and he pushed up from the bed. The only person who would be knocking on his door was his sister and there was no way he was going to let her drag him down to the company party. He would do whatever was necessary to avoid that particular torture. He had no desire to be in the same room as his brother and his father any time soon. If they wanted to yell at him they could do it long distance via a phone.
He swung the door open and his breath froze in his chest. Zoë stood there looking like all his fantasies come to life in gold dress and fuck-me heels.
“Zoë,” he managed to say. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to you,” she said, shuffling her feet and looking uncertain. “Can I come in or should I go—”
He stepped aside and held the door open for her. “Come in,” he said.
She stepped past him into the room and he closed his eyes as he breathed in her scent. His body responded predictably, going hard with anticipation. It took him a moment to fight down the Pavlovian response and close the door. He wanted to pull her against his body and kiss her until they set the room on fire, but he knew that they needed to talk before he could do any touching—if he could touch at all.
“Can I get you a drink,” he asked, falling back on manners to cover up his nervousness about having her so close.
“No,” she said, turning around to face him. “This isn’t what I expected.”
“The room?” he asked.
She nodded. “I thought you’d have a suite.”
“What do I need a suite for? It’s just me.”
“I thought billionaires were all about having the biggest and the best.”
“Some billionaires, maybe. I’m not like that. I thought you, of all people, would know that.”
She sighed. “But that’s the problem,” she said. “I don’t really know you, do I?”
“You know everything about me that matters,” he said, clenching his hands at his sides to stop himself from reaching for her.
“Your name is a pretty important thing,” she said. “Your name and your family.”
“Maybe to someone who comes from a great family. But to me, I’d be happy if no one ever connected me with Austin Industries.”
She searched his eyes, her expression conflicted. “Why did you lie to me?” she asked. “Why did you tell me your last name was Spencer?”
“Because I thought that when you heard who I was and who I was related to you would use me for your own advancement in the company.” It was the truth even if it sounded so lame. “But that was before I knew you.”
“And what about after you got to know me? What then? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid,” he said. “What we had was pretty great and I didn’t want to do anything to wreck it.”
“So you were going to continue to lie to me? That’s n
o way to start a relationship.”
“I was planning on telling you. I just wanted us to…” he shook his head. “Shit, I don’t know. I was hoping you’d fall in love with me and then it wouldn’t matter who I was.”
“How can I know that anything you told me was true?” Zoë asked.
He took a step closer to her and reached out, curling his fingers around the tops of her arms and when she didn’t pull away he stepped closer still.
“Because of this,” he said softly. “Because there is something that happens when I get close to you. Something inside me that recognises you, like our souls have met before. I know you feel it too.”
“They’re pretty words, Blake—”
“They’re more than words, Zoë. Can’t you feel it? Can’t feel that connection? I refuse to believe that this is one sided.”
“Why did you resign?” she asked softly.
He dropped his head and exhaled, his heart tightening at her refusal to acknowledge what felt so very real to him. He dropped his hands and stepped away from her.
“The reason I resigned is complicated.”
“I’ve got time. I want to know. I need to know.”
“You need to understand what it was like growing up in my family,” Blake said, sitting in the chair near the small desk. Zoë sat on the edge of the bed, listening to him as he talked. “Being an Austin and living up to the family name was the only thing my father cared about. I had no desire to work in the family business but I wasn’t given a choice. It was just expected of me. Last year I reached a point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. I wanted more from my life than Austin Industries. I saw the toll the stress of it took on my father and then my brother. Money just didn’t mean that much to me, but it was the only currency my father believed in. My value could only be measured by how much I made for the company. Eventually it got to the point where I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
“So you left,” she said softly.