by Tee, Marian
But instead he had said simply, Sure.
Thornton frowned when Blake's voice trailed off.
"A...."
"Men?" he finished blankly.
Hearing this, Blake snapped back to earth with a flush in her cheeks. "Amen," she repeated hastily.
"Everything alright?"
"Uh huh."
"So the Jumanji drums..." Blake didn't seem to notice the bottle of maple syrup he was holding out to her. Instead, her eyes were busy traveling up and down - his body?
That was when he finally realized what had her so distracted, and he nearly smiled. "You were the one who asked for this."
"I know." Her tone was half-glum, half-dazed. She couldn't even summon the brainpower needed to be embarrassed; she was just too busy staring and admiring the sleek slopes of his muscles and the fluid and graceful way they flexed with his every move.
"You're perfect." And I love you.
"So are you." And I love you.
"You really - wait." She finally managed to tear her gaze off his chest. Which was exquisitely naked. And which she recalled raking her nails---concentrate, Blake Golding!
She yanked her mind out of the gutter and forced herself to concentrate on Thornton's face. It was just as beautiful, but a little less distracting at least. "What was that you, um, said earlier?"
"You're perfect."
She couldn't help bursting into laughter. "I'm not."
"You are---" And before she could argue, he added quietly, "For me. You're perfect for me."
* * *
The scene played over and over in Blake's mind. It actually had her smiling the whole time she was driving down to Laramie. You're perfect for me. That was what he had said. She was perfect for him. How could she not smile, with Thornton Blackwood of all people saying such a thing?
* * *
"Hey." She gave her half-brother a quick hug before pulling back to take an anxious look at his good-looking face. He looked as tense as his voice had been in yesterday's phone call, when he had told her they absolutely had to meet...alone.
"Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly as they finally took a seat across each other in a window-side booth.
A server came by then, and Curt ordered both of them coffee without asking for her input.
Her nerves started to fray. Not good, Blake thought. The only times Curt was less than thoughtful were when there were life-and-death stakes involved.
The moment the server left, she asked right away, "Is something wrong? Are you in danger?"
Curt shook his head. "It's not that."
"Then what is it?"
In answer, he took out a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket. It seemed like a magazine clipping, and she couldn't help blinking in confusion when he handed this to her.
"I've got a formal report in my room if you need to see it." Curt watched his sister unfold the clipping as he spoke, and he could feel his body growing increasingly rigid with tension the moment her gaze fell upon the headlines.
Blackwood Billionaire Brothers - Wyoming's Dirtiest and Finest
The clipping was over a decade old, and something that had cost him several precious favors to obtain.
"As far as I can tell, the family had all data about them on the Internet completely scrapped a few years ago, and they had all led quiet lives miles away from the spotlight since then."
His sister still hadn't lifted her gaze to his, but he saw that the fingers holding the clipping had started trembling, and he bit back a curse. "Blake---"
Blake shook her head. "I'm just...I think I need you to spell it out." Before she went crazy thinking and imagining all sorts of things. "What e-exactly does this prove?"
"They're still rich as fuck."
"I see."
"And he hasn't told you, has he?"
"No."
"But I think Freddie knows."
"I see."
And finally, it became clear.
"I'm sorry, B." Curt's voice was heavy. "But he could just be playing with you."
* * *
Blake's fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
You're perfect for me, Thornton had told her.
But he could just be playing with you, Curt had warned her.
She loved both men, but she knew. She didn't want to, but she knew. She couldn't lie to herself. She knew one of them could be lying, and she just...she just...she just...
The tears started to fall...as everything that used to be vaguely questionable became painfully clear.
The understated elegance of his entire home...
The self-assured manner he had always displayed that was more suited to a billionaire than a small-town bookstore owner...
Even this six-figure gas guzzler that she was driving could be a lie, Blake realized hysterically. Because when one really thought about it...oh God, he had told her that Leander, the resident mechanic, had lent it for her to use and drive safely to the city, and she had stupidly bought it, not realizing that it was this year's most expensive SUV.
You're perfect for me.
But he could just be playing with you.
She wiped the tears from her eyes. I can't let him know. She slowly got out of the car. Pride is all I have left. She dragged oxygen into her lungs. So he mustn't know.
But the moment she heard him calling her name out---
Blake---
It was just too much.
And she found herself running.
Blake?
Slamming the door shut before she could see his face.
Blake?
She fell to her knees and barely managed to cover her mouth in time.
Blake?
The sobs kept tearing her apart, and she could only press her hands harder against her mouth.
Blake.
Baby.
Tell me what's wrong.
She wanted to die, hearing those words. How could she tell him what was wrong?
How?
How?
"Please."
The hoarse pain in his voice made her sob harder. It had to be a lie. It could only be a lie. But even so, she couldn't bear it. Couldn't bear hearing him hurt. So much so that when she heard him speak again---
"Don't do this."
She somehow found the strength to push herself up. Unlock the door. Face the man she loved and who was now destroying her.
Thornton could feel himself turning white when he saw the tears falling on Blake's face.
"I...Curt..."
He stiffened.
"I'm...sorry."
"What are you saying sorry for?" he asked rawly.
"Just...sorry."
"Blake---" He tried reaching for her and was stunned when she jumped back like she found his touch revolting.
She saw the look on his face, and it ripped her to pieces.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
She wished she could believe it was love, but she knew it wasn't.
It was just pride, just pride, she told herself feverishly, because she had changed the rules of the game he had been playing with her.
Just hurt pride, because now she was rejecting him, when it was supposed to be him eventually losing interest and kicking her out of his life.
Just hurt pride, she desperately screamed at herself as she watched Thornton stare at her with lifeless eyes.
"You love him."
Pain tore at him, but still she managed to choke out, "Yes."
"But I love you."
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
"Won't you choose me?"
She wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't."
"I see."
She watched him swing away rather clumsily.
She watched him walk away.
I won.
I saved my pride.
But the knowledge didn't make the tears stop or make her feel any less hurt or empty.
Chapter Twenty
"You look amazing." It was a lie, of course. And while Frankie
rarely lied as a rule, right this moment she didn't think she had a choice.
"Really?" Blake worked hard not to sound too desperate and hopeful.
"Really." Another lie, but Frankie was genuinely worried the slightest insult would send her friend reeling into a mental breakdown.
"I didn't really do anything special, though."
"Must be the air then." And apparently, what everyone said was true. A single lie was all it took, and you'd never stop lying.
But still, Frankie didn't regret it. At least now, Blake was more herself, chatting nonstop about her day as they walked the last ten-minute leg to Redwood Cafe, where the movie crew was celebrating the last day of shooting.
Although it was an invitation-only party, Elizabeth had added Blake and Freddie's name to the list. Host perks, the other woman had explained cheerfully when Blake worried about gatecrashing a Hollywood party. They're having the party at the cafe, which means whatever Arden and I say goes.
Frankie caught sight of the pensive look on her friend's face. "Are you thinking of..." Blake shot her a glowering look of warning and she hastily corrected herself. "---the celebrities? That we're, um, going to see at the party?"
Blake made a face. "That's lame, even for you."
"I'm not used to lying, okay?" Or if she were honest, it was really a hit-or-miss thing with her.
"And no, I wasn't thinking what you're thinking."
"Really."
"Swear to God."
Frankie had no choice to believe her friend with that. "Then what were you thinking about?"
"Rich people."
"O-oh?"
She noticed the way Frankie had tensed and remembered what Curt said.
I think Freddie knows.
Her teeth sank into her lower lip.
Did Frankie know? Was that why she had so been against her friend hooking up with Thornton? But if she knew...then why didn't Frankie warn her? Or maybe...she couldn't. Maybe...she had signed away her rights with some non-disclosure agreements. Rich people loved their NDAs so much they would probably go to bed with it if they could.
"Blake?"
She looked up, startled and feeling just a little bit guilty. "Yup?" She hated the way she had been distrustful of her friend lately, and even though she instinctively knew Frankie would never do a thing to hurt or betray her...it didn't seem to make any difference.
Frankie finally decided to be blunt. "You've been giving me strange looks lately."
Sheep.
"I'm sorry," she heard herself mumble. "But it's really not just you. Sometimes, I don't even notice where or who I'm looking at. I just lose myself in my thoughts so easily these days."
"Because of Thornton."
She nodded. This, at least, was partially the truth.
"It's been two weeks, you know," Frankie said gently. "What really happened?" She genuinely wanted to know, if only so she could better understand how to help her friend.
"It just didn't work out."
Frankie had to work extremely hard not to challenge Blake's words. Just didn't work? It could be true with any other dreaded C-word. But Blake and Thornton? Never. Things couldn't just not work out for people like them.
Blake had fallen so hard for her boss that despite witnessing countless times just how crazy mercurial her so-called beloved could be, she still thought of him as perfect.
And then there was Thornton. The man used to have a batting average of three words per week. For several consecutive years. And yet after Blake, he had undergone a 180-degree change and now had a working vocabulary of about fifty words (and counting).
Frankie might not have been in favor of their relationship at the start, but she wasn't blind either. She had seen the way Blake blossomed under his attention and how much Thornton had loosened up because of her friend. The two of them being together might not have made sense on paper, but they had felt right.So right that Frankie knew things just couldn't stop working out between them.
It had to be something else.
Or...
"There's someone else, isn't there? A third party? Right?"
The words, blurted out just as Frankie and Blake entered the cafe, fell in a chasm of awkward silence. Because apparently, they had arrived a lot earlier, and the only ones inside were Elizabeth, Arden, and the Blackwood brothers.
All three accounted for, Frankie realized with a gulp, and all three also seemed to have heard everything she said.
It took a dreadful amount of time before anyone thought to move, and the first one who was able to do so...had to be Thornton.
Naturally, Blake found herself thinking, even though she wasn't quite sure what was so natural about it. His ability to respond first, wherever she was concerned? But if that were true, then that meant he really did care for her...which was impossible.
Her heart was racing against her will, so, so fast it made everything around her move in seeming slow motion. And that included Thornton, who was heading...straight...for her.
Thornton could feel his entire face harden when Blake suddenly ran past him like he didn't exist.
"Elizabeth, it's been so long!"
Elizabeth suddenly found herself engulfed in a desperately tight hug. "Y-Yeah." Like...fifteen hours too long?
The noise inside the cafe rocketed sky high in the next second. Everyone was talking a little too loudly and laughing a little too much. It was like one big joke, a pointless conspiracy where everyone was keen to have Thornton forget the way Blake had ghosted him.
In person.
Ethan quickly threw an arm around Thornton's shoulder when he saw his brother's face starting to harden.
"What do you want to drink?" Aidan asked while making sure to block Thornton's view of the girls.
"Did you hear her?" Thornton gritted out under his breath.
"Hear what?" Ethan asked cautiously.
"Exactly," Thornton said between clenched teeth as they swung back up on the stools by the counters. "Frankie talked about a third party---" He grabbed the whiskey bottle and poured himself a shot. "And she..." His fingers reflexively tightened its grip around the shotglass. "Didn't. Fucking. Say. Anything."
* * *
"I'm so sorry about that," Frankie was apologizing under her breath as she and Elizabeth rushed Blake towards one of the corner tables. The further away from Thornton, the better.
"It's fine." Blake's tone was wobbly. She had seen the look on Thornton's face when Frankie uttered those ugly hateful words, and it had nearly killed her. The pain...looked almost real. Almost made her want to forget she knew the truth and just pretend.
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Arden crank the music up as they took their seats. They might end up deaf in a couple of minutes, but at least she could be sure that whatever was spoken among them...stayed among them.
Tuning back to her friends' conversation, Elizabeth heard Blake asking Frankie if there even was a party to begin with, and she knew it was her turn to confess.
"That's my doing," she admitted apologetically. "I'm sorry, B. There is a party, but it's at six, not five, and I just couldn't say no to Mr. Blackwood. He just looked so..." Miserable, she almost said, but it suddenly didn't feel the right word to say, with Blake looking just as heartbroken.
"Is it true, though?" Frankie couldn't help asking uneasily. "I heard Mr. Blackwood and Mayor O talking, and he says..."
I've tried everything, Oliver. But she doesn't even want to talk, and she can't even seem to bear looking at me. It's almost like she fucking hates the sight of me---
Blake bit her lip hard at the look on her friend's face. Frankie usually loved anything that had to do with Thornton's suffering, but this time...
"What did he say, Frankie?" she asked tremulously.
Frankie took a deep breath. "He---"
An explosive sound cut her off, and all three girls jumped in their seats. Elizabeth was the only one of them facing the counter, and Blake couldn't help stiffening when she saw the gi
rl's jaw drop. "What is it?"
"I think...Thornton accidentally crushed a glass into pieces with his hand?"
Blake didn't even realize she had started to stand up until Frankie's fingers wrapped around her wrist, and her friend hissed, "What do you think you're doing?"
Oh.
She fell back into her seat. "I was..."
"Concerned for your boyfriend," Elizabeth said softly.
"Ex." It hurt to say this, but she felt the need to force this word out.
Elizabeth's heart squeezed at the way Blake's lips started trembling in an effort not to cry. "Oh, B."
"Don't you think it's time for you to talk about what happened?" Frankie urged. "You're clearly not doing fine, and he's not doing fine either."
"Are you sure about that?" Blake's smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Why are you acting like this?" Elizabeth asked worriedly.
"I know I've been against him from the start," Frankie said at the same time, "but when you guys are together..."
"He doesn't love me."
Elizabeth bit her lip when she heard the sudden catch in her friend's voice. "Are you really sure about that?"
Blake slowly nodded.
"But when he was drunk..."
"Exactly," Blake said painfully. "He was drunk."
"Did he cheat on you?" Frankie finally asked. "Is that why you're so sure---" Her voice trailed off when Blake shook her head. "Then...did you cheat on him?"
"No," Blake whispered. "But it doesn't matter because..." Her voice broke. Oh God. She jumped to her feet. "I...I think I need to go to the toilet." Blake was just seconds away from bursting into tears, and she would really rather not have anyone see her break down.
"B---" Frankie's voice trailed off as Blake rushed away.
"Oh no."
Elizabeth's dismayed tone had Frankie looking back. "What is it?"
The other girl pointed at the bar. "Thornton's seat is empty, too."
* * *
Thornton stared at his reflection in the mirror. What the fuck am I doing? He was falling apart, and it was all because of a girl. A girl, goddammit. He used to laugh every time he heard about men falling to pieces after getting dumped, and now karma was biting him in the ass.