Then...
Then the truth came out. She didn’t believe him for a second. Well, he didn’t need her approval. He knew the truth, knew his reasons for doing what he did. And they were true. He wanted the kids to succeed. This was his small way of trying to do something that would give them dignity and a life skill. Why hadn’t she seen that?
Blake dropped down in his chair. Nothing on his desk was visible to him. All he could see was the frozen expression on Ellie’s face just before he’d walked away from her.
* * *
Judi grabbed her glass of wine and folded her legs under her as she sat in an oversize chair in Ellie’s living room. “You know I could lose my shopping privileges for this?” she said. “They could take my credit card, and I’d be lost without it.”
She was kidding and Ellie knew it. “Just tell me.”
“I talked to Patty and Gloria. They love working in the store. They say they see Blake several times when they’re there. Of course, he is a gorgeous man—makes my mouth water just looking at him.”
Ellie’s eyes flashed at her friend.
Judi laughed, “So he does get your juices running. You should see the way the girls look at him.”
Ellie said nothing, but she felt the stab of jealousy that raised its head within her.
“They’re teenagers, Ellie, often in love with a good-looking man. The fact that they don’t know what love is is beside the point.”
“I’ve seen the looks,” Ellie said.
“Not coming from your own eyes,” Judi finished for her.
“What?”
Ellie remembered not only the way Blake had looked at her, but the way she felt in his arms, the way they’d made love, the way the two of them fitted together like opposite sides of the same coin. Heat started working its way up her face.
Judi leaned forward, coming out of her relaxed position. She set her glass on the coffee table and looked Ellie right in the eye. “Elliana Hamilton, you’re more than attracted to Blake Thorn. The two of you have passed step one.”
“Don’t be so antiquated.” Ellie groped for something to refute her friend’s claim.
“All right, you’re beyond first base. You’ve rounded a corner and you can’t undo what’s been done. So, what’s been done?”
Ellie waited a long moment. The two stared at each other. Ellie had been friends with Judi since they’d met in a wine-tasting class five years ago.
“He kissed me,” Ellie finally said. She wouldn’t share anything more, definitely not the fact that he’d produced a heaven within her that she knew no one would ever come close to duplicating.
“I knew it. I could tell by that expression on your face. You go all soft and gooey whenever we talk about him.”
“Soft and gooey?” Ellie screwed up her face. Yet she didn’t deny Judi’s words.
“It’s the only description I can think of.” Judi picked up her glass and sipped the wine. “How do you really feel about him?”
Ellie ran her fingers through her hair. It was down and falling over her shoulders. She pushed it back behind her ear, remembering Blake doing that on the hill outside the Purple Cloud.
She mulled over answers she could give Judi. The two usually shared a lot of their lives, although Ellie had no doubt that Judi had secrets she kept to herself, just as Ellie did. She wasn’t thinking of lying to her friend, only offering her the technical truth without the full and complete story.
“I think I’m falling in love with him,” she said.
Judi’s body came forward as if she were propelled off the chair.
* * *
Darlene appeared in Ellie’s doorway. Ellie looked up from the monthly reports she was reviewing.
“I wanted to remind you that I’m leaving now.”
Ellie nodded. Darlene had a doctor’s appointment. “See you tomorrow.”
“Before I go, you had a call from Mr. Thorn.”
Ellie’s heart lurched. “What did he want?”
“He asked if you’d call him back.” Darlene handed her a notepad page with his name and number on it.
“Thanks,” Ellie said.
Darlene waited a second too long before smiling and leaving Ellie’s office.
Looking down at the paper, Ellie realized the number belonged to Blake’s cell phone. Ellie wondered why he hadn’t called her on her cell. He had the number. It had been two weeks since their encounter in his store. She’d had no reports about the camp kids being transferred and not liking it. She felt bad about her suspicions, although they were warranted.
What could he want now? Certainly not to talk to her. She felt their friendship had ended that day in the corridor of the House of Thorn. Ellie debated returning the call. But he had placed it to a business number. He could want something related to the foundation, and it would be both rude and unprofessional to ignore it.
She picked up the phone and punched in his number. It rang three times before he answered it. In the past, before the store confrontation, he’d answered on the first ring. Did he want to talk to her, or was he answering now simply because he had to talk to her?
None of these thoughts kept her body from reacting to the sound of his voice. Ellie never really knew things like this could happen. She’d read romance novels, watched Hallmark movies and enjoyed the company of men, but never had she had these wildly swinging emotions. But apparently her mood swings were only associated with one single man—Blake Thorn.
“I have a message that you called.” Her voice was stiffer than she wanted it to be. She knew if she didn’t force herself, it would come out “all soft and gooey,” as Judi had said.
Blake cleared his throat on the other end of the phone line.
“I called to remind you that we have a project to complete.”
He made it sound as if they had a business arrangement. That might have been how it began, but they were well past that now. Their first kiss on that windswept hill had been a change to the path she expected to run. If that didn’t change things, their night of lovemaking had solidly altered their trajectory. Ellie didn’t know where they were headed. One minute she’d had her body wrapped around his like a candy cane, and the next she was berating him for having an ulterior motive.
And her determination to stay clear of Blake had long since been forgotten.
“I assumed we’d already done that.”
“Why?” he asked.
“At the store.” She stopped and cleared her own throat as images of them in the elevator flooded her senses. “When you demonstrated the hoops you’d gone through to help some of the teens—that was proof enough for me.”
Did she hear a sigh through the phone? Was Blake relieved? Her heart sank.
“Blake?” Ellie lowered her voice. “I want to apologize.”
“Not necessary,” he said.
“I want to do it anyway. I jumped to a lot of conclusions the last time I saw you. Apparently the kids are doing fine. They love working in retail and are happier there than they were at the farm.”
“Good to hear,” he said. It was the type of comment you made when you had nothing else to say.
“Thank you for being able to see that and doing something about it. It proves how much of a foundation person you are.”
“Thank you.”
“So,” she said, drawing the word out. “We’ve completed the project.”
“Not yet,” he said, stopping her. “There’s one more event we have to attend.”
“What’s that?”
“The celebration.”
“I don’t understand.” They had never discussed having a celebration when they finished a project.
“As a celebration to the end of our agreement, I have tickets to the Gladys Oberon Children’s Cancer Hospital Ball. They invite me every year, but usually I have a conflict. So
I send a check. This year I’m free. It’s a fund-raiser, so I thought it was the perfect place to celebrate.”
It was a wonderful organization. Ellie had attended several of their events, but she’d never gone to their ball. Gladys Oberon was a small hospital that was gaining a great reputation for innovative procedures and patient care.
“When is it?”
“Saturday.”
“Is it all right to add this to my calendar?” he asked.
It sounded more like a business meeting than a date. It wasn’t a date. She’d had her turn at dating Blake. This would only be the completion of an agreement that she regretted ever making. If she hadn’t, her heart wouldn’t be in such danger of breaking into pieces.
“I’ll add it to mine, too,” she agreed without giving the customary yes or no.
He agreed to pick her up on the night of the fund-raiser. Ellie ended the call and placed her phone on her desk. She gazed at it as if it were alive and only acting dead. It could strike her at any moment. It was fire. Why was she playing with it? And why was her mind skipping to what she would wear? The pearl-encrusted shoes with stand-up butterfly clips on the front were on the shelf of her closet. She’d have to get them down. They would go with the red strapless gown her sister had given her for Christmas a year ago.
She wanted to look special. More and more, she thought of Blake and herself having a future together. She didn’t know if that was possible. But when he saw her, she wanted his memory to be of her looking like a queen.
When she got home that evening, she went straight to her bedroom and pulled out the dresses, deciding on one and making a mental note to have it pressed.
Saturday night arrived with the slowness of a tortoise race. Ellie had anticipated it everyday since she’d spoken to Blake. She had everything ready, taking nearly an hour to get her makeup and hair perfect before donning her gown.
The box with her shoes was on the top shelf of her closet. She reached up and pushed aside several other boxes, looking for the one labeled Pearl-Encrusted Shoes. Seeing it, she went up on her toes and grabbed it. Down it came, knocking another box with it. Ellie used her hands to protect her head as both boxes crashed to the floor. The shoes fell out, along with the rhinestone butterfly clips that adorned the front of them.
Papers from the other box were strewn all over the bedroom floor. Quickly Ellie gathered them up and pushed them back onto the floor of the closet.
Standing up, she adjusted her gown and slipped her feet into the high heels. Taking a look in the mirror, she was pleased, but her hair needed a bit of fixing. The box had hit her and pulled her twist loose. Ellie put it back in place, anticipating Blake ringing the doorbell.
* * *
The computer’s trill caught Blake’s attention. He was sure it was one of his family members. They usually called when a conference was scheduled. There was nothing on his calendar, so it could only be one of his brothers. He grinned when he saw André’s name highlighted on the screen.
“Hey, André, what’s up?”
“I should ask what’s up with you. Look at that room.”
Blake glanced behind him, seeing the mess he’d made of his bedroom. He swung the computer around. André’s camera was limited to the wall behind his desk. Taking a seat, Blake relaxed for a moment.
“We’re on our way to a charity ball.”
“You?” André said. “You hate balls.”
“Not exactly. I hate all the pomp and circumstance that goes into balls where the money never reaches those in need.”
“I know Wilson didn’t convince you to go, so who is the lucky lady?”
“You’re sure a woman convinced me?” Blake hedged.
“I’m looking directly at you.”
“Is there a purpose for this call? Or did you just want to shoot the bull?”
“I was thinking of you and wondering how things were going,” André said.
“They’re fine,” Blake told him, then shrugged. “Yep, I’m going out. I’m accompanying Ms. Hamilton to a ball.”
“Ellie Hamilton, the exec at the foundation? That Ms. Hamilton?”
“One and the same.” Blake tried to keep his voice even, yet just thinking about Ellie aroused him. Saying her name made his voice soft and gentle, the way she was.
André moved closer to the screen, as if the two were in the same room and he was getting close to prevent others from overhearing.
“Are you two seeing each other?” he asked. “Dating?”
“Not exactly.” Blake couldn’t call their time together dating.
“What exactly, then?”
“We’ve been attending a few events with each other.”
“And you don’t call them dates?”
“They’re not dates.”
“Okay. Have you had dinner together?”
“Twice.”
“Then it’s dating.”
“André, with Ellie it’s complicated,” Blake said, his voice sounding hesitant and confused.
“I see, you’ve gone from Ms. Hamilton to Ellie in one lightning strike. Are we going to go from dinner to a wedding, or are you planning to leap tall buildings in a single bound first?”
Blake knew his brother was teasing, but he was closer to the truth than he knew. For a moment, Blake considered telling him everything.
“Blake,” his brother said. “What’s going on?”
“I am dating Ellie.”
“You said that like it’s serious.”
Blake thought for a moment. “That’s the complicated part.”
“Unrequited?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Blake, this is not like you. What happened to the end-it-on-the-third-date guy? You’re acting more like David when he fell for Rose.”
Blake agreed. “It doesn’t feel that bad.”
“Oh my God, you’re in love with her.” It was a statement of fact.
André flipped back in his chair, pushing himself away from the computer screen. Blake watched without comment as the perspective changed. He glanced at the bed. A blue velvet box lay there. André couldn’t see it. Blake had moved the computer screen away from a view of the bed.
“How does she feel about you?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Stop saying that.” André smacked the desk with his hand. Blake blinked but didn’t move. “Either she loves you or she doesn’t.”
Blake understood his brother more than André thought he did. He was protective. All of the Thorn boys were. They stood together as a family, and no one wanted any of them to be hurt, physically or emotionally.
André wasn’t an emotional man. He didn’t wear his feelings on his sleeve and he didn’t jump to conclusions. He weighed things logically before making a decision. It was because it was family that his back was up. Fortunately attack mode was miles away from his current state.
“Let’s just see where it goes,” Blake said. He had a plan to move things along. Ellie had started this journey and she wanted to end it, but he wasn’t about to let that happen. The two of them had something. Blake felt it, and he knew she did, too. As much as he fought against his feelings, she was fighting hers, as well.
Now she’d have to fight hers and try to deter him from his mission to make her his—in mind, body and soul.
* * *
Three tuxedos lay in various places about Blake’s bedroom. He’d dressed and undressed several times after getting off the phone with his brother. Changing clothes multiple times was something he’d always believed only women did. He’d never done it before. Usually he chose his clothes, showered and dressed. There were no Thorn girls except his mother, and he had never noticed her being so unsure of how she looked that she discarded one outfit for another three times before settling on one. He’d seen her change her jewelry once or twi
ce, but never her clothes, unless she spilled something on herself.
Blake took the white jacket off and replaced it with the black one. Nodding to his reflection in the mirror, he needlessly pulled down his cuffs and slipped his feet into his shoes. His watch pinged. It was time to leave.
* * *
Ellie opened the door when he arrived, and Blake was speechless. The white gown she’d worn with the crystals was beautiful and drew the eye. Tonight, she was a lady in red. Her hair was up and red ribbons were braided through it. All he could think of was running his fingers through it and pulling it down.
The dress was strapless, formfitting in the front, and the back was gold, with a floor-length drape that pinched in at the waist and ended with a short train, which flowed when she walked toward him. For a moment, Blake was speechless and his throat was so dry, he had to pry his tongue from the roof of his mouth.
Blake was suddenly unsure how to act. They’d parted on terms that could have been better. Was Ellie the type to hold a grudge, or was she the forgiving?
“You look lovely,” he said. She actually bowled him over.
Ellie looked him up and down. Finally she said, “I’ve always thought of you as a GQ model.”
“Was that a compliment?” he teased. That was the first time she’d ever complimented him, and something inside him moved, clicked into place.
“Is this another creation by your sister?”
“It is.” She turned fully around, allowing him to see the gown. On her feet were a pair of shoes that had butterflies on them and looked as if they were covered in pearls. They complemented her outfit perfectly.
“Very talented. I’d love to meet her one day,” Blake said.
“She wants to meet you, too,” Ellie replied.
“You told her about me?”
“We have no secrets.” She winked.
“Everyone has secrets,” Blake said. He knew he did.
Looking at Ellie, he felt a change in the mood. He didn’t want anything to spoil tonight.
“We’d better go,” she said.
Love in San Francisco ; Unconditionally Page 13