Capture Her Heart

by Catrina Maddox

  Her cellphone beeped as a text came through. That’s odd, Emily thought. She picked up her phone and read the message.

  “Emily, coming home today. Flight details below. See you then.” As a message of love, it was far from the mark. She didn't even warrant a phone call now? Emily thought, wistfully. At least she would see him. The last week had been exciting. He had been flatteringly interested in her thoughts and opinions, and she missed him more than she thought she would.

  It was with anticipation that Emily pulled Blake's car into the airport pick up zone at the allotted time, looking for his dark hair within the crowd. Emily caught a glimpse of him standing tall and straight. He stood out from the crowd of holidaymakers in his business suit, but it was the young woman standing next to him that gave her pause.

  Emily sighed inwards. The woman was very slender and sexy. A slim, tall, and leggy model, she was draped in blue crepe de china. She had a knot of black hair and dark slanted eyes. She looked up at Blake. They seemed like the model couple. Emily put the car in park and got out of the vehicle, her hand raised to catch Blake's attention as she moved towards him. His laser eyes found her, and the smile he gave her bolstered her self-esteem. His eyes were filled with a warm welcome.

  “Emily,” Blake moved towards her, bending to kiss her on the cheek to greet her. The young woman moved with Blake towards Emily, winding her arm around his drawing his attention away from Emily.

  “Vivian, this is Emily Wilde. Emily, this is Vivian Shaw,” Blake made the introductions in a bland tone.

  “Vivian’s came down from Auckland to discuss some business with me regarding a trust I'm a trustee for,”

  “Emily,” the blatant hostility told Emily that there was more than met the eye with Vivian.

  “Vivian, delighted to meet you,” Emily greeted the young lady politely.

  Vivian regarded Emily's casual attire with distaste, looking her up and down. “Do you work for Blake? Her voice was as smooth as cream. She proceeded to hand over her luggage towards Emily.

  Emily's dislike for the woman was instant. “Oh no, I'm here for pleasure. Aren't I, Blake?” she said provocatively, turning her back on the luggage.

  Two pairs of eyes zoned in on her. The brown ones were amused as Blake murmured, “The pleasure of driving me mad, perhaps.” Then, he explained. “Emily is my girlfriend, Vivian.”

  Emily's eyebrows lifted of their own accord. It was the first time he had announced they were in a relationship; it gave her a jolt of pleasure.

  Blake picked up Vivian’s and his luggage and followed behind Emily to the vehicle and stored everything away before helping Vivian into the backseat of the vehicle.

  “Vivian’s staying at the Le Moritz Hotel in town. I've arranged a table for all of us for dinner tonight at the Hotel, so I'll drop you off first, Emily, so that you have time to get ready.”

  “Oh… the two of you don't live together?” Vivian said from the backseat. There was spite in her tone.

  Emily realized this was going to be a long dinner. She glanced over at Blake as he piloted the vehicle through the traffic as she thought about what she had in her wardrobe that would be up to dinner at one of Queenstown's best hotels.

  Emily was waiting for Blake that evening. She spent a considerable amount of time getting ready. She paid special attention to her makeup and pulled her best dress out of the wardrobe. She knew she looked good. It wasn't like she didn't know that woman would want Blake; he stood out in a crowd, but the subtle tension that she noticed when Vivian had touched Blake left her wondering who she was to Blake. It was clear that they had more than a business relationship.

  God, all her insecurities had come to the fore. This was the end. She only hoped he would let her down gently. She shrugged her shoulders in the mirror and her mind wandered back to the conversation with Catherine. Did she need to put her big girl pants on and give Blake the benefit of the doubt? She’d already rushed off the handle once with her temper, looking for things that weren’t there.

  Jealously, she thought with a capital J, was eating her alive, turning her brain into mush. She was in love with the man and possessed nine-tenths of the law. She thought of Catherineshe wasn't going to let some spoiled rich girl ruin her evening, so she would pull out all the stops and go down fighting. Blake had been nothing but honest with her. She was reading more into this than necessary. Emily ran her hands down her dress. The pep talk was done.

  The front doorbell rang as she was reached for an evening shawl from her wardrobe. When she was done, she hurried through the house, pulling the door open without looking to see who was at the door.

  “Emily, you are gorgeous, sugar.” Blake greeted her as he pulled her close. His lips came down on hers, the passion sparking as he feasted at her lips. Emily found herself groaning as he deepened the kiss.

  “Now, that is what I have been missing.” Blake raised his head, his voice rough with passion.

  “Hmm... we don't have to go out tonight; we could just go inside.” Emily looked down, ashamed that she'd tried to use the oldest trick in the book.

  “That's quite a temptation, Emily, but we can't.” Blake rose to his full height. “But I'll take up the invitation after dinner, sugar.”

  “It might not be extended again,” Emily pouted at Blake, laughing at his disappointed stare.

  Blake settled Emily into his vehicle, and they got underway. Emily found herself playing with the edge of her scarf as she thought about the best way to approach who and what Vivian meant to Blake.

  “So, tell me more about Vivian,” Emily asked, taking in Blake’s side profile as she asked.

  “Vivian is Dereck's widow.”

  Blake had told her about the injury that he'd suffered that forced him to retire from the service, and that, during the mission, he had lost his friend Derek Shaw. It was clear that he blamed himself in some way for the loss of Derck. She knew it had taken a great deal of inner strength and courage for him to come out the other side emotionally, and that it been an incurable turbulent time for him, as well as a lot of self-doubt and remorse that he still carried. It might have crippled a less man she had thought at the time. It had changed him; he learned from the experience.

  “Oh,” Emily was unsure of how to answer.

  “I'm one of the trustees to the trust that oversees Dereck's estate,” Blake advised.

  “Did he have a large estate?” Emily wondered why it would need Vivian to spend time with Blake.

  “Yes. Dereck came from money. He had no need to work, and after his death, things got a little complicated.” Blake's blank tone caused her to view him closely.

  The drive to the hotel didn't take long as it was completed in silence the rest of the way, Emily digesting Blake's mood. The hotel was everything that Emily had been expecting, the opulent foyer befitting a five-star luxury hotel. She hadn't dined at the restaurant before. It was a little out of her social class. Glad now that she'd dressed up as she saw the elegant Vivian sitting in the foyer, her black fitted dress of designer origin, it screamed expensive. She hadn't expected to see the male sitting next to her, dressed in his suit. She almost didn't recognize Cain.

  “I asked Cain to make up the numbers tonight. He knows Vivian as well,” Blake said, as if reading her mind.

  “It's nice to see a friendly face.” Emily smiled up at Blake, causing him to frown at her statement.

  “Vivian, Cain. Nice to see you.” Emily put on her what she liked to term, “meet the client's face.”

  “Emily, good to see your hands have healed.” Cain got up from the couch to give her a hug in greeting.

  “Your hands?” The sharp tone of Vivian's voice grated across her nerves.

  “Emily had a small accident recently when she injured her hands. Nothing a bit of tender love and care couldn't fix.” Blake winked at Cain as he answered Vivian's questions.

  “I'm sure it was nothing. Us women like to make things out worse than they are to attract male sympathy.” Vivian�
�s patronizing tone belied the smile she bestowed on Emily.

  “Well, ladies. Why don't we go through to the bar?” Cain suggested, rolling his eyes behind Vivian at Emily, demonstrating his thought on Vivian.

  Blake settled them into a booth in the hotel bar while the two men headed to the bar in conversation.

  “So, what do you do?” Emily asked as the opening gambit.

  “Oh, I work on a number of charity boards, I like to give back to the community and Derek wouldn't have liked it if I hadn't been free to travel with him when he was on leave. Men are so intolerant of a women's career, don't you find, Emily? Particularly very masculine man who can afford to provide their wives with all their needs. Fortunately for me, I never felt a driving need to assert myself in any one field. Some women are unwilling to make sacrifices in their own lives for there partners, aren't they?”

  “I always thought of marriage as a partnership where both parties make it work Sometimes, that includes compromise,” Emily smiled her artist smile at her.

  “Do you have any children?”

  She noticed a flicker of annoyance across Vivian's face “No, Dereck and I had only been married a few years; before he was... killed. I don't know if I would have been able to cope with a fatherless baby as well as the Estate. In fact, without Blake's help, I don't think I would have coped at all. He's always there when I need him.” Her lips curved in a satisfied expression, a hint of little girl guilty, “which, I'm afraid, is rather often. Blake doesn't mind if anything we've grown closer since Dereck's death.”

  Emily wasn't going to touch that one with a barge-pole. She knew what Vivian was implying. That woman was after husband number two, and it appeared she had Blake in her sights. Emily had come across women like Vivian before. The world of art patrons was small, and it was surprising how many wealthy men were attracted to women like Vivian. She was trying to imply that the friendship between her and Blake was not entirely Platonic.

  “I mean, I know the rumor mill was out of control at the time; they were totally unfounded,” Vivian said virtuously. “I was never Blake’s lover during my marriage to Dereck.”

  The qualification was like a gunshot aimed right at her, she thought. She'd guessed as much; there must have been some basis for Vivian's possessiveness. The woman was well into her stride now, trying to get under her skin.

  “After his death, it was only natural that Blake and I should turn to each other for support, and it wasn’t surprising that people would say we were lovers, just one look at us, I guess.”

  Emily tried to maintain her dignity, giving a stiff mummer of understanding.

  “You seem like you need this/” Cain slipped a drink in front of her as he whispered in her ear.

  “What have you been talking about?” Blake asked as he slipped into the booth in front of her.

  “I was just explaining to Emily about how you and I go way back,” Vivian said, smiling as she accepted the drink from Blake. “And that she shouldn't listen to any nasty rumors about us.”

  “Hmm… it has been most enlightening.” Emily tiger smiled at Blake.

  Blake mentally cursed as she watched the women in the booth, the tension sliding out of Emily. He drank to try to ease the constriction in his throat; instead, he found it fed his brooding temper. He only hoped the evening could be over quickly. He knew he shouldn't have left the two women alone.

  Dinner was worse than she thought. Emily struggled through the courses. Sure, the food was a delight, but it tasted like sawdust in her mouth. She had to watch Vivian flirt with Blake, her sweet undemanding teasing got on Emily's nerves; however, there was nothing that Emily could complain about, except that Blake flirted back while consuming copious amounts of wine at dinner. His usual restless energy muted, he was the perfect victim for the Black Widow, as Emily decided to call her. Emily felt herself getting colder. She stared out over the dance floor where they had adjourned after dinner. The soft jazz and cozy atmosphere should have topped what would have been a marvels evening, but the view of Vivian wrapped around Blake on the dance floor caused her blood pressure to spike.

  “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “What, can you read minds now, Cain?” Emily turned to face Cain, a glossy smile pinned to her face.

  “No, but I now what Vivian is like, and I know that face, Emily. I’m not a prospective client. I'm your friend,” Cain took sips of the whiskey he had ordered.

  “She's like jasmine, pretty to look at and smells a treat, but smothers the hell out of everything around her.”

  “Oh yes, I can see how smothered he feels,” Emily said sourly.

  Cain snorted. “Vivian genially went to pieces when Dereck died, but Blake being Blake, he's too loyal to tell her to buzz off. There is a code in the SAS that goes, “Never leave a man behind,” Well, that applies to the families back homes as well, for a lot of us, so we look out for Vivian. It doesn't mean anything is going on, even if she would like it to. If he hasn't made a move yet, that is because he doesn't want to.”

  “That's not what Vivian implied,” Emily confessed.

  “Well, possession is nine-tenths of the law, you know.” Cain winked at her, echoing her friend. “And from what I have seen of Blake this past week, he is firmly under your possession.”

  “What are you two whispering about?” Blake growled, the couple having returned to the booth unseen.

  “Nothing.” Emily smiled up at Blake, “Dance with me?”

  Blake swept her up in his arms; she could smell his masculine scent as her hands rested on his shoulders.

  “She told you we were lovers, didn't she?” he demanded thickly.

  “Didn't she?” His furious tone took Emily by surprise.

  “Yes.”

  “I know I have a past, and not even for you can I wipe it out, but I swear to you it was a one-night thing. We were both low and it kind of happened.” The edge of guilt clear in his voice.

  “I don't expect you to do that!” Emily raised her voice in defense. “I'm not an idiot. I know she was trying to run me off.”

  “Well,” the anger went out of him like a balloon.

  “Can't you see, you moron, that she is using your guilty feelings to keep you on a string and tells lies about you, and you let her.”

  He stiffened at her words. “As far as I am concerned, she is my friend's widow. That makes her my friend that he entrusted me to help look after her when he was gone, and that is all. She's not my type and never will be.”

  “How many women has she run off with the 'I don't want you to be hurt by our special relationship junk.”

  “What the hell are we arguing about?” he demanded.

  “I don't know, Blake. You started it, but I'm ending it,” she said, the emotion rolling out of her as to why he was blaming her. It was clear that he was putting Vivian’s feelings first.

  15

  Emily sat out at the breakfast table the next morning, going over the previous nights. Could she have been a bit hasty leaving Blake on the dance floor and getting Cain to give her a lift home? But she'd been so angry. If Blake was trying to let her down easy, then he was going about it the wrong way. She felt the guilt in her stomach as she realized she wasn't being honest with herself. She had let her emotions overcome her; something she seemed to be doing a lot around Blake. Well, there's not much point in crying over spilled milk. I need a decent breakfast if I'm going to get the nerve up to go see Blake, and since she should have done the food shopping a couple of days ago, the Cafe it was. Emily collected up her things. Locking up the house, she decided to go straight to the supermarket after brunch, thinking about how she would word a text to Blake to see if he wanted to have dinner with her. It was the chicken’s way out. But it would avoid a scene if he didn't want anything more to do with her. Emily pulled the old station wagon she used up to the front of the local café. The small car park was emptynot an usual sight, seeing as most locals didn't roll out of bed up until later in the weekend and preferred
to walk the distance to the café. Nothing was too far in Glen Point.

  Emily walked into the front of the café. The familiar sight and sound was comforting. She gave a wave to Madelyn, who was manning the front serving, letting her know that she would find her own table. There were a few people inside, but it wasn’t busy, which suited her mood. Turning, she ploughed into a broad male chest. She had been unaware of anyone coming in behind her. The contact caused her to stumble backwards, a little out of breath at the shock.

  “Sorry, Em, I thought you saw me come in behind you.” She heard his voice, chuckling, hearty, and very familiar.

  “Cain, I'm sorry,” she muttered hastily as thoughts of last night jumped to the for again.

  “No issue, Em. Here for some breakfast? Why don't you join me?”

  Emily studied her friend and fellow artist, making a snap decision.

  “That would be good, to be honest. I need your opinion.” Emily didn't have the situation under control, so she thought that someone who was close to Blake might be able to help her.

  “Um… you don't seem to happy there, friend of mine. Why you don't you get us a seat outside? I'll put in an order with Mad to bring us over some coffee to start with. Latte okay with you?”

  “Sounds like a plan, Cain. Thanks.”

  A little calmer, Emily trotted through the indoor seating out onto the old wrap-around porch. The cafe was set up in one of the old settler's cottages, while most of the interior had been updated for modern use, albeit with a sympathetic nod to the cottage's heritage. The old porch had been kept and renovated. Its size unusual, it led down into the back garden that was awash in summer color. Individual seating, with umbrellas dotted around the small area, gave these seats a more private option to the porch and indoors. The morning sun made the green sparkle, the drew dropping on the lower branches. She always felt like she was walking into the secret garden when she came back here, the tall hedges that surrounded the back. Madelyn, the cafe owner, had done wonders in the month since she had taken over the business.