Page 24 of State of Grace

Intrigue.

Maybe it was the fact that Blake knew that Alexis was a fan of the show and hadn’t fawned over her like other people she’d met. In fact, Alexis had barely shown any interest in Blake at all. She’d been annoyed by Blake at dinner over the show’s - what had she called it? - hetero normative storylines.

The Alexis at dinner had been a different one than had stood in the glow of the street light with her. That Alexis had successfully dodged every compliment Blake tried to give her. Blake could see her insecurities and wanted to try and convince her she was wrong about herself, but hell, Blake barely knew her. She had no right to assume she knew Alexis on a deeper level.

Truthfully, Blake barely knew her on a friendly level. And the way Alexis acted at dinner, she wasn’t even sure Alexis wanted to be friends with her. She’d acted so nonchalant with Blake’s presence that, at the time, Blake had found it endearing that Alexis wasn’t fawning all over her. Looking back, however, Blake began to wonder if Alexis really lacked interest in her. After all, they say never meet your heroes because they’ll let you down.

Was Blake not who Alexis had assumed her to be? Was she so different that Alexis had no interest in getting to know her? Or was the nonchalant attitude Alexis’s way of playing it cool in front of Blake? It was entirely possible Alexis was nervous and insecure about meeting Blake and trying to play it off the best she could.

Through all the uncertainties, Blake knew one thing wholeheartedly. She had wanted more than anything to kiss Alexis the other night. That fact scared her more than she had expected. She wasn’t one to kiss someone out of the blue; she considered herself more old-fashioned than that. Call her archaic, but Blake thought two people should have a mutual desire to kiss before someone initiated a kiss. Although there had been a vibe Alexis had given off, she didn’t know if it was a ‘please kiss me’ or ‘please leave me alone so I can go inside’ vibe.

Alexis was a puzzling enigma.

And Blake loved puzzles.

Lacing up her sneakers, Blake snuck out through the back door to avoid any conversation she could hear happening down the hall in the living room. Isla, Vera, and their kids were fantastic, but Blake wasn’t up for more chitchat; the conversation at dinner had already taken more than she had wanted to give. Blake wasn’t used to always being surrounded by people who weren’t her costars, and being around family was more exhausting than Blake had realized. She needed a run to clear her head; she needed to push her lungs to their limit to get her mind off Alexis. A nice evening run would be just the ticket.

Blake adjusted the smartwatch on her wrist as she set out on the two-lane road toward downtown. She’d been running in the evening on the trails Isla had made around the farm, but she’d gotten lost the day before and was sure she’d end up on TMZ along with the headline “Blake Calloway: Murdered in Her Estranged Mother’s Backyard.” That was what she needed.

Her watch buzzed with a text notification as Blake quickly glanced down at it.

It was from Salem.

Again.

She’d texted several times a day since Blake had left. Her texts were mostly asking how Blake was and keeping her informed on the happenings with the show. Blake had been careful to leave out any mention of Alexis when Salem had asked if she had made any friends. She wasn’t ready to share that information with Salem. Not yet, anyway. Thankfully, there had been no real updates for the show to resume filming so at least for the time being, Blake didn’t have to leave the Cove.

Or Alexis.

Her relationship with her career had always been a challenging one. Her father was her manager first, her accountant second, and her father last, all the way up until the day he died. Ben was more concerned with how much money Blake was making on a show than if she enjoyed the role. She worked sixteen plus hours a day, six days a week for ten months out of the year, and it had gotten to her. When she’d been in her preteen and teenage years, she’d struggled with snapping at people unnecessarily and withdrawing into her own mind to the point she didn’t know if there was a way out.

But Ben never let her quit. He pushed her and pushed her until she was eighteen and in an ICU from dehydration and exhaustion. The press had had a field day with that one, but of course, her father had spun it all to make it look like Blake had merely been working too hard because she was passionate about her career.

Years of therapy would eventually help her control them to the point where she could manage her emotions significantly better than before.

Blake loved her career, yes, but she had wanted out multiple times over the years. It just wasn’t her dream the way it was for other people; it was never her passion.

Her smartwatch buzzed once more, this time to indicate she’d completed another mile. She was five miles in before she slowed her pace as she approached the crosswalk at Main Street. After she’d eaten the best lasagna she’d ever had for dinner courtesy of Vera, Blake found herself in need of a drink to wash it all down. Blake knew better than to drink then run home alone on the dark street, but one drink wouldn’t hurt her. One drink and out the door; home before the sun finished setting.

Opening the heavy oak door at Straight to Ale, Blake was relieved that apparently, Tuesday evenings in Moonflower Cove were relatively low-key. There were only a handful of tables occupied, and the stage set up in one corner of the restaurant was vacant. The waiter at the host stand barely acknowledged her as she told him she wanted a seat at the bar and walked over to it. She was relieved to find the only person behind the bar was Alexis, who was intently cleaning a shaker with her back toward her.

Choosing the seat in the corner that allowed her to have her back to the wall, Blake sat and picked up one of the plastic menus. She wasn’t hungry and knew her drink order, so it was more out of nervousness than anything that she decided to peruse it at all. Her eyes kept looking at Alexis over the menu. Blake licked her lips unconsciously as her eyes raked up Alexis’s body. The logoed t-shirt she was wearing and her jeans both hugged every curve of her body perfectly. She wasn’t model skinny but wasn’t plumb either. She was a healthy medium that Blake hadn’t realized she was so entirely attracted to until that moment.

“What’s a person gotta do to get service around here?” Blake didn’t bother to hide the smile on her face as the elaborate braid in Alexis’s hair flipped over her shoulder as she whirled around to face her. Alexis’s face went from horrified to relieved quickly, and it made Blake laugh.

“I thought you were an actual customer, and I was about to crawl into a hole.”

“You wanna crawl into a lot of holes.” The words were out before Blake could stop them, and she winced. Thankfully, Alexis busted out laughing. “See? You’re not the only one who embarrasses yourself, you know?”

“Good to know you’re human.”

“That’s the rumor.” Setting the menu aside, Blake leaned onto the bar top. Alexis walked over to her, placing her hand on the lower counter behind the bar and leaning toward Blake. She swallowed and licked her lips at the way Alexis’s close presence affected her in ways she hadn’t anticipated. For a moment, she wondered if Alexis would keep leaning across the counter to kiss her.

“Your mom’s not here.”

“Oh, I know. Isla’s at home with the rest of the Brady bunch.”

“And you…what?” She placed a hand on her hip as she jutted her chin toward her. “Ran here to get away? You do know that there are these new inventions called vehicles that allow you to get from one location to another without having to run, right?”

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