Page 43 of Fire

Her head tipped, still studying him. “Okay.”

He looked away, not wanting to speculate on what she was thinking. He had too many thoughts of his own he had to sort through. “Anything special you want or like?”

“I’ll eat anything.”

He gave a curt nod, and still not meeting her eyes, leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you downstairs.” Then turning, he walked from the room, shutting the bedroom door behind him.

Chapter 11

Capturing a piece of cubed pork with her chopsticks, Gwen popped it into her mouth before going back to search for another in the mound of fried rice on her plate. Blake was still acting weird. She hadn’t expected hearts, rainbows, and declarations of love after the first time they’d had sex, but she definitely hadn’t bargained for the silent treatment.

Finding another bit of pork, she speared it while sneaking a peek under her lashes at the man sitting across from her. He was texting on his phone. The same thing he’d been doing since she’d come downstairs—minus the small amount of time when he stopped to answer the door and dish out their food.

They were eating in the dining room, sitting at a big-ass table that could seat at least twenty. She guessed it was a small blessing they were both sitting at the same end. She giggled under her breath when she remembered the scene from a movie.

“What’s so funny?”

She looked up. Blake had set his phone down and had a small smile on his face. His mercurial moods were going to give her whiplash. She shook her head transferring her eyes back to her pile of fried rice. “Something funny popped into my head.”

“Like?” He speared a piece of broccoli with his fork and transferred it to his mouth.

He sounded genuinely interested, so she replied, “A movie I saw once. Your table is so big, it reminded me of this scene where a couple was sitting at a table like this one, only at either end, and to have a conversation, their butler would have to walk back and forth to relay what they were saying.” She shook her head again. “It was funnier in my head.” She uncovered another piece of pork and picked it up. “I don’t even remember what movie it was from.”

“Do you not like the food?”

He was eyeing her plate. It was still mostly full, the pile of rice decimated from her efforts of picking through it. “No, it’s good. I guess I’m not that hungry.” She forced a smile. “Still full from pancakes.”

He seemed to accept that as an excuse. Setting his fork down, he picked up his water and took a sip, his eyes never leaving her. “I think I owe you another apology.” At her raised brow, he sighed and then continued, “I screwed up again, and I’m not sure how to explain without sounding like an asshole.”

She set her chopsticks down and leaned back in her chair, giving up on her meal. “To be honest, right now, I already think you’re an asshole, so you won’t be doing much more damage.”

He chuckled under his breath and picked up his fork, now pushing his food around. He was staring at his plate when he said, “When I said I’ve never been in a relationship, I don’t think you fully understood what that meant. I’ve never gone on a date. Never spent any time with a woman longer than what it took to interest her in sex. And afterward,right afterward,they’d be gone. I’ve never had to do the post-sex conversation.” Raising his head, he locked eyes with her. “In other words, I hadn’t known what to do with you.”

She mulled that over while reading the honesty in his expression then finally relented, “Okay.” Sitting back up, she plucked her chopsticks off her plate and tweezered a bite of Kung Pao chicken, popping it in her mouth.

“Okay? That’s it? I’m forgiven?”

She shrugged, chewed then swallowed. “I can’t expect a miracle overnight. It’s a learning curve for you. So long as you don’t do it again, we’ll be all right.”

A small smile ghosted his lips, and he snickered while shaking his head.

“What?” She couldn’t imagine what he found funny.

“I’m always surprised by you.” And now that he said that, she did see his look of wonder. “I don’t think most women would be as forgiving.”

“I don’t think you give women enough credit.”

He shook his head. “No. It’s you. You’re special.”

The mushy feeling was back in her stomach. She smiled across at him. “Then I guess you’re lucky to have me.”

His expression turned serious, and he was quick to agree. “Yeah, I am.”

Gwen was in the kitchen cleaning up dinner when she heard Blake’s phone ringing from the dining room. He’d left it on the table after they’d finished eating when he’d gone up to take a shower before they had to leave.

Normally, she would have ignored it, but with the emergency the night before and all the texting he’d been doing during dinner and not knowing what that was about, she thought it best to take a quick look.

Nine-one-one was displayed on the screen. Glad she checked, she snatched up the phone and made her way upstairs. The bathroom door was closed, and she heard the shower going.

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