Page 100 of The Blind Date

Too bad Cedric didn’t feel the same way.

“I don’t like to see you cry, darling. It hurts me,” he whispered, rubbing a soothing, comforting hand up and down my back.

"I'm not crying.” A muffled sob betrayed me. When his arms tightened around me, I knew he had heard it. "Okay, maybe I am crying."

“Why?”

“You’ve been ignoring me all week.”

"I just needed some space." His voice was deathly quiet, making me feel even worse about myself. Before I could push against his chest and attempt to escape him once again, he bowed his face to press his lips firmly against the crown of my head. His lips lingered there, and I felt him inhale deeply. As if he was trying to inhale me. "I know it was childish of me to ignore you for so long. I'm so sorry, darling. The last thing I wanted was to make you cry."

"And I'm sorry for pushing you to talk about things you weren't comfortable with." I sniffled again, but I was already feeling so much better. "And I'm so sorry about my parents setting me up on that blind date. I promise I didn’t know about it. We spoke after you left on Sunday, and they've decided to hold back from setting me up on any more blind dates as it's making me miserable. So, we won't have to worry about that anymore."

"I don't care about any of that.” He pressed another kiss to my hair. "I needed the first few days to get my thoughts in order, but then I realised that I overreacted. I felt silly, and I didn't know what to say to you. One day turned into three more, and now, here we are."

"Were you ever going to call me back?" I asked, needing to know.

“I was going to call you tonight so we could talk.”

His words made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, but the feeling was replaced by anger when I remembered that he wasn’t dining alone tonight. With all my might, I pushed on his chest. This time, I was successful in putting some distance between us. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to allow me to think clearly.

"Is that before or after your date?" I scoffed and rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. I tried not to sound childish or jealous, but it was impossible. My voice dripped with an equal combination of both, and I could do nothing to hide it from him.

"Don't tell me you're jealous, darling,” Cedric chuckled, but his words had the opposite effect of what he probably intended.

"Go back to your date! I bet she's waiting eagerly for you out there so you two can head home and have a jolly old time together!" I spat at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of meeting his eyes and seeing just how much he hurt me. Even though it was indeed him that I was crying over, it killed me to know that he saw me like this.

So raw and vulnerable.

So broken up over him.

"Date?" Cedric questioned in surprise. “What are you talking about, darling? I’m not on a date.”

"Don't bother lying about it,” I huffed and turned around so I didn't have to look at him anymore. What I didn't factor in was that behind me, the tall mirrors meant that I couldn't escape him–not that I really wanted to. “The least you could have done is break up with me over text. Then you can go on as many dates as you want.”

“The only woman I’m interested in fucking is you, Saffron.”

“I don’t believe you,” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

When he laughed at me, I scowled harder.

"I'm not sure how much attention you paid, but I'm out with a friend."

“A friend, sure.” My tone was dry, unimpressed. “That’s what they all say.”

“You know I’m not gay or bisexual, right?”

I hesitated. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Then what makes you think I’m out on a date right now?”

“Because I saw you.”

“No, what you saw was long brown hair,” Cedric laughed, mirth swirling in his eyes. “But if you looked a little longer, you would realise that it’s actually my friend, Sheldon, who just happens to have hair long and luscious enough to rival a woman’s.”

"Oh.” My lips parted in surprise, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised he was right. My cheeks flamed in embarrassment, and I tried to look away from him, but the beautiful sight of Cedric Barlowe was nothing short of mesmerising.

“I have to admit…” his voice dropped as he leaned toward me. Placing his hands on the counter behind me, I was trapped, but after a whole week away from each other, no contact, the last thing I wanted to do was escape him.

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