Page 73 of Suddenly Desired
“We don’t need to,” she said, breathing her words into him.
“Why? Of course we fight. It’s your idea, they’re not going to just steal it out from under you.”
She opened her mouth to explain, but faltered as her gaze dropped to his lips. Before she could think better of it, she stretched up on her toes and kissed him.
Blake responded instantly, his arms tightening around her as he deepened the kiss. Everything else faded away — the betrayal, the anger, the lingering humiliation of Josh’s smuggrin. All that remained was Blake, his warmth, his strength, and the way he kissed her like she was the only thing keeping him anchored to the earth.
When they finally broke apart, both of them breathless, Blake’s hands framed her face.
“We fight,” he said again, his voice softer this time, but no less insistent.
Ellie’s lips curved into a grin as she shook her head and pushed her glasses back up her nose. Her gaze flicked to the table, and she nodded towards her laptop and the little red light still blinking away.
Blake followed her line of sight, his brows drawing together in confusion.
“It’s still recording,” Ellie said, her grin widening.
Blake blinked, then barked out a laugh — a real, deep laugh that made Ellie’s chest swell.
“You’re serious?” he asked, a slow smile spreading across his face.
Ellie nodded, unable to suppress her own laughter. “Everything they said. All their lies. It’s all on the laptop.”
Blake looked at her like she’d just handed him the world.
“You’re brilliant!” He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Absolutely brilliant.”
Ellie shrugged, a playful glint in her eyes. “I mean, I didn’t do it deliberately, but I’ll take it.”
“Let’s make sure we’ve got everything.” Blake stepped over to the laptop.
Ellie watched as he bent to check the file, his movements careful but quick. Her heart swelled with a mixture of relief and something else — something deeper. Whatever happened next, they weren’t going to give up. They were going to fight back.
And this time, they were going to win.
Chapter 36
ELLIE
It had captured everything so perfectly that it was as if the camera had been set up to do exactly that. The beautiful irony of it all, Ellie thought, was that when David had pushed the laptop across the table, he’d positioned it in a way that framed the place where they had all been standing. David and Michelle were in the middle of the movie, their smug expressions captured as if by a master director of photography. Josh was there, too, just sneaking into the frame. Blake and Ellie were on the edge of the shot, and Ellie blushed when she saw herself march forward and slap Josh around the face.
“That was so cool.” Blake put his arm around her and held her tight, and she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.
“You should have hit him with a closed fist, though,” said her mum, leaning over with a grin on her face. “Or a hammer. We need to celebrate, but first I need to go feed the zoo.”
She walked away, and they watched the rest of the video alone, Ellie barely able to keep the smile from her face. The old laptop had performed admirably, every piece of dialogue was audible — right up until the last few seconds when Blake and Ellie appeared on the screen.
“You’re brilliant!” Blake’s words filtered through the speakers. “Absolutely brilliant.”
It went black. Ellie located the file on her laptop and duplicated it, then duplicated it again. Then she dropped it into an email and sent it to herself just in case the computer decided to explode. Only when she heard thebingof it landing in her inbox did she sit back. Her head was spinning, the adrenaline inher veins making her feel tired and heavy. The encounter with Josh had left her exhausted.
She looked over at Blake, with his elbows on the table, his head in his hands. His hair was mussed, his shirt still streaked with dirt from the yard. He looked every bit as drained as she felt, and something about that tugged at her chest.
Blake sighed and Ellie glanced at him again. He lifted his head, meeting her eyes with a faint, tired smile. “You okay?” he asked, his voice rough.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she studied him, noting the faint shadow of stubble on his jaw, the way his blue eyes still carried a flicker of determination despite the exhaustion in them. This man, she thought, had given up everything for her. He’d lost his company, his reputation, and now he was here, in her mum’s kitchen, fighting for a life he hadn’t even known he wanted until a few days ago.
“I don’t know,” she admitted finally. “Are you?”
