Page 19 of Suddenly Desired
Board Meeting
Don’t let Michelle steer the conversation.
Reassure Mike and Agnes and they will reassure the shareholders.
DON’T DAYDREAM. PAY ATTENTION.
There were other notes too, but Blake shut the book and put it back into his pocket.
“If I let you read any more,” he said, “I will literally die of embarrassment.”
He was smiling that big, warm smile again.
“The only thing it’s missing is the doodles,” he said, and she laughed. She swatted his hand and he laughed too, feigning injury. “Ow! Easy, tiger. But seriously, there was something in the book that caught my eye. You mentioned LifeWrite. What is that?”
Ellie sat up straight. She’d been so wrapped up in the real-life Blake sitting in front of her that for a moment she’d forgotten who she was speaking to. Wasn’t this why she’d pushed so hard for an interview, and for a job at Heartbook? She’d been hoping that one day she’d be able to pitch her idea to the company and hope that it filtered up the chain to the CEO. Well, now here she was, face to face with him. Opportunities didn’t come any better than this.
“It’s something I’ve been working on for a while now,” she said, fighting to keep her tone calm. “For years and years, really. A social network based around books and reading. It’s part friendship, part dating, part business connections, but I want it to focus on stories. It’s really about being able to write the story of your life, using the power of books.”
He was interested. She could tell that by the way he was watching her intently, nodding with increasing enthusiasm.
“I’ve always loved to read,” she went on. “Books have saved me so many times — from broken hearts to broken dreams. They’re so powerful. But hardly anyone uses that power to connect people.”
“That’s so true,” he said when she paused. “Books can save lives. If I’m having a bad day I usually head to the library. Just being around all those books makes me feel better.”
The image of him, this powerful, commanding man, sitting quietly in a library, sent her heart fluttering. She smiled, herexcitement bubbling over. “Exactly. Books unite us, stories connect us. That’s my dream — to bring people together through the power of reading. That’s what LifeWrite is. It’s a safe place for like-minded people.”
She smiled nervously, waiting to be shot down like she always had been with Josh.That’s been done a million times, he’d said. Or,You’d never be able to do it, it takes a genius to code. He’d always looked at her with pity and sometimes even anger, as if she was a young Victorian girl who had ideas above her station. But Blake was genuinely interested. He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, the barmaid appeared again.
“Here’s the drink you ordered,” she said to Blake. She was holding a pitcher of something in one hand, and in the other she held a phone. An alarm bell was going off in Ellie’s head.
“I didn’t order any drink,” said Blake. “Sor—”
Before he could finish, the barmaid tipped the pitcher over Blake’s head. A disgusting smell of old coffee grounds and waste water filled the booth, ice cubes smashing on to the table. Blake gasped as the cold water soaked him, and he jumped up so hard his legs cracked into the table.
“You’re not welcome here, you chauvinistic prick!” the barmaid yelled. “Take your woman-hating thoughts somewhere else.”
Ellie was up on her feet, her head full of anger.
“What the hell?” she said, her voice shaking. “You didn’t even give him a chance to defend himself.”
“You should be ashamed,” the barmaid said, turning her phone to Ellie. “You can do a whole lot better than this trash.”
She stormed off, and Ellie walked around the table, shaking out a napkin.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Let me—”
“I’m fine,” he said, his face carved from stone, his eyes suddenly cold. “I’m sorry, I never should have come. Goodbye, Ellie. Thank you for the drink.”
And without another word, he walked past her and out of the bar.
Chapter 11
BLAKE
Blake strode up the steps so fast he almost tripped, flying out into the street. The hot evening air hit him like a slap, but it wasn’t enough to clear the frustration buzzing under his skin. His soaking wet hoodie clung to him, stinking of stale coffee and worse.
The light had started to fade, but there was still enough of a glow to catch the attention of passersby, and the last thing Blake wanted right now was another round of unsolicited recognition. He yanked up his soaking wet hood, fumbled his sunglasses on, and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the pavement as he walked swiftly away from the bar.
