Page 5 of Suddenly Desired
Blake felt his whole body sag with the weight of the world on his shoulders. But then the woman’s expression softened, and she reached out and placed her hand on his. Her fingers were soft and warm, and he felt his skin tingle under them.
“It doesn’t matter what people think, does it?” she said, with a quiet determination. “As long asyouknow the real truth.”
Blake frowned, caught off guard by the simplicity of what she’d said. “Maybe,” he said, then he shook his head. “No, actually, I think it does matter. It matters to me. If people think that I could do something like that then I’ve failed as a person. Not to mention what will happen to everyone Heartbook employs. I will have failed them too.”
Her expression softened further and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I don’t know,” she said, almost to herself. “Maybe it’s not about the failing, maybe it’s about what you do next.”
Her cheeks flushed prettily again as she looked at her hand still on his, dropping it quickly to her side.
“I find out who’s hacked me?” Blake blinked, surprised by how much her words resonated and how much he was missing her touch.
“Yep.” She nodded. “You can’t control what people think. All you can do is keep on being you and hope that the truth comes out in the end.”
Blake stared at the young woman, momentarily stunned into silence by the way her words had cut through all the noise in his head and made the solution sound so simple.
“Yes,” he said, brighter now. “You’re so right.”
She gave him a small, encouraging smile and glanced at her watch. “Anyway, I should get going.”
Blake felt a pang of disappointment, but he nodded. “Of course. Thanks for listening, and for not running away screaming.”
She laughed softly. The sound made his chest heat up. “You didn’t seem that scary, not really. Just a little intense, maybe.”
Blake laughed in return. “Just what I was aiming for.”
Their eyes hooked for a beat that made Blake’s lungs constrict. Then the young woman readjusted her bag and made to leave, her smile lingering. “Good luck with everything,” she called again, looking back over her shoulder.
Blake opened his mouth to say something, anything, preferably“Can I take you for coffee?”, but all that came out was a squeak as his brain short-circuited. So instead, he nodded silently and watched as she walked away, the pencil in her hair wobbling as she went.
As she disappeared towards the packed car park, Blake let out a long breath, his shoulders slumping. He replayed the conversation in his head, a strange mix of awkwardness and relief settling in him. Until it hit him. He hadn’t asked her name. A laugh bubbled up, surprising even Blake. Of course, the one person who’d stopped long enough to listen, who’d offered him the smallest sliver of kindness among the whispers and glares, and he hadn’t even thought to ask.
“Well,” he muttered to himself, kicking the earth with the toe of his shoe. “I guess that was on-brand of me.”
Chapter 4
ELLIE
Ellie squirmed as she walked away, trying to wiggle her hips and look like a strong-minded woman in full control of herself. On the inside, she literally had no idea what had just happened. Her mind was buzzing like there was a nest of wasps inside it. It was weird enough that it had been Blake Fielding she had talked to — who had talked toher— let alone that he was now watching her leave as though his eyes were glued to her backside. She stumbled a little and righted herself on the bonnet of a 4x4, inwardly kicking herself for the faux pas.
What was she doing? Did she think Blake Fielding was going to notice her hips, chase her down and declare his undying love? Or even offer her a job at Heartbook, which was the more unrealistic of the two right now. She almost laughed out loud at the idea.
Blake Fielding in the flesh.
She knew all about him, of course, because she’d wanted to work for Heartbook for so long. She knew about his childhood, his breakthrough invention at a school science fair, his enrolment then abrupt exit from Cambridge. She’d followed his career from startups to the moment Heartbook became a household name. Ellie even remembered his quirky, obscure interviews from the early days, the ones where he had talked about his family and the way their lovingly competitive sides came out over a game of charades. He had stopped talking about his family whenhebecame a household name, and Ellie didn’t blame him. The press were intrusive enough with Blake. What Ellie hadn’t imagined, though, was that he’d besohandsome.
She’d seen a few photos of Blake, mainly from his Heartbook page, but none came anywhere close to doing him justice. Hewas an exquisite, imposing presence — sky-tall, biceps not even pretending to be contained by his suit jacket, eyes like a galaxy of bright blue planets that had sucked her into their orbit and—
Ellie, enough. Jeez. Focus.
She had to focus on where she was going because her legs felt like she’d just run a marathon, and her brain wasn’t much better. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she bumped into a Ford SUV and apologised to it.
What was it about Blake that was causing Ellie’s brain fog? Sure, he was gorgeous, but he had something else going for him that made it seem as though he was the nucleus of his own galaxy. Of course he did, though. People didn’t become billionaires by being ordinary, did they?
But he was being really, really weird — even by Ellie’s standards. She thought she was bad for wittering on, but he had taken it to a whole new level. That rambling explanation about not saying those things.
It should have come off as suspicious, but it hadn’t. There had been something so earnest in his expression, something so desperate. He was a nervous speaker, but there was a confidence there too, and she wondered if that confidence came from the fact he was telling the truth.
And wasn’t that the million-pound question?Washe telling the truth?
