Page 21 of The Promise
“Anyway, Sinead said something about a picnic in the park and we wondered if you’d like to come with us.” I’m torn. I really want to say yes; I’m desperate to see Blake but I’m worried about allowing Sinead to see us happy again in case it doesn’t work out. She doesn’t need that. Blake must sense my thoughts, because after a few seconds of silence, he says, “I’ve had a chat with Sinead. I’ve told her we’re justfriends.”
“Blake,I—”
“Please, Addison. I really want to seeyou.”
“Okay, fine,” I say, breaking down to the pathetic begging voice he puts on. “But if you’ve told her we’re just friends, we’ve got to act thatway.”
“I can do that,” he statesadamantly.
“Okay then,” I say, but I really doubt his ability. He’s always been too tactile when it comes totouching.
“We’ll pick you up ateleven.”
“Do I need to bring anyfood?”
“We thought you might like to supplydessert.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I cando.”
“I can’t wait to see you,” he says in a quietervoice.
“You too. I’ve got to go; I’ve got cakes to make,” I say, before hanging up. If he wants Sinead to ever believe we’re just friends, that sort of shit can’t besaid.
I quickly have that shower before throwing on a pair of leggings and a loose dress. I may only be a few weeks pregnant and I’m not sure if I’m just being paranoid, but I feel so bloated already. I stand in front of the mirror and smooth my hands over my belly. There’s no way anyone would notice but it still makes me feel uneasy. I shouldn’t be keeping this from Blake. I tell myself I’m going to tell him the next time I have him alone. He deserves to know, and the longer it goes on, the worse the lie is going toget.
Once my hair and makeup are sorted, I head downstairs to make a batch of raspberry and white chocolate muffins. I’m just popping them into a box when I hear banging at the backdoor.
I scoop up the box and my bag before flicking the lights off and headingout.
The second I pull the door open, I’m assaulted by the scent that is Blake. My mouth waters and I fight with myself not to step into him. I run my eyes up his black t-shirt to his face. He’s smiling like he hasn’t seen me for a month as his eyes run all over me, igniting my body with just alook.
“Hey, baker girl. That smells amazing; what is it?” he asks, dragging his eyes from my face to the box in myhand.
“Muffins.”
“Umm, can I have taste of your muffins?” he asks with asmirk.
“Later. You can’t have cake before lunch,” I say, trying to steer this conversation back to where it should be. I glance over his shoulder to see Sinead watching us sheepishly from the middle seat of his van. “We should get going. Sinead’s waiting,” I add, pulling the door shut behind me and making sure it’s locked. I don’t miss Blake’s attempt to rearrange himself before he turns towards the van. “You need tobehave.”
“I can’t help it. I only have to think of you, of how amazing you smell, how incredible you taste, and I’m hard for the rest of the fucking day,” he whispers as he follows me. My thighs clench at his words, making my steps falter a little. “Seems like I’m not the only one,” he mutters before opening the passenger door for me and taking the box from my hands. I shoot him a look of warning but he just laughs. That arsehole can read me toowell.
“Hey,” Sinead whispers when I step up into the van. “I’m so glad you could come. I’ve missedyou.”
“I’ve missed you too, sweetheart,” I say with a smile to show her everything’s okay between us. What’s done is done; there’s no point still being mad ather.
I chat to Sinead all the way to the park—okay, when I saychat, what I really mean is I listen to her tell me all about everything she’s been up to since I last saw her. The whole time, Blake sits in silence with an amused smile on his face. He looks over every now and then and catches my eye. His smile widens and it hits me exactly where he intends. When I warned him to be friendly, it wasn’t code for pretend-to-be-friendly-while-turning-me-on-to-epic-proportions-for-your-own-amusement.Arsehole.
Sinead picks out what she says is the perfect spot for our picnic, and we put the blanket down and get all the food out. The park is packed with others doing the same thing, along with dog walkers and joggers. I lose myself watching everyone else, imagining what their lives are like, and I totally miss Blake talking tome.
He places his giant hand on my thigh and I jump a mile at thecontact.
“Shite, sorry,” he says, quickly removing his hand. “Go anywherenice?”
“No, just peoplewatching.”
“Help yourself to food. We’ve made enough to feed the five thousand.” I look down and see he’s right. Spread out on the blanket is everything you’d expect and then some—sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, veggies and dip…the list goes on. I grab the plastic plate Sinead holds out for me and dig in. I had a slice of toast for breakfast to settle my stomach but it didn’t fill me up for verylong.
“Hungry?” Blake says with a laugh when he sees myplate.
