Page 18 of Pretend Girl (The Lucky Girls 4)

“And you seem to understand what I need for my look in the business world. What do you have in mind for something more casual? I work out a lot, too.”

With Emma. The personal trainer.

“I can come up with a few suggestions,” I say. “Do you want everything to go together?”

“I’ll leave that up to you,” he says.

The bartender serves our wine in a bottle on ice. Blake pours a glass for me himself. When I take it and sip it, it’s divine. This isn’t the rip-off Chenin Blanc I can get at the convenience store with the screw top. This is the real deal, and it tastes like it’s been made over time, with great care and a lot of passion.

“Is it to your liking?” Blake asks.

“It’s wonderful,” I say, trying not to sound like I’m not used to anything great.

“Tell me about your work, Rachel,” Blake says, and he holds my gaze with an intense stare. I shiver under his scrutiny. He makes me nervous and reduces me to a puddle at the same time.

“I’m working for Ruby Blue at the moment,” I say. “But I want to start my own company soon. I only recently returned to the States after living in Paris—”

“I can hear the lilt in your voice,” Blake interrupts me.

“Oh.” I blink at him, surprised. I guess after a decade of speaking primarily another language, that would make sense, but I didn’t realize it. No one else has commented on it.

“It’s intoxicating to listen to you speak.”

I stare at him. Is this man for real?

“When will you start?” he asks as if he’s not putting me in danger of falling for him right here and now.

“My business?”

“My wardrobe.”

“I can start as early as next week, if that works for you,” I say, focusing on business. Business is safe. Business is why we’re here.

Blake nods. “That will do.” He sips his wine, before he mentions something about the year the grapes were bottled, and I can’t help but stare. Thank God he’s talking to me, or it would be rude. I don’t hear a word I’m saying, but I watch his mouth move and I want to kiss him.

Stop it.

When I’m with him, I forget myself.

What is it about him that has me so flustered? It has to be the fact that he’s Blake Ford, one of the richest men in the country. Hell, in the Northern Hemisphere. I’m crazy attracted to him, even though he’s so much older than me. But when we’re together, I feel a connection to him I haven’t ever felt before.

It’s the kind of connection a relationshipshouldhave. The kind thatmyrelationships have always been lacking.

“Your turn,” I say.

“For what?” Blake’s eyes change, growing a little deeper and the way he looks at me makes my skin tingle.

“Tell me aboutyourwork.”

He smiles and it changes his face. It makes him even more handsome than he already is. It’s a rare occasion for him to smile. Everyone knows that aside from being the richest man in the country, he’s also the most serious. People like Blake Ford, who have enough money that people sit up and notice, are scrutinized for how they act. Living in the spotlight like that without being an actual celebrity who asks for it must be hard.

“I’m not going to bore you with details,” Blake said. “My work is very technical. I work on the backend of a lot of different technological developments. Of course, when I sayI,I mean the team I’ve employed and trained. Gone are the days when I do the hard work myself. Now, I delegate. Among other things.”

“What other things?” I ask.

“I like buying businesses that suffer and try to build them back up to their former glory.”

“Like, rebranding?”

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