Page 20 of Take A Chance

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The shrillof Blake’s alarm startled me. The bed jostled, his arms removed from my body, and suddenly, his side of the bed was cold. I lay there, acutely aware that I was in his bed and no longer feeling the hazy afterglow of incredible sex. I watched him move through the darkness toward his closet then emerge with a gym bag before darting into the bathroom and shutting the door. Something came over me, and I sat straight up, panicked. Not only had we done it again, but I was in his bed.

“God, no,” I scolded myself, whipping the covers back. A glance at the clock showed it was five a.m. Hopefully, no one was awake in the house yet.

I wrestled with the doorknob for a second, my faculties not all there, and when I got the door open, I checked both directions in the hallway before taking off toward my room. The light still streamed beneath the door, which was ajar, left that way when I went to make tea. I raced in and shut the door behind me, hoping Blake hadn’t followed me or seen me escaping.

“What did I do?” I paced, pressing my hand to my forehead and freaking out. I felt conflicted and overwhelmed while simultaneously feeling completely drawn to him. I was falling in love, and I had to stop it.

I stripped out of my sex-stained clothing and tossed it in the hamper before starting the shower. I felt him lingering on me, in me, his scent, the ghost sensations of his hands on me. I loved it and hated it. I wanted more and wanted to run. Not only had my last relationship ended tragically, but it left me with deep scars, wounds that Blake wouldn’t understand, and fears too.

Stepping into the water, I tried to let it all wash away from me, but being close to a man like this again was dredging up a lot of hard emotions. Not to mention, I feared losing this job and being left on my own again. Allegra had been so kind to take me in, but there was only so much she could do, and if my past came knocking, I was much safer here at Blake’s massive, secure estate than I was her tiny studio apartment.

The shower was refreshing and it helped me wake up, but it didn’t calm my nerves. I dressed and tied my hair up, but I waited until I heard Blake leave his room before I moved. When I thought the coast was clear, I tiptoed down to the kitchen, seeing his car pull away through the large windows at the front of the house. I breathed a sigh of relief and pushed open the kitchen door and found Greta hunched over a tray of something on the island.

“Oh, good morning,” she chirped, happy as a bird. “How did you sleep? I saw you must have enjoyed a movie last night.”

I blanched at the thought of Greta finding a dried puddle of semen on the chaise and headed straight for the fridge and a glass. “Yeah, I watchedFar and Away.”

“Oh, Mr. Emmerson likes that movie too.” Her comment felt like a backhanded way of telling me she knew I was with him, but I left it hanging in the air and I didn't respond. I poured a glass of milk and put the jug back in the fridge. She had the TV on, so I sat across from her at the island on a stool and watched the morning forecast. It would be a nice day.

“I think I may take Katelyn to the park. What do you think?” I sipped my milk and looked down at her busy hands. She was making tiny pastries shaped like hearts. I smiled at the idea of Katelyn’s reaction to them.

“That sounds like a fun day. Are you sure you weren’t up too late?” She gave me a knowing look, and I felt my cheeks warm.

“I’m plenty rested.” Except my vagina—which felt like it had lived a thousand nights in a whorehouse. Blake did things to my body that I’d never experienced before and wanted to experience over and over again for days, but I had to push that desire away for Katelyn’s own good.

So I distracted myself again, staring at the television. The weather lady was talking about some severe weather experienced farther south in the state, and she handed it off to the news desk, who started in on the next story. The headline caught my attention immediately, another breaking story about the Bonetti family. The Don, Joseph, had his face plastered on the screen next to the image of his right-hand man, Jimmy.

I rose from my seat, leaving my milk, and was drawn magnetically toward the set. Greta said something, but I didn’t hear her. All I could do was stand there and shake. This man terrified me to my core. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the image on the screen.

“Are you okay?” Greta asked, touching my arm, and I leapt out of my skin and gasped. “Oh, Lord...” She got the same blank look I had and covered her mouth with her hand as we watched the closed captioning read out what the news anchor was saying. “Emma, we need to talk about what you’re scared of...”

12

Blake

After dressing for my workout and stuffing my bag with the necessities for a quick shower before work, I tiptoed back into the bedroom, hoping not to wake Emma, but she was gone. The door stood ajar, the blankets tossed across the bed. It felt right waking up with her in my arms, but she probably made the right decision. If Katelyn had awakened and come to my room and found us, we’d have had questions to answer. And if she’d gone to Emma’s room and not found her there, she’d have been afraid.

I took a suit from my closet and headed toward the stairs. As I passed Emma’s room, I heard water running. I paused for a moment, picturing her perfect creamy body lathered up, the water rushing over her lush curves. The image excited me, but I didn’t dare knock and enter, not at this time of the morning. Greta would have been up for a while, getting a jump on the day already. I didn’t need her nosing around.

So off to the gym I went with lingering thoughts of last night still in my mind. Emma was a hard nut to crack, but I was beginning to understand parts of what made her tick. She seemed to love Katelyn very much already, watching out for her and wanting what’s best. As we sat and talked last night, Emma had been patient but direct, something Mrs. Pilcher had never been. She just did what she wanted, likely because she’d raised me and thus felt a certain authority over me too.

But Emma was different, and I liked that.

A hazy fog hung over the city, light rain drizzling as I climbed into the car and Gary drove me to the gym. I used the time to check some emails and notifications, but I saw Gary’s eyes flick to the rearview mirror several times. I didn’t know if he was watching me or traffic, but he seemed on edge. He dropped me right at the door of the gym, like usual, and opened my door.

“Thanks, Gary.” I climbed out of the car, tired but disciplined to stick to my workout routine.

“Sir.” He nodded as he spoke, but the same apprehension was in his expression.

“Everything okay?” I wasn’t one to pay that close of attention to my staff’s personal lives, but I couldn’t have a distracted driver, and Gary had been my driver for years.

“Fine, sir, but I did call Wilem. I believe we were followed. I’m not overly concerned, but I am dotting my Is and crossing my Ts.”

I looked out over the parking lot and saw nothing concerning. Gary said he wasn’t overly concerned, but his poker face was awful. “Alright, well, let me know what Wilem says. I’ll be back in about ninety minutes.”

Colin would be waiting on me, and I wasn’t one to buy into drama of any kind, so I headed off to the gym, stopping by the locker room to stash my suit and bag. Colin was already in the weight room at the free weights, selecting the ones he would use. I strolled up to him and selected some thirty-pound dumbbells.

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