then I thought of you and how hurt you must be. My revenge on Blaze can wait until I’m sure that you are okay. Can we go somewhere and talk? Coffee maybe?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, I’m finished here for today.”
They found a cozy table in a local all-night café and ordered mocha lattes. His appeal hadn’t diminished one bit, making her realize that perhaps she did trust him. Had she felt in her heart that he’d been a part of the deception, she couldn’t possibly be attracted to him.
“What did you do with the video?” she asked.
“I erased it.” He placed the mini cam on the table. “You can check if you don’t believe me.”
Picking up the tiny unit she looked it over and breathed a sigh of relief. The dent on the side from her mishap in the bedroom proved it was the same camera.
“You really didn’t know? You weren’t conspiring with him against me?”
Gently he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. “No…never would I be a part of anything this bad.”
The ringtone from her cell phone interrupted them.
“It’s Blaze. What should I tell him?”
“Nothing, make something up. I have a plan but we need to talk first.”
She nodded while receiving the call.
“Where have you been, babe?”
“Marge needed me at the last minute to check on the shop. She had urgent business and couldn’t come in today so I filled in.”
“Oh…it looks like someone was in our apartment today.” Suspicion hung on his voice. “My Picasso replica has been destroyed and things seemed out of order around the place. Did you notice anything before you left?”
“No. I was in a bit of a hurry so I probably didn’t pick up after myself, sorry.”
“Are you coming home soon?”
She sighed and thought for a moment. “I may just sleep at the shop tonight if you don’t mind. It’s a long commute across town and I’m very tired. We have an early day tomorrow. Didn’t you say that you’d also be busy this week? Isn’t that why you pushed for our time with Shook last night?” She decided to put him on the defense.
“Yes, I do have a hectic few days ahead of me. I believe he flew back to England today so it’s good that we had one more visit with him.”
His willingness to continue the lie astounded her. “I’ll probably catch up with you tomorrow night then, okay?”
He relented with a sigh and they said goodnight before ending the call. For the first time she was glad he didn’t say I love you , because she didn’t want to say it back. She tucked her phone into her bag then stared at Shook.
“Something has been bothering me about those sexual romps. Why did you permit Blaze to call all the shots?”
A sincere expression swept over his face, softening the hard lines. “He’s known you intimately. I thought it was what both of you wanted. I was informed that it was a trial run and if you took to me, then we’d discuss the future. I wanted to please you so I followed his lead, thinking that he knew what he was doing.”
“But you’re a gorgeous, single man. Why would you want to be a third member in a relationship instead of having a woman of your own?”
“Because I’ve been in love with your photograph for almost two years. Why do you think I spend most of my time abroad?”
She was stunned by his reply but hid her feelings. “I have no idea.”
“Once I saw that you and he were a couple I took off. It was too hard watching him flaunt something I wanted but couldn’t have.” Reaching across the table, he took her hand in his. “He would send me pictures of you all the time and boast about the great sex. Some of the photos he sent were extremely sexy.”
“Oh.” She sipped her coffee, feeling anger and shame that Blaze had been exploiting her all this time.
“I’m a one-woman-man, love, and not into shallow relationships. When he invited me to join you with the possibility for something long-term, I couldn’t pass it up. Although our meeting came
She hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, I’m finished here for today.”
They found a cozy table in a local all-night café and ordered mocha lattes. His appeal hadn’t diminished one bit, making her realize that perhaps she did trust him. Had she felt in her heart that he’d been a part of the deception, she couldn’t possibly be attracted to him.
“What did you do with the video?” she asked.
“I erased it.” He placed the mini cam on the table. “You can check if you don’t believe me.”
Picking up the tiny unit she looked it over and breathed a sigh of relief. The dent on the side from her mishap in the bedroom proved it was the same camera.
“You really didn’t know? You weren’t conspiring with him against me?”
Gently he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. “No…never would I be a part of anything this bad.”
The ringtone from her cell phone interrupted them.
“It’s Blaze. What should I tell him?”
“Nothing, make something up. I have a plan but we need to talk first.”
She nodded while receiving the call.
“Where have you been, babe?”
“Marge needed me at the last minute to check on the shop. She had urgent business and couldn’t come in today so I filled in.”
“Oh…it looks like someone was in our apartment today.” Suspicion hung on his voice. “My Picasso replica has been destroyed and things seemed out of order around the place. Did you notice anything before you left?”
“No. I was in a bit of a hurry so I probably didn’t pick up after myself, sorry.”
“Are you coming home soon?”
She sighed and thought for a moment. “I may just sleep at the shop tonight if you don’t mind. It’s a long commute across town and I’m very tired. We have an early day tomorrow. Didn’t you say that you’d also be busy this week? Isn’t that why you pushed for our time with Shook last night?” She decided to put him on the defense.
“Yes, I do have a hectic few days ahead of me. I believe he flew back to England today so it’s good that we had one more visit with him.”
His willingness to continue the lie astounded her. “I’ll probably catch up with you tomorrow night then, okay?”
He relented with a sigh and they said goodnight before ending the call. For the first time she was glad he didn’t say I love you , because she didn’t want to say it back. She tucked her phone into her bag then stared at Shook.
“Something has been bothering me about those sexual romps. Why did you permit Blaze to call all the shots?”
A sincere expression swept over his face, softening the hard lines. “He’s known you intimately. I thought it was what both of you wanted. I was informed that it was a trial run and if you took to me, then we’d discuss the future. I wanted to please you so I followed his lead, thinking that he knew what he was doing.”
“But you’re a gorgeous, single man. Why would you want to be a third member in a relationship instead of having a woman of your own?”
“Because I’ve been in love with your photograph for almost two years. Why do you think I spend most of my time abroad?”
She was stunned by his reply but hid her feelings. “I have no idea.”
“Once I saw that you and he were a couple I took off. It was too hard watching him flaunt something I wanted but couldn’t have.” Reaching across the table, he took her hand in his. “He would send me pictures of you all the time and boast about the great sex. Some of the photos he sent were extremely sexy.”
“Oh.” She sipped her coffee, feeling anger and shame that Blaze had been exploiting her all this time.
“I’m a one-woman-man, love, and not into shallow relationships. When he invited me to join you with the possibility for something long-term, I couldn’t pass it up. Although our meeting came
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