Sweet Deception (Truth) (11 page)

He hesitated and I thought he was going to disagree and tell me he wanted to see other people too but he just looked at me like I was stupid for even mentioning it, “Of course. Just you and me. Why would I even want any0ne else? Everything I need is right here.” He grabbed my butt and squeezed, and if I hadn’t noticed the look in his eyes I might have thought all he wanted was sex. I smiled, relieved we had the conversation about where we stood and linked my arm in his as he took me outside and introduced me to so many people he worked with, I couldn’t even remember half of the names. We chatted with a few people, before moving on to the next small crowd. Everyone lit up at seeing Blake and I could tell that he had the respect of his team. After a while he moved his hand onto my back and guided us to a quiet bar so were alone. I sat on a stool and Blake moved to my side, “Are you enjoying yourself?” He asked.

I smiled up at him, “Yeah it’s great. Pretty swanky though. Reminds me of the parties I went to in London.”

“Yeah my mum definitely knows how to plan a party. She goes all out for these events. I think they take her mind off things.” I nodded an agreement. I knew how that felt.

“Did I tell you that you look beautiful today?”

I chuckled, “Yes you did, but I don’t mind hearing it again. Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.”

I laid my head on his shoulder as I sipped some Champagne and scanned the room to see what was going on. My eyes landed on someone I recognised. It took a while to place his face but then I realised.
"What's hot bartender doing here?" I asked and nodded towards the far corner. Blake followed my eyes and frowned.
"Hot bartender?" He repeated, eyes burning through me. I flushed and shrugged it off. "Laurel's nickname not mine."
"But you think Ryan's hot?" He asked. I struggled to get my foot out of my mouth but ended up shoving it further in. "Ryan, huh? He looks like a Ryan. It suits him." Blake's hands flexed around my waist and gripped tightly. "Well maybe I should introduce you to
Ryan
?" He said through grinded teeth.
I reached my hand up to hold his arm. "Hey, we’ve just had this conversation. I don't want to be with Ryan. There's no need to get all possessive. I'm here with you. You're the one that has got your hands on me. I'm going home with you. You cannot tell me you don't notice an attractive woman?" I raised an eyebrow but he shook his head. "I don't see anyone else anymore. Just you." My heart took a leap as he pulled me tight against his chest and rested his chin on my head.

My eyes opened and narrowed as they focussed on Amber's catwalk strut across the garden. "You have got to be kidding me. What the hell is she doing here?"

Blake whipped his head round quickly when he heard the frustration in my voice. "Shit, I didn't think she'd actually show up. My mum invites her to these things sometimes to keep the guys occupied." He eyed me carefully before carrying on, "She also seems to think we would make a good couple. But I swear she won't try anything now she knows we are together."
I didn't quite believe that. I watched Amber sashay over to Blake's mother, air kiss both cheeks and then give her a hug. Something twisted inside of me.

“I don’t think I quite realised the extent of your relationship with Amber. You made out like you had just slept together a few times.”

He put his arm round my shoulder, “We have. There weren’t any feelings involved. She just accompanied me to events like these sometimes. It wasn’t anything. My mum just wanted it to be. Ignore her.”

I sighed. That was easier said than done. She flipped her hair and I frowned. She touched his mum’s arm and my stomach knotted. She turned to smile at Blake and I growled. It was a noise I had never heard before. His polite smile back encouraged her to excuse herself and come over.

Her grin widened as she neared us, “Hello darling, why didn’t you come and find me? I’ve just been talking to your mother, I love her. She’s always been so welcoming.” She kissed his cheek and smirked as I stood up ready to punch her if she did anything else. Blake’s face hardened, “Amber, you’ve met Cassie.” He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer, “my
girlfriend
.” I curled into his side and laid my hand protectively against his chest. His heart was beating faster and he smiled down at me, kissing my forehead. Her smile faltered slightly but she recovered well. “Oh yes, your mother mentioned you were here with a
date
tonight. I hope you two have a good evening. Why don’t you show her the hot-tub – you, naked, in there is one of the best memories I have of these parties.” She giggled and winked at Blake. Her eyes darted to mine and she raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow before heading over to a group of guys on the other side of the room.

My fists clenched and I started to push away from Blake but he held me tighter. His hand reached out and lifted my chin so I was looking in his eyes, “Hey, I am here with you. You’ve got your hands on me. I’m going home with you.” I recognised the words as mine from earlier, he was now using them against me. “She doesn’t mean anything to me. You got that?” I was angry with myself for allowing any other woman to think they could treat me like that. I vowed that if she tried anything again I was going to let her have it. Although I wasn’t quite sure what
it
was exactly. He repeated the question, “You got that?” I pouted, and nodded my head.

“Good, although you’re really sexy when you get all possessive over me. I like it.” I elbowed him in the side and rolled my eyes.

We walked around the garden for a while, stopping to say hello to a few more people then wandered onto the patio when Blake’s mother called him over to the small group that she and John were entertaining, “Darling there’s someone I want you to meet.”

He took my hand in his and walked us over. As I looked over their faces I noticed there were two younger women in the group, around my age and they were staring at Blake. It didn’t come as a surprise to me now. Everyone wanted my man.

“Celia, this is my son Blake and his girlfriend Cassie. Blake this is Celia Burton, she is on the fundraising committee with me, and her two lovely daughters Grace and Amelia.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He shook their hands and I noticed the girls did their smiley flirting and hair twirling. I smiled to myself. Strangers didn’t seem to get to me as much as Amber. I just found it funny. We talked for a while about their fundraising then Celia shone the spotlight on me, “So Cassie, what do you do?” Everyone stopped their private conversations to turn and look at me. “Well I used to be an associate at a law firm but I recently gave that up to come back here and look after my Grandmother. I now help her run the florist on the high street.” I saw Elena straighten and eyes widen as she met Blake’s gaze. There was a silent exchange between them that no-one else picked up on. As Celia carried on talking to me my responses were automatic whilst I was trying to also concentrate on what was going on between Blake and his parents. John gripped Elena’s shoulders as if to hold her back. “Sorry to interrupt, Blake can we speak to you privately? Please excuse us.” He nodded as though expecting it and squeezed my hand before letting it go. He made his way inside and I spied them through the window, talking animatedly and Elena was waving her hands in the air.

Grace followed my gaze and looked back at me dreamily, “He’s so gorgeous, how did you get him to want a girlfriend? My friend Emma slept with him a while ago. She said it was amazing but he told her he didn’t do the whole girlfriend thing. So what’s special about you?” I don’t think she meant it how it came across, but I knew most people would be thinking the same thing. And I wondered what the answer to that question was myself. I glanced back at Blake and he was looking directly at me whilst his mum was still shouting. His hands lifted and dropped to show he was done with the conversation and John put his arm around Elena and guided her away. Blake’s face was screwed up and he ran his hands through his hair before coming back outside. His arms wrapped around me and he spoke softly to me, “Sweetheart, are you ready to go?”

He had done well to pull himself together after being so provoked by his parents. “Yes, it was lovely to meet you all.” I flicked my eyes around the little group and smiled at everyone before he led me away. We said goodbye to a few more people on the way out and as he drove me home he was silent, showing little emotion. I was used to that already, he wasn’t big on sharing feelings. “Was everything okay with your parents? Did I do something wrong?” I asked anxiously.

He put his hand over mine, “You were perfect, it wasn’t you. Everyone loved you. They were angry at me. Don’t worry about it. It’s over now.” He pulled my hand up to kiss my knuckles. I could tell he was lying, it was written all over his face. His body was still tense and it put me on edge. What was he hiding? How could we have a relationship if he couldn’t be honest with me?

“Blake, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on. It feels like you’re being shady. Please, let me in.”

He pulled over outside my house and cut the engine. “She was just upset because she thought I was going to be with Amber. It shocked her that I had said you were my girlfriend.” I frowned. I wasn’t some dumb bimbo that didn’t know when she was being lied to. “You seriously expect me to believe that was what she was yelling at you for?” I tipped my head to the side examining his face for any hints that he wasn’t telling me the truth. He looked into my eyes and swore he wasn’t lying. Either he was speaking the truth or he was one heck of a liar, and I had an uneasy feeling simmering away that it was the latter. I smiled through it, “Okay, you win. Again.”

“Cassie, I swear it’s not like that. This isn’t a game to me. I really like you. And I won’t let my mother stand in our way.” He reached over and took my face in his hands. His breath was warm against my face as he brushed his lips over mine. It was the gentlest of kisses but stirred the deepest of feelings inside me. You would think I’d be used to his kisses now but they still drove me crazy.

He pulled away too soon and grinned that smile with dimples, “I’ll see you soon, beautiful.”

Chapter 13

Blake had an aura of dominance that dissipated anything else that wasn't him. Was he becoming an obsession? Probably. The weeks passed and with each text, call, look, hug, stroke, and kiss I was falling deeper for him. I glanced at the clock in Gran's kitchen: 1.15pm. That gave me half an hour to get ready before meeting Laurel. I pulled on my blue jeans and a simple blouse to match my barefaced, natural look. That was my excuse not to wear makeup and put my hair in to a loose messy ponytail but I was lucky that I had taken after my mum and didn't really need much make up to look adequately presentable.
I arrived at the cafe with a few minutes to spare so grabbed us a table and ordered myself a tea. I spent a few minutes just staring out the window before the door swung open and Laurel breezed in with shopping bags in hand. Once again she had every head turning and watching her. The guys lusted after her and the girls wanted to be her.
"Hey chick, 'Caramel Macchiato',” she announced to the waitress who had been hovering near us. She set all her bags down on the empty chair next to her and turned to face me. "So come on spill, I want to hear every gory detail of Mr Richards, he's certainly got you occupied. I've barely seen you lately. Is he a good kisser? You must have had sex by now, it’s been ages. I want the play by play. I won't cringe, I promise."
I laughed. Laurel had always been the most open about sex and was willing to share what was possibly too much information.
"I'm not giving away too much but he sure knows what to do in that department."
She sighed dramatically, "Well I haven't had any since that night with James so I'm going to have to live through you for a while."
"Oh yeah, so what is happening between the two of you? You seemed pretty cosy when we went out. Have you seen him since?"

She shifted in her seat and brought her nails up to examine them closely. There was something she wasn’t telling me. "No we've text a few times. I really bruised his ego by not remembering our night and I think he wants a replay but I don't know, I'm enjoying just having him as a friend. I don't want to ruin that by making things awkward between us. Anyway, my life is boring, tell me more about yours." She demanded. It wasn’t like Laurel to turn down a hot guy like James. There was no doubt in my mind now that she wasn’t telling me it all but she was stubborn at the best of times and if she didn’t want to talk about it I knew her well enough not to press the issue.
I contemplated whether to tell her about my suspicions that Blake was hiding something from me because no matter how hard I tried he still wasn’t giving anything away. Maybe she would be able to look at things objectively and give me a second opinion. I sucked in a breath and spilled out my apprehensions.
"Blake never talks about his family and always changes the subject when I bring it up. There's something he's not telling me. And I'm worried that if I ever find out it's going to be too big for us to get through." I blew out a breath. I had finally spoken the words out loud and now they were real I felt sick.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting that. What's gone on?" She asked me.
"A few weeks ago I was at his house and found a girl's bedroom. He said it was his sister's and she died, but warned me to leave it alone because there would be no going back.
No going back
. That sounds like something that would affect me, doesn't it?"
Laurel’s eyes widened and she nodded, noticing I was battling with more. "What else is there?"
"When we went on our first date, I was cornered in the toilets by a woman claiming he was dangerous and that I should be careful. She was middle-aged, and I just shrugged it off as jealousy. After all, he didn't have the best reputation. But now I think it's something else. And my mind is imagining the worst things possible which is crazy. I'm just not sure what to do."
I played with the polystyrene cup in front of me pulling it apart with my fingers.
"Honey, I don't really know what to tell you apart from you need to talk to him. If it's upsetting you that much, he needs to know. What did he say about this woman?"
"I didn't tell him Laur. I was enjoying the date so much I didn't want to ruin it by coming off as jealous. I have a real hang up about that after Dan."
"Well, you are both getting in deeper than you expected. James said he's never seen Blake this happy. He doesn't even look at other women now. He's pretty upset he lost his wingman."
We both laughed, "Yeah that sounds like James."