“Would it make it better if I did? Have more training?”
“Not one bit. I’m just saying. If I’d crashed and burned before I had a chance to start the company, you’d probably be SOL.”
“Nope. I would have found somewhere to hire me. And if they wouldn’t have, then I would have gone to school. Got a scholarship or something because I’m smart and I’m talented.”
“And you know it too.”
She turned to him, her brows knitted into a frown, but her eyes were shining with a teasing glint she tried to blink away before he saw it. “Of course, I know it. I know that I’m good. I know that I’m worth it. I’ve worked my ass off for you and your company, so that HBAD could take all the credit.”
“Your name appears in the app credits.”
“Right. Because anyone ever bothers with reading those.”
“Yes, well, I’m just saying. I’ve done a lot for you. Like this date for example. I came up with the idea all on my own.” Lies. “Flew you out to the middle of nowhere. Treated you to a quad ride, which is something you’ll never get the opportunity to do in the city, and to top it all off, I booked us a hotel room, and made sure you came.”
“You came too,” she ground out. Her stare had changed to a murderous look of death.
He found it absolutely charming.
“I did. I’d like to repeat it sometime soon. Your mouth is very, very talented. I’d make it my home, if I could, but there are other places I’d like to live.”
“Yeah. Inside someone else,” she snapped. Her head swiveled around to stare straight ahead again.
Blaze’s stomach dropped out and not from any turbulence. The sky was perfectly smooth, the plane chugging along. It should have been peaceful. Flying was his time away from the rest of his life. His happy place, if that kind of corny, cheesy shit could be used. He left his problems on the ground when he was up in the air. It annoyed him that he felt like shit now while he was flying.
“You know, I’ve never brought anyone up here with me. Ever,” he said slowly. “I wanted to make an exception. For you.”
“Why? Because you thought I’d be impressed?” Colette scoffed.
“No. Because I thought you’d enjoy it.” He winced, wishing he could cram the vulnerability in his voice back into the dark recess of his chest, back into the cave he wanted that shit to stay in, not start crawling out of like starved bears and ferocious demons.
Colette’s head cranked around. Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared. “This was the worst date I’ve ever been on. And I have no doubt that tomorrow you’ll find a new flavor- and yes, I mean that in every sense of the word, so you’ll excuse me if I just sit here and throw up in my mouth a little while you have a tantrum and pretend to be butt-hurt about any of this.”
“Butt-hurt? Did you really just say that?”
“Yeah,” she hissed. “Yeah, I said it. And I meant it. Get that poor-me stick out of your ass, Blaze. I can’t imagine how many hearts you’ve broken so carelessly.”
This time it was his nostrils he felt flaring. “I haven’t broken any hearts. Every single woman I’ve ever been with understands that I’m a busy man and that I’m completely unavailable on every level other than a physical one. We take what we need from each other and we move on. Some people like no strings attached. For some people, it’s what they need.”
“Well, you’ll excuse me if I’m not into the emotionally unavailable, no strings attached, type of deal.” She turned to him, a look of defiance on her face, her features so tight and severe he wanted to fuck her even worse than he did before.
Just to see her fire blazing at full force. To see her spirit.
Christ. He had no idea what was going on with him. He wanted to tell her that he didn’t want those things with her, but he had no idea what that meant. He doubted he was capable of loving anyone properly. Loving.
Love.
That word was a foreign one. A completely laughable concept.
A few days ago, he would have said it wasn’t in the cards. For anyone. That people who said they were in love were faking it. That it wasn’t real. That it was never real.
Now, when he stole a glance over at Colette’s angry face with her glaring eyes and her thinned out lips and her flushed cheeks, he wanted to know. He wanted to know if it was possible. Not just for him but for his company as well. He wanted to know if it wasn’t just a farce or an invention by big corporations to sell more shit. Love was big business. Just ask anyone who cranked out apps. That shit sold.