“That’s part of the bargain. I gave you today. You said you’d tear up the contact and clear up any misunderstandings about that. Tell them it was meant for someone else. They’ll get the idea. I passed out from shock. It’s believable.”
I don’t want it to be. He nodded, though, and Colette went back to studying the window and gripping her knees like the ground was going to rush up to meet them at any second. He’d negotiated a few more hours out of her. He was going to have to make the most of them to convince her that there was no way in hell she should want him to let her go.
For the first time ever, he found that he didn’t want to.
He wasn’t sure which was a more terrifying prospect. Giving up on her or being worthy of her giving them a chance.
CHAPTER 17
Colette
Colette knew she shouldn’t have agreed to go to Blaze’s house. Not for tea. Not for anything. It was a terrible idea and she wished she could have refused, but like with everything else, Blaze wore her down with his charm and animal magnetism and he got his way.
She expected the high rise he’d mentioned. A penthouse condo at the very top floor. Something new and luxurious and ultra-modern. Soulless and cold, like its owner, decorated impersonally, barely lived in, a colossal waste of money and a huge fuck you, with its excess, to everyone out there struggling to afford just the basic necessities of living.
Instead, she was shocked to find that Blaze was just trying to get a rise out of her with the penthouse bullshit.
When he pulled up outside a warehouse in the area of the city where many of the old buildings, ancient factories and brick monoliths from another time, had been converted into expensive, fashionable living, she was more than a little confused.
She cast a glance at him from beneath her eyelashes. “What are we doing here? I thought you lived in a ritzy neighborhood with a doorman who makes a quarter mil a year protecting the lives of the rich and famous.”
Blaze’s hands tightened on the wheel, like he was actually nervous. He’d picked her up in something she hadn’t expected. An antique truck. Even fully restored it was rustic and basically uncomfortable. It rumbled down the road and was overly loud for her taste, but even she had to admit, it was beautiful. Almost like a work of art, too pretty to actually drive.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like the entire world knowing my business. It’s bad enough that if you search my name on the internet, you can find out whatever you want. I’d like to keep a few aspects private. My address is one of them, so I actually have the house under a different name.”
“What?”
Blaze turned to study her as he pulled up beside a huge brick building. It towered, four stories high, with strange juts and build-outs all over what should have been a square roofline.
He studied her intently, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was staring at her. She squirmed in her seat, disgusted with herself for actually enjoying his attention.
“I have it under a different name.”
“Don’t people recognize you?”
“No. Not really. Most people here are pretty normal. They work hard and they’re busy with their lives. They don’t pay any attention to the single guy coming and going first thing in the morning and getting home late at night.”
“But the truck. It probably draws some attention?”
“I might be rich, but a lot of people around here also have money. Owning classic cars gets some interest, but people are more interested in the vehicle than in me. It’s a good distraction. I’m no celebrity either. People don’t really give a shit that I might be on billboards or own a business. If they know who I am, they don’t really give a shit. I live here, just like the rest of them. Eat, sleep and breathe, just like everyone else.”
“Except I’m sure you do it in much nicer surroundings.”
Blaze ejected himself out of the truck and walked around to her side. He actually held her door open for her and waited until she got out. “I guess that remains to be seen.”
Colette braced herself. She no longer had any idea what to expect with Blaze Hanson. The fact that she could still feel his lips on her body unnerved her. Whenever he looked her way, her body went into a state of something that could only be described as complete organ failure- or maybe that was just her brain. She couldn’t stop her lady bits from shivering, her nipples from puckering under her bra, and her panties never really dried out after she’d slipped into them back at the hotel.
Hours ago.
Blaze led the way. He didn’t touch her, but she felt his commanding presence keenly, like a physical caress, even though he was at least six feet in front of her. He stopped down a long hall and after turning a corner and climbing a set of industrial metal looking stairs, he pushed open another door and rounded yet another corner.