by Leslie North
But with Blake? He’d gone above and beyond to prove himself to be a nice guy, only to have her discover at the last minute that the whole thing had been a lie.
Somehow, that was worse. Because her ex had been cruel by nature. But Blake had been cruel by choice.
And now, Michelle had learned the lesson for good.
She’d never allow herself to make a mistake like this again.
17
Back inside the club, Blake was ready to shut it all down.
It didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t even care. Not when Michelle had just walked out of his life.
“Is everything okay?” Daniel asked when Blake came back in.
He raked a hand through his hair, pacing in front of the door. “No. She left. She—” He dragged his hands down his face, unable to decide if he wanted to puke or collapse. “She’s gone. She wouldn’t listen.”
Grayson rubbed at the spot between his eyes, concern etched across his face. “Fuck, Blake. I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”
“It’s not your fault. It’s…I don’t know whose fault it is.”
“I’ll talk to her. I will take full responsibility,” Grayson said. “It was my idea. It was just a stupid bet—I had no idea it would become something real.”
“None of us knew,” Daniel added.
“I should have told her earlier—come clean as soon as I realized I was serious about her,” Blake said, pinching at the bridge of his nose. Tears were coming—from where, he couldn’t say. He’d never felt so distraught, and so quickly. Especially not because of a woman. “But I didn’t think I needed to, because the bet…it didn’t even matter. It wasn’t even a thing after a while.”
Mila glided up to the three of them a moment later with Jackie not far behind. “What’s wrong, guys?”
Blake propped his hands on his hips, turning away from the group. Jackie slung her arm around Daniel’s waist.
“Why do you all look like you just saw ghosts?” Jackie asked.
Blake gritted his teeth, unsure if he had the strength to get into this right now with them. But maybe he should. So then he could gauge the damage, from a woman’s perspective.
“We just, uh,” Daniel started, looking to Blake for guidance.
“Blake’s having—” Grayson said at the same time.
“I fucked things up with Michelle,” Blake blurted, staring at the ground. The uneasiness that churned inside him had completely morphed into a solid brick of regret. “She was here, but she left already.”
Jackie frowned. “Oh. I really liked her.”
“Are you serious?” Mila put her hands on her hips, looking exasperated. “I wanted to have her over to the store. I have some pieces for her that she’s going to love.”
“It was my fault,” Grayson spoke up, glancing guiltily at Blake. “I bet Blake he couldn’t go on five dates with the same woman. We picked Michelle, just at random. We didn’t know that…”
Mila gasped. “You’re kidding.”
“It didn’t stay a bet,” Blake said. “I fell in love with her.” His throat tightened unexpectedly. That was the first time those words had left his mouth. And God, it was so true. He’d fallen head over heels for her when he wasn’t even looking.
Jackie shook her head sadly, looking at Grayson. “You sure have a history of betting on your friends not finding love.”
“And look what happened. Both times it led them to love,” Grayson said.
“Yeah. But keeping it is a different story,” Blake muttered.
“Our bet was different though,” Jackie went on. “I was in on it. We were pulling the wool over your eyes.”
“I wasn’t pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes,” Blake said, feeling painful prickles shoot through his chest. “The bet stopped mattering, as far as I was concerned.”
“It’s true. We knew it was off—and we were happy for him. The only reason it even came up tonight was because of the stakes. If Blake won, I was supposed to get DJ Fiesta for the opening. I mentioned rescheduling him for a different event,” Daniel said. “I just wanted to honor our agreement—it wasn’t Blake pushing for it.”
“DJ Fiesta won’t be able to make it to the rescheduled grand opening,” Grayson told Jackie, “but he agreed to show up—as a favor to Daniel—to Blake’s charity event two Saturdays from now. I just wanted to make sure Blake was prepared.”
Blake shoved his hands in his pockets, the twist in his gut enough to make him nauseous. “I don’t know what to do. She wouldn’t listen to me. I think I lost her.”
“No. You haven’t lost her. You just need to give her time,” Grayson said.
“She has every right to be pissed,” Mila added. “But you need to show her why she shouldn’t stay pissed.”
Blake drew a deep breath, his gaze pinging across the club. One thing was for certain—he didn’t want to stay here. He was too jumbled inside to enjoy it anymore.
“I think I need to go home.”
“No. Stay here. Enjoy all your hard work. You earned this, buddy,” Grayson said, gesturing around the room. “Have a drink and try to relax. Michelle will come around, I promise.”
Blake hesitated, but finally he nodded. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
“See? Let’s go have a shot to take our minds off things.”
“I’m definitely joining in on this,” Jackie said.
Their group wandered toward the bar as Blake lagged behind. He’d stay—for now. But every inch of his mind and body were focused on Michelle.
Please don’t let this be the last time I see her.
Like Grayson said, Michelle would come around.
Even though every cell of his body doubted it, he needed to cling to that. It was all he had for now.
Michelle will come around.
Grayson’s promise to Blake rang through his ears the entire following week. He thought of those words as he called her phone and it clicked to voicemail countless times. As he sent texts that were never answered. As she didn’t open the door on the two separate times he’d visited her house.
Michelle will come around.
Except by the following weekend, it was looking a lot like she wouldn’t. He hadn’t been able to so much as lay eyes on her since she pulled out of the nightclub parking lot last weekend, and it was looking like she planned on never speaking to him again.
Exactly as she’d promised.
By Sunday, Blake was still just as miserable. No, scratch that. He was even more miserable than the day it had happened. And he was pretty sure that his friends could tell, just by his silence in their group text.
So when Grayson and Daniel showed up at his door on Sunday afternoon wearing derby hats and bearing a strange glint in their eyes, Blake suspected they were on a mission to make him feel better.
“What are you guys doing here?” He stepped aside to let them in, running a hand through his tousled hair. It was just before noon, but he hadn’t bothered to get out of bed until their fervent knocking started. It was unlike him, but then again, a lot about him these days was unlike the normal Blake. And that had everything to do with Michelle.
“Trying to pick up your damn spirits.” Daniel clamped a hand on his shoulder. “It’s time to test-drive some cars.”
Blake grunted, scratching idly at his chest as he wandered through the penthouse and into the kitchen. His friends followed him. “I don’t know if I can go.”
“What, you busy?” Grayson made a big display of looking around for signs of anything that might have Blake occupied. “You just got out of bed. Which is a sign that something is seriously wrong.”
When it came time to explain his excuse, Blake couldn’t think of any good reason. Grayson simply nodded and jerked his head toward the hallway leading to Blake’s bedroom. “Go get changed. We’re driving a Ferrari today.”
“Which you should buy,” Daniel added, “if you know what’s good for you.”
Blake smirked as he headed for his bedroom. His friends k
new what usually cheered him up, at least. And he should make a good go of it. Try to start forgetting about Michelle, since apparently that’s what she wanted from him.
Not being able to see her at work all week had really grated on him—especially when he’d had to talk to HR to find out that she had left, cashing in her vacation days in lieu of giving notice. He had no idea where she worked now. And it was clear that she didn’t want to be found.
That didn’t stop him from sending texts…or leaving voicemails…or sending the occasional bouquet of flowers to her house.
“Come on!” Grayson called out from the living room once Blake had found himself stalled in front of his walk-in closet, unable to decide which shoes to put on.
“I’m coming.” He slipped on some chinos and a polo shirt—to match his friends’ style of the day—and popped on a derby hat on his way out of his bedroom. Now they looked like brothers. Because in a way, they were. They were closer than some blood brothers. And he hated to imagine how far down the self-pity hole he might have gone if his best friends hadn’t showed up.
Grayson and Daniel jostled him out the front door and toward Daniel’s sleek Porsche waiting for them at the front of the building.
“This is going to make you feel better,” Grayson promised, squeezing Blake’s shoulders from behind Blake’s seat as Daniel sped off down the road. “You’ll forget all about everything.”
“You mean forget how I fell in love with a woman who won’t even answer my phone calls?” Blake scoffed. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forget that.”
“Are you sure it’s not just because you’ve never been heartbroken before?” Daniel asked, but when Blake didn’t grin, or even muster a grunt in return, Daniel elbowed him in the side. “I was trying to lighten the mood a little.”
“I don’t need to have this happen ever again,” Blake said. “Once is enough for me, thanks. Taught me all I needed to know.”
“And what is that?” Grayson asked.
Blake lobbed a sigh. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Come on. Share your secrets,” Daniel encouraged.
“Fine.” Blake crossed his arms, staring out the window as Daniel pulled onto the highway. “I realized there are fewer trade-offs than I thought.”
“Trade-offs in what?” Daniel asked.
“In being with someone. Having an actual relationship.” He drew a breath, trying to ignore the painful wrench in his gut that had accompanied him throughout his days for the past week. “I thought that being with someone was pointless, and that if it happened, it would require me to sacrifice myself. But that’s not the truth.
Grayson grinned, shaking his head. “Nope. It’s not the truth at all.”
“What gets sacrificed are just little pieces of me—pieces that I don’t need anymore,” Blake went on. “And what I get in return is…” He shook his head, sighing. “It’s the best thing I could ever hope for.”
Daniel reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Damn. You’re about to make me cry.”
“Can’t believe the world’s biggest playboy is saying all of this, but here we are,” Grayson teased.
“Says the IPO-obsessed man who gave it up for Mila,” Blake said, before turning to Daniel to add, “And before you say anything else, let me remind you what an unhappy workaholic you were before you decided to give it all up and adopt a dog with Jackie.”
“Hey. I still work. It’s just from home,” Daniel said, the grin curling at his lips.
“Right.” Blake moved his attention back to the window. Daniel was passing all the other cars in the fast lane. But that’s how it always was when one of them drove—eager to win. “Though I’m pretty sure I remember a time when you swore on our lives that you’d never be caught dead working from home.”
“Guess that just shows how much you can believe me,” Daniel cracked.
“And what we’re worth to you,” Grayson added.
The trio joked and chatted until they pulled into the gated lot of the luxury car dealership. Daniel must have called ahead to organize the event, because a salesman greeted them as soon as they stepped out of the Porsche, leading them to a matte red Ferrari waiting nearby.
“This is some curbside service,” Blake said as the salesman passed the key to him. The friends settled into the lush interior of the car, outfitted with butter-soft black leather seats and a touch screen display that encompassed nearly the entire dashboard. “I’m in the driver’s seat today?”
“Of course. We’re here to make you feel better,” Daniel said.
“Getting to ride along is just a benefit,” Grayson said.
“No burnouts,” the salesman warned as Blake settled into the front seat. He just grinned as he beheld the fully manual luxury sports car. This thing would help take his mind off things for a little bit.
He turned the engine, which roared as much as it purred. A thrill of excitement shuddered through him. He didn’t exactly need a new car right now, but maybe he could swing something like this.
Blake couldn’t hide the grin as he maneuvered out of the parking lot. Daniel and Grayson whooped as he gunned it out onto the open road.
He laughed alongside them, but after a few moments driving seventy in a 50-mph zone, he glanced into his rearview mirror.
Mollie would need the booster seat back there.
His good spirits went tumbling to the ground. Because who was he kidding? This car wasn’t going to pick up his spirits. Not in the long run. Even though Blake himself would have suggested a purchase like this two months ago as a way to feel better about his world, now he realized that it was just a hollow filler that wouldn’t change a damn thing when it came to what truly mattered to him.
“So?” Grayson prompted after they’d whizzed around the freeway for twenty minutes. “What do you think?”
Blake squeezed the steering wheel. Part of him wanted to want it. Part of him felt like wanting it would be a way to prove to himself that he hadn’t been irrevocably changed—that he hadn’t truly fallen head over heels for Michelle, and possibly ruined the rest of his life that would be spent wanting her but never having her.
“I don’t know.” He downshifted, relishing the growl of the engine. This car was a work of art. It was sleek and sexy and everything luxurious.
But Michelle wouldn’t care about a car like this. She just wanted a good guy. Someone to love her. A man that she could share her life with.
“This would look good in the collection,” Daniel said.
“Yeah, but…” Blake finally shook his head. “I don’t need it right now. It’ll just collect dust.”
His friends didn’t say anything but Blake could feel the quiet surprise rippling through the car. But it was fine. Because now they knew the same truth that he did.
Blake was no longer the guy who filled his life with meaningless toys. Now, he wanted something with substance. Something that would last. He would never be the same…and not nearly as complete if Michelle wasn’t in his life.
18
A week and a half after Michelle discovered the truth about Blake, the dust still hadn’t settled.
It didn’t help that she was once again the new girl. Her new job—working with high-performance athletes at a specialty physical therapy center in the Mission District—was fine enough, with plenty of potential to turn into a decent career.
But she couldn’t deny how much she’d loved working with the Seagulls. Each day, she wished she could go back there to visit with her favorite baseball players. She remembered being nervous when she’d first started there, but everyone had soon made her feel at home. Now, she was back to square one. She was tired of having to start over.
“Mommy! You’re home!” Mollie raced to the door as soon as Michelle set foot inside the townhouse, her quick steps fluttering down the hallway. Michelle grinned, welcoming her daughter’s eager hug. Jenna, the babysitter, stepped into view, and after a quick rundown of how Mollie’s post-kindergarten day had
gone, she tousled Mollie’s hair and left the house.
“I wanna show you this picture I drawed today,” Mollie said, rummaging in her My Little Pony backpack. “We made it with Ms. Thomas, and I loved it and I said I was gonna hang it up in my bedroom, and I want to put it right above my bed.”
Michelle set her purse down and settled on the couch as Mollie carefully removed the drawing from her backpack. Then she came over and plopped dramatically next to Michelle. Heaving a sigh, she brushed some hair out of her face before she displayed the picture.
“See right here, Mommy? It’s us!”
Michelle’s gaze washed over the crayon-scrawled drawing. Mollie had drawn, in vibrant red and orange, three stick figures in front of a tall, curved house. The scene was drawn under a big yellow sun with a one-toothed smile—Mollie’s trademark. Michelle tried to hold her smile as she absorbed the artwork.
“There’s three people in here,” she said carefully.
“I know! It’s you, me, and Mr. Blake.”
Tears immediately sprang to her eyes and she clapped her hands together, forcing a bright smile. “You should hang it in your bedroom. You did a great job.” She stood then, swiping away a tear before Mollie could see. Even though Michelle had explained several times that Mr. Blake wasn’t going to be showing up in their lives again, Mollie wasn’t ready to let go of him. Which was the worst sort of prolonged grieving. For both of them. “Now let’s go see about some snacks. What do you think of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”
Michelle’s heart throbbed in her chest as she tried to busy herself in making the sandwich for Mollie. This wasn’t the first time Mollie had mentioned Blake since that embarrassing evening at his club. And each time, Michelle didn’t know what to say. He’d humiliated her. Deceived her. Used her. And then dared to act like he deserved a chance to explain himself.
These were things she needed to remind herself of, a bit more often than she liked. Because if the sting of embarrassment stayed the focus, then she wouldn’t have to deal with the fact that she was completely heartbroken as well.
