by E. L. Todd
“No.”
“Would you like to stay for dinner?”
“That depends. Do you cook better than you grow cotton?”
She glared at him again.
“I would love to stay for dinner,” he said quickly.
“Good answer.” She went into the kitchen and started working.
He stayed at the table and watched her. “What are we having?”
“Sloppy Joes.”
“Excellent,” he said as he nodded. “I like it.”
“Martha used to make it for me when I was little. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
He smiled at her. “Most girls wouldn’t be caught dead eating that.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because it’s messy.”
“I don’t care about that,” she said quickly.
“Even better.”
She placed the dishes on the table and they ate across from each other.
He stared at her. “Do you judge me if I get it all over my face?”
“Not if you don’t judge me for doing the same.”
“Deal.”
They ate their food, getting it all over their fingers and faces. When Alexandra looked at Blaise, she saw the red sauce all over his lips. She couldn’t help but laugh.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said with a laugh.
“What happened to not judging?”
“I wasn’t,” she said quickly. Even when he made a mess, he still looked good. It was hard to believe.
“You got a little something right here,” he said as pointed to the corner of his mouth.
She used a napkin to wipe the spot.
“You didn’t get it.” He moved his hand toward her face, which was covered in sauce.
Alexandra eyed it, suspicious.
He wiped it on her face, making her even dirtier.
“Gross!” Alexandra wiped her face with a napkin.
Blaise laughed. “You can save it for later.”
“You’re lucky I’m too polite to my guest to seek my vengeance.”
“And because I’m your teacher. You would be lost without me.”
“Aren’t you cocky?”
“There are a few things I’m exceptionally good at. Cotton growing is one of them.”
“What are the others?”
He wiped his face with a napkin. “Let’s keep this PG.”
Alexandra felt the area between her legs burn at his words. Her cheeks turned red as his meaning dawned on her. She already thought about him in a sexual way, but his words only heightened it, making it a million times worse.
He carried the plates to the sink and washed them. Alexandra didn’t help him because she was still shocked by his last words. She kept her face hidden so he wouldn’t see how much they affected her. When he dried his hands, he grabbed his bag.
“Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome,” she whispered.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
His hands were in his pockets as he stared at her. The tension in the room increased as they stood in the kitchen. Alexandra wanted to find an excuse to get him to stay but she couldn’t think of anything. She was running out of ideas.
“I’ll see you later.” He opened the door and walked out.
Alexandra followed him and watched him walk to his truck. “Goodnight.”
He got inside and started the engine. Bane jumped into the tailgate and barked at his friends, saying goodbye.
Alexandra watched him drive all the way to the dirt road. When his bright headlights disappeared, she knew he was really gone. She realized her attraction to Blaise was stronger than she thought. She had never asked out a guy before, they usually came to her, but for the first time, she wanted to make a move. Sweet men were hard to find, and Alexandra could tell Blaise was a rare gem.
12
Instead of going home, Blaise drove to a nearby creek. He and his father would fire their guns at targets, far away from homes and pedestrians. It had been a tradition since he was little. Now he came here to think. The sound of the quiet stream calmed his beating heart. Memories of his past flooded his mind.
He sat in the tailgate and thought about his life. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. His ex-girlfriend still lived with him, even though she acted like they hadn’t broken up. She did everything she could to change his mind, but nothing would work. There was no love there. There definitely wasn’t trust. And there definitely wasn’t friendship. It was a situation that could have been avoided if he had used his brain, not his dick. But he couldn’t get rid of her even if he wanted to. He had the state of the art alarm system on his house, and his presence kept Evan away. If he kicked her out, she wouldn’t be safe. He needed to find a long term solution to the problem, something that gave him his freedom, but he hadn’t found it yet.
And now he felt even more confused after Alexandra came into his life. As soon as they met, there was a connection there. She made him laugh, made him smile. Everything was easy with her, simple. And she was gorgeous. When she came onto the field that morning last week, her hair in a braid and a baseball cap shielding her face from the sun, he was immediately smitten. Her beauty was hard not to notice. Even though he and Danielle were over, had been over for months, he still felt guilty for feeling that way. Since she still lived with him, he felt like he was still in the relationship in a twisted way. And he felt even worse for Alexandra. How could he have these feelings for her when his ex-girlfriend was still around?
The sound of the crickets took over his mind. He tried not to think about anything, clearing his mind of everything. When it became late, he knew he needed to head home. He had to wake up in just a few hours and repeat his day.
After he drove home, he walked into the house. Danielle was standing in the parlor, looking pissed.
“What?” he snapped.
“Why are you home so late?”
“None of your business.” He walked into the living room and turned on the TV, watching a game.
“It is my business. You said you were training your new secretary. It’s past midnight.”
“And that’s what I was doing.”
“It shouldn’t take five hours.”
“Well, I went somewhere else afterward.” He didn’t look at her, trying to concentrate on the screen.
“Are you fucking this girl?”
He took a deep breath then turned off the TV. “Let’s get this straight. Who I fuck is none of your business. We’re done. I mean it.”
She glared at him. “No, we aren’t. You aren’t talking to that whore anymore. I mean it.”
“She isn’t a whore! Nothing is going on, but it doesn’t matter if it is. I want you out, Danielle. Now.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ll call the cops if I have to. Your deadline is coming up. You haven’t packed a single thing.”
“That’s because I’m not leaving.”
He kicked the table over. “You’re only with me for my money. Now get out!”
“That isn’t true. I love you!”
Blaise marched to the bedroom they used to share and took everything out of her drawers, tossing it on the floor. “Get out, Danielle.”
“Stop it! I’m sorry, okay? This has been hard on me. I need you, Blaise.”
He kept going.
Danielle hit him in the back of the head, making him buckle under the unexpected blow. He turned to her, his eyes burning with raging fire.
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
She stepped back.
He pushed her against the wall, pinning her with his body “I don’t love you. Why don’t you understand that?” She shook as he stared her down. “You need to leave. I’m ready to move on with my life. I can’t do that when you’re still here. You’re like a leech that latches onto me, draining the life directly out of my skin.” He slammed his fist against the wall. “If you aren’t out by
morning, I’ll call the cops and embarrass you in front of the whole town.”
Tears fell down her face. She wiped them away and averted her gaze.
It wasn’t in his nature to be so angry and so cold, but his boiling point had been reached. She’d been ruining his life for the past year. It had gone on long enough.
“Blaise—”
“Shut the hell up.”
She sniffed. “What will I do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Please…I have nowhere to go. If I leave tomorrow, Evan will find me. Word will spread in the town. It won’t take Evan long to find me.”
“Go back to your mother’s house. Your dad will look after you.”
“I can’t.” She continued to sob. “I can’t go back there.”
“That isn’t my problem.”
“Tell me what I can do…”
“Get out of my life,” Blaise said firmly. “If you really love me, which I know you don’t, you’ll let me go.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the ground. “Is there someone else?”
“We haven’t been together in months. By definition, there can’t be someone ‘else’.”
“Blaise?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Who is it? Why are you trying to get rid of me? You told me you would always protect me from him. I know Evan will kill me, and he’ll make it painful.”
“Stop talking,” he snapped.
She sniffed.
Blaise hated to see her cry. It was the worst. He had a feeling he was going to regret this, but that didn’t stop him. “Fine. But I’m not your boyfriend. I will date and fuck other women.”
“Okay…”
They said nothing, feeling the tension in the room. Blaise still felt the anger flood his body, circulating everywhere. He hated Danielle, but he hated himself more. If he wasn’t so stupid, this situation never would have happened. He had no one else to blame but himself. If he hadn’t fucked her to begin with, her ex-boyfriend wouldn’t have snapped.
“Blaise?”
“What?” His clenched his jaw as he spoke, trying not to let the venom escape.
“Why didn’t you ask me to be your secretary? You know I need a job.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“And you trust this random girl?”
“She isn’t random,” he said simply.
“Have you fucked her?”
“I shouldn’t have to answer that,” he said. “But no, I haven’t fucked anyone. And I can’t until you leave. So now you understand why I’m in such a hurry to get rid of you.”
“How can you say that to me?”
“Shut the hell up. You told me we didn’t need to wear condoms because you were on the pill. You obviously lied so you would get knocked up. Or you lied about being pregnant so I would ask you to move in. You’ve been after my money from the beginning. And I was an idiot for falling for it.”
She sniffed. “That isn’t true.”
“Give it a rest.” He walked toward the door. “Now it doesn’t matter. Since I’m not a complete asshole, I’ll let you stay until I figure out what to do with you. I’m ready to move on with someone else, but I can’t do that when everyone thinks we’re still together.
She averted her gaze, looking at anything but him.
He slammed the door closed, shaking the entire house.
13
After Blaise finished his economics course, he met with his counselor.
“Hello, Professor Hank.”
“Sit down.” He nodded to the chair across from his desk.
Blaise received an email from his professor, asking for a meeting. He wasn’t sure what the topic of their conversation would be. He waited for him to speak.
“After looking at your transcripts and your course plan, I’ve come to realize that this isn’t working.”
“What do you mean?” Blaise asked.
“If you keep taking one course a semester, you’re never going to finish on time. It’ll take you twelve years just to get your bachelors. You need to take more classes, Mr. Cunnings.”
Blaise sighed. “I would if I could. The cotton takes up a lot of my time.”
He nodded. “Maybe you should just concentrate on that, then.”
“But this is my dream,” he said quickly.
“Well, you clearly can’t do both. Pick one, Mr. Cunnings.”
Blaise didn’t know what to do.
“And law school is another four years. This isn’t going to happen.”
“In a few years, I’ll figure out what to do. I’ll sell it or higher an overseer.”
“You’ve been saying that for two years.”
“I know…”
“I know this isn’t my place, but I’m just trying to help you. If this is what you want to pursue, you need to do it now. At this rate, you’re just wasting your time.”
“It’s complicated…”
“Then uncomplicated it.”
“It’s not that easy.”
Professor Hank shrugged. “I’ve given you my advice. Do what you will. But if I were you, I’d be happy with what you have. Most people aren’t so lucky.”
Blaise hated hearing that. Losing his parents didn’t constitute as luck. He had always planned on going to college, knowing his brother would take over the company in his stead. But that hadn’t worked out. His father left the company to him. He trusted Blaise to keep his legacy alive. How could he just walk away from that? If he chased his dream, he would be selfish. The argument repeated itself in his mind, over and over. He didn’t know what to do. “Thank you for your concern.”
Hank nodded. “I’m your counselor for a reason.”
Blaise left the office and walked back to his truck. He felt the stress weigh heavily on his heart. Danielle was still at the house so he avoided going home as much as possible. He was only there for work. He decided to go to the bar where he knew his friends would be.
He ordered his beer then sat in their usual booth.
“You look like hell,” Ray said.
“That sounds about right.” Blaise drank from his beer then stared at the TV.
“She still driving you crazy?”
“Don’t remind me.”
“You want to crash at my place tonight?”
“I would love to.”
“You live in a mansion, but you’re going to settle for an apartment?” He laughed. “That’s ironic.”
“It’s not a mansion when the devil lives there. It’s a haunted house.”
He laughed. “Why don’t you just break up with her?”
“It’s complicated…but it’ll happen eventually.”
“And you’ll be hunting pussy again.”
Blaise glared at him. “No. I’m not like that anymore.”
“What?”
“I’m done with that. I need to grow up and be a man. And that got old. Look where it got me.”
“That was just a really bad experience.”
“I’m still done with it.”
“Do you have your eye on someone?”
Blaise hadn’t told anyone how he felt about Alexandra. Word traveled fast in Savannah. Since he had to keep up pretenses, he decided to keep it to himself. “No.”
“When the last time you got any?”
“Months.”
“So you must be dying.”
He shrugged.
“If you’ve been with Danielle this whole time, you may as well have kept banging her. That sounds fair.”
“I didn’t want it. When you hate someone, any desire you may have had disappears. The idea of being with her disgusts me.”
“Damn…”
“Let’s talk about something else.”
“Okay. How’s the business?”
“John keeps riding my ass.”
“That guy seriously needs to let it go,” Ray said. “It’s been two years.”
“He follows me everywhere, wa
tching my every move.”
“That would get old quick.”
“I feel like I’m always talking about myself,” Blaise said. “What’s new with you?”
He shrugged. “School is lame—like always.”
“Any lady friends?”
“Nope. Not recently.”
“You’re boring,” Blaise said with a laugh.
“What a nice thing to say,” Ray said sarcastically. “But at least my life isn’t full of drama.”
“You have a point.” Blaise tapped his glass again his. “And be grateful for that.”
“I am.”
Blaise downed his glass then threw his money on the table. “I should get home.”
“It’s only a little while longer, man. Hold on.”
“Thanks.”
He drove home and walked into the parlor. When he heard voices in the other room, he sighed in annoyance. He didn’t feel like entertaining anyone. He walked into the kitchen and felt his irritation rise.
He glared at Danielle, silently cursing her.
“I made lasagna,” she said sweetly. “I hope you’re hungry.”
Blaise didn’t respond to her words. He looked at his Uncle John, who was sitting at the table. “Uncle.”
“I thought I would stop by. Your lovely wife let me in.”
“She isn’t my wife,” Blaise snapped.
John shrugged. “Sorry.” He had similar features Blaise’s father, the dark brown hair and blue eyes, but his nose was larger and his face rounder.
Blaise sat down and took a bite of his lasagna. He hated Danielle but he liked her cooking. “What do you want?” he said simply.
“Just to visit.”
“Cut the shit,” Blaise snapped.
“Always had impeccable manners,” his uncle said simply.
Blaise ate his dinner and tried to ignore his uncle. He would admit what he wanted in time.
“I found this buyer in South Korea. He said he would pay three times the amount per pound of cotton.”
Blaise hardly ever did international orders. His father warned him not to, and he followed his advice. “Thank you for the tip.”
“So you’ll do it?”
“No.”
“Come on,” John said. “I’ll take a small percent. Twenty.”
Blaise shook his head. “I don’t do orders outside the US.”
“That’s where your dad was wrong. If you want to increase your market, you have to expand. We can buy more land and feed the orders.”
