“Mhm. I’m not really getting heart-on-my-sleeve vibes from you. I’m getting more loves big but keeps it to himself energy.”
Blake smiles softly, peering out of the corner of his eye before he mumbles into his beer bottle. “And you said I was a tough nut to crack…”
I laugh again. “You are! There’s more to you than meets the eye, Blake. I just know it.”
“And there isn’t with you?”
“Nuh uh.” I shake my head vigorously. “I’m an open book! Nothing is off limits with me.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing. Ask me anything you want.”
“Anything?”
I nod. “Anything.”
Blake flicks his gaze over my shoulder for a heartbeat before he centres his sight back on me.
“When did you start working for McAvoy and Fraser?”
It’s not exactly the question I had in mind, but I roll with it, taking a sip of my cocktail and watching the way Blake’s eyes track every movement; his pupils dilating when I wet my lower lip with the tip of my pink tongue.
“Almost three years.”
“And has McAvoy always held his head high and strutted around like an entitled prick?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Would you believe me if I said no?”
Blake shakes his head, the edges of his eyes creasing with smile lines. He looks younger when he smiles, cheeky too. I can see him being a mischievous little shit when he was a child. I was too. Although, one of us appears to have grown out of that phase. Spoiler alert: it isn’t me.
“Not one little bit.”
“Good.” I grin. “Because I would be lying. Yes, Thomas has always been an entitled prick, as you put it. Since day one.”
“And has he always been sticking it on you?”
“Not always.” I take another sip, a bigger one this time, the tart lime catching at the back of my throat. “There’s been a handful of girls before me, and that’s just the ones at the office. He set his sights on me at last year’s office Christmas party, and I haven’t been able to get rid of him since.”
“Until now.”
“Until now,” I confirm. “I’m sure in your capable hands it won’t take long for Thomas to get the message. Don’t you agree?”
I watch as Blake raises his beer bottle to his lips, his throat bobbing smoothly as he takes a drink. “Without a fucking shadow of a doubt.”
Pleased, I settle for a sip of my own cocktail before I set it back down against the marble bar top. “My turn. Have you ever been in love?”
Blake holds up two fingers to signal his answer. “Twice. You?”
“Also, twice.”
“Can I ask what happened?”
“Nothing much.” I shrug, pushing down a twinge of pain. “Life just decided to take us on different paths as we got older.”
Oh, and how could I forget that they both broke up with me for the same reasoning. I’m too wild apparently. A livewire. Unpredictable.
“Mhm,” Blake hums. “My first relationship ended the same way.”
