Page 12 of Some Saviors Can Break You

“Right about now, I’ll take whatever I can if it comes to spending time with you.”

The sincerity tugged her mouth into a reluctant smile. She’d never had a guy take such an interest in her that they would pursue her like this. The romantic side of her brain wanted to insist that he had to like her to go to all this trouble because as wealthy and good looking as he was, he could have his choice of women. The practical side of her brain insisted that this was just a challenge to him, he probably wasn't used to being turned down and he didn't like it, once he convinced her to date him and got her into bed, he’d lose interest and move on.

The two sides of her warred on, and she didn't know what to do.

Her body still felt the imprint of his hands touching her, her heart wanted to give it a go, thrilled at the possibility that someone might really care about her, but she was a woman who listened to her head, and it said run.

“Florence? You still there.”

“I'm still here. Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”

“I sense a but coming.”

She huffed a mirthless laugh. “I don’t think we’re a good match, Eli. We come from two different worlds. Thank you for saving my life, but I'm not going on a date with you. Goodbye.”

She ended the call and set the phone on her desk beside the bunch of flowers. She had made the smart move, the safe move, but it felt like she’d just made a mistake.

8:04 P.M.

This was not how he wanted to spend his evening.

No, strike that, thiswashow he wanted to be spending his evening, but the woman sitting across from him at the tablewasn'twho he wanted to be spending it with.

Eli would have canceled the blind date if Florence had agreed to go out with him, but she’d said no every time he’d asked, and at some point, he had to accept that chemistry wasn't enough. Just because he felt that sizzle of attraction, and just because he was sure that she felt it too, didn't mean that he could force her to let go of whatever fear was holding her back and give him a chance.

Didn't mean he had to like it.

If he knew a way to convince her that nothing bad would happen if they went on a date and got to know each other, he’d do it. But in order to convince her of that, he had to understand what her fears were, the only way to learn what her fears were was for her to trust him, and the only way for her to trust him was for the two of them to spend time together.

Which she wouldn’t agree to do.

So, he was stuck with no way forward, and it looked like the only option he had left was to just walk away.

“Eli,” his date whined. That sound really grated on his nerves.

“Yeah?” he said halfheartedly. He’d been dubious about this date even before he met Florence yesterday—was it really only yesterday? When he’d moved back to New York, he’d touched base with a couple of different old friends, and one of them hada sister who’d had a crush on him from back when they were all in college together. He couldn’t remember the sister, but he’d reluctantly agreed to one dinner. Not even really a date, just dinner, then they both went their own way.

After this nightmare of a date, they would definitely be going their own way.

Patricia Christian was impossibly thin, tall, only an inch or two shorter than his own six foot three. Despite her rail-thin body her breasts were huge, no doubt fake, not that he had a problem with that—every woman had the right to do whatever they wanted with their own body—he just didn't find them appealing.

Probably because all he could picture was Florence’s small, round, perfect breasts and everything he wanted to do to them. He wanted to roll her nipples between his fingers and watch them go hard, he wanted to suck them and watch her squirm, listen to her moans, and then he wanted to do a whole lot more to every other part of her body.

“Eli,” Patricia whined again, her too red lips pouting childishly.

“What?”

“You're not listening to me. What are you thinking about so hard that you're not listening to a word I'm saying?”

He wasn't going to tell his date that he was thinking about another woman, even if he wasn't interested in Patricia. And there wasn't a single thing about her that appealed to him. She was pretty, although she was wearing too much makeup, which again only reminded him how beautiful Florence was and how she didn't need makeup to accentuate it—and she was smart, he knew she had a high IQ because she’d told him several times. She seemed nice, and she was obviously excited about this date, but she was too obvious about her idea of the outcome.

She was here for sex, which she probably hoped would seal the deal, and sooner or later, she’d be Mrs. Eli Lennox.

Only he didn't play that game.

He’d grown up with the example of how marriage should be, two people who loved and respected each other both working toward the same goal. They supported each other, they were there for each other, they held each other when they needed to be held and gave each other a shove when they needed a shove. There was no way he would settle for any other kind of partnership when he got married.

When it all boiled down to it, he didn't see Patricia giving him that kind of marriage so it was over before it even began.

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