Page 21 of Suddenly Desired
APEX Broadcast Channel: Always be closing.
Blake couldn’t remember which of his friends had come up with the tongue-in-cheek chat name, but it had stuck.
The message preview caught his eye and, before he could stop himself, he tapped into the thread.
Devlin:Saw the video. Tough break, man, but you’ve been through worse. You’ll handle this.
Christian:Yeah, bro, nothing new. Haters gonna hate, but you’re Blake freaking Fielding.
Nate:Ignore the noise. But hey, can we talk about the girl? She’s a knockout.
Blake’s lips twitched despite the tension in his chest.
Devlin:Agreed. Who is she, and why haven’t we heard about her before?
Nate:If I didn’t know you better, I’d say she’s the reason you’re in this mess.
Christian:Don’t blow it. She’s got that “make you forget your own name” vibe.
Blake sighed, his thumb hovering over the keyboard. He wasn’t about to get into a deep conversation about Ellie with these guys, not yet. But the way they talked about her only reinforced what he already knew — Ellie was special. And that scared the hell out of him.
Still, the messages carried an undercurrent of warmth, a reminder that no matter how much pressure he was under, he wasn’t completely alone.
Blake:Appreciate it, guys. Let’s focus on not letting the company implode first, yeah?
Devlin:Fair. Just don’t let the girl slip through your fingers in the meantime.
He locked his phone again, leaning back against the cab seat and letting out a long breath. The weight of the situation pressed down on him again, but this time, it didn’t feel as suffocating.
Still, there was no time to get distracted. He unlocked his phone once more, this time going straight to his inbox. David’s email sat at the top, its subject line a blunt punch to the gut:You need to see this.
He tapped the link and a YouTube video loaded. The title read,Blake Fielding gets what’s coming to him.
The wobbly footage started behind the bar, showing the barmaid’s perspective as she crossed the room. Blake watched, his throat tightening as the camera zoomed in on him sitting in the booth, Ellie across from him.
And then, something strange happened. The dread that had been clawing at him shifted, replaced by a flicker of something entirely unexpected.
Ellie.
Even through the grainy lens of someone else’s phone, she was captivating. The way her lips curved into a small, nervous smile, the way her eyes sparkled with genuine curiosity as she leaned towards him — it stirred something deep in his chest. Something that felt dangerously close to happiness.
He saw the way he was staring into Ellie’s eyes, the way his body language leaned into her. He saw his own smile, and he couldn’t quite believe it was real. He didn’t look like the man he’d seen in the mirror for the last few years, or the man they had photographed for the company brochures. That Blake had always worn a fake smile, even though he’d convinced his friends and family it had been real. He could see why they had never believed him now.
On the video, she mirrored his posture over the table, something he hadn’t noticed until now. Her eyes were locked on to him, her chin resting on her hand, her whole body pressed to the table edge as if she was trying to flow right through it to get to him.
Blake blinked, his mind warring with itself. This wasn’t how he was supposed to feel. He was supposed to be furious, panicking, strategising his next move. Instead, all he could think about was the way Ellie had looked at him. Like she could unravel him with a glance. Like she already had — and he wanted more.
He rewound the video, watching her again, the faint smile that tugged at her lips, the way she’d gestured as she spoke. Her presence in that booth, across from him, felt like the only solid thing in an otherwise crumbling world.
Blake closed his eyes, gripping the phone tightly. He couldn’t afford this. He couldn’t afford her. Not now, not with everything at stake.
But, God, how he wished he could.
He went back to the video, not wanting to put himself through the next bit, but knowing he had to. The shaky footage captured the waitress as she walked towards their booth. He saw himself reluctantly turn away from Ellie, the faintest flicker of hesitation in his movement.
He’d been so shocked that he hadn’t really noticed what had happened next, but the way Ellie leaped to his aid took the edge off the incident.
The way she shot to her feet, her eyes blazing with anger, her body leaning forward like she was ready to throw herself into the fray for him. She hadn’t flinched, hadn’t second-guessed him, even when the world was screaming for his downfall. Why? Why was she so willing to believe him when everyone else had already made up their minds?
