Page 29 of Suddenly Desired
“You okay?” she asked, her eyes soft but searching.
Blake forced himself to nod, though he wasn’t sure how truthful it was. “Yeah. Just . . . thinking.”
About how much he wanted to cross the room. About how much he wanted to sink his hands into her hair, tilt her head back, and kiss her until he forgot everything — Heartbook, the board, the whole damn world.
But this wasn’t the time. It wasn’t the place.
Not that his body seemed to care.
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to ground himself. “I’m just glad you’re here,” he said finally.
Ellie gave him a small smile that almost undid him. “I’m glad, too,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
She glanced at the chair beside her, as if inviting him to sit, but his legs wouldn’t seem to work. If he got too close, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep himself in check. Instead, he stayed where he was, his hands gripping the edge of the doorframe, his heart a riot in his chest.
She said that she believed him about the posts not being his words, but there must still have been a part of her that wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to do anything that she might take the wrong way — like telling her how she made him feel while they were alone together in a room on the third floor of the public library.
Her gaze lingered on him, her teeth catching her bottom lip for the briefest moment. His eyes followed the movement, and he swallowed hard, imagining what it would feel like to taste her, to press his lips to hers in this quiet, hidden corner. The thought alone sent a pulse of heat through him, and he forced himself to take a slow, steadying breath.
“Blake?” she said, her voice drawing him out of his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“You seem . . . distracted.” Her lips quirked slightly.
He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “You could say that.”
She laughed, the sound wrapping around him like a warm embrace. God, how was she doing this to him?
The silence stretched between them again, charged and heavy, and for a brief, reckless second, he imagined closing the distance, and capturing her mouth with his. The thought made his fingers tighten on the doorframe.
But he couldn’t.
Not here. Not now.
“Ellie?” His voice sounded low and rough.
“Yeah?” she said, her cheeks flushing deeper as if she’d been thinking the same thing.
“Do you want to tell me more about LifeWrite?” he said, knowing it was a great excuse to keep her close to him for a little longer. “Seeing as we’ve got time and space and it’s why you’re here anyway.”
Her eyes widened as she nodded briskly, her ponytail shaking irresistibly.
“Uh, great.” He was fighting to organise his thoughts. He slid his glasses into his pocket, happy to be rid of them. “You want a coffee or anything?”
“No, not yet,” she replied. “Are you sure you’ve got time? I mean, I know you must be really busy.”
“Right now, I have nothing to do.” He pulled out a chair that was at the opposite end of the table. “Literally nothing. I’m completely frozen out of everything.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ellie said.
He waved the apology away. “I’m not. It gives me a chance to be here with you. I mean, because of LifeWrite. Because it’s such a great idea.”
“I don’t know,” she said bashfully, pulling out her laptop and her notebook and throwing the bag to the floor. He scooted his chair a little closer so he could see as she switched on the ancient machine. “It was just a silly idea really, just some scatterbrained plan.”
“You don’t ever have to do that,” Blake said. “You don’t ever have to put yourself down. What you’ve got here is amazing, and what’s even more special is that you did it in the first place. You found a passion, you fought to make it real. It’s incredible. It’s exactly what I did.”
“Not quite,” she said. “My idea isn’t worth billions on the stock market.”
