Page 43 of Suddenly Desired
His phone buzzed against his leg, reminding him he was an adult with responsibilities. He ran a hand through his hair, waiting for the stomach-swooping hit of angry emails or messages from the board. But when he unlocked the screen, he was relieved to see it was his friends blowing up the group chat again. He dropped a quick greeting.
Devlin:How’s life, Blake?
Blake:Business is a car crash. Life’s not much better.
Devlin:Someone tell me why Blake is brooding like the lead in a depressing indie film.
Nate:Life isn’t shit, mate. It’s actually looking pretty damn good. And I’ve met her.
Christian:Met who?
Devlin:Wait. YOU met her? Since when did you get involved?
Nate:Since Blake showed up at my place with her. She’s smart, funny and, let’s be real, way too good for him.
Ruairidh:I’m literally on the other side of the world, but I don’t even need context. He’s in deep.
Nate:Also, not to make it weird, but the lift in my building mysteriously stopped working when you guys left.
Nate:For twenty minutes.
Nate:With no mechanical fault noted.
Nate:Blake, just asking, is it safe to touch the buttons or will I be taking the stairs from now on?
Devlin:I’m dead.
Christian:Classic.
Devlin:Standard Fielding.
Christian:Someone take his phone before he self-sabotages.
Ruairidh:Probably too late.
Blake has left the chat.
Blake locked his phone and exhaled sharply, staring out at the water. They weren’t wrong. But that didn’t mean they understood why he’d done it. Wanting something didn’t mean you got to keep it. Wanting something didn’t mean you wouldn’t end up wrecking it. He didn’t want to think about what had happened in the lift. The way Ellie had tasted on his lips and felt beneath his hands.
He heard voices and glanced over his shoulder to see a group of people walking up the path, talking excitedly about something. He pulled his cap down, adjusted his glasses andwatched the river until he was sure they were gone. He’d been lucky so far — the taxi had carried him through a throng of reporters right to the main car park, and he’d made it to the river without being identified. It wouldn’t be long before somebody worked out it was him, but he couldn’t quite face the thought of walking into the building yet.
Because somebody in there was his mortal enemy and they were going to destroy him.
Not just his reputation — though that was shredded enough — but everything he’d spent his life building. His company. His people. His vision. Someone was behind the attacks, and he needed to figure out whether it actually was Michelle or someone else altogether before they finished him off completely.
He closed his eyes, blocking out everything around him. But, instead of darkness, there she was. Ellie. Her wide eyes, the curve of her lips as she’d parted them for him.
Oh man, that kiss.
Blake exhaled slowly, trying to hold on to that fleeting surge of hope she’d given him. It had been the most unlikely moment for something like that to happen. He’d been at his lowest, his world falling apart, and yet she’d managed to cut through the chaos with nothing more than her presence and those incredible lips.
I don’t know who sent you, he’d told her. And he still didn’t. It felt too serendipitous, like a cosmic force had thrown Ellie Mae Woodward into his path at the exact moment he’d needed her most.
Then why did you let her go, you idiot?
Blake rubbed his jaw, the tension coiled tight in his chest. He knew why. Because the timing was all wrong. His head was a warzone, his life a disaster. There was no room for anything else, no matter how much he wanted it — wanted her. He had to saveHeartbook. His friends were right about him, even if they did say it with the tact of a high-speed train.
Just then his phone buzzed in his hand. He ignored it at first, still lost in his own head, but when it wouldn’t stop, he sighed and glanced at the screen.
