Page 85 of Because of Blake
“Five million!? Holy shit.”
“So you see, I have no reason to want you for your money. I have plenty of my own.”
One side of Blake’s mouth ticks up. “I was wondering how a single mom with two kids affords a house on a part-time paralegal’s salary. This makes a lot of sense.”
“Yes, it does. I also wondered how you could afford to live your lifestyle with the landscaping gig.”
He laughs nervously again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, about that...”
“What?”
“I actually own the landscaping company.”
“Are you serious? Here I thought you were an employee, and you’re the owner? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Same reasons. Owner implies more money, employee doesn’t. I was guarding myself.” He tilts his head to the side. “We have more in common than we thought.”
“It’s a good thing.”
Blake caresses the backs of my hands with his thumbs, and a wide grin spreads across his face. “So, you and me are, like, rich together then, huh?”
“Now who’s looking at who like a budget?”
The expression on his face hardens like a rock. I’ve never seen him more serious. “I would never.”
I tip up on my toes to kiss him. “Do you want to go back to the party, or go home? Or do you want to go thank Mark for getting us to have this conversation?”
“Ha. I won’t be talking to Mark for a while. This may have been a good thing, but he’s still an asshole for spilling my secrets.”
“So, home, then?”
Blake pulls me in, wrapping his arms around my waist and tugging me against him. “I want to kiss you at midnight.”
“Why wait?”
I intertwine my fingers behind his neck as he sways our bodies from side to side. His eyes trace my face, like he’s studying me, and I watch them intently. He presses his lips to mine, gently at first, but stronger by the second until I’m pinned against the dryer by Blake’s hips.
“Maggie,” he moans into my mouth as his hands roam every inch they can reach.
“Hold on.” I push him away and reach over to lock the laundry room door.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure no one walks in on us.”
“But, the party. What if the kids need–”
I shake my head. “It’s loud enough no one will even know we’re in here and I checked on the kids before Mark cornered us. They’re fine and quite literally entranced by the huge explosions and karate moves in the movie. They won’t be up here for a while.” Walking back to Blake, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him against me. “It might not be the most romantic place, but it could be fun.”
Blake’s eyes darken as they flick from my eyes to my mouth. Without a word, his lips press to mine, parting them and slipping his tongue inside. His hand runs up my back, grabs my zipper, and pulls it down. He slides my sleeve off my shoulder and kisses his way to it from my mouth before pressing his cheek to mine. “I know you don’t like me to rush, but I don’t think this is the right place for foreplay.”
I take his earlobe between my teeth. “If you must make it fast, make it good.”
With a shudder and a moan, Blake lets go of me and allows my dress to fall to the floor. He takes a quick second to rake in my body, even though he saw my underwear at home.
I lean back against the dryer again, rubbing my thighs together and biting my lower lip. My eyes trail from his pants, which are growing tighter by the second, all the way to his desire-filled eyes.
Blake runs his tongue along his teeth, unbuttoning his dress shirt, but doesn’t take it off. Instead, it hangs at his sides, allowing his chiseled torso to tease me.