7. CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER FIVE
DAISY
Now
“ O h, my dear,” my mother says, cupping my face as her eyes dart between Blake and me. “Tell me how you met this delicious man.”
She kisses my cheeks, then lets me go, her eyes settling on Blake, who stands by the fire talking to my father. My family immediately swarmed us when we entered the lodge, Lily and Erin nearly stumbling over themselves to be near Blake. Of course, they would. Even my father seemed impressed and immediately started talking to Blake about his security business. Being the president of an investment firm, I knew my dad would like Blake’s line of work. After I finished introducing everyone, they gravitated towards the fireplace, where they are now chatting it up.
This was such a good idea. He is perfect. Blake has the right amount of charm. A perfect smile. A good job. He is everything my parents want.
Too bad I have to break their hearts.
Blake catches me staring. My entire body heats as he gives me a wink. Okay, calm down, Daisy. He’s a fake boyfriend for the weekend. After we return Monday, we will part ways, and I’ll never see him again.
My mom taps my shoulder. “Well, come on,” she exclaims. Everyone in the room turns to face her. “Tell us how you met Blake.”
Blake grins and pats my father on the arm like they’re old buddies before moving my way. He wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me close. I glance around, feeling my cheeks growing hot. My mother and father sit by the fire. Lily and Kane take the couch near them while Amber and Forest flop into an overstuffed chair. Erin scoots in next to my mother and father. They all look at us, waiting for me to speak .
“Let me tell them,” Blake says, placing a kiss on my nose.
Yes, please do . I can barely think I’m so nervous having his arm around me while my parents watch my every move, like they’ll be able to tell we only met two days ago. My father has a good radar for bullshit, but he seems to like Blake.
“I saw her in the library,” he says, brushing a hand over my cheek.
What? No. This is not what we agreed to. We decided the story would be he saw me in the coffee shop, thought I was cute, and approached me.
“She didn’t see me,” he says, pulling me tighter to him. “But I saw her.”
“Oh. My. Gawd,” Erin squeals, drawing attention to her. “Tell me you were in love immediately!”
Blake looks down at me, his dark eyes soft in the dim light. “She took my breath away. When I saw her trip over her laces and fall face-first into the smutty book section, I knew I was in love.”
I smack his chest, letting out a burst of laughter. “That is not what happened. ”
Blake grins, the corner of his full mouth creasing. “I saw her in the library trying to be discrete about checking out a dirty book.”
Lily sighs longingly. “That sounds like Daisy.”
Blake runs his hand over my cheek again, stopping to run his thumb over my bottom lip. Low in my belly tightens, sending a heated shiver between my legs. “Then I followed her to the little coffee house on Seventh Street.”
He what? He followed me? Something in his eyes makes me still, my eyes locked on his, that heated feeling growing hotter.
“I sat in the far corner, ordering coffee after coffee.” He looks up at my mother, “I hate coffee, by the way,” then back down at me, “But I ordered coffee until I worked up the nerve to approach her.”
Erin sighs. “That’s so cute.”
“That’s creepy,” Lily says.
“How sweet,” Amber chimes in.
“How many coffees?” Forest asks.
Blake’s eyes never leave my face. A blush creeps from my cheeks down to my chest. Did he really follow me from the library? I try to remember the last time I went to the library, but it was months ago. Was it then? Is he just making this up? But no. He sounds so honest. It feels like he’s telling the truth, like this is a confession more than a made-up story.
“I suffered through several coffees until I was brave enough to ask her out,” Blake says.
My mother makes a little cooing sound. “How romantic.”
“How long before you asked her out?” Forest asks more directly.
Yeah, I want to know too.
Blake looks around the room as if gauging how everyone will react. He looks down at me again, kissing the tip of my nose. “Two weeks.”
Erin makes another squealing sound. “I love this so much.”
“So you stalked my sister for two weeks before asking her out?” Forest asks, a sharp edge creeping into his tone.
“Oh, stop,” Amber says and slaps his knee. She’s draped over Forest, wrapped around him like newlyweds. They’ve been married for three years, and I hate to admit I’m a little envious of how much they love each other. She squeezes Forest’s cheeks and plants a kiss on his mouth. “I remember a certain someone stalked me for almost a month before you even asked to borrow a pencil. ”
Lily lets out a loud, garish laugh. She looks at Blake. “They worked in the same office for nearly a year.”
Forest rolls his eyes but remains quiet. I glance over at Blake, who has me squeezed to his side. I tap his knee, jerking my head towards the back of the lodge. Even though they liked his version of our meeting, he can’t just change what we agreed to. I excuse myself from the group, but they are already talking about something else. At the doorway, I catch Blake’s attention and motion for him to follow.
“ Brown-chicken-brown-cow ,” Lily sings, then makes jerking-off motions.
“What are we? Twelve?” Amber says.
Erin releases a gross cackle and joins in.
“Leave them alone,” my mother says, lightly tapping the back of Lily’s head with an outstretched foot. “If we teased you this much every time you and Kane disappeared, we’d never stop.”
I spin, my heart fluttering, and walk down the hall, looking for a private room. The first door I see, I slide in and pull Blake in with me. It’s an enormous bathroom, but it’ll do, so I shut the door and press my back to it. “What was that?”
Blake leans against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest. Damn, he’s hot . It’s like when I’m not looking at him, I forget, then the second I see him full-on, it hits me like a ton of bricks.
“They asked how we met,” he says, his voice tight. “I told them.”
“You saw me in the library?” My voice squeaks slightly, so I take a breath. “That was two months ago.”
He is quiet for a few minutes, then pushes off the counter and moves toward me. I slink back as he braces his hand on the doorframe beside my head, trapping me like he did this morning. “I saw you two months ago, yes.”
“Two months?” I lower my voice because I realize I just yelled. “You said two weeks.”
He stares at me and blinks. Really?
“And you’ve been watching me in the coffee shop?” I say, a little breathless. I can’t decide if this is alarming or sweet.
He drops a hand so I’m no longer caged, brushing the backs of his fingers across my jaw. Goose bumps form, spreading from the top of my head to my legs.
“I watched you, yes,” he says. “I thought you were stunningly beautiful, but I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.”
I let out a loud huff. Is he kidding me?
“I wouldn’t want to talk to you?” I say in disbelief. “You’re the pretty one in this relationship. ”
That makes him chuckle, but his face grows stern again. “I didn’t know if it was a good idea to talk to you.”
I flatten my tone. “Because I’m so unapproachable.”
“You’re not the sort of woman that would be easy to quit,” he says, brushing his fingers along my collarbone. “I didn’t know if I should start.”
Blake cups my jaw, running his thumb over my bottom lip. He’s watching my mouth with an intensity that floods my mind with a million dirty thoughts.
“Start what?” I ask.
“Fucking.”
Heat pools between my legs. “So you just want to fuck me?”
A slow smile spreads over his full lips. “I want to do a lot more to you than fuck.” Blake brushes his thumb over my lip again. He follows the curve of my chin, gently trailing a line to my throat. “I want to taste your skin.” He trails a finger over my collarbone. “Lick your pussy. Savor you. Hold you down while you moan my name as I bury my cock so deep into you that you’ll feel me for weeks.”
A rush of air escapes me. I stare at his lips as he talks, practically feeling his words on my skin. Between my legs throbs as he leans down and brushes the bare skin on my neck with his hot tongue. He releases a soft groan, then nips the skin over my collarbone. I grip his shirt, unaware I’d even placed my hands on his chest as he moves closer. He closes the space between us and presses his body against mine. My thigh slides between his legs, and I feel his erection under his jeans.
Blake looks me in the eye. “Tell me you want me.”
I try to squeeze my legs together to ease the pressure building between my legs, but his thigh is in the way. He feels my movements and grinds into me, watching as I close my eyes and lean my head back. Blake takes my exposed neck as an invitation and bites the skin at my throat, licking the skin after. It’s shameful how wet my panties feel. How hot my blood is. With a breathy groan, I nod.
“Was that a yes?” Blake asks, his voice husky. “Say it.”
“Yes,” I breathe out. Yes, yes, yes.
Blakes’s hand runs down my chest, over my breasts, down the curve of my hips. He slides one under my sweater and finds the waist of my jeans. I suck in air as the heat of his skin touches my belly. His mouth closes over mine, devouring me. I open, brushing my tongue against his, tasting his smokiness. I slide my hands up his chest, feeling the hard muscles under his shirt, and weave my fingers into his thick, soft hair .
Just as his hands slide into the waist of my jeans, someone pounds on the door, hard it enough that it rattles behind me. Blake jerks his hand away and breaks the kiss, clenching his jaw. “Fuck.”
“Come on, lovebirds, it’s dinnertime,” Lily calls from the other side, her voice muffled like she has her lip pressed to the door. “You can play hide and seek the peen later in your room.”
“Shit,” I hiss and untangle my hands from his hair.
Blake brushes my hair from my face and steps back, tugging at the bulge in his pants. He gives me a look so full of hunger; I think for a second we should skip dinner and go back to the room, but then I remember what he said.
He just wants to fuck. He is a no-commitment kind of guy. Blake doesn’t have the time or desire for a relationship. As much as I want to have sex with this guy and walk away after the weekend is over, I’m not that person. I never have been. After Jim, I’m not sure I’ll ever be. I shake my head, trying to clear it. Now that his hands aren’t all over me, I can think.
Giving him a playful smirk, I shove him away teasingly. “You, Blake, are dangerous to be alone with.”
He adjusts his dick again and lets his eyes slide down my body like he’s envisioning all the places he wants to touch and lick. “You, Daisy, have no idea.”