Cherry Girl (Blackstone Affair) (13 page)

But
, I also had new ones to ponder.

Ian’s drunken confession in the pub had piqued my curiosity a lot.  According to her brother
, she had a cherry blossom tattoo somewhere on her body.  Interesting.  And why would Elaina do that?

I could only think of one reason why she would.

Same reason I’d gotten mine.

I dug around in my
desk drawer until I found it. A flash drive of photographs I’d taken nearly six years ago.  I made sure the door was locked of course, and told Susie to hold my calls.

The pictures l
oaded up in a slideshow format.

Nearly two hundred images
: cherry blossoms, Elaina under the falling blossoms, selfies of us in the boat together, some close-ups of a blue dragonfly sitting on a cherry branch.  I remembered the dragonfly photos specifically.  I’d printed one out and taken it to the tattoo artist when she’d inked me, so she could get the design right.

Blue dragonfly in the cherry blossoms sitting right on my chest over my beating heart.

I scrolled through the line of photos, one by one, remembering everything as the images loaded.  Again, it was a strange sensation.  I thought I had forgotten the memories, or at least hidden them away so deep that I wouldn’t remember.  But that wasn’t the case at all.  The sights and sounds and emotions in memory came right up to the surface all in an instant as easily as if our weekend at Hallborough had just happened.

I kept clicking the right arrow faster and faster until the series changed to times after we had returned home.

I stopped clicking and stared, unable to take my eyes away.

Elaina
.  Naked in my bed.  Her eyes were on me, head tilted to the side, her beautiful hair splayed out, her perfect body soft and languid from being touched, kissed, and loved by me only moments before.

I’d asked her if I could have some pictures of her like this to take with me and she had generously said yes.  How strange to know that just hours later
, our time together ended in the most heartbreaking way.  A moment in time, captured in an image, that meant my whole world on the day it was taken.

I clicked
forward to the next picture, very aware that I had taken more than just the one.  God, she was beautiful then.  She was still beautiful, and inside this very building, where I was sitting right fuckin’ now!

I could leave this office
, go out to reception and look at her with my own eyes if I wanted to.  I could ask her to dinner or out for lunch.  I could get close enough to smell that heavenly perfume she wore, or shampoo she used on her hair, or whatever the hell it was that smelled so good.  I could listen to her voice addressing me when I asked her a question.  I could even reach out and touch her in a gesture socially acceptable for workmates. 

I could do all
of that.

If
I wanted to.

I kept my arse in my office chair and studied
the naked pictures of her instead.

A
nd thought about giving my cock a tug and using them to get me off.

17

For custom arrangements on display in reception,
the florist delivered twice a week.  I kept looking over at the magnificent display, of what looked very much like cherry blossoms in a light blue vase, the long branches of pale pink blooms distracted me terribly.  Was it possible that Neil had somehow requested them?  They were so specific an arrangement…  My Spidey senses were picking up on something with him, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. 

I
t was pretty apparent from the last few days, that he was avoiding me.  I accepted why he would want to, but it still wasn’t fun for me to sit at my desk and see him go by without saying much beyond a simple greeting.  It made me very sad, but I didn’t know what to do about it.  And I didn’t know how to make it any better for either of us.  I was left wondering so much about what was on his mind. 

I didn’t see a wedding ring on his finger but that didn’
t confirm anything.  Lots of men didn’t wear them.  I’d yet to be invited into his office so I’d not seen any pictures he might have of his family, or…Cora and their baby—

“So
, how are you settling in?  It is Elaina, right?”

My sad thoughts were int
errupted by the boss who was leaning on the counter above my station with a coffee cup, flashing that handsome chiseled face at me with an extra dash of charm thrown in.

“Yes, Mr. Blackstone, I’m really enjoying this job a great deal.”

“Oh, it’s Ethan.  We’re very informal here in the office.”  He winked at me.  “In fact, I don’t mind if you call me E.”

If I didn’t know better I’d think he was flirting with me.  Jesus, he was
runway-model handsome.  Women must fall at his feet regularly.

I laughed nervously.  “My brother calls me E as well, but he’s the only one.”

“That’s right.  I knew that.”  He gave his head a tap with the heel of his hand.  “Morrison is your brother.  Good man to have a pint with, or three,” he joked.

“Yeah, that’s my brother all right, always willing to be somebody’s drinking partner.”

“It’s never a good idea to drink alone,” he said softly.

I nodded and sm
iled, unsure of how to respond.

“Well, I just wanted to give you a personal welcome and say that I’ve heard nothing but good things about what you’re doing here for us.  Keep up the good work, Elaina, and please, if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”

He smiled warmly but held his stare for a little too long to be just a friendly welcome.  Yeah, it was an invitation all right.  All I would have to do is let him know I was available and Mr. Blackstone would probably give me a time and a place.

“Okay…yes sir.”

He tsk’d and cocked a brow at me.  “Ethan, remember?”

“Ethan.”  I smiled, waiting for him to go.

Thankfully my switchboard lit up at precisely that moment.  “Blackstone Security International, how may I direct your call?”  The line was dead with dial tone only.  A second call lit up the board almost immediately, and again I picked up.

Ethan
lifted his coffee mug in a farewell salute, as I dealt with switching calls through, our little chat officially ended.

He
punched in the key code and headed back through to the main offices.  But as the door opened, I could see Neil standing just behind it, his mobile up to his ear.  Ethan stepped around him, continuing in the direction down to his office, while Neil just stood there stonefaced.  He stared me down from inside the doorway until it closed between us, cutting off our view of each other.

“Blackstone Security International, how may I direct your call?” 
I got dial tone again and frowned at my switchboard.  Something weird was happening with the phone lines.

I thought about my short conversation with Ethan.

The boss was an interesting man.  Besides being off the charts handsome, he was also very well-mannered and socially adept.  But there was an edge to Ethan Blackstone that didn’t quite fit.  Something that didn’t feel very mannerly or even particularly social.  I felt secure around him yes, but this was a man who could do some serious damage to a woman if she was fool enough to let him.  Make no mistake about it.  I had no intentions of being that woman so I wasn’t worried in the slightest, but some girl would…someday.

I pushed my way into his off
ice and got right up on him.

“Don’t even think
it.”

E
than pulled back a little and cocked a brow.  “Don’t think about what?”

“I’m not blind
, you know,” I scoffed.  “I saw you on camera, flirting, swinging your cock around up front just now.”

He narrowed his eyes at me.  “What in the mother fuck are you railing
on about, mate?  Did you hit your head or something?”  He opened his desk drawer where he kept his cigarettes.

I leaned over him
, hands planted on the desk.  “Not gonna happen.  Not with her,” I whispered right up against his face, my neck so tight it might snap.

“The new receptionist
, you mean?  Elaina?”  He was eyeballing me by then.

“That’s right.
  She’s off limits, and you can tell that to your wandering cock and balls, too.”

“Easy there, mate.  I was just being polite.”  He lit up one of those Djarum Blacks he liked so well, the spice of clove scenting the air between us.  “Making her feel welcome as a new member of the team is all.  I’d n
ot had a proper chance to do that yet.”

He exhaled right in my face.  Probably because I was still up on him, but it didn’t deter me one iota.  “Forget it, E.  I’m warning you.”  I tilted my head and crossed arms over my chest to keep from doing something I would regret. 
“Leave off with Elaina.  She’s not going to be another of your one-night bang buddies.  If you’re in need, go find it somewhere else.”

Ethan looked me over good, his blue eyes chilly as he took another drag on his ciggie.  “You know her.  I suppose you must since Morrison is her brother.  Am I right?”

I managed a nod.

“You want to talk about it?” he asked carefully.

“No, I don’t.”  I shook my head.

“Right, well, no worries then
.  I was only giving a welcome and being nice.  You know I don’t fraternize with employees on the job.  I’d never do that to a subordinate.”

“Not during working
hours
at least,” I grumbled.  I’d known E to tap an office girl or two, but to be fair, he’d only gone for the ones that worked away from the executive suite on one of the other floors.

Ethan snickered and leaned back in his chair, the cigarette hanging off his lip.  “Are you all right, Neil?”

“No,” I said, dropping myself into a chair opposite his desk.

We sat there in silence for a bit, him smoking, me breathing it in
second hand, the smell reminding me of Afghanistan, taking me back to other times and other places.  Places where I’d been with Ethan, a long time ago when things were different.  He was very quick, and I imagined he’d puzzle it all out in another moment or two.

“
Elaina’s the girl, isn’t she?  The one from years ago, that you…lost, right before that last tour.” He lit up another Djarum.

“
Yes.  It’s her.”

I put
on my coat and peered out the window from the forty-fourth floor.

Well, shit.

Late leaving work tonight and it was already completely dark outside.  The fall weather had arrived in full force, too.  The temperatures were dropping and the rain was falling.

The ride home on the train didn’t worry me, but the walk to my house from the station
most certainly did.  Maybe I could call Mum to come pick me up in the car.

But I didn’t like to do that.  It was a risk I really couldn’t take
and I knew very well why.  Mum would be well into her G&T’s.

I was pondering calling my brother
on the small chance he wasn’t already committed to Friday night happy-hour somewhere, when Neil stepped through to reception.

He wore a
solemn look on his face and his coat on his back.  With his briefcase in his hand, he appeared to be leaving work for the night, same as me.

“I’ll take you home
,” he said, walking ahead of me toward the lifts.

I sta
red at him in surprise.  This was the first time he’d really spoken to me since that first day, and it made me wary.

He stepped into the lift
.  I stayed rooted in the hall.

After a moment, h
e poked his head out, his hand holding the door open.  “Well, are you coming?”

“What?  No.  I’ll take the Tube like I always do.”

He shook his head slowly at me.  “You’re not walking home in this pissing rain in the dark, Elaina.”

“I’l
l ring Mum from the station to come and collect me.”

“No, you won’
t ring her, and we both know why.  Get in.”

I paused, unsure how to respond, tempted by his direct command but afraid to be so close to him again.  The inside of a lift was very small quarters.  And Neil
was such a big man.  And, he would be in it with me.  Intimidating as hell was a good descriptor for him at that moment.

“The lift, E
laina?”  He cocked his head impatiently.  The lift bell dinged and I saw the G lit up in red on the panel, indicating he was heading down to the parking garage.

“No
, thank you.”  I shook my head at him.  “I’m taking the Tube home.”  I let the doors close Neil inside the lift where he was still frowning at me from behind those beautiful features he’d been born with.

Relief spilled through me and
I closed my eyes for a moment.

With a steady hand, I calmly pressed the button to call
another lift.  When it arrived, I made sure to select the street level because I had a feeling Neil might insist on taking me home tonight.

He knew too much about me.  He knew the station and how far I had to walk
from there in order to arrive at my home.  He knew my mother’s drinking habits and that she couldn’t drive to come for me.  He knew Ian was busy somewhere as it was a Friday night.  Neil knew everything.