Samantha beamed as he returned to the table. She loved seeing this side of Blake, a light-hearted brother who loved his sister. Genuine and unguarded, a type of man she would love to love. The exact man she would love to love, if he wasn’t so off limits. Her heart squeezed in disappointment.
“That was wonderful,” she said, leaning in close to him, their shoulders were touching now, and Samantha felt a connection to him like she’d never experienced before. It was like they were a team. She’d never felt that with Ryan. He’d been so competitive with her, always trying to do better than her on everything. Samantha couldn’t stop smiling.
“Yeah, thanks for the tips. It really helped, but don’t tell anyone at work about that little show,” Blake said, his eyes narrowing, a darkness crossed his face. He was serious. His mask was back.
Samantha leaned away from him, and said, “Of course not.”
“Bon appetite,” the waiter said, stepping in between them to place her dinner in front of her, breaking the awkward moment. “Please enjoy this low country boil.”
“It looks so yummy, don’t you think Blake?” Shelby declared and Blake turned to talk to her.
Samantha and Denton struck up their own friendly banter across the table, and the conversation was light and fun. The live oak trees with their hanging moss danced among the stars. The sky was among the most brilliantly starlite Samantha had ever seen. The taste of the low country sausage, shrimp and okra melted in her mouth. The candlelight twinkled and the gentle breeze blew off the sound. Frequent toasts and roasts interrupted the flow of the night while Mrs. Putnam kept reminding everyone the real rehearsal dinner would be the following evening at the club. And that rehearsal was mandatory, in front of the gazebo at Melrose Plantation at noon sharp tomorrow. No matter the hangovers.
For Samantha, even though the setting was magical, the dinner was the longest in her life, or so it seemed. As much as she enjoyed talking to his little brother, all she wanted to do was grab Blake and kiss him, to feel him kiss her, to have him to herself. To tell him it was ok to have fun, to be silly, to enjoy life. She couldn’t help but wonder why he reacted the way he did about his performance, what his dark side was all about. Finally, after desert was served and cleared, Mr. Putnam made one last toast and they were free.
“Come with me,” Blake said, pulling her from the table before either of them could say goodbye. Samantha worried that she had done something else to upset him, but all she did was talk with Denton through most of dinner. Nothing important, all surface chatter, just like he’d asked her to do with his family. She needed to remember she was OK here; it was her stage to set. Blake had brought her here under false pretenses, but now that she was here, she’d make him proud. Holding his hand as he led her toward the ocean made her both nervous and excited. She hoped she’d done everything right. She knew she’d find out as soon as they got to wherever Blake was taking her.
Blake held her hand and led her down the beach, far away from the glowing lights of their beach picnic to a dark area of the beach, where white crabs with one arm popped out at them in an eerie stance under the light of the glowing moon.
The tide was calm, waves gently rolling onto shore.
Blake slowed his pace, and Samantha let out a deep breath. She felt certain he was happy with her tonight, at least at this moment.
“It’s so beautiful on this island,” Samantha said as they walked the moonlit shore. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“It’s especially beautiful with you here,” he said.
Samantha’s heart skipped a beat, the warmth of his words combined with his hand around hers made her dizzy. She wanted to please this man, she wanted to kiss this man. “Don’t worry about your performance with your brothers, nobody will hear a thing about it, I promise,” she said, the words tumbling out before she realized it.
Blake dropped her hand and stood silently by her side, she could see the muscles in his jaw tighten.
Now she’d ruined everything
, Samantha thought. Why did she bring that up? Ugh. She was sure he was going to send her home, put her on that stupid ferry he’d mentioned.
“I know,” he said finally. “I don’t really trust, but I’m starting to trust you,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “This weekend’s not going the way I planned.” Blake said, turning to face Samantha, a small smile working its way across his model-gorgeous face.
Samantha let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.
“That’s the beauty of it,” she said softly. “You need to not get your way more often.”
“That might be true,” he said, a hint of a smile touching his masculine lips. “It’s definitely best that I don’t get what I want now.”
“What’s that?” She asked breathlessly.
His hands loosely gripped her shoulders.
“I want to kiss you,” Blake answered in a low, deep voice, his eyes dark in the moonlight.
“I feel the same way,” Samantha said impulsively, even though she knew it couldn’t work between them.
Blake leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers. The heat exploded from the center of her body, and she swayed backwards until Blake wrapped a strong arm around her waist.
He pulled away then, but still kept his arm around her. “You could really mess up my life.”
“I’m sorry,” she answered, breathless, aching for another kiss and letting his words wash over her, devoid of meaning.
When his mouth found hers this time it was with an intensity she felt throughout her body as his tongue parted her lips and began to explore, thrusting deeply, adding to her desire. He tasted spicy and salty, and Samantha gripped his broad shoulders, pulling him to her, feeling all of his hard body pressed close.
Blake wrapped Samantha’s long blonde hair around his hand, gently pulling her head backwards, moving his kiss to her neck as she moaned. He pulled her closer, sealing his mouth over hers once again, thrusting his tongue inside her as she felt him harden.
“Wait,” Blake said, ending the kiss but pulling Samantha to him, enveloping her in a strong embrace.
Samantha stepped back, rubbed her swollen lips, and looked up into his eyes, wanting him with every ounce of her being, but knowing this should never happen. This shouldn’t be happening. “Don’t worry, nobody will know about this either. I promise,” she said.
Samantha saw Blake take a deep breath, he seemed torn, but then she saw the control return to his face, his jaw tighten.
“I apologize. Kissing you, putting you in this situation was not my intention,” he said stiffly.
Back to the reason she was here, Samantha thought with a burst of resentment. He saw her as nothing more than a prop he could manipulate. She was a mannequin to dress, an assistant to help type his presentation, a hooker to kiss when he was lonely at night. All he wanted was an uncomplicated weekend. All she wanted was to get out of here, with some dignity left.
“You’re a good kisser,” she said, striving to keep her voice light. “But don’t worry. I won’t turn into a stalker.”
“Samantha,” he reached out for her, but she backed out of range.
“I’m tired,” she said. “Think I’ll turn in.”
Then she remembered about the bedroom situation, and slapped her hand over her mouth.
“Yes, we should get back to the house,” he said. “Thank you for all your efforts today, but you’re right. Tomorrow’s another long day of wedding stuff. And, we need to work on the Daycon presentation. After you.”
Well, that was awkward
, Samantha thought, walking ahead of Blake back towards the beach picnic where candles were still glowing on the tables as the waiters worked to clean up, and back to the plantation house beyond.
One moment Blake was in the moment, the next, he became the unemotional, calculating boss everyone knew him to be at Blake Genetics. She was tired of it. She tried to remind herself to stay focus on the fact she would have the chance to present her project to him, that she still had his ear for another two days.
Right, Samantha thought, realizing how wrong she’d been about this whole situation. One touch, and she melted. How ridiculous. She was smarter than this. She needed to use her brains to get through the weekend. But now they were walking back to the plantation where they were assigned the same bedroom. That’s the worst thing that could have happened. What would they do?
“I’m going to sleep in the library. I should be able to wake up before anybody else, but I may need to come into the bedroom to get a change of clothes, if that’s ok,” Blake said as they walked up the steps of the porch.
“Of course, it’s your room, too,” Samantha said. “Why don’t you go get your things now and I’ll wait out here.”
“Good idea. I’ll knock on your door tomorrow around 9? Let’s try to get some work done in the morning,” Blake added, opening the door to the plantation. “Good night,” he said before disappearing inside.
Samantha let out a deep sigh and looked up into the cloudless sky. All she wanted to do was follow Blake up to their room.
B
lake’s alarm beeped
and he woke up with sunlight streaming into the library, still tired after a restless night’s sleep. The problem wasn’t the couch in the library. The problem was Samantha. His heart beat just a little faster every time he was near her. And last night, with the drinking and the champagne and the perfect moonlit sky, the moment he held her hand he couldn’t stop himself. Even though it hadn’t been in the plan, he’d had to taste her. Her lips had been as soft as he imagined, and breathing in the smell of her hair, letting his fingers slide through her silky tresses, had made him dizzy. The heat between them was intense. He’s been immediately aroused. Samantha made him feel alive.
He sat up, not wanting any of his family to find him sleeping on the couch. He had to stop thinking about her like that. She was a fake date. He was her boss. She had seemed more comfortable with the awkwardness of yesterday, and yet he had planned the whole weekend date idea, thinking a new wardrobe would be ample compensation for putting up with his family. Plus he’d seen she was ambitious at the meeting they’d attended. Ambitious, smart, quick to problem solve without the complications of a big ego. He’d known she’d jump at the chance to be a bigger part of the Daycon merger team. He was lucky to have her.
Now it was like he was caught up in her sexual spell, and even though she was nothing like Jane, he couldn’t let that happen. Instead of sleeping so he’d have a clear head to review the final details of the biggest deal of his life today, he’d continued to remember how she’d felt in his arms, warm and supple. Even the way she’d hummed under her breath when they’d been walking back to the house after their kiss had charmed him. He had wanted…what? He didn’t even know. He just felt different with her. Relaxed, letting his guard down. He wanted to not play his boss role. Not be in charge. Just be a man, only he didn’t remember who that man was anymore.
He stood up and stared out of the window. He’d missed the sunrise. When was the last time that had happened? He had to get himself under control, and shake off these unfamiliar feelings and this almost consuming desire to spend more time with Samantha. He even had the idiotic idea of trying to say things to make her laugh, just so that he could see her smile. He was lucky Samantha wasn’t falling under his spell, not that he had one to fall under. She was ambitious and smart enough to want to keep this whole fake date weekend to herself so she didn’t fall under the scrutiny of office gossips.
Deliberately Blake walked over to an oil portrait of his grandfather, Howard Putnam. While Blake viewed his own father as weak, because he’d given up his dreams of becoming a doctor so that he could step into the much larger shoes of his father and blindingly continuing to build a business that was killing the planet, he had the utmost respect for the founder of Putnam Industries. He tried to model himself after his grandfather. Howard Putnam had grown a business from nothing to one of the biggest in the Southeast. It was the right business for the right time, just like Blake’s genetic testing firm was now. What Blake liked the best was that when Howard Putnam spoke, everyone had listened. Blake learned everything he knew about discipline, control, management and keeping his emotions in check.
Howard Putnam hadn’t hired fools. He’d fired people who followed blindly. His grandfather had always reinvested in his business, been interested in the latest technologies. Blake’s own father Richard’s eyes and ears were closed to innovation and the reality of the damage Putnam Industries was doing. He had no long-term plans, besides handing over the keys to James. He ignored Blake’s pleas to invest in recycling efforts, and mocked his presentation about agri-pulp, a stand in for wood made from wheat, oat, barley and other crop stalks. Blake knew converting a paper mill to process wood pulp alternatives would cost tens of millions of dollars – but still, in the long run, it would be a win-win. Blake’s pleas fell on deaf ears. His brothers and now probably Avery’s husband would work for the company and collect an enormous bonus and salary each year for doing essentially nothing.
Blake was used to being on his own, making it on his own. He wasn’t tapping into his family wealth and settling like his brothers. His eldest brother James had gone off to college—Tulane, earned his degree and then immediately came back home and taken a job at Putnam Industries that had he not been a Putnam, he never would have qualified for. Where was the self-respect in that?
S
amantha gazed out
the bedroom window. She had never stayed in such a luxurious room, nor had such a spectacular view, but all she could think about was Blake. She ached for Blake with a need so raw, so primal she didn’t know how to deal with it. She was so confused. One moment Blake was the most engaging, most wonderful date in the world. A sexy, loving man with a sense of humor and their chemistry, oh my god. But then, he’d switch off, becoming the heartless, cold businessman who asked her here as a fake date to impress his parents. And she didn’t think he was doing it on purpose. It was almost as if he were as lost as she felt, and that made her heart ache even more for him.