“Dinner, then.”
“No,” I insisted. “Besides, you were hardly the perfect gentlemen last time.”
“Wasn’t I? As I recall, you were the one who asked for the tour of the bedrooms.”
He ground his hip into me, eliciting a whimper. I tried to care that we were in plain view of anyone passing by, but I worried more that I was slipping further away from myself and deeper into a dangerous attraction that already had its hooks in me.
“Blake, seriously, Vegas was...really great.” I paused, desperately trying to pull myself together. “I’m just not in a good place for this—whatever this is with us.”
I kissed him gently, breathing him in one last time before slipping from his grasp. He released me, but by the wanting in his eyes, I could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
“Goodbye, Blake.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
With only a few days left before the dorms closed, I was running short on time and options to find a new place to live. I couldn’t believe how far behind I’d fallen with this, but life was throwing me curve balls lately so I decided to reach out to Blake’s sister and hope for some quick results.
Fiona Landon was stunning. Her light brown hair curled under into a stylish simple bob. Young, professional, and elegant, she was dressed in a navy blue polka dot dress when we met to begin the quest for my first apartment.
The first few places she showed me were in line with what I expected—on budget, smallish, and fair location, but a decent hike to any public transportation. I quickly realized that I’d either have to make some concessions or come up with a more realistic budget.
We stopped for a quick lunch at a little deli near the public gardens to regroup.
After making some calls to set up a last minute showing, Fiona joined me at the table. “So how do you know Blake?”
I choked a little on my lemonade. God, if she only knew.
“I’m in talks with Angelcom to invest in my business.”
“Oh wow, that’s great. I hope it works out.”
“Me too.”
“Blake gets so involved in his investments. I’ve seen some of those companies really take off.”
I nodded and spared her the fact that he had “passed” on me. Well, he’d passed on the business anyway. He was pursuing me physically with a single-minded determination that one might expect from a ruthless businessman.
“What about you? Do you do this full-time?”
“Blake has several real estate holdings, so I mostly stay busy managing those, but I dabble with other listings in town.”
“I guess it’s good to keep it in the family.”
“Definitely. Blake keeps us busy with all his projects.”
“I met Heath recently too actually,” I said, conveniently leaving out the details of our Las Vegas rendezvous.
“Oh, yeah?”
“He’s a character,” I continued, hoping to glean a little bit more about her charismatic brother and whatever issues Blake had with him, if only for Alli’s sake.
“You could say that. I have no idea how Blake keeps up with him.” She looked past me, her face carefully void of emotion. “Do you have any siblings?”
“No, it’s just me.” For years it had literally been just me. I often imagined what life might be like with a sibling or two. Someone to share the emotional burden with after my mother died or to make light of our hardships with and carry on together. The closest person to know what I’d been through was Elliott, but like me, he’d moved on.
Fiona and I finished our lunch and she drove us to the last apartment of the day, which she promised would be more in line with what I was looking for. She pulled in front of a picturesque brownstone on Commonwealth Ave. The street was tree-lined from one end to the other, with walking paths and beautifully manicured commons separating the two sides of the street. The location was address to many of the who’s who of the city, and while I enjoyed the change of scenery from the lackluster places I’d seen so far, I worried how far out of the budget this would fall.
Nonetheless, I followed her up a flight of stairs. We entered a light and spacious two-bedroom apartment.
“Wow.”
“This just came onto the market,” Fiona said.
The appliances were new, the walls had a fresh coat of paint, and the dark wood floors were impeccable.
“This is perfect, Fiona, but I doubt I could afford something this nice.”
“The owner is listing it at the right price for the right renter. It’s above your budget, but it’s such a great find, I had to show you.” She handed me the listing sheet with the asking rent, a figure over budget, but well worth the extra features it offered.