Your Fierce Love (The Bennett Family)(12)

       
           


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A waiter brings cheesecakes, and as I approach, Kate exclaims, "This is  an enormous portion. I'll never be able to eat all of it."

"No worries, I'm ready to lend you a hand," I say. The girls whirl  around in surprise. They hadn't seen or heard me approach. They leap to  their feet and hug me. Not for the first time, I wish they both lived in  San Francisco. As it is, Penny lives here, but Kate is in Seattle and  is in town only for a couple of days, attending an education fair. She's  a kindergarten teacher.

After I order a drink, I take my phone out of my bag and show the girls pictures of my temporary home.

"This is insane," Kate exclaims, thumbing through the pictures.

"Girl, when are you inviting me over for a housewarming party?" Penny  asks. "Your view is to die for." When she found out about my housing  conundrum, she offered for me to crash on her couch, but Penny's  one-room apartment is too small for two.

"As soon as you make time for me in that crazy schedule of yours. You really should take it easier."

I refrain from saying more because I can quickly become meddling, and  I'm making an effort here not to. Penny doesn't appreciate it-but it's  for her own good, really.

"Can't right now, but as soon as I get promoted, I'll have a life outside work."

Kate sighs. "No, then you'll set yourself another goal, then another,  and before you know it, life will pass you by and you'll be old, alone,  and full of regrets."

Penny gives her the evil eye. "Are you trying to be especially depressing today?"

"No, just telling it like it is. You're an uber achiever, which is admirable, but don't forget to live a little."

I'm with Kate on this one. I'm afraid our friend will burn out. Penny is  brilliant, but even badasses need time to recharge. She and I have been  friends since we were four years old. I lived next to her parents'  house. Even after I moved to the group home, we kept in touch, sending  letters, then later e-mails. I met Kate in the group home and we  developed a close friendship, had each other's backs. As best as we  could, anyway. I introduced Kate to Penny via letters first. We'd been  breathlessly waiting for each of Penny's letters, hanging on to her  every word and living vicariously through her. Now as adults, the roles  are somewhat reversed.

"Is this hottie the infamous Blake?" Penny asks when a picture of Blake  pops up on the screen. I deleted almost all the pics I took of him the  day I moved in, except the one where he was bending to fasten the legs  to my table. The shot of his flexed bicep is so perfect, if I say so  myself, that I couldn't bring myself to delete it.

"Yes, girls, that is Blake. Best eye candy I've ever seen."

"Talk about a view." Penny whistles, looking at the screen in admiration.

"There is some seriously hot male real estate in this city," Kate says. "I can't believe this is your neighbor."

"He looks like the type of man who knows his way around a woman's body," Penny chimes in.

"Oh, I'm sure he does."

Kate wiggles her eyebrows. "Planning to find out?"

"It's complicated." In quick words, I relay the pros and cons-mostly the  cons. I really need some perspective on this. Some non-Bennett  perspective. I love the Bennett girls, but if there's one thing I can't  talk to them about, it's my crazy attraction to one of their own.

"So, you see, this isn't the best idea," I say. "But bad ideas are so delicious and tempting."

"Like cheesecake," Kate states, nodding to her half-eaten cake and pushing her plate toward me. I dig in right away.

"The real question is how will you resist him while you live next door?" Penny pushes.

"Excellent question. My rational side says he's a great friend, and his  family treats me like one of their own, so I'd better not mingle. My  dark side says he's hot and single, and he'd know how to make my lady  parts tingle."

The girls roar with laughter, and I join them.

"I think your dark side should win," Penny says after we calm down. "I  mean, worst-case, you jump his bones and things get awkward. You'll move  out anyway, and you can avoid him whenever you hang out with the  Bennetts. Or you just hang out with them less."

That wipes the smile right off my face. Kate only offers a cautious  smile and a shrug, and I know why. The two of us grew up without the  safety net of a family, a group of people who'd love us and support us  no matter what. People, who have that, like Penny, take it for granted.  But I never will. The Bennetts might not be related to me, but they're  as close to family as possible.                       
       
           


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When the waiter brings us another round of drinks, I hold up my glass, and the girls follow suit.

"To hotties who make us suspect we have double personalities," I exclaim  as we're toasting. Since the conversation hasn't helped my conundrum in  the slightest, I'm eager to change topics, so I ask Kate about her job  and her husband. Josh is truly the loveliest man on earth. Kind and  gentle, perfect for my friend.

We stay out for so long that by the time I climb the staircase to my  apartment, it's past midnight. I'm nearly at my door when I see Blake  unlocking his.

"Fancy meeting you here again," he remarks with a smile, moving closer.

I shake my head. "This is so inconvenient. The corridor is too small, and you're far too hot."

Blake cocks a brow. "Did you drink any cocktails?"

"Nah, just estrogen overdose. I've been out with two close friends, Kate  and Penny. Outings with the girls give me a high, and I'm usually prone  to making rash decisions and bad choices afterward."

"Excellent news. There's a festival tomorrow evening. I want to take you to see it."

"Oh, I don't know."

"Just come with me, Clara. You'll have a great time."

"It's not a wine festival, is it?"

"No. Why? Are you afraid of drinking when I'm around?"

"You make me lower my guard even when I'm sober. So yes, I'm afraid."

"Good. You should be."

Why, that sounds like a sinful promise, and my cue that I should say no, which of course, I don't.

Instead I ask, "So what kind of festival is it?"

"Local food and crafts."

"Oooh, forgot it was so soon. I actually wanted to go."

"I know. You mentioned it a few times."

Emotion rushes through me, just as it did when I entered the apartment  and found the wall painted and the bookcase in place. He isn't seducing  me. He's charming me. I don't know if he's doing it on purpose, but he's  thoroughly and efficiently attacking my defenses.

"I'm taking you." He says this with such determination that I have no  idea how to counter. As if sensing that I'm scrambling to strengthen my  defenses, Blake moves even closer, stepping right in my space, propping a  hand on the door behind me. All of this is too much. The determined  glint in his eyes, the arm on the wall, his closeness. I can feel the  heat radiating off him. "I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

Licking my lips, I nod. "Seven."

His eyes glint with joy and triumph. "I'll see you tomorrow."





CHAPTER EIGHT

Clara

The next evening, I'm on pins and needles as I'm preparing for the  outing. I'm wearing dark jeans and a bright red sweater that molds to my  curves nicely, showing just enough cleavage to entice.

Great! I'm telling myself we're going as friends, but I'm dressing to  entice. I want to kick myself. At seven o'clock on the dot, Blake knocks  at my door. I try to ignore the way my heart squeezes and excitement  courses through me.

When I open the door and come face-to-face with Blake, I have the  distinct impression someone sucked the air out of the room. Damn him!  Why isn't it illegal to be this hot?

He grins. "Careful. It's too early to undress me, even with just your eyes. But I like a bold woman."

I inhale deeply, snapping my eyes up to him. I'd been admiring his  torso. He's wearing a dark blue coat and a gray sweater that clings to  him almost shamelessly, highlighting the ridge of his abs. I like how he  called me bold. If a man were ogling a woman as blatantly as I did him,  he'd be called a pig. I'm all for double standards tonight.

"Let's go," he says as I shrug into a coat.

As we step outside, I smile, taking in the beautiful evening. The sun  will still be up for almost an hour. Inhaling deeply, I admire the  expanse of blue streaked with orange sunrays. First day of June.

"Do we have a plan?" We descend onto a steep street.

"Yeah, we do." Blake pulls a folded piece of paper from his pocket. When  he unfolds it, I'm surprised to find a detailed itinerary. Itinerary is  perhaps the wrong word, but there's a list of booths and stops on it,  with keywords next to every stop: names of people, food, or drink types,  sometimes accompanied by a note such as invite over or seal deal or  remind about delivery.