Burned by Passion(10)
“Blake darling....”
Chapter Four
Blake had a quizzical frown on his face at the sound of an unfamiliar voice addressing him with such familiarity. When he saw the blonde-haired, elegantly beautiful woman walking up to him, his eyes widened.
Her soft blue eyes were twinkling as her glossy red lips broke into a wide smile. “Hello, Blake. It’s Brittany. Don’t you remember me?”
Blake looked confused as he seemed to rack his memory. “I don’t think we’ve...”
“Well,” the shapely blonde said, planting her hands on her hips encased in her figure-fitting sequined white dress. “I can’t say I blame you for forgetting all about me. We were in the same class through elementary school.”
“Oh...yeah. Now I remember. Brittany Manson.”
The blonde cackled with glee. “You were such a scarecrow, Blake; a four-eyed geek who trailed me everywhere.”
“And you were the belle of the school,” Blake murmured, not seeming in the least offended. “I also recall you never gave me the time of day. As you pointed out I was the skinny boy in glasses – and you always thought I was a pest.” He smiled slightly.
Brittany looked suddenly embarrassed, a slight blush stealing over her pretty cheekbones. “Now Blake you can’t hold that against me,” she joked, slapping a hand against his chest. “I mean how was I to know you’d turn into such a hunk...”
Kira was on her tenth eye-roll by now as she watched the woman’s obvious attempt at patching things up with her old schoolmate. Kira could tell Blake was used to women throwing themselves at him because he took it all in stride, keeping his tone mild and even humorous as the blonde bombshell grabbed all his attention, totally ignoring Kira who stood right by.
Not that Kira was bothered. Girls like Brittany Manson never got to her; with their beauty-queen persona as if they walked around with an invisible tiara in their blonde curls. Kira had no problem at all letting Brittany steal Blake, her voice turning sultry as she said close to his ear, barely loud enough for Kira to hear, “Welcome back, big boy. I hope you’ll be staying long enough for us to really get to know each other...again.”
Just as Blake readied to respond, his father came back into the room, announcing that dinner was ready to be served in the adjoining dining room.
The guests eagerly made for the door leading out into the waiting hall set up with tables for dining, and Kira found herself without an escort as Brittany held on tight to her grip on Blake’s elbow as she leaned into him with a, “Let’s go in to dinner, shall we?”
Kira shook her head inwardly as once again Blake didn’t get a chance to reply before Brittany all but herded him along with the throng of guests who promptly closed around him. Now that was one assertive woman, Kira mused with a catty smile. She realized that Blake was only being polite, letting the blonde get away with things like that. But then the woman was an old crush so maybe he didn’t mind the unexpected attention.
***
Blake was halfway across the room before he realized Kira had been left behind, only to glance back to find her with that lanky man he’d noticed earlier who was placing a proprietary arm around her waist. Kira smiled up sweetly at her companion and Blake scowled. But before he could wonder at his strange irritation, Brittany all but dragged him from the room.
A lot of detail had been put into the menu served that evening; that much Blake could appreciate. He might not care for all the fuss with the party and numerous guests but he couldn’t deny that everything had been well planned right down to the many courses served and the accompanying wine.
At Blake’s table were his father and a number of his close friends. Brittany had managed to get a place sitting next to him and Blake felt resigned to his fate. He tried to remember if she’d always been this pushy but decided he merely found her antics somewhat amusing. Blake met women like her every day. Yes they were confident in their feminine prowess and weren’t afraid to make the first move but Blake liked women who relied on more than just their looks to win their man.
Brittany would make someone a perfect trophy girlfriend with never a blonde tendril out of place and a body svelte as a ballet dancer’s with breasts robust enough to make you wonder how much of it came out of a silicon pack. Not like that bothered most men.
But right then Blake was too busy fighting down the urge to look back over his shoulder at the table behind him knowing Kira was seated there. He’d thought it odd that she wasn’t seated beside his father but figured they must’ve had a reason for being at two separate tables.
He wondered who was amusing her so deeply at that moment; making her laugh with whole-hearted mirth. And then he remembered the guy he’d caught staring at her had taken the same table and could very well be another boyfriend judging from the way she’d leaned easily on his arm like she’d done it a thousand times before.
The thought made him burn with anger. Not so much that she might be cheating on his father but that she was with any other man besides him.
It was official: Blake had a thing for his father’s sexy girlfriend.
He wasn’t even sure what that meant except she distracted the hell out of him. His body reacted to everything about her from her unconsciously sultry voice to the sweet smell of her perfume. Oh, he had a thing for her alright and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it right then.