Burned by Passion(37)
Kira huffed. “You asked me to marry you out of some mistaken sense of duty and we both know it. But who am I to refuse? I’m pregnant with your baby. So I have to get used to the idea that I’m stuck with you and you’re stuck with me, but don’t expect me to like it.”
“Oh you’ll more than like it,” Blake said, eyes narrowing as he tugged her hard against him and crushed his lips over hers.
Their first kiss after so long and it almost ripped her apart. Switched her inside out and turned her brain into a ticking time bomb. The taste of his tongue lashing against hers sent a laser shot straight between her legs and Kira felt like she’d been celibate a year, not just a few months.
Blake drew back and her knees were trembling. She opened her eyes slowly to find that same look of fire and ice in his eyes that told her he wasn’t backing down and would keep up the pressure until she imploded in surrender.
“One day Kira; I’ll make you stop denying your heart what it’s wanted all along,” Blake vowed, smudging his thumb into her now swollen bottom lip. Still flipped out by the kiss, Kira couldn’t reply as Blake smiled darkly and then led her out to join his father on the patio where lunch was to be served.
Chapter Fourteen
Brittany Manson was sure she was seeing things as she read the headlines in the society section of one of the major newspapers.
“Bretton Carter’s son Blake weds Kira Taylor.”
She hadn’t wanted to believe it. Even when she’d seen the obvious signs; Blake totally cooling off from her right from the start and his strange fixation for his father’s secretary. Brittany would never have imagined he had any serious interest in that mousy nobody.
She kept staring at the newspaper as the lines blurred into each other.
“Small wedding attended by close family and friends. Couple now off to London, England for the honeymoon.”
Brittany virtually wanted to gag as she flung the offending paper away. It was utterly galling to realize she’d been beaten by a mere secretary! What on earth Blake could see in Kira was beyond Brittany’s comprehension. Yes, the girl might be pretty and have an appealing air of innocence about her that some men might find intriguing. But she was a nobody, Brittany repeated to herself as she sneered at the photograph of the smiling couple at the top of the page. She’d never seen Blake look so happy, gazing down at Kira’s shyly downcast gaze in the wedding photo. Brittany vengefully ripped the paper to shreds, over and over and then flung the pieces in the direction of the trashcan.
She slumped back in her chair heaving fuming breaths. How could Blake choose that tart over me? Looked like there was no accounting for taste, she thought with another of her sneers. And then she groaned when she realized all her friends would be laughing their heads off at her now; especially after the way Brittany had been boasting to everyone who cared to listen about her conquest of Blake Carter.
She’d been so sure about him. He’d never actually encouraged her attentions but she’d simply assumed he was a passive type who enjoyed it when the woman made all the moves. And there was no move she didn’t try to make on him but he just never seemed ready to bite.
And now she knew why. Somehow, that slut had managed to not only get Blake to fall in love with her but she was also going to have his baby. How long had their twisted little affair been going on without Brittany suspecting?
She’d schemed her way into getting closer to the Carter family; convincing her parents to invite Blake and his father over for many dinners; even going back and forth between Bretton and her father under pretext of work but mainly to see more of Blake. Was she wrong in thinking that because he’d followed her around elementary school like a puppy dog, there might be a chance with him?
Not that any of it mattered now. Blake was well and truly married and on his way to being a father. Her perfect master plan was all in shambles around her.
Well, those two weren’t going to get away with making a fool of her this way, Brittany vowed, her blue eyes narrowing, scheming. She could have any man she wanted; she’d always had a long line of worthy admirers vying for her favors. But she’d wanted Blake. He’d been so different from the slobbering men she was used to. He’d been a real man, someone who could make her succumb to him in the best – and worst – way.
But he had made his choice and it wasn’t me, thought Brittany angrily. And now she was going to see to it that he regretted it.
***
Kira stood at the hotel window, gazing across the beautiful view of Kensington Park in London. Everything seemed so different here, thought Kira with a deep sigh of delight; the age-old buildings and the diverse people moving through the streets. Even the pigeons in the square looked different from those back home.
Kira turned away from the window and found Blake standing across at the other end of the room, his eyes on her. How long had he been watching her? She felt so self-conscious now that she was almost four months pregnant with a bulge that was hard to miss. The gleam in his eye whenever Blake looked at her gave her butterflies and sometimes she forgot the simple act of drawing breath.
She’d been glad for the simple wedding ceremony. Luckily the press didn’t know the exact date so it was a private affair. Seeing Mr. Carter’s proud face as he’d walked her down the aisle to join Blake easily made up for all the turmoil and doubts she felt. She’d always been a loner and hadn’t had any real friends so her guests were mostly co-workers, nice people she’d always gotten along with and who were genuinely happy for her.