Contemprary
Romance—She had definitely wanted to avoid the scene he threatened.
But there had been more to it than that. A war was being waged
within her. On one hand she hated Blake Baxter, and on the other, he
fascinated her. And in this case, her weaker side won.
Preview from Possibilities.
Nora hiked her head
into the air when she saw Blake Baxter heading toward her. He fell
into step beside her and matched her stride. She ignored him and
entered the post office. Nora exited the building, stopped, and demanded, “What
do you want?”
“I want you to
have a cup of coffee with me.”
“Not in this
life time!” She snapped.
“We need to talk.”
“I can’t
imagine what we have to discuss,” she said and started walking back
toward her office.
“Slow down, damn
it!” Blake demanded grabbing her arm and spinning her around
to face him. “Just a few minutes and a cup of coffee?”
The haggard expression
on his face caused her to nod her head in defeat. “Very well. Ten
minutes. My time is valuable.”
“I don’t
doubt that,” he mumbled as he guided her into Roxie’s diner. Once
they were seated, he searched her eyes. “Just tell me one thing,
where did I go wrong with you?”
Nora allowed her mind
to wander back over the times she had been with him. How could he
do anything right when he kept thrusting his presence upon her?
“Oh,” she sighed massaging her temples. “Maybe it
was when you knocked me down at Jeff’s party, or crashed into me
on the street, or when you bullied me into having lunch with you. Perhaps
it is because you badgered me into eating dinner with you against my will. Or
maybe it’s simply the fact that I dislike arrogance.”
“Nora, stop it.”
“No, wait! It
could have been Saturday night when you insinuated that I was Houston
Ripley’s mistress. Take your pick.”
“Could we start
over?”
“We never started
anything in the beginning, so how can we start over?”
Ignoring her question,
Blake asked, “Will you have dinner with me Saturday night?”
“No.”
“How did I know
you were going to say that?”
“Perhaps because
I’ve said it repeatedly?” She suggested arching her brows.
“Can’t you
see how sorry I am, and how much I want to spend the evening with you?”
“Do us both a
favor and stay out of my life.”
“I tried to stay
away from you,” he admitted. “I was succeeding too until
I saw you with Richard.”
“Funny, I thought
your insults were aimed at Mr. Ripley. If Richard was the target,
why did you attack my employer?”
“There were others
in the firm who qualified for a promotion and had more seniority than
you did.”
“Regardless of
what outsiders say or think, I earned my position by working hard. I
never slept with my boss to get where I am, although that is none of your
business. You were out of line at the hotel when you insulted me.
“
He looked contrite;
“I didn’t mean it. Please forgive me.”
“Just stay out
of my life,” Nora repeated.
“You don’t
like me very much, do you?”
“What is there
to like?” Nora asked wide-eyed.
Blake remained at
the table sipping coffee long after Nora left. Despite his efforts
to resolve their differences she insisted on thinking the worst of him. Why
did she have to be so difficult?
True, he had acted
like a jerk toward her on more than one occasion, but she had goaded him
into it. He knew that he should forget her and move on, but he was
intrigued with her spitfire, off limits attitude.
He suspected that
she was not as cool as she pretended to be, and somehow, he was going
to tap into all that raw passion. A lofty goal to be sure but if
any man could find the real woman in that icy facade, it would be Blake
Baxter. He had never turned down a challenge, and he was not about
to start now. Besides, Nora Steele needed to be brought down a peg
or two.
As he stood and dropped
a tip on the table, a smile spread across his face. Nora had asked
what there was to like about him. She would soon find out. Too
bad he had so little shore leave left to win her over, but then how hard
could it be? Furthermore, the harder she was to get, the sweeter
the conquest would be in the end.
