A Life Without Fear (Life #2) (16 page)

“I’m not happy about this.”

“You’ll get over it,” he responds with a smile.

“Jerk.”

“I love you too, sweets.”

I can’t contain the smile that spreads across my lips, he knows he’s got me now. The cocky bastard. The very sweet cocky bastard. After paying for everything we head back to his car and load everything into the trunk.

“There’s a
Williams Sonoma
next door, want to run in really fast to find a serving tray for the turkey and ham? I don’t know that I have any that big,” Blake states.

“Oh, good idea, we have to be fast though we have food that needs to be refrigerated in the trunk.”

Walking quickly we make our way to the store and search for serving platters. After asking an employee for help, we find what we need and are back within minutes. Heading back to his place he parks out front.

“Don’t move, I’ll have the bell boy take this up,” he says.

Hopping out of the car he runs to the bellboy and tells him what he needs. The man runs inside to retrieve a cart while Blake walks to the trunk. Together they both load up the cart. Once everything is unloaded the man walks back inside while Blake hops back into the car.

“Man, I can’t complain, but you have a pretty good set up here,” I say.

“I pay a lot for this setup,” he responds. “It’s one of the perks.”

“Nice perk.”

He takes my hand and brings the back of it to his lips and kisses it lightly. Sending chills all the way to my toes, I just love those small sweet gestures. He pulls away from the curb and we are off again, this time only a block away.

“We could’ve walked here you know?” I tell him as we get out of the SUV.

“I thought we could just stock up on wine, I’ll need the trunk.”

“Good idea.”

Oak & Steel
is a high-end wine store. The aisles are lined with all different types of wine from many different countries. Blake grabs a cart yet again and we begin to make our way down the first aisle. I feel my cell phone vibrating in my purse, reaching in and retrieving it I see it’s Betty. A smile instantly forms on my face, I love when they call.

“Hey Betty,” I answer.

“Hey there, sweet child, I didn’t catch you at work did I?” she asks, her tone is a little off.

“I’m not at work, I have a feeling you already knew that, though.”

“Well, your granddad thought you might’ve taken the day after the news this morning.”

“Blake convinced me to stay home,” I respond. “He was right, I was a mess, Betty. I thought that I was finally over it all, but I had a serious breakdown.”

Blake is rubbing small circles on my back as I aimlessly pick up a bottle of wine and claw at the label.

“I’m glad he was there for you, Angelica. I wish we were closer.” She sounds so sad.

“Don’t be sad, Betty. I have Blake and Joey here, I’m never alone. Plus, Joey and I will be there with you guys in about three weeks, we can’t wait!” I say excitedly into the phone.

“Oh darlin’, I can’t hardly wait for you two to get down here.”

“I can’t wait to get down there either Betty.”

“Well darlin’ I’ll let you be, I just wanted to check on you. Give me a call soon and let me know what days y’all will be comin’ down here all right?”

“Of course, I’ll talk to Joey this week about it and I’ll let you know by the weekend. I love you, Betty.”

“I love you, sweet girl.”

With that, we hang up. I look over and see Blake’s staring sadly at me.

“What’s the matter?” I ask him.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing my ass. What’s wrong?” I say a little more assertively this time.

“I was just thinking that I’ll miss you for Christmas. Can you and I celebrate before you leave at least?” he asks hesitantly.

“Of course, Blake,” I say a little too loudly. “Don’t be ridiculous. We can celebrate right before I leave, we won’t be gone for more than a week.”

Smiling he kisses me tenderly then we get back to the task at hand. An employee walks up to us promptly and asks us if he could help us in any way. I explain to him we’re shopping for Thanksgiving wines and he leads us around the store picking out what goes best with every course. After thirty minutes, our cart is nearly full of wine. Once again Blake pays for everything and we make our way out the door.

“Can I take you out to eat?” he asks me.

“Of course, I’m starving.”

Without telling me where we’re going, he starts to drive south. The traffic isn’t too bad right now, so the ride is rather smooth. I find myself always getting lost staring at the sea of bodies and yellow cabs outside. New York is a city constantly on the go, always in a hurry; people are out with a purpose. It’s very rare to find a real New Yorker just out walking for a stroll. People tend to forget to slow down and enjoy this beautiful city that we live in. I feel the car stop and look up to see we’re in
Rockefeller Plaza.
I’ve never been to the restaurant we’ve pulled up in front of, not that it’s a shocking fact. I once read an article that said there were over thirty thousand restaurants in NYC alone. A valet opens my door for me, stepping out into the cold air while I wait for Blake to come around the car and take my hand.

Brasserie Ruhlmann
is a French restaurant with a very welcoming décor. Once Blake requests a table we are immediately taken back, the tables are lined with white table cloths and the chairs are lined with soft red fabric. The walls are lit with small dim lanterns, giving the restaurant a nice soft glow. Once seated a waiter is immediately at our table asking for our drink order. I simply request water as does Blake.

“I’ve never been here before, what do you recommend?” I ask looking over the menu.

“For starters I’d recommend the poached artichoke. It’s my favorite thing here,” he says.

“Oh, I love artichoke. What else?”

“Their tuna tartare is my mom’s favorite and my dad loves the short ribs.”

“I love it when you take me places you go with your family. I don’t know why it makes me feel special, but it does.”

“You are special. I shouldn’t have to take you anywhere for you to feel that way. If, in fact, that’s the only time you feel special around me, I’m clearly doing something wrong,” he states bluntly.

“Wow. Wow. Wow. Easy tiger.” I wink at him. “You continually make me feel special, Blake.”

“Good.” He smiles back.

“I think I’m going to order the salmon that sounds good.”

“Good choice.”

“What about you?” I ask curiously.

“I think I’ll get the short ribs.”

“Yum, will you let me try your meat?” I ask with a smile.

“Oh Angelica, you can have my meat whenever you want,” he says in a very deep sexy voice.

Just then the waiter returns with our water and proceeds to take our order. Once he leaves, we talk some more about Thanksgiving dinner and what I’ll be making.

“Do you like yams?” Blake asks me.

“Meh, I don’t hate them, but I don’t love them either. Why do you ask?”

“My mother used to make these yams with marshmallows on top. For a while, it was only made for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but when she realized how much I loved them, she started making them more often. Once I sat with her from start to finish watching her make it all from scratch if you don’t mind I’d love to make that on Thursday?”

“Oh my gosh, Blake I’d love that, so sweet. What else did you learn to cook from your mom?” I ask, tilting my head slightly, eager to learn more about him.

“French toast. She made the best French toast ever. Although, I will say she made her bread from scratch the day before. I mastered the recipe, but I don’t bake my own bread.”

“Wow, baking her own bread, now that’s truly making it from scratch.”

“Yeah, her mom was big on making bread so she was a natural. I’d wake up extra early on Sunday mornings and sit with her while she made it. It’s weird because it is such a simple recipe, but I’ve had some pretty bad French toast. She made it special, though, something about the way she cooked it. Anyway, I like to make French toast every now and then.”

“Will you make it for me one day?” I ask.

“I would love to. Maybe I’ll even ask my mom to bake a loaf of bread so it can be authentic like.”

“That would be amazing. I’ve never wanted French toast more in my life.”

Our food arrives a short time later and we dig right in. The food is amazing, not that I was expecting anything less from Blake’s choice. My salmon is cooked perfectly and the artichoke Blake ordered is to die for. We spend the meal chatting about nothing and everything. I ask Blake about his work and any impending work travels. He informs me in January he’s going to Dubai to work on a business deal. We talk about the ranch in Texas. I try my best to explain it all to Blake, but it’s hard to get every detail into him. I tell him about the horses and the oil. I try my best to explain the handmade wooden sign to him and I promise that I’ll take my camera with me this time and document it all for him.

After Blake pays the bill we head out to the valet to get the car. While we wait for them to pull his car around, Blake wraps me up in his arms shielding me from the cool wind that’s now blowing through the air. As we stand in one another’s arms, I hear a loud squeal coming from behind Blake. We both turn in time to see an extremely gorgeous blonde heading straight toward us.

“Oh my God, Blake Thomas Harper is that you?” the blonde asks.

“Hello Madison, how are you?” Blake responds in a very casual manner, never letting go of me.

“I’m much better now that I see you.” She stops too close for my liking when she’s in front of us. “Oh, hello,” she says, clearly annoyed.

“Hello,” I respond politely. I can hear Betty in my ear telling me to kill her with kindness.

“Madison, this is Angelica, my girlfriend. Angelica this is Madison, she used to date, Jon.”

“Ah, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Madison,” I respond sweetly, gripping Blake’s side a little tighter.

“Likewise. Although I’m more than Jon’s ex, we all used to be a very tight group,” she says with a wink.

“Well, it was nice seeing you Madison. Have a great day.” Blake places his arm around my waist and pulls me away.

“Bye Madison!” I yell over my shoulder as we walk to the waiting SUV. “What was that about?” I ask once we’re driving away.

“Madison is a typical city girl. She grew up rich and acted it. Anywhere Jon and I went when we were younger she’d always be there. When I started becoming well-known, she was all over me, when Jon opened the club she was all over him. She goes where she thinks the money is, I never gave her the time of day so Jon was her target. They dated for a while until Jon was over her. Every now and then she pops up at an event wanting to get together, but I have no interest in her, never have. She knows that, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to play nice.”

“Ugh, yuck. I knew many
Madison’s
growing up, only talking to men with money. My mom still is a
Madison
so to speak. Growing up she’d drag me around to charity ball after charity ball. It was like a game to my mother, we’d spend the whole day at the spa prepping me for an event. I can’t lie, it was my favorite part of growing up, only because that was when we spent the most time together. But once we got to the event I hated it. She would parade me around introducing me to man after man. I knew she wanted me to meet a rich man and marry well, once I told her I just want a nice man, not a rich one and she laughed at me. I learned early on, she and I were two entirely different people. When I wanted to go to college and get a job, she lost her mind. If it wasn’t for my grandfather, I don’t think I would’ve been able to go.” I look up and see we’re in the parking garage. “Enough about her, anyway, shall we go up and organize all the food?” I ask without waiting for a response. I hop out of the car and head to the elevator. Blake is right behind me.

“Are you okay, Angelica?”

“Yeah, I just need to shake it off. Talking about my mother always puts me in a mood,” I say honestly.

“I’ve noticed, how about we never talk about her again?” he asks.

“In a perfect world we wouldn’t.”

The rest of the ride up is quiet. I need to shake this off now before it ruins my day. Walking into the kitchen, I notice that the food is all lined up on the counter, everything that needed to be refrigerated is already in the fridge.
Jesus, now that’s service.

“Man, they’re good,” I say to Blake as I open the fridge and notice everything put away nicely.

“Yeah, they are.”

Together we work putting stuff in the cupboards. I double check my list to make sure everything is ready.

“I think we are set, I’m so excited to cook in this amazing kitchen! Tomorrow, I’ll need you to defrost the turkey. Just put it in the fridge. Then Wednesday I’ll come over and put it in a brine and defrost the ham.”

“Wow, there’s a lot of prep that goes into Thanksgiving dinner, isn’t there?”

“Oh yeah,” I respond. “I know we’ve been go-go-go all day, but think you could give me a ride home? I should really try and get some work from home done today.”