Blaze's Second Chance (The Sinclair Men) (8 page)

“I know. Back then I was a stupid man. A heartless fool. Please, Cassie. Give me one more chance. I know I’m divorced, and I’ve got a son now, but couldn’t you find it in your heart to give us a shot?” he pleaded. He ran his thumb over her plump bottom lip. She had the sexiest mouth he’d ever tasted. He wanted to kiss her and make love to her and spend the rest of his life with her. Chris was a meddling bastard, but in this he seemed to know what he was doing.

“What if it doesn’t work?” she asked.

He understood her fear. When she had given herself to him all that time ago, he’d taken and dumped her faster than anything.

“Take a chance. You’re a business woman. I know you felt something for me back then. Seeing you here with my family – in fact just seeing you – has reminded me how much I’ve missed you. I want you, Cassie. This time, the next three weeks, gives us a chance to see what we could be.”

Blaze stopped and waited for her answer. He lifted the strap of her summer dress and covered up her body. He took her hand away from the length of his cock and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He smiled. “I’m going to show you I want you for more than sex. For the next
three
weeks, no sex. We have each other’s company.”

“So, sex is off the menu?”

Did he detect disappointment?”

“Yes.”

Blaze smiled, held her hand and waited.

“Fine. The next two weeks.”

He leaned down and kissed her once on the lips. “Thank you. You won’t regret it.” He walked her back to her room and wished her goodnight. After checking on his son, Blaze went to his own room.

He poured a glass of bourbon and toasted his reflection.

“To second chances,” he said.

Blaze slung back the dark liquid and went to bed, his mind awash with plans for seduction.

Chapter Eight

“I thought we could take a trip into town. We could take Blaze Junior to the fair and then have a dinner at a restaurant?” Blaze asked.

Cassie couldn’t take her eyes away from the arguing couple on the lawn. David and Molly were having yet another argument.

“Why does she stay with him if all they do is argue?” she asked.

“What?”

“Your parents. They only argue.” She pointed down to the main lawn. Cassie spotted his son on the other side of the lawn playing with his uncles, the young boy completely oblivious to the spat occurring.

“Molly isn’t my mother.”

She turned back to Blaze, shocked by the anger in his tone.

“Explain?”

Her ex-boss ran his fingers through his hair, and she couldn’t help being drawn to the movement. Those hands and fingers had touched her body intimately the previous night. Her heart sped up, and she folded her arms over her breasts. Her treacherous nipples were erect and already begging for his touch. Cassie hated the lack of control over her own body.

“Fine. Molly is dad’s second wife. My mum died giving birth to
Trent
.”

“How awful,” she said and glanced down at the lawn.

“Yeah. Dad’s convinced the Sinclair men can only love one woman. My mum was his one woman,” Blaze said.

Cassie watched the couple. She saw the pain on the older woman’s face. It hurt to see even from a distance.

“Why did he marry her then?”

“What?”

She rolled her eyes. “Why did your father marry a woman he knew he’d never be able to love?”

Blaze turned and stared at the arguing couple. “I don’t know.”

“I feel sorry for her.”

“You feel sorry for Molly? Please, she got a family and this wonderful house and sons. Not to mention everything else,” he said.

Cassie shook her head and picked up her breakfast plate and cup. “I imagine she didn’t want any of those things without love.” She stormed off into the kitchen, suddenly feeling really angry.

She placed the plate and cup into the sink and turned around. Blaze stood close, trapping her against the edge of the sink and his hard body.

“Get away from me,” she said.

“What’s the problem now?”

“You. You’re my problem. And your lack of sympathy and feeling.” She shoved him back and walked past him.

“What about our plans?” he asked.

“I never agreed to your plans. Look, maybe this whole company thing was a mistake. I think you need to look at your parents and see the future for yourself.”

“We don’t have anything to do with my parents, Cassie. What about coming with me and my son to the fair?”

Cassie paused with her hand on the doorframe. She turned back and stared into the eyes she’d spent so long dreaming about. The way he had looked at her with such intense emotion as he plunged inside her body and the passion that had burned between them had overridden any of her common sense.

“I’d love to go, but I made plans today. I’m sorry.” 

She picked up her purse and coat and walked out of the door.

****

“So how come you’re spending time with the Sinclairs?” Erica asked as she came out of a dressing room. After they’d walked for a few hours, they decided to cool off from the summer heat in one of the more luxurious shopping malls.

Cassie hadn’t been able to find anything in her size, but Erica was a little smaller than she. The other woman came out of the room wearing a beautiful figure-hugging strapless red dress.

“Wow, you look gorgeous,” Cassie said.

Erica did a few twirls in front of mirror and shook her head. “I look stupid. I mean, I’m a working girl. Where the hell am I going to wear something this classy?”

“You could always buy it, and when you’re feeling down in the dumps put the dress on to make you feel better?” Cassie said on a laugh.

Both women sobered up when two rather thin looking women passed them and let out a giggle. Cassie knew a blush stained her cheeks.

“I hate girls like that,” Erica growled and charged back into the changing room. “That’s it. We’re going someplace else. A place where women can have rolls of fat and a wobble underneath their arms and not care. I’m tired of being ridiculed by women who eat nothing but a celery stick while I love a piece of fried chicken.”

Cassie laughed. She understood the other woman’s problems. Even though she’d dropped a dress size in the last three years, it didn’t stop the sniggers from other women. 

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten my question either,” Erica said.

Cassie stopped laughing and waited until her friend was dressed. They exited the shop and moved to a part of the mall with clothes for real women.

“Spill then,” Erica asked again.

Cassie pulled a skirt off the rail and placed it up to get a good look at it. She tried to avoid white when she could, but the length of skirt and design were too lovely to ignore

“There’s nothing to tell. I left their employ over three years ago, and I started up my own business. Chris helped me. He’s a godsend, and I wouldn’t have done anything without him.” She held onto the skirt. At least she could try it on.

“You think so?” Cassie heard the sarcasm in her friend’s voice and turned to see the other woman staring intently at the shoe section. “I think you need heels with that skirt.” Erica pulled out a pair of six inch stiletto heels.

“You’re having a laugh if you think I can walk in them.” The women shopped for a couple of minutes before moving to the changing areas. “What do you have against Chris?” she asked when they both tried on a dress and came out to get the other’s opinion.

“Purple is not your colour, and I’ve got nothing against him,” Erica said.

They walked back into the rooms and changed. Cassie put on the white skirt with the pastel blue crop top she’d found.

Erica was waiting. “Wow.  You look beautiful.”

Cassie smiled and walked over to where the other woman stood. “Erica, you can tell me.”

“I’m hungry.” Erica made to walk off, but Cassie stopped her. “Okay. How about we get some lunch, and then we’ll talk. You’ll spill the beans on what happened before you left, and I’ll tell you my issue.”

“Deal.”

Thirty minutes later they entered an Italian style restaurant and found a private booth toward the back.

“I love it here. It’s nothing like the city,” Erica said.

“I know. I think I’m going to look for a house or something. The city is great for getting from A to B. But I want a place to start putting down roots. I love the beach as well.”

A waiter took their orders. They both agreed on the pasta puttanesca followed by chocolate torte.

“You go first.” Erica took a bread stick out of the pot. Cassie took one for herself and glanced around the busy restaurant.

“You remember that Christmas party I did. The only one?” Cassie asked.

“Yes. The best party anyone had been to.”

“Well, when everyone left – and you’ve got to promise to keep this to yourself.” Erica did the cross over her heart. “I had sex with Blaze Sinclair on his desk.” 

Cassie watched as her friend’s eyes opened wider, and she took a huge bite out of the bread stick.

“Anyway, I left for the two week holidays, and when I came back I found out that not only had the boss used me but he was engaged to be married. And his fiancée was carrying his child. As you can imagine, it was not the highlight of my life.” Cassie stopped and thanked the waiter when he brought out their coffees.

“You mean to tell me that three years ago the boss screwed you while he had a made up family waiting in the wings?”

“Seems that way.”

Minutes later, their dinner was brought out. It was the fastest service Cassie had ever had.

“Chris was my rock. He helped me get another job and start up my business. We’re best friends, and he offered me this trip for rest. As you know, Chris is a matchmaker, and I think he wants me and Blaze to get together.”

Both women dug into their pasta, and Cassie was thankful she didn’t have to be conscious of how much she ate. Erica was a wonderful woman to be around. Cassie felt guilty.  She hadn’t kept in touch over the years.

The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, and it gave her time to think about what Blaze had said the night before. She looked forward to spending time with him and getting to know the new man he’d become.

Once they were finished with their pasta the waiter came and took their plates away. Cassie sipped her coffee while Erica stared out of the window.

“Spill. It’s your time to tell your Sinclair tale.”

Erica turned back to stare at her, and Cassie noted the pain on the woman’s face. When would she see a woman who was happy with one of those men? First Molly, then herself
,
and now Erica.

“I began working for Sinclair Industry when I was nineteen. I was fresh out of high school, and I did some kind of training program to help troubled teens get to work. I started low, delivering mail and then serving coffee and grabbing lunch until I caught the eye of one Christopher Sinclair. Within two years I was his secretary. He got me the position. Gave me a load of bullshit about how hard I worked. For the first six months everything was great, and every day I fell a little more in love with him. Chris has a charming wit about him, and he always made me smile. I think I’m going to make this a white wine,” Erica said. Cassie waited while Erica got herself a wine. Cassie declined alcohol. She never drank more than coffee. “I used to go away with him on his travels. Take notes and everything. Chris was ordered to go to some Spanish resort and check it out. At least that’s what he told me.”

Cassie watched as Erica downed the wine and requested another. “If this is too hard to deal with....”

“No, I need to talk to someone about it. We travelled to this resort. A holiday theme park of some kind. That night we had dinner, and he was sweet talking me. And then before I knew what happened I was in his suite, and we were having sex on the living room floor.” Erica brushed a tear away. “He was my first. I was a virgin when he had me. It was the most amazing experience of my life. Well, being the type of girl I am, I was twenty-one at the time. I wasn’t prepared for the immediate dumping as soon as we got back to work. I was just another woman in a long line of conquests. He wanted me
;
he had me
,
and then he left me.
He moved on to the next woman, and I moved back into delivering the mail and coffee. As soon as I had enough in savings I got out and moved away. So there you have it. My sad sorry little tale.”