the front door of the car, and when he took a step towards her instinct had her moving back against it. Her heart thudded as his hands slid around her waist and he pulled her closer, until she was moulded to his body. She looked up at him, breathless, and her knees nearly gave way at the need, the desperation in his eyes.
She closed her own eyes when he moved his head—closed them against the onslaught of emotions that flooded through her at the look on his face—and thought that their kiss would be filled with hunger, with the passion that need brought.
But instead it was so tender that she nearly wept. She slid her hands through his hair and shivers went down her spine when he deepened their kiss, taking more. She felt herself being swept away with it, but her heart cracked, just a little, as she thought that he must be trying to memorise the way she tasted, the way she felt.
Her heart demanded the same, and she slowly opened the buttons of his shirt and slid her hands up and down his chest, over his abs and back up again. She shook when the muscles beneath her hands trembled.
And then he moved back, breathing heavily, with his forehead against hers. She realised that she was breathing heavily too, and she stepped away from him, laying a hand on her racing heart. Finally, time and place caught up with her and she looked around, half expecting to see a colleague looking at them with shock. But the parking garage was empty, and for some strange reason she felt disappointment.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, and she saw that he had buttoned his shirt up.
‘Why are you apologising?’ she asked, and braced herself for his answer.
But he simply said that someone might have seen them, and she nodded, not trusting herself to speak when she realised why she felt disappointed that no one had.
Because now there was no proof that everything that had happened between her and Blake hadn’t only been in her head.
He opened the car door for her, and when he’d got in he pulled out of the parking garage and started driving towards the business centre of Cape Town.
‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked, when she thought she had her thoughts—and her body—back under control.
‘To a friend. You’ll see when we get there,’ he said quietly, and again Callie wondered what was going on with him. With them.
She had never felt this unsure in her life. Even when her parents had died she had had certainty. She’d known they were gone, and the only thing she’d been unsure of then had been herself. Now she was wondering if she’d made up their relationship—could she even call it that?—in her head. The feelings, the sharing... Had that just been wishful thinking? Was she just a fling to him? Someone to pass the time with?
No, she thought. That couldn’t be it. Not when they’d shared things that she knew had been new for both of them. Besides, he’d never tried anything besides kissing with her. And, yes, the kissing had been hot and delicious, but he’d had the opportunity to press for more. Like the evening they’d been at his house... But instead he’d just dropped her off at home. That didn’t seem like a man who wanted a fling.
But why hadn’t he defined what they were? an inner voice asked her. He’d never told her that she was his girlfriend. A mistake, she realised, and suddenly she was immensely tired of the back and forth of her thoughts. She was going to ask him, once and for all. She would demand to know what they were to one another, and why he had pushed her away that night. She would demand the truth from him.
Satisfied with her resolution, she opened her mouth to speak—but the words stuck when he pulled up in front of two large bronze gates. Blake pressed the buzzer and told the crackly voice who he was, and the gates opened.
Callie held her breath as they drove up the path and she saw the large white house in front of them. Blake pulled into one of the designated parking bays and they walked to the front door, barely having enough time to press the button before the door opened and a woman stepped out and pulled Blake into her arms.
Callie might have felt threatened if the woman had done it in a remotely flirtatious way. But her hug was almost maternal, and Callie felt interest prickle when the woman drew back and said, ‘Let me take a look at you.’ She scanned Blake from his head to his toes and back up again, and then she smiled, and Callie thought it made her look years younger. ‘Blake, you’re an adult. I can’t believe it.’
He laughed. ‘Yes, Caroline, I have been now for quite some time.’
‘Which I would have known, had you visited me at any point during that time.’ She gave him a stern look, and then waved a hand. ‘But that’s water under the bridge now that you’re here.’
She turned and Callie felt her back stiffen as she was sized up.
‘And who are you, darling?’
‘This is Callie. She’s...a friend of mine.’ He paused, as though thinking about what he had called her, and then continued. ‘She needs a new dress for an event at the hotel tonight.’
‘Oh, why didn’t you just say so? Come on, let’s go in.’
She walked past the two of them down the passage, and entered a room right at the end. Callie and Blake followed, and she whispered, ‘Who is this woman?’
‘She’s an old family friend. My mother’s, actually, though she didn’t want us to hold that against her when my mother left. Her name is Caroline Bellinger.’
Callie stopped in her tracks. ‘You know Caroline Bellinger?’
‘Yes. Why?’
‘Why?’ She looked at him incredulously. ‘Caroline Bellinger is Cape Town’s top designer. She’s designed dresses for local celebrities for almost all of our glamourous events. She isn’t just someone’s “family friend”.’
‘Do you plan on joining me, or are you going to stand in the passage whispering about me all day?’ Caroline called from the room.
Blake grinned. A genuine one this time, she noted.
‘She’s astute, isn’t she? Come on, let’s find you a dress for tonight.’
From that moment Callie felt as though she had been selected for a makeover show. Caroline examined her even more critically than she had when they’d met, and Callie had to resist the cringe that came over her when Caroline announced that she had a body ‘like a movie star’. She could tell Blake was enjoying the show, but Caroline shooed him out before she pulled out any dresses.
‘You can follow Darren, Blake. He’ll take you to the restaurant where we make all the men wait while we do this.’
The man who appeared when his name was called nodded at Blake, and Blake gave Callie a reassuring nod before leaving. She held her breath when she realised that Caroline was now looking at her, and she felt the weight of the woman’s stare.
‘So, you and Blake are...friends?’
Caroline didn’t believe it for a second, Callie thought, but answered, ‘Yes, I think so.’
‘I didn’t need an answer, dear. I just wanted to see your face after my question.’
Caroline didn’t elaborate on what she’d
