scooped her up, lifting her heels clean off the ground and walking her backward to the closest sofa. She only had a second to gaze up at him, a bare moment to wonder what the heck she was doing as he ripped off his tie and discarded it, staring down at her, his big body looming above.
And then he was covering her, his body over hers. Saffy lifted her mouth up to his, met his lips and hungrily kissed him back. She knew it was all types of wrong, but tonight she was going to be bad. If this was one of her last weekends in New York, then she was going to make the most of it. Her career might be over, but it didn’t mean her life had to be.
SAFFRON OPENED HER eyes and quickly closed them. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head. She’d never had firsthand experience with what to do the morning after, and nothing clever was springing to mind. What had she been thinking?
“Morning.”
She took a deep breath and slowly slipped the covers down, clutching them tight to her chest as she sat up. Blake was standing in the doorway, looking just as chiseled and sexy and gorgeous as he had the night before. No wonder she’d ended up in his bed. He crossed the room and sat on the bed beside her.
“Ah, morning,” she finally stammered, clearing her throat and trying to pull herself together. She didn’t usually lack in confidence, but then again she didn’t usually have to deal with handsome men so early in the morning. Saffron ran her tongue over her teeth, wishing she could have had ten minutes in the bathroom before having to face Blake.
“So I need to show you something,” he said, eyebrows drawn together as he leaned closer.
It was only then she realized he was holding an iPad. Curious, she reached for it.
“What is it?”
“You know how we didn’t want to talk about our personal lives or our work?”
Saffy nodded. She didn’t understand what he was trying to tell her. Until she looked at the screen.
“Oh,” she blurted.
“I think we probably should have had that conversation,” Blake muttered. “Maybe we could have taken a back exit and made sure no one saw us.”
Saffy kept hold of the covers with one hand and swiped through the photos with the other. There was Blake with his hand to her back, Blake laughing, her laughing with her head tipped back and her eyes locked on his, and there was them getting into his town car. Paired with headlines screaming that Blake was one of the city’s most eligible bachelors and naming her as one of ballet’s finest forgotten stars. The description stung.
She swallowed away the emotion in her throat, the familiar burn behind her eyes that always hit when she thought about her career. When she passed the iPad back and glanced up at Blake, she wished she hadn’t.
“Hey, it’s not so bad,” he said, discarding the iPad and leaning over. He reached for her hand and lifted it, kissing the soft skin on the inside of her arm.
Saffy smiled. This was how she’d ended up in his bed! He was so smooth yet seemed so genuine at the same time, although hearing that he was such a prized bachelor only made her wonder if he’d expertly played her to get her into bed.
“You’re really upset about it, aren’t you? I was hoping you wouldn’t think it was that big a deal being papped.”
She shrugged. “I don’t care about being seen with you, or the photos. It’s the headlines that sting,” Saffy admitted.
Blake looked confused. “I’m not sure I’m following. You do realize that the whole bachelor thing has been completely blown out of proportion, right? It’s rubbish.”
Saffy shook her head. “It hurts to read that I’m a washed-up former ballerina. Sometimes the truth stings more than we realize.”
Blake kept hold of her hand, staring into her eyes. “You look far too young to be washed up, surely.”
“I’ll give you points for being kind, but I’m not too young, not in the ballet world. My body broke down on me, so I’m out.”
He chuckled. “By out, you mean injured, right? Taking some time out? From what I’ve read this morning, you’re pretty incredible.”
Now it was Saffy chuckling. “You’ve been googling me?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. I’m an early riser. I saw this, and I’ve been reading up about you ever since.”
She liked that he was at least honest. He could have lied and not admitted to it, but he was obviously curious about who he’d spent the night with. And if she was honest, she was starting to get pretty intrigued about him, too.
“What did it say?” Saffy wasn’t clutching the sheet quite so tightly now, not as concerned as she had been about him seeing her.
“From what I’ve read, you came to New York as a teenager, wowed all the right people and eventually landed your dream role as lead in Swan Lake last year.”
Saffron smiled. “Sounds about right.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about it, not anymore. For years ballet had been her life, since she was a little girl in love with the idea of being a pretty dancer to a determined teenager and a dedicated adult. She’d lived and breathed her dream all her life, which was why she was at such a loss now. How did anyone move on if they’d lost the one thing that meant more to them than anything else?
Blake surprised her by stroking her face, his thumb caressing her cheek as he stared into her eyes. “I know the feeling.”
She smiled, but it was forced. There was no way he knew how she was feeling. “You don’t happen to have coffee, do you?” she asked, hoping he’d say yes then go and make her a cup so she had a little privacy.
“Sure do.” Blake pulled back then rose, and the moment was over. He looked down at her, his height imposing. He was already dressed, barefoot but wearing dark jeans and a plain white tee.
Saffy waited for him to go then quickly scanned for her clothes. She hardly even remembered how they’d gotten to the bedroom. From what she could recall, her dress was in the living room wherever he’d thrown it, but her underwear was somewhere in the bedroom. She jumped up, taking the sheet with her. It wasn’t until she had her underwear back on that she relaxed. Saffy looked around the room but he didn’t have any clothes scattered, so she opened his closet and grabbed a sweatshirt. It was fleecy on the inside with a zipper, and given the size on her, she had to zip it all the way just to cover her body. Then she dashed into his bathroom, splashed some water on her face and ran her fingers through her hair to tame it. Given the fact she’d just woken and didn’t have all her usual things with her, she didn’t think she looked too terrible.
“So I—” Blake’s deep voice cut off. “You look cute in my hoodie.”
“Sorry.” Saffron spun around, feeling guilty. “I should have asked first, but I didn’t want to walk out half-naked.”
Blake’s laugh made her smile. He waved her toward him and turned, and she followed him out to the living area. He had music playing softly,
