Page 4 of Blake

“I guessed that bit, Pax. But how exactly do you need my help and why me?”

Pax placed her coffee on the low table and leaned forward, giving him a perfect view of her cleavage which he really didn’t need right now. Pulling his mind from the gutter he concentrated on her face and for the first time since he had met her, he saw a vulnerability that he’d always suspected was there, but she’d never lowered her guard enough to show him.

Blake waited, knowing that his silence would help her to open up and tell him what she needed. The room was silent as he watched her wrestle with whatever it was that was going on in that beautiful head of hers. He sipped his coffee and watched as she stood and paced to the window, looking out at the world that was starting to emerge and start the working day.

He kept his eyes off her long legs, and instead watched the curve of her neck as she dropped her head and then seemed to straighten, pulling herself together. Her body language suggested she had come to a decision. She glanced back at him and found his eyes. Hers were focused and determined—a look he liked on her just as much as the soft looks she gave her friends. He hoped to earn one of those himself one day.

“I need you to help me put my father behind bars.”

Chapter Two

Grace Paxton watched as Blake’s eyes flared wide for a second before he got control of himself and locked his reaction down tight. Slowly, he placed his mug on the table and walked towards her. She tried not to let her eyes trail down the perfect form of his body. Muscular and tall without being bulky, he prowled like a big cat; his movements controlled and powerful.

It made her breath hitch as she watched him. Blake was cover model handsome, golden blond hair, and sexy, almost electric blue eyes that always seemed to twinkle as if he had a hidden secret and would share it with you if you let him in. He was precisely Pax’s type on paper and that was exactly why she couldn’t let herself be drawn into his sphere.

She had dated her fair share of blond, blue-eyed hunks and every single one of them had let her down. Either in the bedroom, where their looks was all they had going for them, and she discovered the hard way they were ‘two pump chumps’ who were finished before she even got started, or they had commitment issues. Then, it wasn’t her, it was them. So she had sworn off good looking men. She would find herself an average guy with a boring job who would worship her.

She almost laughed out loud at that, realising as Blake came to stand almost in front of her that she would eat a regular, average guy for breakfast and be bored within a month. Blake though, posed too much threat to her. Not physically. No, he would never lay a finger on a woman in anger. Blake loved women and she knew from the file and background check she had done that he was protective of his younger sister and his four-year-old niece.

No, Blake would break her heart if she let him in because he wanted to fuck and run, and she wanted a family one day. All his cheeky cocky attitude and his cute sweetness were dangerous though because it made her forget who he was, and that was a manwhore.

“I’m sorry, Pax. I must be losing my hearing because I thought you said you wanted to put your father in jail.”

He was standing too close, the scent of manly sweat mixed with his deodorant making her head spin. Stepping around him and moving back to the couch and picking up her coffee she took a sip using it as a shield to hide how he made her feel. “Yes, that’s what I said.”

Blake leaned against the window frame and she saw him take the weight off his left knee and wondered what had happened. “Why?”

She dragged her eyes from his powerful legs up past his folded arms to his face which had just the smallest of frowns on it. “Because he’s a criminal and he killed my best friend and now he’s a threat to another child. I won’t stand by and let him do it again.”

Pax felt the familiar ache in her chest as she thought about Benny. He had been her best friend in school and later her first boyfriend. Then he was gone. Taken by the other man she adored—her father, her hero, and now her enemy.

“Okay, back up. Your dad killed your best friend and now he plans to kill again, and you want to stop him. Is that correct?”

“Yes, but it’s complicated.” He had no idea just how fucking complicated it was.

“I bet it fucking is.” He raised an eyebrow which suggested he wanted more details.

Pax sighed. “My father is Robert Paxton. He owns Sana Pharmaceuticals. He and I are estranged shall we say.”

“Go on,” Blake said.

His full attention on her made her uncomfortable and Pax hated asking for help especially his. “You have to understand; I was a complete daddy’s girl growing up. He was my hero. I’m an only child and he and my mother doted on me, gave me anything I wanted. I was naive and stupid.”

“You were young and innocent and trusted your parents. No shame in that, Pax,” he said sweetly.

She looked up at him and saw nothing but understanding in his eyes. Blake was a good guy despite his man slut ways and good looks, and that was the problem. It was easy to keep the simmering sexual tension at bay when the guy was an asshole but when he was sweet; yeah so much harder. “Yeah, maybe. Anyway to cut this long story short, when I was seventeen my best friend and high school boyfriend, Benny was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He went through rounds of chemo and radiation as the tumour was inoperable. My father offered him a trial of a new drug they had been developing for cancer patients and Benny jumped at it.”

“I’m hearing something you’re not saying here, Pax.”

“The drug killed him. I know he was going to die anyway, but the side effects of the drug caused kidney failure which led to pressure on his heart. He died a horrible death, but my father covered it up, deleted all evidence of the drug trial, and paid his parents off. I confronted him about it, and we had a terrible fight.” Pax looked up clearing her throat of the emotion that had come from nowhere. “Needless to say my father and I don’t speak. I go back once a year for Thanksgiving for my mom, who has no idea or pretends not to know, and that is the extent of our relationship now.”

“And why now? Why do you want him locked up now and not then?” Blake’s tone wasn’t judgemental, but more someone trying to understand.

“When I left, I said I wouldn’t come after him because I loved him if he promised not to do it again.” She gave a humourless laugh and shrugged. “Again, naive and honestly, I didn’t have the skills or knowledge to bring a company or man of his magnitude down.”

“Come on, Pax. Enough with the half-answers. If you want me to help, I need everything from you.”

Blake moved to sit beside her. Pax couldn’t help the feeling he meant more than just information. A shiver worked its way through her which he noticed as his eyes moved over her skin. “You’re cold. Let me get you a hoodie.” He stood abruptly and left the room.