Chapter 1

 

 

Vivian awoke on Friday morning from a refreshing night's sleep. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she arched her back stretching. "Mmmm," she moaned as she sat up on the bed.

She immediately noticed something was different. Taking a quick glance at the clock on her nightstand she noticed it read 7am. Her normal time to get up, but something wasn't right. She sniffed the air and realized that she didn't smell breakfast. Blake always had breakfast prepared for them by this time each morning.

Easing herself out of bed, she slipped her pink satin robe around her naked body and opened her bedroom door. "Blake," she called out.

Nothing but silence answered her.

Well that's odd. It's Friday. He should be just about ready to head off to work by now, she mused. Vivian rushed down the stairs of the house, the two of them shared, to the ground floor and made her way to the kitchen. It was also empty. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stood, tapping her foot on the black and white linoleum kitchen floor and considered the possibilities.

Could he have gone to work early? She walked over to the kitchen closet and pulled it open. Nope. All of his welding gear was sitting neatly where it should be.

Oh-my-god! Maybe he was in an accident! She rushed over to the telephone, snatching up the phone book to find the number to the closest hospital and then she heard the sound of tires coming up the gravel driveway leading to the house.

Peering out of the window she was relieved to see it was Blake's black Jeep Wrangler. Vivian watched through the kitchen window as he slid out from behind the wheel of the jeep, jumped out and slammed the door behind him.

Vivian frowned as she noticed he looked tired, very tired. His sandy blonde hair tousled, and his movements sluggish. What the hell happened to him? Despite his worn-out appearance, Vivian couldn't help but think of how sexy he was. His broad shoulders, piercing grey eyes and confident swagger all added to his appeal. She knew she shouldn't be thinking that way about him; with him being thirty-six and her twenty he was nearly twice her age! And, he was her father's oldest and dearest friend. But, she couldn't help herself.

Her parents lived several hours south of them, in New York City, but she'd been accepted to Boston University so her parents called in a favour and she was given the spare room in his home. She'd been ecstatic at the idea of living with him, especially considering she'd had a crush on him for as long as she could remember. Blake knew how to relax and just have fun, which was just another thing she loved about him.

The living arrangement up until this point had been perfect.

Vivian backed away from the kitchen window as he entered the front door.

Blake's deep tan became tinged with crimson when he came through the front door and saw Vivian - or as he preferred to call her Viv - leaning against the kitchen sink, armed crossed, with an inquisitive eyebrow raised in his direction. "Oh, Viv. I didn't expect to see you up this early."

"You never came home last night?" she asked, cocking her head to the side as she watched him, her brown eyes narrowed.

"Well... No. I'm sorry. I had a date," he confessed, not able to look her in the eye as he said it.

Vivian was floored. Blake had a date? He never dated! He went to work, came home and when she was also home, they'd either spend the evening relaxing in front of the television, or go out and do something fun together. As far as she knew this was the first 'date' he'd been on in the six months she'd been living with him.

"An all night date?" She couldn't keep herself from asking.

Blake walked over to the fridge next to her, opened it up, and peered in. He quickly gathered up the items necessary for their breakfast. Depositing the food on the kitchen counter, he then shrugged off his brown leather jacket and tossed it to the chair nearest to him.

She watched as he blatantly ignored her question. She wasn't sure how she felt about this new turn of events, although she knew she should be happy that he was dating. He was a good man. He had all the qualities a woman looked for; charming, honest, great sense of humour and he had one of the most amazing bodies she had ever laid eyes on.

The problem was that she wasn't happy for him. Not in the least. Instead, she was feeling jealous and a little hurt, with a splash of anger thrown in there for good measure. She was feeling this way because she wanted him to want her. Secretly, she had hoped that he would eventually stop seeing her as his best friends little girl and start seeing her as the vibrant, sexy woman that she was.

She watched as he focused all of his attention on preparing breakfast. Too much attention. It was obviously a tactic to keep from having the awkward conversation with her about his overnight date. Well, that just wasn't going to fly with her! She wanted to know about this woman who seemed to be interested in taking Blake from her.

Acting like the jealous girlfriend she slid her small frame between his hard, muscular body and the kitchen counter where he was dicing up some veggies. Her 5'2 frame was roughly a foot shorter than his, so she had to tilt her head up to look into his grey eyes. She placed her hand on his, stopping it from its work. Her breath caught in her throat, as a hunger began to burn within her that she hadn't realized was so strong for him, until that moment.

"An overnight date?" she asked again, though she knew the answer. Vivian simply wanted to hear him admit it.

Blake stared down at her, tension in his expression, and in his body. He didn't step back from her. Instead, he stood his ground, pinning her between his body and the cold wood of the kitchen counter. The tension began to build between them, so thick that she could almost hear it crackle around them.

Finally he said, "It's been over six months since I've dated, Vivian, I think it's about time I got back out there and met someone? Don't you?"

Vivian flinched at his curt reply. She opened her mouth to speak then snapped it shut. Couldn't he see they should be together? Couldn't he see that there was chemistry between them? Well, why would he? she thought. She hadn't fully come to the realization herself until she discovered he had been out fucking some strange woman all night.

"I was worried when I woke up this morning and you weren't here."

Blake nodded and gave her a soft smile, "Fair enough. I am really sorry for that. I'll call next time."

Next time? Well, I guess that scratches off the question of whether or not he's going to be seeing her again. "So, who is she?" Vivian asked as she reluctantly slid out from under his hard body to stand next to him.