A Gentleman's Agreement (18 page)

Just staring at Eunice
gave Blake life. The moment she said his name, he realized how much he’d missed
it rolling off of her tongue, realized how much he’d missed her in his life. It’d
felt like an eternity since he’d laid eyes on her. A thousand times, he’d
scrolled through pictures of her on his cell phone, but it didn’t compare to
standing feet from her. There was no way he could leave Paris without her.

He passed the older
gentleman two large bills and thanked them for their time and assistance. When
he refused the money, he passed it to his wife. “Take it, please.” The woman
looked to her husband for confirmation. When he nodded, she accepted the bills.

“
Merci
,” said
the woman.

Thanks to Eunice, he
knew the meaning of the phrase. Unfortunately, he couldn’t respond in French. “You’re
welcome.”

Before strolling away,
the woman said something to Eunice that made her laugh. Just seeing her laugh
again was refreshing. The last time they’d been together, he’d hurt her deeply.
That was evident by the look in her eyes the day he’d confronted her. A day he
wished he could take back a thousand times.

“
Au revoir
.
Goodbye,” the man repeated in English.

Eunice’s body stiffened
when he took a step toward her, undoubtedly, confused by his presence in Paris.
He slid his hands into his pockets to warm them—and to keep from snatching her
into his arms and kissing her senseless. He’d missed the feel of her lips
against his. “Hey.”

“How did you—? Trevor.”

“Don’t be angry with
him.”

She scowled. “What did
you do, Blake? Did you threaten to fire him? If you—”

“No. I—”

“What are you doing
here, Blake?”

This was not going to
be easy. Her words lacked enthusiasm. But then again, why should she be eager
to see him after what he’d done? “I needed to see you.”

He didn’t expect the
words to prompt her to sprint toward him and leap into his arms, but he did,
however, expect them to soften her a little. They hadn’t.

“Well, you’ve seen me.”

She brushed past him as
if he were a simple a stranger she’d just given directions. “Eunice, wait,” he
said, capturing her wrist gently. “Please. Ten minutes. That’s all I ask.”

Eunice reclaimed her
wrist, then folded her arms across her chest. With her eyes diverted away from
him, she said, “You have five.”

If that was all the time
she was willing to allow him, he’d better not waste one second. “I love you,
Eunice.”

Eunice’s eyes darted
toward him and narrowed, but she didn’t speak. The way her breathing pattern
changed—short, rapid breaths—he knew she was fighting back her anger.

“I know you find that
hard to believe by the way I treated you, but I do. I do love you. You have to
know that.”

Eunice inhaled, then
exhaled slowly. “You’re right.”

Her words gave him a
small glimmer of hope…until she continued.

“I do find that hard to
believe.” Instead of allowing him the full five minutes, she turned and stalked
away again.

Damn
. She really
wasn’t going to make this easy. “Two years, Eunice. The company paintball
outing. That’s how long I’ve been in love with you.” He’d have preferred to go
to the grave with that information, but desperate times…

His words yielded the
results he’d hoped for. Eunice stopped but didn’t face him. One out of two
wasn’t bad, given the circumstances. “You shot me in the throat with a paintball.
I was sure I was dying.”

Eunice’s shoulders
shimmied as if she was laughing, but he wasn’t sure. He continued. “You hovered
over my body—mortified and in tears. At the time, I wasn’t sure if you were
worried about me or more worried I’d fire you.”

“Both,” she said, just
loud enough for him to hear. “I really wanted to keep my job.”

Progress
. He hazarded
three or four steps in her direction. “For the next three weeks you buzzed me
every day to make sure I was okay.” He risked another few steps until he was
standing directly behind her. But that wasn’t enough; he needed to look into
her eyes.

When he stepped in
front of her, she refused to look at him. That was okay; that wouldn’t deter
him. “I finally told you if you were so concerned about me, then maybe you
should work directly with me. That way you could keep a close eye on me and
stop using valuable company time buzzing my office every ten minutes. But that
wasn’t the real reason I wanted you there.”

“Stop it, Blake.”

“I love you, Eunice.”

“Stop it! Just stop
it!”

“Eunice—”

“Your words say one
thing, but your actions proved another. Which do you think speak louder to me?”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “You threatened to have security toss me out on my
ass. You refused to listen when I tried to explain to you that everything I’d
done, I’d done for you.”

“I know that now. I
just didn’t—”

“You shut me out of
your life like I was some random nobody, Blake. Not like the woman who trusted
you enough to share her deepest, darkest pain. Not like the woman who shared
your bed. Not like the woman who loved you so much that she lost a piece of
herself when you walked away.”

Eunice’s words slammed
into him like an unmanned train. He ran his hand over his head and closed his
eyes tight in hopes of banishing the wrenching pain he felt in his heart. How
could he have been so damn stupid? He should have known.

“I screwed up, Eunice.”
Opening his eyes, he gazed directly into hers. “I felt betrayed. I allowed my
head to lead me where my heart never would have gone. If I could go back in
time, make all of this right, I would. But I can’t.” In a bold move, he cradled
Eunice’s face between his hands. “All I can do is promise you I’ll never, ever
hurt you like this again. I love you, Eunice. I love you. I love you.”

“You can tell me you
love me a million times, Blake. But the words mean nothing if you’re not
showing me they’re true.”

“Let me show you. I
know you believe in second chances.” When Eunice rested her hands against his,
he took it as a breakthrough.

“I do believe in second
chances, Blake.”

He smiled so wide he
thought the corners of his mouth would crack.

“I just don’t believe
everyone deserves them.” Eunice peeled his hands away, brushed past him, and
hurried away.

***

Eunice willed herself
not to shed any tears until she was far away from the man who’d caused them. No
such luck. She slapped her hand across cheek and cursed herself for not being
stronger.

Like a lost puppy she
couldn’t get rid of, Blake shuffled up behind her. Why couldn’t he simply allow
her to escape? She’d said all she’d needed to say to him.

“Every one may not
deserve a second chance, Eunice, but I do.”

Eunice spun on her
heels. Her jaw clinched, but she didn’t say anything in response to his
statement. A reply would only have welcomed more dialogue. And all she wanted
to do was get away.

She started away again.
Maybe this time would be the charm—or at least a hint that she wanted nothing
more to do with him. But four or five steps in, her heart proved her wrong.
Blake grunted behind her, and she turned to see him down on all fours.
Actually, all three because one leg was kicked out to the side.

“Blake?” Before his
name fully escaped, she was kneeling at his side. Helping him to a seated
position, she said, “What’s wrong?”

“Apparently, my knee
doesn’t like the cold or speed walking.”

He managed a weak smile,
but she could tell he was genuinely in pain and not faking as was her first
thought. “Just sit and relax it a minute.” Her next instinct was to massage his
knee as she’d done so many times before, but she caught herself.

Blake sucked in a sharp
breath. “Damn.”

“What?”

“This concrete is
cold.”

Eunice flashed a
half-smile, nothing too brilliant that would lead him to believe he was
forgiven. On her knees next to him, she said, “Quit being a baby.”

She’d expected the
laugh that followed her words. She hadn’t, however, expected the kiss Blake
planted on her. He rested a hand on the back of her neck and kissed her hard.
Kissed her wild. Kissed her in the manner that could suggest he missed
her—loved her even.

“No, no, no,” she said
against his mouth, but made no effort to pull away.

“Yes,” Blake countered.
“Please forgive me. I need you.”

His mouth declared war
on hers. Their connection sparked as familiar as ever, as delicious as ever.
Yet, it was too much.

Eunice snatched away,
but Blake’s hand didn’t allow her mouth to venture far. “Let me go, Blake,” she
said in a low and yielding tone.

“Let me love you,
Eunice.”

“You can’t. Not the way
I want—demand—to be loved.”

Finally regaining some
control over her defiant body, she pressed her hands into his chest and pushed
away from him. This time he let her escape. But instead of leaving him there,
she sat facing him.

Once her butt hit the
ground, the nip jarred her.
Damn. This concrete is cold.

They eyed one another,
neither breaking the silence with words. Eunice recognized that look on his
face. If she had to guess, he was plotting his next move. But so was she. She’d
learned from him to think twelve steps ahead.

Blake refused to look
away and so did she. Even when the impact of their gazes became too much, too
intense and her heart threatened to shatter her ribcage, she held on. Like
primal beasts, they challenged each other for dominance.

Finally, Blake spoke.
“Show me how to love you. I want you in my life.”

“We don’t always get
what we want. You, of all people, should know that.”

He nodded. “I do. But I
can live without those things. I can’t live without you.”

“You
have
been
living without me. You seem to be doing just fine at it.”

“I’ve been existing,
not living. There’s a difference. I hate yoga.”

The randomness of the
confession grabbed her attention. “What does yoga have to do with anything?”

“Because every single
day I’ve wished I was there in yoga class. That would mean you were still in my
life.”

Unable to deny the
impact of his words, she slid her gaze away and studied the Christmas lights in
the distance.

“I sleep in my guest
bedroom—or on the couch—because my bed tortures me with memories of you. I buzz
your office at least twice a day out of habit. When I call out your name and
you don’t call back, I’m forced to remember you’re no longer there. Forced to
remember I pushed away the only woman who has ever managed to occupy my heart.
The only woman I’ve ever loved wholly.”

A tear escaped from
Eunice’s eye. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe that.” When Blake leaned over
and dragged his thumb across her cheek, she flinched from his touch. The
delicate gesture thinned her to spreading consistency. Why did she love this
man?

“Believe,” he said.

“I did believe, Blake.
I believed in you. I believed in us. I believed my heart would be safe with
you. It wasn’t. And now you want me to what…?” She shrugged. “Trust that it
will be different?”

“No.”

No
? His reply
took her by surprise.

“I want you to trust
that
I’ll
be different.”

Eunice glanced away
again. In her heart, of course she wanted to believe him. But in her head, she
was unsure if she could risk it.

Blake took her hand
into his. “Do you still love me?”

Was he serious? She was
freezing her ass off with him. Plus, the kind of love she felt for him didn’t
simply fade just like that. “Yes,” she said plainly.

“Are you still
in
love with me?”

Again, without falter,
she said, “Yes.”

“Eunice, you know me
better than sometimes I think I know myself. Look deep into your heart and tell
me if you believe I still love and am in love with you?”

Eunice’s voice cracked
when she said, “Yes, I do.”

He smiled. “Good. I’m
not perfect, Eunice. Far from it. And contrary to popular belief—mainly my
belief”—he said with a laugh—“I do make mistakes. Lots of them. I’m not
perfect,” he repeated, “but neither is love.”

“I’ve never wanted
perfect, Blake. I’ve only ever wanted true.”

“Right now, at this
very moment, that’s what I’m offering you. There are two things my love for you
will always be: certain and true.”

Eunice swallowed down
her rampant emotions. Staring at him, she said, “I never once slept with Caleb
while we were together.”

“I don’t care, Eunice.
I don’t care about Palmer. I don’t care about Caleb. I don’t even care about Fredrick
Bass—although, thank you for going to bat for me even when I was a complete
asshole to you.”

“I’m sorry, could you
repeat that. A what?”

“Asshole. A
complete
asshole,” he said with a sexy chuckle. “All I care about is you, me, us. I flew
a million miles to get to you, woman. I think I died twice. Lost consciousness
a few times. I might have even cried after hour five… But I would do it all
over again. What do you say? You think you can give me one more chance to love
you the right way?”

“Did you just throw
some Johnny Gill in there?”

“You caught that, huh?
See, we’re made for each other.”

Eunice studied the man
before her. He was presenting two things to her: love and himself. Could she
really give up on either. For years, she’d heard apologies, promises that
weren’t intended to be kept. But somehow…Blake’s words felt sincere. “I’m
afraid, Blake. Wanting you makes me afraid. Loving you makes me afraid.”

“I know I’ll make more
mistakes, Eunice. But I also know I will love you like no other man has ever
dared to love you. I’ll protect you. I’ll comfort you. I’ll be your provider.
I’ll be your shoulder to cry on, your biggest supporter, your strength, your
courage, your best friend. And one day… I’ll be the man damn proud to call you
his wife.”