Authors: Michelle Love
“I wasn’t aware Blake was telling anyone. Did he invite you guys along?”
“He did, but we can’t go. Kip’s parents are out of town and it’s too short notice to get Pax to my parents. I hope you guys have fun out there.”
“Yeah, about that. I think I’m going to tell Blake it’s a bad time to go. Did he tell you he and I are moving in together?”
“No! What?” she shouts into the phone, making me pull it away from my ear. “That’s great, Shelly!”
“Yeah, I’m pretty jazzed about it. But I have to get rid of some of my things and pack others up and get them into a storage building until we find our own place.”
“There’s a mansion for sale in our neighborhood. How cool would that be? It’s only about a mile up the street. Want me to get the number off the sign?”
“How cool would that be?” I ask as I jump up and down like a little kid. “Yes, get the number for Blake.”
“I’m going to put Pax in his stroller and walk down there now. I’m so excited! Talk to you soon.”
I jump and up down and do a little dance. Life is coming together and I can hardly wait.
Blake and I are moving in together!
No Luck
An Alpha Billionaire Romance
Book 9
By Michelle Love
Blake
My heart is pounding so loudly in my chest I can barely hear Rachelle’s answer. I’m on one knee, holding out the black box with the monster engagement ring in it and haven’t taken a breath since the words, ‘will you marry me,’ came out of my mouth. It seems like an eternity ago and she’s still just looking at me.
Her lips are moving and I think she’s about to say yes.
Wait! That’s way more than one word!
“Hold up, Rachelle.” I get up and shake my head and take in a deep breath. “Say that again. I couldn’t hear you.”
“Blake, it’s too soon. It’s a nice gesture, but I want to get married only one time.”
A nice gesture? WTF!
“Rachelle, are you telling me no?” I search her eyes for some sign of hope, but only find confusion.
“I’m not saying no, Blake. I’m trying to tell you that I want to only get married one time. I thought we were moving in together. You know, step one on a list of steps. One day at a time.”
I snap the lid shut on the box with the uber-expensive ring in it and drop my ass on the sofa. “So, what are you saying? Are you saying you’ll think about it or what?”
“Not really.” She takes the place next to me and runs her hand over my shoulder. “Don’t you think this is sudden?”
“Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? Like a surprise? I mean, aren’t you surprised and maybe a little happy about me asking you to marry me? To become my wife and share all I have should be a thing that makes you happy.”
Her brows furrow and I have no idea why anyone would wear that expression when not only asked to marry the supposed love of their life, but also become a billionaire by doing so.
“Blake, what’s the rush? I was just talking to Peyton and there’s a mansion down the street from them. We could move in together for a while. You know a trial marriage before doing all the legal stuff. Once that’s done, it’ll make it harder for us if we don’t work out.” Her delicate finger strokes my chin and it’s pissing me off.
I pull her hand away from my face and frown at her. “I don’t want it to be easy to end what we have. Does that make sense to you? I want us tied up financially and mentally and even physically if you want the truth. Rachelle, I want to know you’ll be the one who gets the money I won if anything happens to me. Otherwise the state will get it or something like that as I have no living relatives, that I know of anyway.”
Her head is shaking and I cannot understand why she’d have a negative response to what I just said. “Blake, I don’t want your money.”
“Do you hear yourself? You don’t want money? Are you insane? You’d rather someone else get what’s mine if I die?”
“Don’t even talk about dying! You’re not old, for God’s sake! When did you get this idea that you were about to die?” She gets up and walks to the kitchen. “I’m getting a beer. You want one?”
“No,” I say as I get up and follow her. “I want you to marry me. I really can’t think about anything else until you give me a straight answer. It’s either a yes or a no, Rachelle. I don’t understand this trial marriage thing and don’t want to. I want a real marriage with you and I’d like us to get a puppy.”
Her hands go up in the air for some strange reason.
“A dog! No, no, no!
Blake, are you crazy?”
“Why would you ask that? It’s a thing that people get sometimes. It adds joy to their lives. Are you against joyous living for some odd reason? Cause it seems like you are.” I reach out and take her into my arms. “Marry me, Rachelle.”
“Blake, this is just too soon.” Her head drops and all I can see is the top of her head as she leans her face against my chest.
“Would you let me put the engagement ring on your finger?” I ask then kiss the top of her head.
“That thing looks like it cost you a small fortune. I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing it.”
“Please.” I give her a squeeze.
“I can’t. It’s too much, Blake. It’s over the top, you know?”
She pulls out of my arms and opens the fridge and pulls out a beer. I take it from her and twist the cap off the tall bottle then hand it back to her. “I thought you’d like it, but if you don’t, we can take it back and get anything you want. If you want simple, then you can have simple. With all the money I have, I thought it would be a shame to put something cheap on your finger.”
She takes a long drink and I can tell she’s nervous. “At this point, I don’t want any ring. I just want you and I to take this thing slow, like you said we could.”
“Moving in together is just like being married only you have no real stability. My things will remain my things and that’s not okay with me. I want you taken care of…”
She interrupts me. “Yeah, I know, in case you die.” She takes another long drink and walks to the sofa where she plops down. “I can take care of myself, financially. I don’t need your money, Blake.”
I follow her and sit across from her so she can look at me while I try to talk some sense into her. “I know you don’t need it. Look at it like this, I need to know if I leave this world, you will have my money. The only way I can be sure that’ll happen is if we’re married.”
“What about love?” she asks as she winks at me. “I’d like love to be the reason I marry someone.”
“Rachelle! You fucking know I love the shit out of you!”
“So eloquently stated, Blake. I fucking love the shit out of you too.” She grins, and it’s making me furious. “And when did you start thinking about getting a dog?”
“Okay, leave Freckles out of this for now.”
“Who?” She laughs and takes another drink of her beer. “You named the dog already?”
“I might have. I’m dabbling with the names still. It’s a work in progress. Anyway, I’m starting to feel like I’m having to beg you to marry me and frankly that’s not a thing I thought I’d ever be doing. I did not see myself having to argue about getting the woman I love and she says she loves me to share my life and my wealth.”
Rachelle rolls her eyes. “She loves you, Blake. It’s a sweet gesture, it really is. It’s just too soon.” She places the empty bottle on the coffee table and sits back.
“How long then?” I lean forward and look into her eyes as I wait for her answer.
“I was thinking that if everything went well, and we got along great and all that we could maybe get married for real in three years or so, maybe five. But a piece of paper isn’t a big concern to me.”
I sit back and my eyes must be as wide as they’ve ever been. “Rachelle, are you shitting me? I’m worth a lot of money. The piece of paper will make sure you get it.”
She stands up and says, “If anything ever happens to you. Yes, I’m aware of that.”
“And what about kids?” I ask as she walks to get herself another beer it looks like as she opens the fridge and pulls out another. “When did you think about adding them into our life?”
“I haven’t given it much thought.” She opens the beer and looks at me. “Sure you don’t want one?”
I shake my head. “So, give the kid thing some thought. How old do you want to be before you start having kids? I’d like to have them while I’m young enough to enjoy them. Hanging out with that kid at the children’s home got me thinking how much having kids can add to your life.”
Instead of drinking the beer, she sets it on the bar and taps her temple with her finger. “I don’t think I’ll be having time to raise kids for quite a few years.” She looks at me with a frown. “I’d like to open my own restaurant, remember that conversation?”
“People do have kids and still manage to work, Rachelle. You love Pax, you know you’d love to have a baby.”
Her eyes go dark and I can see something is going through her mind and that’s probably a really bad thing. “I don’t think I’d make a very good mother. I really didn’t have a great example in that department. If it’s kids you want, you might want to think about finding yourself another woman.”
“Rachelle,” I get up and walk towards her, but she turns her back to me and crosses her arms over her chest. “Don’t. Don’t do this.”
“Blake, this is all too fast. The whole thing. I have to think and I can’t do it around you.” She walks away and grabs her purse off the counter and goes to the door.
“Rachelle, don’t go. We have a lot to talk about.” I follow her to the door and can feel the cold radiating off her.
“Not now,” she says as she opens the door. “I can’t talk to you right now. I need to think.”
I take her by the shoulders and stop her from leaving. “Don’t go. I’ll shut up. I promise. Just stay here.”
Her head shakes, and she shrugs her shoulders. “I just need some time. I’m not the woman you seem to want. I’m not your normal, everyday, mother and housewife. I don’t even know how to be that. You deserve a woman who wants the same things you do. I’m not saying I don’t want them. I am saying I don’t know how to be that woman.”
“Rachelle, leaving right now won’t solve a damn thing. Just stay here. If anything, I’ll leave.”
She pulls out of my grip and turns to look at me. “Blake, you stay. I just want a little time to think.”
My heart hurts and this is anything but what I thought would happen. “Rachelle, this isn’t a normal reaction to a proposal. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Nothing about me is normal, Blake. You do realize that, don’t you?” Her head hangs, making her long, dark hair fall over her face, shielding it from anyone’s view.
I want to grab her and take her in my arms and make her stay. I want to pull all that has her unable to accept love and normalcy out of that pretty little head of hers.
“I wish you’d stay. We don’t have to talk about a damn thing, Rachelle.”
She stops and for a moment I think she might come back inside and stop this running thing she does so well. Then she shakes her head and keeps walking. “I’ll be back later.”
Well, maybe I won’t be here!
Rachelle
The sun is setting as I walk down the beach. My melancholy mood hasn’t changed. I wish Blake could really take things slow, but I guess it really isn’t in him to do it.
It really isn’t in me to hurry things along either. I suppose we’re meant to be together since we both come from such opposite places. Opposites attract so the saying goes.
I kick the sand with my bare feet and wish I could fix myself. Any other woman would’ve jumped up and down when they got a look at that big, beautiful ring Blake wanted to give me.
Not me though. Deep inside of me there was only one thought. I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve the ring, the money, nor the man. They’re all wonderful gifts that I am sure to ruin.
The shield I’ve built around my heart to keep it protected is being taken down a pebble at a time by Blake. When he goes all out and rushes forward, they go right back into place.
I thought the pebbles were gone, but they must’ve been lying around, waiting for a big gush of sentiment to come at me. Blake has flooded me with gifts this last week and I took them all like a champ.
It surprised me that I allowed him to give me so much. I jumped right on the band wagon with him. We can learn to be rich together, I thought. I do want to make a profitable restaurant anyway. I may as well learn how to have money.
That’s how I convinced myself that it was okay to take what he was giving me. But the ring and his financial security was just a little too much for me. It would be damn nice to understand why that is.
I live in Los Angeles. I see gold diggers every day and know there’s a difference in them and rich people with genuine love and respect for one another. Blake and I could be that.
I respect the hell out of that man. Can’t really say I’ve ever thought so highly of anyone before him. He’s sweet, caring, generous, and faithful. Like a dog that you forget to feed and sometimes forget to bring in out of the cold, but he still loves you anyway. The moment you let him in he’s all happy and frolicking.
That’s Blake to a tee. I’ve left with no regard what so ever for his feelings and he’s taken me back every time and never made me pay for what I did to him.
This last week has been amazing. Not only has he treated me like a queen, but his personal attention to me has been out of this world. I even let him tie me to the bed one night and he made me so happy I did.
He spends time thinking about what will please me in so many ways. I know most men are all about what you can do for them in the bedroom, but Blake isn’t that way at all.
And here I am walking alone down the beach as the sun melts into the ocean, creating a stunning picture. My sweet man sits at my tiny apartment waiting for my return.
Not a very fair thing for someone who is as giving and loving as he is. He buys me a fantastic engagement ring and asks me to marry him and I go crazy and leave him alone.
Bet he never thought in a million years this would have been the outcome of all his planning.
It occurs to me that we were going to go to Vegas, and he’d asked Kip and Peyton to come along. I wonder if he was planning on us getting married tonight.
He most likely was, and I just went and fucked the whole thing up. Just because I don’t think I deserve good things.
I should go back and accept his proposal and bite my tongue to keep my idiot mouth shut. Once we’re married it will be too late to second guess anything.