She shook her head and laughed. “Okay, I’ll consider this friendly outing under one condition.”
“Anything. Let’s go,” he said, reaching for her backpack.
“Wait, you don’t even know what it is.”
He placed his hand on the small of her back and started leading her out of the park. “No problem. Whatever it is, I can most definitely handle it.”
She came to an abrupt halt and laughed. “You will listen to me, or I go nowhere with you, Gavin Blake. Do you understand?”
A delicious grin slid across his mouth. “I’m all ears.”
“Like that,” she motioned to his hand resting on her back. He smiled and pulled it away. “No touching me, no undressing me with your eyes, and no doing that…that damn stupid thing with your mouth when you pull it between your teeth.”
He smiled. “Does me sucking on my lip bother you that much?”
Only ‘cause it’s so insanely hot… “Yes. It’s annoying.”
He slowly dragged his bottom lip between his teeth, ending it with a luscious popping sound. “Well, the same goes for you then.”
She kinked her head to the side and let out a sigh. “Such a smart ass. You’ve already warned me about not bringing any attention to my lips.” She covered her mouth with her hand, the rest of her words coming out muffled from beneath. “Is this better?” He nodded and laughed. “But I don’t look at you like I want to rip your clothes off, and surely, I don’t touch you.”
He shrugged casually. “Since we’re being honest, you have no idea how I would love it if you touched me again.”
She dropped her hand from her mouth and let it hang open for a second. “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about,” she said, turning on her heel to walk away from him.
Letting out a full throaty laugh, he jogged over to her and gently grabbed her elbow. She eyed his hand. He quickly let go and smiled. “Emily, I’m just kidding with you. Come on, it’s just jokes…it’s who I am, really.”
She cocked a brow, unable to keep the smile off her face as he stood there with an innocent boyish grin. She knew he was anything but. “If you want me to go with you today, you keep your hands to yourself, Blake. Got it? If not, I will make you pay severely for it.”
“Sounds kinky,” he smirked. She sighed. “However, I’m nothing but a peasant to your request of being a gentleman,” he playfully bowed. “Now let’s go. We need to catch the number four.”
“Wait, we’re taking the bus?”
“Uh, no,” he laughed. “The number four’s the subway.”
“Oh, I thought we would drive?”
“Hell no.” He took the backpack from her and tossed it over his shoulder. “We’re doing this certified New York, doll.”
Despite her surprise that she was actually going to spend the day with him, Emily followed, and a couple of city blocks later, they hopped onto the subway. Between a teenage couple making out as if they were at a house party, a guy in a flowered sundress talking to himself while eating Chinese food with his hands, and the mass of overly aggressive Yankees fans chanting “Let’s go, Yankees,” Emily was more than thrilled when they finally arrived at the stadium.
Once there, they both got something to eat. Emily ordered a hot dog and a bottle of water, and Gavin chose a bag of peanuts and a beer. He showed Emily to their seats, which happened to be right behind home plate. Gavin looked like a kid in a candy store, and Emily found it cute to see a man of such power getting so excited over being at a baseball game.
Gavin glanced at his watch as the stadium slowly started to fill. “We have some time. The game will start within thirty minutes.”
Emily nodded and looked down to her phone, noticing she had a missed call from Dillon. She shifted in her seat and began to rethink what she had actually gotten herself into—now that she found herself alone with Gavin at the game. She debated whether or not to tell Dillon where she was, but before she could delve too far into her self-imposed dilemma, Gavin spoke up.
“Let’s play fifty questions while we’re waiting for the game to start,” he popped a peanut into his mouth. “I get to go first.”
“Bullshit, you went first the last time. I get to go first.”
He laughed. “You don’t miss a beat, do you?”
“Not usually.”
“Okay, seems fair. Ask me something.”
Emily’s mind roved over what she knew she wanted to ask him but was unsure if she should. Nonetheless, it was her turn to let her curiosity get the better of her. “I want to know why you and your ex-fiancée broke up.”
His expression became guarded for a moment as he stared off into the stands. Emily saw the bright blue of his eyes change as though a cloud passed by overhead—and in that moment, she regretted bringing it up.
He leaned forward, placing his beer on the ground, and then looked back to Emily. “Hmm, my first question addressed to you the last time we played was about your favorite ice cream flavor. You’re going straight for the kill, I see.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that,” she whispered, looking down to the ground.
“No, it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting that right out the gate. But I feel comfortable talking to you about it.”
Emily’s head snapped up. “You do?”
“Yeah, for some reason, I do.” Pulling in a breath, he leaned back in his seat and hesitated for a few seconds. “She left me because Blake Industries was going under at one point. My father offered Colton and me the funds to keep it afloat. But us Blake boys tend to be a little stubborn, and we refused his help, knowing we would get it back on track on our own.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I explained everything to her, letting her know that we needed to cut back on some of our spending until I could resurrect the company. She argued with me that I should accept my father’s money and called me crazy for thinking we could get back on our feet without his help. Along with Colton, I was firm on my decision not to take the money though. She was living with me in my penthouse after we got engaged. I came home one day after work to a letter—in beautiful handwriting, I have to add—saying that she couldn’t take the risk of not living the life I had afforded her.” He reached down for his beer, took a sip, and exhaled a breath. “Five years together and her goodbye to me…was a letter.”
Emily searched his eyes and was able to see the pain that swirled beyond them. “You loved her,” she whispered.
He gave a quick shrug. “Yeah, she broke my heart. I thought she loved me for the man I was without the glitz and money. I mean, when we first met, I was in my senior year of college, so it wasn’t that I was as successful as I eventually became. She betrayed the faith that I had in love when she left.” He pressed his lips into a hard line. “Don’t get me wrong; looking back on it now, I know we weren’t made for one another. One, she was too concerned about the way we appeared in public—anything from what cars her and I drove to what parties we attended in the city.” He rubbed at his chin absently and continued. “She wasn’t like that when we first met; the change was gradual. Our biggest difference was that she made it clear she never wanted children. I loved her enough to consider a life without having any, but like I said, looking back, she wouldn’t have been worth giving up the chance to have a family.”
A faint smile touched Emily’s mouth. “You want kids?”
“I want bucketloads tucked neatly into a minivan,” he laughed.
“Gavin Blake in a minivan?”
“Absolutely,” he replied, reaching for his beer. “A funky forest green one, too.”
Emily laughed for a moment at his admission. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he adjusted his baseball cap, feeling a little shocked by everything he just told her. She was now starting to understand his need for filling voids.