“I don’t want to date her. I want her lying beneath me — or on top. I’m an equal-opportunity kind of guy,” Blake said with a smirk.
“You could have any woman you want lying in your bed. But it’s Jewell you want — that means something.”
Blake knew he was being unreasonable, but he wouldn’t admit that out loud. He wanted Jewell with a passion that he couldn’t explain, and until he figured out what this hold she had on him was, he wasn’t going to let her go.
“I’ll repeat myself,” Max continued. “I think there’s more between you and Jewell than you’re ready to admit, and I won’t push you, but I will tell you to be careful. If you’re too cruel, you won’t stand a chance with her.”
“If I wanted counseling, I would seek out a professional,” Blake replied, and he looked at his watch for the hundredth time.
“Don’t worry; I throw in counseling services free of charge,” Max said with a grin.
“How about I pay you extra to keep your mouth shut?”
Max laughed. “You could try.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll soon grow weary of this woman and then I’ll send her on her way — in my own time, and without advice from you or anyone else.”
“Who are you trying to convince here, boss? Me? Or just yourself?”
“I don’t have to convince anyone,” Blake said, “and I don’t have to justify myself.”
“If that’s true, why are you getting so upset?”
“I’m not upset, Max,” Blake shouted. In any normal building, the walls would have been shaking visibly.
“Whatever you say, boss. But if you want some real advice, set her free, and then see if she still wants to be with you.”
“Set her free? Have you gone bonkers, Max? I just paid quarter of a million dollars for this woman,” Blake reminded him.
“So what? You have more money than any one person could ever possibly spend, and that bid counts as chump change to you. If you want to control her, go ahead and play this out any which way you want, but if you’re really interested in this woman, you’re going to have to change your strategy here.”
“I’m lost. What are you saying?” Blake followed Max’s lead and also began pacing the room. He shouldn’t even be listening to this, but he did have a lot of respect for this employee.
“Instead of owning her, offer her a job. Help her do the one thing she has been trying so hard to do,” Max said.
“A job?” Blake didn’t know what to think of his crazy driver now.
“Yes, a job. You have a lot of places where she could work. Give her a job,” Max said slowly.
“But she’s already mine.”
“For a month,” Max pointed out. “Are you so sure you can keep her after that?”
A month was a long time, dammit. In a month he could have her eating out of his hand. But then again, what if that weren’t the case? What if he still wasn’t finished with her in a month and then she disappeared forever? Geez; get a grip. Why was he even worried about it? It didn’t matter if that happened, right?
Right!
But he still couldn’t ignore what Max was saying.
“I’m going to get some paperwork done. Let me know when you’re ready to leave.” Max stood up and walked out of the room.
Blake sat back down, closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He wouldn’t need Max tonight. He would get to Jewell’s on his own. He certainly didn’t want to see the knowing look on his employee’s face again, or hear those lectures.
Yes, he knew if he told Max to stop doing it, the guy would indeed stop. But Max was the voice of reason for Blake when nothing else seemed to make sense. He didn’t want to silence the man. Well, maybe he wanted to silence him right now, and at any time when the subject was this woman. But overall, he needed one person he could talk to who wouldn’t hold anything back.
Though he’d spent only one week with Jewell, it had been a week that had affected him far more than he cared to admit, even to himself. The woman intrigued him, made him feel things he hadn’t ever felt before. But there was no way these feelings could last. He and she just had to play their story out, had to come to a satisfying ending. Once that happened — his hypothetical shrink would call it closure, no doubt — Blake would be able to let her go and never think of her again.
He hadn’t realized quite how great her impact on him had been until he’d started driving away from Relinquish Control three months ago and had seen the door she’d gone through, now closed and fading away in his taillights. The sick feeling in his gut should have made him steer clear of ever seeing her again.
But weren’t all men fools? His father sure as hell had been the biggest fool of them all, and his weakness for a woman had cost him his life. Blake wouldn’t ever be that weak. It was why he was so determined to purge Jewell from his system, and purge her he would.
Or maybe both of them were just fated for damnation.
Chapter Three
The world seemed to be rushing by in a blur. While the auction continued for the other girls, Jewell was rushed off the stage. She saw none of the money exchanging hands; she just felt her coat being placed on her shoulders as she was led out the back door to a waiting car.
“Where am I going? Who bought me?” she asked the alarmingly large man holding open the back door.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” he told her in a deep voice that was as terrifying as his size was. “Please get into the vehicle.”
He may have said please, but it was obvious the words weren’t a polite request. She had been paid for, and his boss, whoever he might be, wanted his merchandise now. Those long-threatening tears pressed even closer, and the burning grew more acute. But Jewell still fought to keep her outward composure.
She could try to run. It wasn’t likely that she’d get too far on the impractical heels she was wearing, but she could make a valiant effort. But then where would she be? Without any money or a place to live, and no closer to getting custody of her poor brother, a sensitive, grieving ten-year-old who was most likely stuck in a foster family from hell.
Yes, she could die. This man who had bought her could be a sovereign sheik from a foreign land who planned to enslave her, but wasn’t she already enslaved? Even if the chances of her getting out of this debacle unhurt were slim to none, at least she had a sliver of hope. And think how much had been bid for her! The fifty percent she’d get when the gig ended meant her beloved Justin would finally be hers.