Page 9 (1/2)

Theair in Central Park was ust Emily spread a small sheet under one of the htness of the sun Placing her backpack beside her, she took out its contents, which consisted of two sandwiches, a couple of bottles of water, and her favorite novel, Wuthering Heights All she needed noas Dillon When she glanced at her watch, she noticed he was already twenty minutes late As the city around her hummed its daily incessant chatter - even in the serene peace of the park - she decided to give hi

He answered on the first ring, his voice traveling through the phone with a hint of remorse "Please don’t be , she didn’t speak

"Em, are you there?"

"Yeah, I’m here, but you’re not Where are you?"

"I’m in New Jersey, but - "

"You’re in New Jersey?" she interrupted "Dillon, what the heck? I’ in Central Park by myself"

"Emily, would you just let me explain?"

"Fine, Dillon, explain"

"Remember the Japanese tycoon I told you was interested in investing with Morgan and Buckingha her reply, but none came "Takatsuki Yamamoto?"

"Get to the point"

"Shit, Eh, and he continued

"He flew in froht and is only out here for the next two days He asked tofro me to come out here" He answered a question directed at hiround while Eo I’ain, E

"Come on," he breathed "We’ll do it another day"

"I know; it’s just that I took off fro forward to - "

"E to make me feel bad," he let out, his tone clearly annoyed "This is important to me I’ll be at your place by six" With that, the line went dead

After the shock of hi up on her wore off, E up as supposed to be their little roetaway As she tucked the sheet into her backpack, she straightened at the sound of her na called out from a distance Before she even turned to see the face, a fale traveled up her spine She kneho it was When she finally spun around, Gavin was jogging across the park, s, with his niece and nephew at his side The backpack slipped through her fingertips as she took in his casual attire - a white V-neck T-shirt, creao shorts, and a blue New York Yankees cap Ehts as he approached

It wasn’t just that his presence pulsed through her It wasn’t that hisin herher every drea charm, bold confidence, insane sexiness, and the undeniable male dominance he exuded Every bit of it seeped fros - a truly lethal cocktail - scared and fascinated her at the same time It was as if a twisted paradox occurred whenever she was around him As much as she seriously felt the need to flee from him at that very moment, she also felt irreparably drawn to hie in the air A tense kind of feeling see her feel breathless To top it all off with a heavy dose of whipped crea him now flooded her psyche with their last encounter teeks ago

Breathe, E toward her

Kneeling down to hug her, E here?" she asked as nonchalantly as hu the circumstances

Gavin hunched over and propped his hands on his thighs, trying to catch a decent breath He then stood straight up and s for a while and decided to take these two squirts here to play some soccer"

Ti "Uncle Gaffin took us to feed the duckies, too"

Gavin swished his hand through Ti fest with Donald and Daisy"

"Very cool," Eul and a nanny all in one"

"Add it to hed

"I can’t believe you spotted me here," Emily said

"Well, I actually didn’t see you; these two did"

"Uncle Gaffin told us to sayyou first, Eh Emily’s hair "But he did saw you first and said to co up a brow, Eht shade of cri children to tell a fib, huh?"

He shook his head and sht hed at his response "What are you doing here?"

"Dillon was supposed to ot called into New Jersey" She lifted her backpack froo home"

Theresa pouted her lips "Can you stay and play soccer wif us, E up to Gavin "I’m not sure Maybe another time?"

Theresa frowned

"You won’t have to endure the torture of being aroundover his face "Colton and Melanie should be here in ten et the hirief" She placed her backpack down "Can you handle it?"

"Mmm, I can handle it and handle it very well," he smirked "Can you play soccer?"

"I’m a quick learner"

"And I’m an excellent teacher"

He dropped the ball to the ground, giving it a quick kick Theresa and Ti around you is not torture, Gavin," E away froht up to her side "Right, you rief But, no worries, I really do take that as a cohed

Over the next fifteen a back a bit and watched E a seat on top of a picnic table, his senses reeled at everything about her His eyes swept over her body, ulti on her face as he adhed while his mind tried to wrap itself around the way his niece and nephew clung to her He knew children had a keen sense of the aura that surrounded people, so it only justified what his heart already knew - her presence wastheret

As she ran around with them, he watched E the locks and creating a fiery halo of rich auburn His need for her snaked through his bones, cutting straight down to the marrow Froe happen in his chest when she looked at hihtened in his stomach, and he realized he could find himself in deeper than he already was if she looked at him like that too often

Histhere was nothinghe knew for sure was that his eht in a clusterfuck of epic proportions Being around her was self-inflicted pain at its finest, but it was so to endure if for one reason only - just to be close to her The sound of Colton calling his nahts

Thank God for sed the children and bid Colton and Melanie goodbye, Gavin walked with her to gather her belongings

"Mr Blake, it’s always a pleasure," E out her hand

Gavin didn’t oblige by shaking it because he knew if he touched her he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge of pulling her into his htly

E the backpack over her shoulder

Gavin found his words stuck in his throat like verbal gridlock "Wait, that’s it? You’re going to just leaveboy I think you can find sohed for a moht this could be an opportunity to redeem myself"

"Redeem yourself? What for?"

"For my behavior the last time I saw you I’m sorry that I made you uncomfortable, but" He lowered his voice and stared directly into her eyes "I’m not sorry about the way I feel about you, Es, and I can’t deny them But I really just need to be friends with you"

She sed nervously, her voice as low as his "Gavin, we’ve talked about this before and - "

Cutting her off, he stepped closer "I promise you this ti to et it out there - about the way I feel about you - but now I’m done" He shifted on his feet and took a step back, not letting his eyes stray froot me twisted for some reason that I can’t understand, and I don’t know if I ever will I find you to be the most remarkable" He drew in a deep breath "I don’t know There’s so about you that justsets you apart from any other woman I’ve everto put s aside just to be your friend" Just to be near you

Not only did her heart pause with his words, but her stoed his face True e deep down told her he was sincere "Okay, we’ll try this again So you wantout with you here for a little while?"

Gavin took in a deep lungful of air, the knot in his chest releasing, as he realized he had been holding his breath awaiting her answer "You like baseball, don’t you?"

"How did you know that?"

"The night that I found out you were really Erinned "Before you cae baseball fan That’s how I know that little bit of information"

"You wanther brows

"You can take in all of the spectacular sights New York has to offer However, you haven’t experienced New York to its fullest until you’ve been to a Yankees game" He same today, but he canceled on me at the last minute" He pulled the tickets from his back pocket and held them up "I have season tickets, but it would be a shao to waste"

A confused smile touched her o to a Yankees game with you?"

"I do"

"I don’t know," she replied, looking down to the ground and then back to hiht be a little toohis blue eyes sparkle mischievously "Surely, in a stadium filled with 50,000 people, I should be able to holdyou"

Emily screwed her mouth to one side "True," she admitted "But I’ Is that so else you can handle?"

With widened eyes, he placed a hand over his chest,like that, and you et me to not admire you as much as I do I’hed "But, yes, I’ next to a non-Yankees fan that I’ve brought with hed "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 knohat it is"

He placed his hand on the s her out of the park "No problem Whatever it is, I can most definitely handle it"

She cahed "You will listen to o nowhere with you, Gavin Blake Do you understand?"

A delicious grin slid across his mouth "I’m all ears"

"Like that," sheon her back He swith your mouth when you pull it between your teeth"