Page 18 of Mr. Blackwood

That statement intrigued me, though I knew he was right. I leaned in closer with my elbow on the table. He had given me the perfect opportunity to dig in and find out more about him for my exclusive story.

“Maybe we can change that. Seeing you out of character in anything less than a suit would be very interesting.”

He laughed, sipped his wine, and eyed me closely. Another chill danced down my spine, and my thighs clenched with a deep-seated need that I wasn’t sure my toys could fulfill, not even my Vesper.

“Seeing me without the suit can definitely be arranged,” he replied in a low tone.

I laughed, trying to tamp down and cover my natural reaction to his comment.

“Is that your arrogance poking its head out again?” I immediately realized my mistake when his eyes darkened, and he growled deep in his throat.

“He’s not arrogant, but confident, and I would have thought you believed it was too soon to see my arrogance or the head of him poking out, Ms. Valentine.”

Warmth crept up my face and neck, and I took a long, deep gulp of my wine.

“You might want to take it easy before you get yourself into further trouble,” he warned.

I couldn’t help but take a step into the deep. “Is that where I currently am, Mr. Blackwood? What does trouble even look like?”

“If you keep challenging me, you’ll find out right here on this mountaintop. The vineyards won’t be the most spectacular sight the tourists see out here, I promise you.”

“I think we’re moving pretty fast for a first date.”

“The one thing you’ll come to learn about me, gorgeous, is that I don’t operate on anyone’s schedule. I create and own my own timeline. I’m a man who takes advantage of every opportunity.”

“And wherever that leads, you’ll follow?”

“No. I’ll lure the opportunity to me; I don’t follow.”

I squirmed in my seat again and gave myself a silent reminder this was a story only, and I was on a mission. I needed to do whatever it took to get that story and walk away in the end.

“I guess that’s how you’ve accomplished all you have and accumulated such wealth through the years, huh?”

He smiled as if he knew what I was trying to do and sat back in his seat. “If you blushed any harder, gorgeous, you’d be the color of that outfit you’re wearing, which looks beautiful on you.”

“Thank you. It and mint green are my favorite colors. I’m guessing yours is black; it seems to be the only color you wear.”

He shrugged. “I wear other colors. You must prefer to recall what I look like in black, my dominant color of power.”

“Is that what black makes you feel? Dominance?”

A smile twitched his lips, and there was something about the way he declared, “Dominant isn’t just a feeling, Camilla, it’s who I am.”

That was an ambiguous statement if I’d ever heard one, but I decided to leave it alone—for now.

8 – JABARI

THREE DAYS LATER

Obviously, I had proven myself to Camilla because she accepted a second date. I wasn’t a man who chased after women. I never had to, even in my grinding years. Yet, there was something about this woman that called out to my spirit. I couldn’t just walk away and pretend that she was just another woman.

I wasn’t sure what her purpose in my life was, but I knew she had one. I wasn’t even sure if it would last, or if she was here to serve a specific short-term purpose and move on. As much as I wanted her in my bed, I felt it was more than just sex between us. I was willing to bide my time until I knew what the purpose was.

“Jabari, the restaurant is closed,” Camilla observed when we stepped out of the car.

I grabbed her hand and led her to the doors of 5Church Midtown as Creed pulled off in the Mercedes.

“They’re not closed.”