Page 30 of Blake

Pax laughed lightly as he wanted her to, erasing the look of tension that she had worn for the last few hours.

They walked towards the doors and Eddie and Pete nodded.

“Miss Paxton.”

“Hi, Eddie, Pete.”

The two men fell in behind them. To Blake it all felt surreal. He had always been the PPO and now he had two men watching his back similarly. He didn’t like it and he didn’t need it. He had to grudgingly admit though, as Eddie slipped in front of them to get the doors and proceeded them, they weren’t bad at it.

Light flooded the entrance and a cache of photographers and journalists jostled to put microphones in front of their faces as Eddie and Pete hustled them to a car.

“Miss Paxton, what happened to your eye?”

“Miss Paxton, is true you are to marry an Englishman?”

“Miss Paxton, are you back for good?”

Questions came from all angles and Pax handled it with the same calm composure she handled everything else. She held her head high and smiled her unique smile. “If and when there is anything to tell, I’ll tell it.”

Eddie ushered them into a waiting car and Blake let him. It would have raised questions if they hadn’t. The door slammed on the limo and Pete pulled away from the curb seconds later.

Pax sighed and leaned into him, letting her mask slip.

He rubbed her hand with his thumb. “You okay?”

“Yes. I just forgot how bloodthirsty they were.” She sighed again. “Sorry you got caught up in this, Cal.”

She’d used his given name for the first time, and it made him want to kiss her until she could hardly catch her breath. There was something very intimate in her using the name that only his family used. He liked it—perhaps too much.

“Don’t be sorry, this isn’t your doing. I’m glad I’m the one you came to for help.”

Pax quirked her head at him, obviously waiting for him to expand on his remark.

“If you had gone to someone else, I wouldn’t have gotten to know the sweet beautiful girl underneath the stunning sexy woman.” He saw her face soften even as she dipped her head to blush beautifully.

Blake let her have her moment and tapped on the window.

“Hey, Pete, stop the car and find us a cab,” he said when the window came down.

“But…”

Blake cut him off. “Just do it.” His tone brooked no argument.

“As you wish.” Blake could tell Pete wasn’t happy from the way his jaw was clenched tightly as he cast a look at Eddie who shrugged.

The car slid to a stop and Eddie stepped out to hail them a cab. Blake followed suit and as soon as the cab skidded to a halt beside them, helped Pax out. Once they were safely inside the cab, he gave the driver the address.

Then they sat back silently, Pax shoring up her emotional defences against the upcoming meeting with her parents and Blake trying to decide how he would play this. Either way, he was going to let Mr and Mrs Paxton know that Gracie was off limits to them from now on and if they didn’t like that, then it was tough shit. The woman who was almost statue still at his side meant something to him. She meant a lot and he wouldn’t let her be hurt ever again.

He didn’t delve deeper into his thoughts knowing now wasn’t the time. But later he would, and he would see what Robert Paxton saw the minute he opened the door.

Chapter Thirteen

As the cab pulled up behind the limo at the first of the two security gates, Pax felt her stomach knot painfully. This had been her home her entire childhood and most of it had been happy, if a little lonely. She felt Blake grip her hand anchoring her to the present. She gave him a shaky smile that felt false even to her.

As they drove, the lights over the beautiful Tuscan style home came into view. It was a stunning house and the view over the mountains and canyon were breath-taking. The cab stopped and she took a deep breath as Eddie opened the door and Blake got out holding out a hand for her. She waited as Blake leaned in and offered the driver some money and took a card with the number to call him back on.

Blake held on to her hand tightly as they walked to the front door and he rang the bell as she had done since the night she’d left, and it had stopped being her home. Blake stood close, his arm touching her shoulder, the warmth from it comforting her and giving her strength. The door swung open and there he was—the man who had raised her, who had been her idol and the first man to break her heart.