Page 15 of Loving the Beast (Beauty 5)
Erin sat across the room from him playing chess with his father.
And winning, judging by the surprised look on his father’s face. He wasn’t bested often, at least partly because people were intimidated by him. Erin was intimidated, Blake knew, but that only drove her harder. His chest grew tight, a mixture of pride and love—and undeniable lust. It turned him on when she kicked ass.
“Check,” she said.
Curious, he stood and crossed the room. “She has your king on the run,” he commented idly.
Of course his father would know that. “Indeed. Did you teach her that?”
“That particular trick she already knew.” He studied the board while his father moved in defense. Erin moved quickly after that, on the offense, using her bishops in tandem to sweep her father’s pieces across the board. “She has a way of winning a man over.”
A small smile crossed Erin’s face. “Man or woman, I play to win. Check.”
His father studied her with new and cautious respect after his king moved back again. “You know most young people would have humility. They’d say it was probably just luck to have bested me.”
“It’s not luck.” She reached over to place her knight. “So why lie? Checkmate.”
His father studied the way he’d gotten trapped on the board—and the way she’d almost hidden the knight behind a rook, so that in his hasty, single-minded retreat, he hadn’t noticed until it was too late. “I’ll be damned.”
“It’s okay,” Blake said. “I felt the same way when I met her.”
Well, not exactly the same. He’d also felt arousal so intense it had jolted him back to the land of the living, when he’d thought himself almost past desire.
“Tell me your strategy,” his father said, in that imperious way he had that made people fall at his feet.
Erin shrugged. “You rely too much on your queen. Most people do. It leaves your king vulnerable.”
That earned her an eyebrow raise. Then his father turned to Blake. “She’s a lovely young woman. And smart too. Probably even smarter than you.”
“Definitely.”
“Well, you made a good choice. I wish you both a long and happy life.”
Blake’s chest ached, because he wanted more than anything for that to be the truth, for his father to be a stern and emotionally remote but ultimately good man. But he couldn’t ignore what Erin had told him. He deserved for her sake, for her mother’s sake—even for his own sake, to know the truth about what had happened here.
He lowered his voice. “Could I speak with you a moment?”
His father’s forehead creased. “Yes. In my office.”
“We’ll just be a few minutes,” he told Erin, hoping she’d understand why he had to leave her alone for a few minutes. He wouldn’t have left her with his father… on the off chance something had happened back then. But he would do it now to get some answers.
She looked confused, her pretty brows drawn together. “Of course. Take your time. I’ll be here.”
“You can go upstairs and take a nap.” He doubted she would sleep, but at least then she could be in a somewhat private place while he was gone.
“Maybe.” Her smile was fleeting.
He didn’t like leaving her this way, with words left unspoken between them, but now was the time if he was
ever going to confront his father about this. So he gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. “We’ll be quick,” he promised.
Chapter Five
Erin stared at the empty doorway where Blake had just been. What was that about? He’d been quiet after lunch, sitting apart from them while they’d played chess. The Ice Queen had disappeared to “take a nap” after lunch, though Erin was beginning to understand that was the term used in this house for anything private.
Suddenly she heard footsteps. Was Blake back already? He’d said they would be quick.
But these didn’t sound like Blake’s footsteps.
