“I can’t imagine any way that you could rationalize having bet on me,” Michelle said through gritted teeth as she finally reached the exit. As long as she could keep the tears at bay until she got into her car, she’d consider this emotional outburst a relative success. But with the way Blake kept pace with her, she doubted she’d be able to escape like she wanted.

  She pushed through the double doors, focusing on her car parked in the lot off to the side. That was her goal. She was so close.

  “Will you let me explain?” Blake asked, his voice scraping through the evening air.

  “Unless you can explain how I misheard something that I very clearly heard, I don’t think there’s anything you can say that will make this situation better.” Michelle stomped up to the car, Blake staying right on her heels.

  “Don’t be dense, Michelle,” Blake said in a low voice. “You can’t assume you know the whole story after overhearing one thing.”

  “I don’t assume to know the whole story. I just assume to know enough. And what I’ve learned tells me you’re not the person I thought you were. And that’s enough for me.”

  She tried to open the door, but Blake pressed his palm against the window. “Don’t do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “You’re being irrational.”

  She let out a disbelieving laugh. “Irrational? No, I’d say I’m being quite rational. Now everything makes sense. Why you were so interested to take me out so frequently from the moment you met me, but then after date five…well, basically nothing. I’m sure ‘focusing on opening your nightclub’ was a convenient excuse not to see me when you were never really into me in the first place.”

  Something hard slid over Blake’s face, like a mask, and when he spoke, it came out a growl. “That is not fucking true. It started as a bet, but I didn’t know you then. None of us did. It was a dumb bet, but it didn’t take long before it was just an excuse to spend time with you. And then it stopped mattering at all, and all I cared about was us being together. That’s the fucking difference.”

  She shook her head, emotion tightening her throat. Hearing him admit the fact that it had been a bet right from the start was somehow the worst of all. Truly, she’d been hoping—like a delusion perhaps—that she had misheard him or misunderstood.

  “Glad that taking me out on the requisite five dates won you a prize,” she spat, tugging at the door handle again. This time, Blake let her open the door.

  “Michelle. Please.” He sounded tired. Like all the life had drained out of him. “Hear me out. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Did you ever have me to begin with?” she asked, and then slammed the door shut on him. She tried not to look at him as she turned the engine, afraid that seeing the emotion in his eyes or the pain slashed across his face might make her reconsider.

  She hurried to pull out of her parking spot, not allowing her breath to escape until she’d pulled onto the road. Once they were about a mile away, she allowed herself to pull over in the empty parking lot of a strip mall. Parking the car, Michelle squeezed the steering wheel until her knuckles went white, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  She needed to let it all out before she got home. She couldn’t let Mollie see her like this. So she cried for herself. For Mollie. For all those stupid, hopeful dreams that she’d had no business dreaming in the first place. She should have known better—had her experiences with her ex taught her nothing?

  You chose wrong again. You chose Blake. This is your fault, Michelle.

  Her shoulders shook with loud, painful sobs she didn’t bother trying to hold back. Maybe if she let them all out now, she wouldn’t find herself crying again later, in her room tonight, where Mollie might be able to overhear. Her little girl was already going to be crushed when she learned that they wouldn’t be seeing Mr. Blake again. Michelle didn’t want to make it worse by letting Mollie see how hurt and angry her mommy was, as well.

  She’d never been this hurt before. Not even by her ex. At least there she’d known all along that he was manipulative, that something was wrong about them.

  But with Blake? He’d gone above and beyond to prove himself to be a nice guy, only to have her discover at the last minute that the whole thing had been a lie.

  Somehow, that was worse. Because her ex had been cruel by nature. But Blake had been cruel by choice.

  And now, Michelle had learned the lesson for good.

  She’d never allow herself to make a mistake like this again.

  17

  Back inside the club, Blake was ready to shut it all down.

  It didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t even care. Not when Michelle had just walked out of his life.

  “Is everything okay?” Daniel asked when Blake came back in.

  He raked a hand through his hair, pacing in front of the door. “No. She left. She—” He dragged his hands down his face, unable to decide if he wanted to puke or collapse. “She’s gone. She wouldn’t listen.”

  Grayson rubbed at the spot between his eyes, concern etched across his face. “Fuck, Blake. I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s…I don’t know whose fault it is.”

  “I’ll talk to her. I will take full responsibility,” Grayson said. “It was my idea. It was just a stupid bet—I had no idea it would become something real.”

  “None of us knew,” Daniel added.

  “I should have told her earlier—come clean as soon as I realized I was serious about her,” Blake said, pinching at the bridge of his nose. Tears were coming—from where, he couldn’t say. He’d never felt so distraught, and so quickly. Especially not because of a woman. “But I didn’t think I needed to, because the bet…it didn’t even matter. It wasn’t even a thing after a while.”

  Mila glided up to the three of them a moment later with Jackie not far behind. “What’s wrong, guys?”

  Blake propped his hands on his hips, turning away from the group. Jackie slung her arm around Daniel’s waist.

  “Why do you all look like you just saw ghosts?” Jackie asked.

  Blake gritted his teeth, unsure if he had the strength to get into this right now with them. But maybe he should. So then he could gauge the damage, from a woman’s perspective.

  “We just, uh,” Daniel started, looking to Blake for guidance.

  “Blake’s having—” Grayson said at the same time.

  “I fucked things up with Michelle,” Blake blurted, staring at the ground. The uneasiness that churned inside him had completely morphed into a solid brick of regret. “She was here, but she left already.”

  Jackie frowned. “Oh. I really liked her.”

  “Are you serious?” Mila put her hands on her hips, looking exasperated. “I wanted to have her over to the store. I have some pieces for her that she’s going to love.”

  “It was my fault,” Grayson spoke up, glancing guiltily at Blake. “I bet Blake he couldn’t go on five dates with the same woman. We picked Michelle, just at random. We didn’t know that…”

  Mila gasped. “You’re kidding.”

  “It didn’t stay a bet,” Blake said. “I fell in love with her.” His throat tightened unexpectedly. That was the first time those words had left his mouth. And God, it was so true. He’d fallen head over heels for her when he wasn’t even looking.

  Jackie shook her head sadly, looking at Grayson. “You sure have a history of betting on your friends not finding love.”

  “And look what happened. Both times it led them to love,” Grayson said.

  “Yeah. But keeping it is a different story,” Blake muttered.

  “Our bet was different though,” Jackie went on. “I was in on it. We were pulling the wool over your eyes.”

  “I wasn’t pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes,” Blake said, feeling painful prickles shoot through his chest. “The bet stopped mattering, as far as I was concerned.”

  “It’s true. We knew it was off—and we were happy for him. The only reason it even came up tonight was because of the stakes. If Blake won, I was supposed to get DJ Fiesta for the opening. I mentioned rescheduling him for a different event,” Daniel said. “I just wanted to honor our agreement—it wasn’t Blake pushing for it.”

  “DJ Fiesta won’t be able to make it to the rescheduled grand opening,” Grayson told Jackie, “but he agreed to show up—as a favor to Daniel—to Blake’s charity event two Saturdays from now. I just wanted to make sure Blake was prepared.”

  Blake shoved his hands in his pockets, the twist in his gut enough to make him nauseous. “I don’t know what to do. She wouldn’t listen to me. I think I lost her.”

  “No. You haven’t lost her. You just need to give her time,” Grayson said.

  “She has every right to be pissed,” Mila added. “But you need to show her why she shouldn’t stay pissed.”

  Blake drew a deep breath, his gaze pinging across the club. One thing was for certain—he didn’t want to stay here. He was too jumbled inside to enjoy it anymore.

  “I think I need to go home.”

  “No. Stay here. Enjoy all your hard work. You earned this, buddy,” Grayson said, gesturing around the room. “Have a drink and try to relax. Michelle will come around, I promise.”

  Blake hesitated, but finally he nodded. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

  “See? Let’s go have a shot to take our minds off things.”

  “I’m definitely joining in on this,” Jackie said.

  Their group wandered toward the bar as Blake lagged behind. He’d stay—for now. But every inch of his mind and body were focused on Michelle.

  Please don’t let this be the last time I see her.

  Like Grayson said, Michelle would come around.

  Even though every cell of his body doubted it, he needed to cling to that. It was all he had for now.

  Michelle will come around.

  Grayson’s promise to Blake rang through his ears the entire following week. He thought of those words as he called her phone and it clicked to voicemail countless times. As he sent texts that were never answered. As she didn’t open the door on the two separate times he’d visited her house.

  Michelle will come around.

  Except by the following weekend, it was looking a lot like she wouldn’t. He hadn’t been able to so much as lay eyes on her since she pulled out of the nightclub parking lot last weekend, and it was looking like she planned on never speaking to him again.

  Exactly as she’d promised.

  By Sunday, Blake was still just as miserable. No, scratch that. He was even more miserable than the day it had happened. And he was pretty sure that his friends could tell, just by his silence in their group text.

  So when Grayson and Daniel showed up at his door on Sunday afternoon wearing derby hats and bearing a strange glint in their eyes, Blake suspected they were on a mission to make him feel better.

  “What are you guys doing here?” He stepped aside to let them in, running a hand through his tousled hair. It was just before noon, but he hadn’t bothered to get out of bed until their fervent knocking started. It was unlike him, but then again, a lot about him these days was unlike the normal Blake. And that had everything to do with Michelle.

  “Trying to pick up your damn spirits.” Daniel clamped a hand on his shoulder. “It’s time to test-drive some cars.”

  Blake grunted, scratching idly at his chest as he wandered through the penthouse and into the kitchen. His friends followed him. “I don’t know if I can go.”

  “What, you busy?” Grayson made a big display of looking around for signs of anything that might have Blake occupied. “You just got out of bed. Which is a sign that something is seriously wrong.”

  When it came time to explain his excuse, Blake couldn’t think of any good reason. Grayson simply nodded and jerked his head toward the hallway leading to Blake’s bedroom. “Go get changed. We’re driving a Ferrari today.”

  “Which you should buy,” Daniel added, “if you know what’s good for you.”

  Blake smirked as he headed for his bedroom. His friends knew what usually cheered him up, at least. And he should make a good go of it. Try to start forgetting about Michelle, since apparently that’s what she wanted from him.

  Not being able to see her at work all week had really grated on him—especially when he’d had to talk to HR to find out that she had left, cashing in her vacation days in lieu of giving notice. He had no idea where she worked now. And it was clear that she didn’t want to be found.

  That didn’t stop him from sending texts…or leaving voicemails…or sending the occasional bouquet of flowers to her house.

  “Come on!” Grayson called out from the living room once Blake had found himself stalled in front of his walk-in closet, unable to decide which shoes to put on.

  “I’m coming.” He slipped on some chinos and a polo shirt—to match his friends’ style of the day—and popped on a derby hat on his way out of his bedroom. Now they looked like brothers. Because in a way, they were. They were closer than some blood brothers. And he hated to imagine how far down the self-pity hole he might have gone if his best friends hadn’t showed up.

  Grayson and Daniel jostled him out the front door and toward Daniel’s sleek Porsche waiting for them at the front of the building.

  “This is going to make you feel better,” Grayson promised, squeezing Blake’s shoulders from behind Blake’s seat as Daniel sped off down the road. “You’ll forget all about everything.”

  “You mean forget how I fell in love with a woman who won’t even answer my phone calls?” Blake scoffed. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forget that.”

  “Are you sure it’s not just because you’ve never been heartbroken before?” Daniel asked, but when Blake didn’t grin, or even muster a grunt in return, Daniel elbowed him in the side. “I was trying to lighten the mood a little.”

  “I don’t need to have this happen ever again,” Blake said. “Once is enough for me, thanks. Taught me all I needed to know.”

  “And what is that?” Grayson asked.

  Blake lobbed a sigh. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Come on. Share your secrets,” Daniel encouraged.

  “Fine.” Blake crossed his arms, staring out the window as Daniel pulled onto the highway. “I realized there are fewer trade-offs than I thought.”

  “Trade-offs in what?” Daniel asked.

  “In being with someone. Having an actual relationship.” He drew a breath, trying to ignore the painful wrench in his gut that had accompanied him throughout his days for the past week. “I thought that being with someone was pointless, and that if it happened, it would require me to sacrifice myself. But that’s not the truth.

  Grayson grinned, shaking his head. “Nope. It’s not the truth at all.”

  “What gets sacrificed are just little pieces of me—pieces that I don’t need anymore,” Blake went on. “And what I get in return is…” He shook his head, sighing. “It’s the best thing I could ever hope for.”

  Daniel reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Damn. You’re about to make me cry.”

  “Can’t believe the world’s biggest playboy is saying all of this, but here we are,” Grayson teased.

  “Says the IPO-obsessed man who gave it up for Mila,” Blake said, before turning to Daniel to add, “And before you say anything else, let me remind you what an unhappy workaholic you were before you decided to give it all up and adopt a dog with Jackie.”

  “Hey. I still work. It’s just from home,” Daniel said, the grin curling at his lips.

  “Right.” Blake moved his attention back to the window. Daniel was passing all the other cars in the fast lane. But that’s how it always was when one of them drove—eager to win. “Though I’m pretty sure I remember a time when you swore on our lives that you’d never be caught dead working from home.”

  “Guess that just shows how much you can believe me,” Daniel cracked.

  “And what we’re worth to you,” Grayson added.

  The trio joked and chatted until they pulled into the gated lot of the luxury car dealership. Daniel must have called ahead to organize the event, because a salesman greeted them as soon as they stepped out of the Porsche, leading them to a matte red Ferrari waiting nearby.

  “This is some curbside service,” Blake said as the salesman passed the key to him. The friends settled into the lush interior of the car, outfitted with butter-soft black leather seats and a touch screen display that encompassed nearly the entire dashboard. “I’m in the driver’s seat today?”

  “Of course. We’re here to make you feel better,” Daniel said.

  “Getting to ride along is just a benefit,” Grayson said.

  “No burnouts,” the salesman warned as Blake settled into the front seat. He just grinned as he beheld the fully manual luxury sports car. This thing would help take his mind off things for a little bit.

  He turned the engine, which roared as much as it purred. A thrill of excitement shuddered through him. He didn’t exactly need a new car right now, but maybe he could swing something like this.

  Blake couldn’t hide the grin as he maneuvered out of the parking lot. Daniel and Grayson whooped as he gunned it out onto the open road.

  He laughed alongside them, but after a few moments driving seventy in a 50-mph zone, he glanced into his rearview mirror.

  Mollie would need the booster seat back there.

  His good spirits went tumbling to the ground. Because who was he kidding? This car wasn’t going to pick up his spirits. Not in the long run. Even though Blake himself would have suggested a purchase like this two months ago as a way to feel better about his world, now he realized that it was just a hollow filler that wouldn’t change a damn thing when it came to what truly mattered to him.

  “So?” Grayson prompted after they’d whizzed around the freeway for twenty minutes. “What do you think?”

  Blake squeezed the steering wheel. Part of him wanted to want it. Part of him felt like wanting it would be a way to prove to himself that he hadn’t been irrevocably changed—that he hadn’t truly fallen head over heels for Michelle, and possibly ruined the rest of his life that would be spent wanting her but never having her.