The Billionaire’s Girlfriend Bet - Leslie North Page 0,26
slept the night before from anxiety—waiting to see Blake again, eager to start the race, wondering what might happen next for the two of them—but now that he was here, his presence took the edge off of things.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Born ready.” She slung her waiting backpack over a shoulder and stepped out the front door.
“Where’s Mollie?”
“She’s spending the weekend at a friend’s house. She went yesterday.”
He arched a brow. “Which meant Mollie wasn’t here last night, and you had the house to yourself…?”
She laughed, pushing up onto her toes to plant a quick kiss on his lips. “Yes. But don’t worry that you missed out on anything. I dropped her off in Sonoma myself, and didn’t get home until midnight. I was so tired that I went straight to bed.”
He frowned. “Hm. Next time, let me know, and I’ll go with you. Hell, I’ll drive.”
Her cheeks already hurt from grinning so hard. This man was sent from heaven. “Deal. Now we better get a move on, or we’ll miss getting our packets.”
Blake led the way to his waiting SUV, her hand in his. “Packets?”
“Yeah, with our numbers and all that. I’ll show you how to do it all.”
“You know I’m going to have a twenty-minute mile, right?”
She giggled. “It’s okay. Nobody will judge you except God himself.”
“Very reassuring, Michelle.”
The two shared a warm smile as they hopped into the car, chatting easily on the drive to the park where the race started. The day was gorgeous, with crystal clear blue skies and tons of rolling green hills filled with trees and flowers and shrubs. The morning air was crisp and invigorating. This was what Michelle loved most about morning runs. The chance to start a brand-new day on the right foot.
Michelle acted as Blake’s guide through the registration process, and soon they were beaming at each other with their very own race numbers pinned to their chests and backs. Blake looked like a natural in his black running pants, skintight running shirt and trendy black running sneakers.
“You know, I’d have never guessed that you didn’t regularly run 5ks,” she said, nudging him in the side. “You look good in the number 3649.”
He smirked. “I just know how to fake it.”
“We’ll see about that. I wouldn’t be surprised if you can add ‘5k winner’ to your resume here soon.”
The heartbreaking grin that crossed his face made her heart beat a little faster. God, he was so easy to look at and get lost in. He’d willingly offered to be her 5k companion, which was an unheard-of offer when it came to her romantic partners. She’d never been with a man who shared the interest, and her ex had always criticized her desire to run and be in the fresh air. She’d always thought that if she could find someone willing to run a 5k with her, she’d die a happy woman.
Looks like that day has come.
The thought rang through her as she and Blake lined up for the start of the race. At the same time, while it was easy to get excited about Blake, she didn’t want to lose her head, either. After all, she’d been plenty excited about her ex in the beginning, and that had not ended well at all. It made her wonder if Blake might pull the same manipulative tricks down the road, the same bait and switch that her ex had, and slowly transform into a master manipulator and liar.
But damn, it was so hard to stay levelheaded when he did things like this. When he looked at her like he wanted to smother her with kisses midway through a sentence. When he showed up willingly at seven a.m. on a Saturday just to run a race he already was planning on losing.
The L-word floated dangerously close to her lips, but she wasn’t ready to think about that. Not when they still had so many other obstacles to overcome and elephants in the room. She had a lot of baggage to address. Blake deserved to know the truth about her history. About why Mollie’s father wasn’t in the picture anymore. What, exactly, Michelle had suffered with that gaslighting, emotionally abusive prick. Why she secretly expected the other shoe would drop when it came to Blake himself. Blake needed to know all of that before he decided if he wanted to move forward in a relationship with her.
And, of course, they still needed to have sex.
Which, if she had her way during her child-free