Chasing Imperfection (Chasing Series 2) (7 page)

     “
He doesn’t hate you—the man is just hurt because you rejected him. I don
’t think that sits well with a man like Blake
. I don’t think he knows what rejection feels like
and you dished it out to him
. He’ll get over it
.”

     Why does everyone tell me that Blake will eventually
“
get over it
”
? Have they seen how much the man has changed? How much he loathes me? His eyes practically sliced me into two.
And he totally looked hot…I’m such a charity case.

     “Who knows if he’s been rejected? Not many can resist him you know. Apart from his vast wealth, the man is a walking sex on a stick.” My heart palpitated with thoughts of Blake with women again.
Crap
, this has got to stop.

     “Exactly, you don’t want that do you? You should think about the future and what you want. I know you’re still recovering and you’re doing a great job. But you have to let it go, Sienna. It’s not healthy.” I turned around and face
d
Kyle.

    
“You mean it’s time for me to move on and consider you and me again?”
I
look
ed
him straight in the eye.

     “Yes…that too.
I love you and I’ve been in love with you since I was ten I think. I told my mom that very same day that I was going to marry
you
someday.
I want to marry you today, tomorrow…it doesn’t matter. I’m nuts about you.
We have history—just think about it? Promise me that
,
will
you
?”

     “Marry you today or tomorrow?”
I joked and tapped the tip of his nose.

     “Sure. I’d love to. I can’t stop loving you…or wanting you baby. I’ve tried and it was pointless. I know you’re not ready to get married yet—so all I’m asking
you
is
to
start really thinking about us. How about a trial period? Two weeks or a month? See if you can be with me, that’s all I ask. Promise me you will consider it?
”

     I smiled at his pleading face. “Okay, okay. If you’re
that
desperate to be with me, then I promise to think about it.”

     He laughed
,
making his eyes twinkle. “God you’re awesome!”
H
e bent over to kiss me on the lips. “Now, get your fine sexy self ready or else we’ll be crazy late to the gig.”

     “Fine
,
then go wait for me ou
tside so I can finish up faster
.
”
I shooed
him out of the room.

     I gathered up and slipped
on
my lace-up knee-high black boots and started with my heavy lined make-up. Leaving my dark wavy hair down, few pumps of my Coco Mademoiselle perfume and gathered my clutch purse.

     “I’m ready
,
” I called out to Kyle. Maybe I can be ready to be with Kyle again. We’ll see how things
un
fold.

    
First
, I need my beloved Chad to
emerge
from his coma.

5

Blake

    
Entering the famed
French Restaurant on Baker Street, I politely declined the offer of the maitre
d
’
for assistance. I
knew Lucy and Toby were waiting impatiently
.

     They’ve been
calling and
texting
like
mad for the past ten minutes. I’m late and I didn’t mean to be. But Ivanna took her sweet
time
while getting ready. Ivanna’s the Nordic beauty from the plane. The woman was uncontainable on the way back from Italy. I obliged her pouty requests. I fucked her twice and the invitation for her to join me and my friends for dinner sprouted out of nowhere. Are you sure it wasn’t because there’s
a possibility of
her
joining
us for
dinner?
Possibly
, I just knew I
couldn’t
go in there defenseless.

     The minute I found their table, Lucy’s eyes bugge
re
d out. “Lucy, Toby this is my companion for tonight, Ivanna.” Luce and Toby greeted her politely as we took our seats.

     “So Ivanna, tell me—how
did
you two meet?”
Her
bright
blue eyes
were
inquisitive as she took a long lengthy sip of her red wine.

     “Oh we met today—I was his stewardess for Italy and he swept me off my feet. It was love at first sight.”
Ivanna flashed
her winning white smile at me while
I paled from her retort.

    
Love?
What the fuck is this woman on?

     Luce choked on her wine and covered her mouth with the silk napkin as she coughed. She took a sip of water and cleared her throat. “Love at first sight you say? That’
s epic. Congratulations you two!
I’m so happy you’ve finally found your one true
love
, Blake. I knew you’ve been scouring the streets of London
to no
avail
and
finally
….
here you are—at last.”
Her voice
dripped
with her usual sweetness and a
trace
of sarcasm. She looked furious
.

     “Lucy!
” Toby warned her with a quick glance before returning to Ivanna. “That’s splendid! I’m happy for you both,”
he said with
his usual charming demeanor.

      “Thank you! Isn’t that great baby? They already like me!” the delusional woman went on.
Christ
, had I known
she was going to rant like a rambling floozy,
I wouldn’t have invited her. But now, I’m stuck with her for the rest of the night while Lucy
’s
eyes throw
daggers at me.

    
“L
et’s order, shall we
?
”
I distracted myself with the menu as they discussed what to order.

    
When dinner was served, we spoke about Chad and the business world.
The whole time Ivanna was compliant and k
ept touching my thigh which never failed to distract
my attention
and it made
me halt a few times
mid sentence
. Lucy’s laser eyes saw where her hand kept reaching out and I reddened
under
her scrutiny.

    
Thank god she kept her opinion
s
to herself without making snide remarks. Lucy’s a sweet girl but try crossing her and it
’
s game over. Her attention kept diverting back to her phone and she would smile once in awhile
whilst reading the messages
.

     “Why are you smiling like that, who are you talking to?” Toby asked her.

    
Her vibrating phone became a nuisance.

    
“Oh, I just found out about this new fave band that
I love. They’re playing
tonight. We’re going there after we’re finished
to
enjoy live music and company
. Do you two lovebirds want to come and join us?” she asked sweetly.

     “Sure, count us in.” Ivanna gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “This is going to be a fun night!” she c
r
oo
n
ed with her think accent.
Christ
, can she be any more annoying? I hate being fondled in front of an audience.

     “Sounds
….
lovely
,
” Luce
murmured
drily
.

    
After dinner,
I had Richard drive us
to our next destination
. We s
lid out of the Bentley and
Ivanna linked her arm
with mine as
we entered the punk rock-like atmosphere.
The band that Lucy was tal
king about already
started
playing.
They sounded good and
a
large
crowd milled around the stage.

    
We were seated in a booth that gave us a great view of the stage. Toby took the liberty of ord
ering us alcohol and I was relieved to
get away from Ivanna’s clasping hands. I could easily brush her off, but
I didn’t feel like being much of a brute
tonight. It’s been a long day. The visit in Italy took another toll on me. My uncle had a heart attack. He’s stable now
—but needs to rest.
My
aunt
was
barely hanging in there. I was trying to figure out a way to make things easier
for them
when the lead singer’s voice boomed over the microphone after their song.

    
“I want to invite a very good friend of ours up here. He helped us out and signed our band. He became a very good friend and
we
found out that he can seriously jam. Kyle Matthews get your bloody arse up here!”
T
he crowd applauded
and hooted for the
“
guest.
”
T
he bloody fuck emerged and went up on stage.

     I tensed
and looked
accusingly
at Lucy and Toby who had his hands held up. “Had no clue mate, don’t look at me.”

     “Lighten up will you? Now,
hush
. I want to hear this one out
,
”
Lucy
ordered.

    
Damn
, I should’ve seen this coming when she invited us to go somewhere tonight. Lucy’s on Sienna side and it didn’t take much to realize
that
this is Lucy’
s
way
of punishing me for being so crass of late.

     “Hello
,
” the smiling idiot said on the microphone. “This is my first time playing wit
h a large crowd
, so I
beg you guys
to be patient.
I’m going to play
Somewhere in between
by Lifehouse.
” Strapping the guitar on his shoulder, sat down and
strummed
it a few times before speaking again. 

    
“This is song’s for Sienna—the love of my life
. Rem
ember w
hat you promised.
” He winked at someone in the audience and I examined the crowd looking for her. I found her sitting in another booth across the room smiling up to him. The room was dark but I could see her sappy looking face.

   
What did she promise him?
What the hell!

     “Goodness, he’s going to
serenade
her!
Right in front of all these people! How
romantic
!
Sienna’s proba
bly peeing in her knickers just about
now.”
Lucy’s
excitement piqued my
increasing
annoyance of the damning situation.

   
The fucking wanker’s
going in for the kill
and she looks like she’s eating it all up.
I
wanted to throw something at him
to shut his gob
.

     He start
ed to play the guitar and sang
. His soft raspy voice lulled the audience to silence.

     
I can't meet
      Losing sleep over this
      No I can't
      And now I cannot stop pacing
      Give me a few hours
      I'll have this all sorted out
      If my mind would just stop racing
...

     “Gosh, did any of you know that he can
actually
sing? What a lovely voice!
Is it just me or has Kyle gotten
edgier
? Look at all those tats
. It looks incredible
,
”
Luc
e gushed with amazement.