Ruined (A Dark Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Katie Silver Page B

and looking at me expectantly.
     
    I sighed, wishing I could do something to break through the barrier he kept putting up. I grabbed my clutch and did one final adjustment on my gown before walking to the door. I paused briefly in the doorway and looked up at Blake, but his steely expression revealed nothing. I wanted to reach out and touch him, give him a kiss, let him know he could let his guard down with me. Instead, I turned and walked out the door, flinching slightly as I heard it close firmly behind me.
     
    I walked to my room and showered quickly, washing off the sweat, cum, and champagne. I couldn’t wash off the confusion, excitement, satisfaction, or disappointment that swirled inside of me as I rubbed myself with rose-scented soap.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 7.
     

                 
     
     
     
     
    The next morning, Blake brought me to the Harrison Media offices as promised. When I woke up and went down for breakfast, I found him in the kitchen. He was wearing a fresh grey suit with a deep green button-down that brought out the brightness of his eyes and the golden hue of his tan.  I briefly wondered how he maintained such a perfect, effortless tan all the time as he handed me a cup of coffee.
     
    “The car is waiting for us as soon as you finish breakfast,” he told me briskly as I gulped down my coffee.
     
    I nodded and grabbed a piece of toast, biting into it between sips of coffee. Blake watched in amusement as I scarfed down my breakfast.
     
    “You don’t need to rush,” he told me in a gentle voice.
     
    “But you said they were waiting,” I protested.
     
    “I pay them to wait. It isn’t your job to make everyone else’s life easier. Sometimes it is their job to make your life easier. That is your first lesson for the day.”
     
    I nodded and slowed down, enjoying my last few bites of toast and sips of coffee at a more leisurely pace.  Once I had finished, Blake led the way to the front entrance, where his limousine was waiting outside. The same driver who had picked me up at the bus station was leaning against the car. He stood upright and opened the door for us as we walked out.
     
    “Do you always travel like this?” I asked as I climbed into the back seat next to Blake.
     
    “Yes, I take a private car. It gives me the opportunity to get more work done on the way.” He had already flipped open a laptop and was pouring over some documents.
     
    I sat back, feeling a little embarrassed that I hadn’t thought to bring along something useful to do, or at the very least a novel.
     
    “Can I help you with anything?” I asked as he pulled some more documents out of his briefcase.
     
    “No. You can look through these contracts if you like, to get a better idea of some of the more detailed legal issues. I’ll show you the more exciting work when we get to the office.”
     
    I took the documents he handed me and started to page through them as we drove out of the driveway and down the narrow road. The documents were as dense and boring as he had promised and I found myself staring at most of the pages without comprehending what I was supposed to glean from them. After thirty minutes of looking through the thick contracts, I put them on the seat next to me and stared out the window.
     
    We were out of the quiet, expensive neighborhood of the Harrison Estate and were now driving across I-495 towards Manhattan. I watched small suburban towns flash by and couldn’t help but wonder how my family, my friends, and even Daniel, were doing back home. I had deliberately stayed away from my cellphone and my old email address, so I didn’t even know if any of them had attempted to contact me. I wasn’t ready to face them yet. My life seemed so different now. I was no longer the same girl who had left Mercy River only a few months earlier.
     
    I watched the scenery change from suburban homes to dense buildings and realized we were finally approaching the city. I