"Ha ha, very funny. Now come on! You already know that I'm an account executive at one of the largest marketing firms in all of New York City. Why is it that after all of these years, I don't know anything about you? Doesn't sound very fair to me."
After my declaration, the silence stretched on. For a while, we just looked out of opposite windows. I watched as the cars buzzed by, watched the couples inside of them. I bet they know what their partners do for a living. Not that Blake's my partner, but still.
I tried to piece together past conversations. Was there ever a time where he gave me a clue about what he did? I knew it had something to do with computers or programming, but was that all I'd gathered? Had I been so self-absorbed in all of our conversations that I hadn't try to pry further, to try to get to know Blake on a deeper level? A pang of guilt struck me as I felt like a crappy friend--I'd treated him like my therapist, always venting my problems and expecting him to fix them for me or soothe me.
"Christina..." Blake interrupted my thoughts and I was pulled back to the reality of the limo ride. "You know that never-ending puzzle game you like to play?"
"You mean the one with the candies and cakes?"
"Don't forget the jewels and birds," he responded sternly, drawing a giggle out of me. I couldn't help it; he was just so serious sometimes about things I felt the average person wouldn't be serious about. It was refreshingly funny.
"What about them?" I asked, once I could hold my giggles together.
I didn't know what he was getting at. He knew that I knew about that damned game, I'd been stuck on level 81 for weeks now and it was driving me insane. I'd actually switched over to one of the other games the company made while I hoped eventually I'd beat the level out of luck, though they had like eight other games to choose from. Sometimes I just cycled through all ten apps. I couldn't help it; it was addictive. Like Blake.
"I own the company that makes them." His tone was so matter-of-fact; it was as if he hadn't just informed me that he's a multi-billionaire.
And just like that, he slammed me out of my thoughts as I whirled around to stare at him, my mouth agape.
"Wait-what?! We are talking about the same game, right? The one where you beat levels to get goodies that you get to put into your Cake Mansion?" I paused and he nodded. I couldn't pick my jaw up off the ground if I tried as I just stared at him in shock. "You're fucking with me."
"Not unless you're good," he teased, immediately spreading warmth to my cheeks and between my legs. My mind was warring with me, wanting to capture the first moment he took to hit on me and return his flirtatiousness. It also wanted to know what the hell was going on, and that was a thought that would be running through my mind if and once he did spread my legs, no matter how good he was. I'd be too caught up with thoughts like 'Why hasn't he told me before?' and 'What else don't I know about him?' to properly enjoy anything he'd do to me.
"Blake! I'm being serious. I read an article the other day and it said that just one of those games made something crazy, like $2 million a day."
"It's a tad more than that," he responded, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he watched my expressions change from shock to what probably looked like bewilderment.
My mouth turned into a perfect 'O' as I processed this: one of his ten games made just a 'tad more' than $2 million a day. Even if his other games made half that much... I just couldn't process it. It almost felt like I was talking to an entirely new man, even though I knew it was a ridiculous thought.
"Why haven't you ever told me?"
"Well, when we first met online, I didn't have much so there was nothing to mention."
He continued speaking, but his voice was beginning to fade out. Against my will, my mind was totally focused on the way his lips moved as he spoke. They were so full and kissable that I couldn't help but wonder what they tasted like, and it took everything in me to not find out. After all, I didn't want him to think I was easy, or worse--that I was just interested in him now because of his money. Especially because Blake was fully familiar with how often I'd complained about money, all the while he was making absurd amounts.
Here I was worried about him being some sort of killer, to think he was just a billionaire all along! I thought, trying to smother a chuckle. I knew I recognized his face from somewhere. I should have connected the dots when his driver called him Mr. Slate--it didn't even occur to me that he was the Blake Slate. I'd been talking to America's most eligible bachelor for years and never even realized it.
"We're here." My eyes snapped back up to meet Blake's glimmering emerald ones. The corner of his lip was upturned in a devilishly sexy smirk, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking about and approved of my dirty thoughts of him.