The wheels of the car rolled and rolled and took me farther and farther away from all the hustle and bustle of New York City. Soon any sign of civilization faded away and now we were surrounded by woods and wildlife.
I quickly pulled out my phone and turned on my GPS and sent a quick text to Ryan telling him to track my location.
Why? Is everything ok? Came his quick reply.
Everything is ok for now, we are just taking a lonely road and I want you to track me in case anything happens. I quickly texted him back.
Right on it. His reply came.
I got you, came to his reply once again.
Keep tracking. I texted and then turned my phone silent and hid it in my bra.
"Everything all right there Madam?" Came Alexio's voice from the front.
"Oh yes, everything is fine," I said to him, trying to hide my uneasiness.
"If you are worried about safety issues, then you have nothing to worry about. No matter how heartless and cruel the media portrays him to be – when it comes to women – he always treats them with utmost respect and care," he said while glancing away from the road.
"Oh, I didn't know that," was my retarded reply.
"How long till we reach there?" I asked him.
"Just a few more minutes Ma'am," he replied.
"Where is this.....err.... whole thing taking place?" I asked him once again.
"Master Blackford has a wooden cabin in the outskirts of the city. He has arranged everything there," he replied.
After a few more minutes he took a left turn and then followed a rough trail till we came near a brightly lit part of woods, which was beautifully decorated by fairy lights. He slowed down and then finally stopped in front of a small brightly lit wooden cabin, it looked beautiful with the dark forest backdrop.
The car finally stopped beside the wooden cabin in a make-shift parking lot. I took off my seat belt and stretched my hand to open the door but someone already beat me to it.
A hand stretched inside and grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the car carefully and oh-so-gracefully straight into someone's chest.
This whole thing fell like déjà vu as I looked up to find a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring deep into my dull blue eyes but this time with so many emotions in them...awe, adoration, admiration.
"You look beautiful tonight love," he said while tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear with one hand while the other one was looped around my waist.
"Than- Thank you, Mr. Blackford," I stammered out nervously.
That's it, I officially declare that my mind has stopped functioning and I think my body will give up any time soon if I don't create any gap between us. But Alas! He was having none of it.
"I thought we were already past the formality phase Miss Davis," he teased me and my cheeks immediately flushed at this comment.
"Then why are you calling me Miss Davis?" I retorted.
"Only because you are calling me 'Mr. Blackford.' Just for a second, set aside the formality stuff – the sound of you saying Mr. Blackford makes me feel like an old man even though I'm only in my early twenties. Gosh...that makes me look like I'm some kind of pedophile," he said while scrunching up his nose in disgust which earned a fit of giggles from me.
My cheeks flushed by the close proximity between us and his warm minty breath fanning on my face as he looked down at me with those warm chocolate brown eyes that made my legs feel like jelly. If it wasn't for him holding me I would have fallen straight on my butt.
Thanks, Norman for not letting me fall even though you are the reason behind my unstable legs.
"Shall we get going?" He asked me as he finally stepped away from me to create some distance between us.
Even though I missed the warmth of his body. I was mentally thanking him for parting with me. If he had stayed there for one second I swear I would have melted into a puddle of a hot mess right then and there.
"God, you look beautiful," he breathed out before stooping down to my level once again and pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the corner of my lips. I was quite taken back by this gesture so I looked up at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.
"What? Don't give me that look. You and I both know that you liked it," he said with a smug look plastered on his handsome face, the corners of his lips twitching slightly in the upward direction in a smile.
"You know what they say Norman, a hungry woman is an angry woman and right now I'm hungry and you don't want me to see me angry," I said and gave him a grim look but it was in vain as only after a few seconds both of us burst out laughing hysterically.
I never thought that I would be rolling on the floor – laughing hysterically with the person that was considered to be the cruelest man in the business world.
"You must be hungry, let's go now," he said as he tried to control his laughter – wiping the tears that had appeared in the corner of his eyes.
He put his hands in the small of my back and gently led me towards the back of the cabin.
There was a small clearing in the backyard and a solid wooden platform was set up. On the wooden platform, a round table was set up cover in white satin with one chair on either side of the table.
Norman led me towards the table and pulled out the chair for me to sit before tucking me in. He took a seat across from me and gestured me to start eating.
The table was filled with all kinds of exquisite dishes whose names I can't even pronounce yet at the same time they were delicious.
After finishing dinner, we decided to take a walk through the forest. So, hand in hand we walked through the brightly lit trail.
"This place was quite homey and beautiful," I said trying to make a small talk
"It is. My parents built that cabin together when they were still very much in love," he said, his eyes suddenly turning cold and distant.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" I asked him slowly.
At this question of mine, his shoulders tensed alarmingly and for a second I thought he was going to lash out on me.
"It's a long story," he replied.
"I have plenty of time," I pressured further – taking my chances.
He let out a deep sigh before saying
"They were murdered in cold blood."