She wanted that, desperately.

“Damn it, Ella. Stop mooning over Andrew. He’s not yours. He’ll never be yours,” Blake said softly.

Tears sprang to her eyes, but she refused to let Blake see her upset. Once had been more than enough for her.

“No. Damn you, Blake. Stop blackmailing me into sleeping with you. I’m not yours. I’ll never be yours.” It wasn’t a fair thing to say, or even accuse him of doing. She’d willingly slept with him—multiple times—and after he’d admitted the emails had been permanently erased by him. But she was hurt by his comment, and that he thought she could sleep with one man while loving another.

His gaze narrowed, and his sexy lips thinned. “You will be.”

“I might have considered it, but now... you’ll never know.”

He swore, and then reached for her hand, but she stepped back, shaking her head as she did.

“I’m sorry, Ella.”

“I am, too.” With that, she stormed off, heedless of who saw her tears.

She had only gotten halfway down the hall when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Damn it, Blake. Leave me alone,” she said, spinning around, only to find Hannah standing there. The kindness in her eyes made Ella cry harder. “Oh, I didn’t know it was you. Sorry.”

Hannah didn’t say a word. Instead, she lurched forward and caught Ella up in a hug. The shorter woman was surprising strong, but she had been a maid who, according to Drew, had worked her ass off most of her life.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Ella miserably whispered.

“Because I know how it feels to be in love with someone who doesn’t love you back,” Hannah said, leaning back a little. “It sucks.”

“But Drew’s loved you for years.”

“I thought I was in love with another man, but he loved fishing more,” Hannah replied. “It hurt that he only made time for me when it was convenient for him.”

Ella sniffed. “You wouldn’t be so nice to me if you knew the truth.”

“That you were in love with my husband?”

The blood drained from her face. Blake had to have been the one to tell her, but he’d said that he hadn’t told anyone.

“I’m not in love with him. I used to be, but he didn’t know and nothing ever came of it. Nothing at all. Ever. I promise.” She loved her job at MI, and there was no way she would lose it over a suspicion. Plus, she didn’t want to lose her new friend.

Hannah gave her a gentle smile. “I know. Drew told me months ago.”

Ella’s stomach twisted up in knots. “How did he know?” Had her emails been sent after all?

“Because you’re like me—you wear your heart on your sleeve,” Hannah simply said. “But now, someone else holds your heart and he’s too prideful to realize it.”

“Blake,” she said miserably.

“Exactly.”

“I don’t know what to say. It seems rather sudden to feel this way.”

“Maybe you felt this way all along, but you were focusing on the wrong guy and didn’t know it.”

It sounded perfectly reasonable to Ella, but it also made her sound utterly stupid.

“Did you know Blake always worked late when I did?” she said slowly. “He said he did it because he was positive my sharp tongue would scare away any intruders and therefore keep him safe... even in the parking garage.” Which she now knew was ridiculous considering his background. He had worked when she did to keep her safe.

Hannah patted her arm. “You’re probably not feeling up to it, but there’s a seat with your name on it beside mine for dinner tonight. I’d love for you to join us.”

“You want me to join you, even after I’ve admitted I used to love your husband?” Ella asked. Why bring that up when Hannah was trying to move on? Clearly, it was because she was a glutton for punishment.

“Yep,” Hannah chirped, linking her arm through Ella’s, just like she had the first time, as she propelled her back to the private room. “I have to admit that knowing the two of you were never romantically involved makes it a heck of a lot easier.”

“Makes it easier for me, too,” Ella said, silently thanking God for Drew’s strict rule for himself when it came to dating employees. “He’s never had affairs at work, you know. You’ll never have to run into anyone and question that.”

“I do know. He’s very hard on himself, but that’s what makes Drew... Drew. He puts the good of the company before himself. I think Blake is a lot like him. I know he teased you a lot and sometimes does really stupid things to make you cry, but from what I’ve seen and what I’ve been told, it seems to me that Blake has put his self-interests second. He’s thrown his entire life into Montgomery Industry,” Hannah said with a sigh. “It would be nice to see him settle down with a woman like you.”

Before Ella could reply to that, she found herself back where she started. Blake’s gaze crashed into her, and then went immediately to Hannah. She could plainly read the look of confusion on his face.

There was no way she could answer him right now, not with so many confusing feelings of her own. The only positive at the moment was that she was not in love with Drew.

During the rehearsal dinner, Hannah kept everyone entertained with stories about her and Drew as children. Ella laughed despite the lingering nerves as Blake sat directly across from her. He never looked at her directly, but she could feel his heated, questioning gaze.

Despite years of training to expect the unexpected, Ella and Hannah’s recent friendship, especially tonight, was utterly mystifying to Blake.

Why in the hell would Ella allow herself to become friends with the other woman... unless she thought to—

He gave himself a mental shake. No, Ella didn’t need to get close to Drew through Hannah. Ella already knew everything about the man.

In that instant, Blake hated Drew more than he thought possible. How could he command such undying love from a woman like Ella? She was impossibly strong-willed and goal-oriented as well as fair-minded.

In his heart and head, it made no sense at all for her to scheme to—do what exactly? Convince Drew that Hannah was no good? That his wife and childhood companion had an ulterior motive for marrying him? Drew had been the one to go to Hannah and beg her to marry him, not the other way around.

Ella had years to convince Drew to fall in love with her, to send those bloody emails, but she hadn’t. She’d been strictly professional, only faltering once, when she found out about Hannah and Drew’s hasty marriage.

If he didn’t know Ella’s middle name was Miranda, he would have sworn it was Integrity because she had it in spades.

Damn, he’d mucked things up between them. However, that look on her face this afternoon, right after they’d made love, when he’d mentioned the rehearsal dinner, had been like cold water to his system.

Then later, when he saw her expression grow wistful over a man she could never have, while Blake stood there, offering her everything... it was more than his ego could take.

Whatever Ella’s endgame was, it didn’t include him. He knew that now. While she loved what he could do to her body, she didn’t love him.

He speared a bite of vegetable, not really tasting it as he ate.

Connor, Drew’s brother, nudged him in the side. “You’re exceptionally quiet tonight.”

“Reckoned I’d save the chitchat for the best man,” Blake replied. Usually, he enjoyed joking around with Connor, but tonight, he wasn’t good company for anyone.

“Don’t feel much like saying anything... and my father would approve of that. Hell, he’d approve of you as his son.” At twenty-eight, Connor Montgomery was the designated black sheep of the family. Judging by his debouched lifestyle, he was damned proud of it.

Privately, Blake thought the man was wasteful with the money he’d inherited so far. Perhaps more so because Blake knew what it was like to have to be responsible for many on so little.

“I very much doubt that. He says I spend too much time at work and not enough time finding a woman to settle down with.”