"Oh," I breathed, my cheeks reddening as the car pulled to a stop.
Blake held his hand out to me and I slipped my small hand on top of his. As soon as I stepped out of the limo I froze: we were on a helipad. The sound of the helicopter's blades filled the air, whooping around like an overpowering monster. I was so frozen with fear that I hadn't even noticed that Blake had already shaken hands with the majority of the staff and buckled himself in. With a shaky gulp, I buckled my own seatbelt and closed my eyes as the helicopter began to take off.
"You're afraid of heights?" his soothing voice asked, full of surprise.
I nodded vigorously to his question, not daring to open my eyes or my mouth. My eyes were shut tight.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
I took a deep breath, my heart pounding so hard it may have been louder than the chopper's blades. "I'm sorry, I had no clue that our date had the option of being airborne," I managed, mustering as much of Vanessa's sassy sarcasm as I could to give me strength. I could feel that we were up in the air, and I began to tremble.
"Christina, look at me," he commanded while gently rubbing my back.
I shook my head 'no' in response, and his voice returned in a firmer tone. "Look at me."
Slowly, I complied and met his bright hypnotic green eyes.
"It's going to be okay. Didn't I promise you a great night?"
"Yes," I whispered with the smallest of nods.
"Then you have to trust me to keep that promise. You're a strong woman, can you try to let go of your fears and inhibitions for at least one night?"
"Yes," I whispered again, feeling something relax inside of me. It was in that moment that I realized that the trust I had in the man sitting beside me overpowered any fears I could possibly have. The realization sent a warm little flip-flop through my belly, and just like that I found myself enjoying myself more than I was thinking about heights.
Once I finally allowed my eyes to wander out the window and tossed away thoughts of us nosediving into the water, the tour became incredible. I'd never expected to see New York City with a view like this. I saw the Statue of Liberty and majority of the major bridges. The glittering city lights really added to the experience. Whenever I felt nervous, I would look over into Blake's green eyes and would immediately feel at ease again.
When we landed, the limo driver was waiting for us with the door open. Blake instructed him to take us to our second destination without saying what it is. I tried to pester him for some information, but he was locked tighter than Fort Knox. I decided then that there was nothing that I could do, so I just let him take control. He had promised me a great night, after all, and so far he'd lived up to that promise. I definitely hadn't expected him to relieve me of one of my biggest fears! At least not in such a short amount of time.
Fortunately, the second destination was a theater and not a museum of spiders (if we were going to continue going on fear factor-type dates). The signs outside the rolling red carpet read that a famous comedian was starring featuring other rising stars.
As soon as we walked through the entrance, we were escorted to a V.I.P. section. It was as if the ushers knew Blake. A pang of jealousy shot through me. Has he brought other dates here before? I couldn't help but wonder.
Negative thoughts quickly fled my mind as Blake introduced me to the comedians before they got on stage. Soon after, the show began and we were served champagne, which only added to my extremely high spirits. The star comedian kept me laughing throughout the entire show.
At one point, they even took jabs at Blake in a roast-like manner! But he just smiled and took it all in stride; his composure made me even more attracted to him. There was this certain confidence about him, but it didn't veer onto arrogance or cockiness. I'd never met anyone else who possessed it, and for some reason it was getting me all hot and bothered, knowing how sure of himself he was.
Over the phone, I could never take the full effect of him. I could tell he was desirable, just from the way he spoke, but I never knew how desirable. His assurance in himself was sexy. I squirmed in my seat, trying to focus on my show, but it didn't go unnoticed by Blake. He squeezed my hand, stroking his thumb over my knuckles sensually. I glanced at him; his features were illuminated by the flickering candlelight set in the middle of our circular table. What sent my heartbeat into a frenzy were his eyes: they were narrowed in an expression I hadn't seen on his face yet. He was looking at me as if I was the most desirable woman in the room, and it took my breath away.
As good as the show was, I couldn't help but think, This show can't be over soon enough!
Chapter 4