“I have yet to come up with a better solution, so, in some way, I depend on this guy,” I said. “Promise you won’t embarrass me, Jude.”
“What? Me?” Her eyes widened with false innocence. I knew that look. The conniving little witch!
“Jude!” I hissed, peering toward the door to make sure Chase wasn’t there. “I mean it. No hints or remarks. No sexual innuendos. And definitely no help to get him to like me.” Which was something she always did by telling guys “cute” little stories about me, reminiscent of a mother doting over her child. Needless to say, it always backfired.
“You mean like like you.” She grinned. “Or—”
“You know exactly what I mean,” I hissed, cutting her short. “Keep your mouth shut at all times, please.”
She shrugged. “Whatever. If you want to stick to your boring life, I’ll accept your decision.”
I could see from the stubborn look on her face that she harbored no intention of keeping her word, but I had no time to argue. Throwing her a warning look, I grabbed my handbag and walked past her.
“You look stunning,” Chase said with an appreciative smile as I entered the living room.
“You think?” I made a clumsy pirouette and regarded him coolly. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He was dressed in jeans and yet another snug shirt that accentuated his chiseled chest. His dark hair was tousled in an effortless way, and the onset of a stubble cast shadows on his chin and cheeks, giving his gray-blue gaze a haunted look. My heart jerked against my ribcage and sank into my jeans as I regarded him in silence. He wasn’t just delicious; he made me wonder what secrets lay hidden beyond those eyes.
“Ready to kick back?” Chase asked.
“Hell, yeah, she is,” Jude said with a wink at me. She had insisted on canceling her afternoon date to see me off, as in, spend some time around Chase in case I might pass him on to her. “That’s all we’ve been talking about all day,” she continued.
Oh, here we go.
For the umpteenth time I felt like strangling her. That was all she had been talking about while I had been trying to focus on work, as in skimming various newspapers and an entire bookmarks section on my laptop for various employment opportunities. As usual, my attempts had remained fruitless. No one wanted to employ an out-of-college graduate with no hands-on work experience and no references. Never mind the fact that I had tried to obtain all of the above during my time at college, only to be fobbed off with the excuse that a college degree was a prerequisite for actually getting any sort of work experience.
“Is that so? You’ve been talking about me?” Chase said, interrupting my thoughts.
“Not really.” I smirked and realized from his smug expression that he didn’t believe a word. The problem with guys like him was that, not only were their looks too perfect for their own good, but their ego usually matched the proportion of their looks. “Jude is being far too generous.” I eyed her behind his back, mouthing, Shut up.
We said goodbye to Jude, who even accompanied us to the door and pulled us in a hug in a bold moment of lust-induced craziness. I grimaced at her because she had never been the hugging type. In fact, she always claimed touching other people’s skin gave her the itches.
And then we were in Chase’s car, finally alone. He pulled out of the quiet residential area and onto the busy highway, out of the city.
“Are we going back to your favorite bar?” I asked casually.
He looked at me sideways and smiled. “That was my first choice, but I figured it’s probably closed until dusk because of all the honest people who could accidentally find their way over there. We wouldn’t want that.”
“Ah. A bar that chooses its clientele wisely. Makes sense.” I nodded knowingly. “What makes you think only crooks should visit the place?”
“You did yesterday,” Chase said. I raised my brows, and he continued, “You kept your handbag glued to your chest like it was a life preserver.”
“I thought I was going to get mugged,” I muttered. “You can’t blame me for being too careful.”
His lips quirked, and for a heartbeat I felt compelled to reach over and touch his cheek just to see whether his stubble would graze my skin as deliciously as I imagined it would.
“I’m taking you to a special place,” Chase said, oblivious to the naughty direction of my thoughts. “You’ll like it. It should be more…your style.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And what do you think my style is?”
“Interesting.” He looked at me, ignoring my puzzled expression. “Just wait.”