An Indecent Proposal(30)

Which was kind of the truth. During the past few days, he had stopped over a few times. While I had refused to venture out with him in order to avoid being alone with him and dodge the kind of situation I had encountered at his cottage, Jude’s presence had done nothing to dampen the attraction I felt toward him.

“Laurie?” Jude prompted. “When are you seeing Chase?” I shot her a dirty look and she raised her eyebrows at me, mouthing a what?

Obviously, I had no idea what his plans were for tonight, because we had arranged for him to be on duty tomorrow, in case I couldn’t convince Clint that meeting my fiancé wasn’t a good idea.

Jude and I had talked about this at length and we had agreed that she should keep her mouth shut—not encourage my stepfather to continue poking in my private life.

A task she had failed at miserably.

“Uh. He might not. You never know with him,” I said. “He’s busy this week. He always is.” A suspicious frown crossed Clint’s face. I hated his smugness and the fact that he constantly thought he was superior to everyone else.

“But he texted you this morning,” Jude insisted. “He said he was looking forward to meeting your family.”

Clint’s frown deepened as he regarded me closely.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You know what? I think I’ll call him right away.” I jumped up and headed for my bedroom, calling over my shoulder, “I’ll be right back,” before I could change my mind.

Behind me, I heard Jude saying, “She might be a while.”

Her crystalline laughter followed me to my room until I closed the door and slumped on the bed, burying my head in my palms.

What the heck was I doing? Chase could play my fiancé only for so long, and then my lies would be exposed. And then what? I would lose everything. Everything that belonged to my mother.

I retrieved my cell phone from the bedside table and dialed Chase’s number, ignoring the warning bells that hadn’t stopped ringing in my head since Clint’s arrival.

Take it one step at a time.

I needed Chase now. He couldn’t let me down. With each ring, my heart beat stronger until he finally picked up his phone.

“Hey, you,” I said, my throat constricting.

“Laurie?” A pause, then, “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Great.” My voice betrayed my stress, and I forced myself to take a long breath before continuing. “They’re here. They want to see you. I need you to come over now.” I cringed inwardly at how fake my cheerfulness sounded. Not natural at all. If I continued like that, Clint was bound to see through my bluff.

“I can do that,” Chase said. “Where are you?”

“At home,” I whispered. “Let’s meet at a restaurant in an hour. I can’t have them here. I just can’t.”

“Sure. I’ll make a reservation and text you the details.” His voice dropped lower. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll feel better once you’re here.” I bit my lip hard to stop myself from revealing just how much better his arrival would make me feel. “And Chase? Please don’t make a reservation at that strip bar you took me to.”

He laughed, and for a moment I imagined him on the phone, the skin around his eyes crinkling the way it always did when he smiled, his eyes sparkling with something I could never pinpoint. The sound of his laughter echoed in my ear long after I hung up.

I realized it was the part I liked most about him.





Chapter 10





“Forgive me for asking but, fuck, how old is she?” Chase whispered the moment we caught a moment alone. We were having dinner in a nearby restaurant. Chase had excused himself, claiming to have to make an urgent phone call while I needed to visit the bathroom. And now we were standing in the corridor leading to a picturesque backyard with lanterns and several empty tables. Given that it was still early, the restaurant—a small family-run operation—was almost empty, giving us privacy.

“I don’t know. Maybe nineteen, twenty-two tops. She’s definitely younger than I am.” I shrugged, even though I actually cared. My mother had thought the world of Clint. That he brought his first tramp home a few weeks after her funeral had bothered me for years. That they had been getting younger and he was marrying one of them only managed to enrage me even more.

“What the fuck is he doing with someone like her?” Chase asked.

“He’s screwing his brains out.”

“Probably chasing after his second youth or something.”

“More like the third.” I smiled, liking him even more for being different. Of course, things could change, but for the time being I settled on believing Chase shared my morals and beliefs.