“Wrong about my name,” he muttered.
“I’m not wrong. I saw that folder.”
“A folder that you shouldn’t have read,” he remarked angrily.
“A folder that showed you’re liar, Chase,” I retorted. “I’m so sorry I’ve ruined all the bad surprises you had in store for me and discovered the motive why you married me.”
“Laurie.” He placed his hands on my shoulders. I expected his grip to be hard. Instead, it was soft. “You think you know what you’re talking about, but trust me, you don’t.”
I smiled bitterly. “I know enough. All I need to know is that you’re a liar.” I yanked my shoulders out of his grip. “You might own an entire folder containing stuff that doesn’t concern you, but you don’t know shit about me, Chase,” I said, unable to control the shrill tone of my voice.
Passers-by regarded us, curious, but no one commented. No one stopped to ask an obviously upset female whether everything was okay. I had learned that same lesson last night.
“It doesn’t take a folder full of information to know you,” Chase said coldly. “You forget I was inside you. Something happened between us. We connected. I felt it and you felt it.”
My pulse sped up, but not from the anger that seemed to course through me half of the time I spent in his presence.
In his snug white shirt that accentuated his tan arms and casual jeans, he looked relaxed and comfortable, like this wasn’t a situation out of the ordinary and he used to bail people out all the time. He also looked as if he was used to people getting angry with him or maybe he had expected my reaction all along.
The expression in his gray blue eyes seemed lost, though, as if he had no idea what was going on between us.
He looked so innocent, I wanted to scream. This was the man I had married and slept with. The man I had trusted. The man who betrayed me. The man who still tried to manipulate me with sweet words of nothingness.
I could almost still feel him inside my head—inside my body, filling me, taking his pleasure while bringing my own lust to new heights.
The memory of him naked with my legs wrapped around his waist brought the usual tell-late heat to my face. It also brought back the pain of his betrayal, and my promise that I’d never see him again.
“Why are you really here, Chase?” I whispered.
He regarded me for a long moment. “In spite of what you keep thinking, there’s no hidden motive.”
Only, I knew that wasn’t true.
“So you say.” I studied his face for a few moments in the knowledge that no matter how many times I asked, he wouldn’t tell me. “You know what? Forget it,” I said eventually.
Walking past him, I took a left turn and headed into a back alley, Chase following close behind me.
“Do you even know where you are?” he asked.
I looked around. “Does it matter? I’m going to call a taxi as soon as I see one. So you can stop following me.”
“We’re not in L.A., Laurie. This can be a dangerous place, as you should know by now. Come on. Let me take you back to the hotel.” His fingers curled around my upper arm and pulled me gently to him.
“Don’t touch me.” I yanked my hand out of his grip.
He stepped back with a hurt expression on his face. For a few seconds we just stared at each other.
Was he faking it?
Was he seriously hurt?
I couldn’t tell for sure.
“What did I do wrong?” he asked at last.
“You’re asking me? Seriously?” I inched forward, my finger poking his chest.
God, I loved his hard body.
I had almost forgotten how hot he was.
In spite of my anger, I inhaled deeply to catch a whiff of his aftershave. And something else.
His shower gel. Had he taken a shower before coming to pick me up?
And his hair. It looked like he just had a cut.
Why the hell was I even noticing those things?
“I know you lied to me,” I whispered. “The least you could have done before you married me is be honest with me and tell me you’re Mystery Guy.”
“Who?”
“That’s the name I gave you after we met in that elevator.”
“Nice one.” He grinned but I didn’t return his smile. His smile died as he caught my expression. “You weren’t joking.” He grimaced. “Okay, I admit I owe you an explanation for my lies.”
The gentleness in his tone touched me, pulled at my heartstrings, but for some reason it also made me angry. A liar admitting or confessing all his lies?
That wasn’t going to happen.
Lies are like cobwebs. The moment you take one down, others will take its place. It was impossible for Chase to admit to one lie and be honest when he was cagey about everything else.
“I’m not interested,” I said and waved my hand dismissively. “Not anymore. You had your chance to explain everything. You didn’t.”
“No, you never gave me that chance, Laurie.” His tone was accusatory. “You just ran off and left your ring behind.” As if to prove his point, his hand slid into his pocket, and he retrieved the ring. My jaw dropped. I stared at the narrow band of gold shimmering in the daylight, imaging him carrying it around with him.
“Why?” I asked.
He frowned, not getting the question.
“Why did you bring it with you?” I clarified.
“Because we’re married.”
My eyes met his gaze.
And there it was again. That hurt expression that made me feel bad.
God, he really deserved an Oscar for being such a good actor.
Next thing I knew he’d be coming with the whole ‘where you end, I begin’ kind of crap. No idea whether he ever took acting lessons, but he was definitely talented.
Something broke inside me hard and fast—something I knew would make me forgive Chase. It took all my willpower not to give in.
I glanced at the ring. “You can throw it away. I don’t need it anymore.”
His eyes narrowed on me again, the hurt expression from before gone—replaced with so much coldness, it was palpable in the air.
His hand closed around the ring.
“Are you sure? Because the way you keep looking at and touching me, it looks like we’re still on.”
His gaze fell on my hand on his arm.
Holy cow.
When did I touch him?
Damn my body for wanting him the way it did.
Damn Chase for knowing how to evoke the kind of primal instincts I didn’t know I even possessed.
I drew my hand back as if I had just been burned, wishing I could do the same with my feelings.
Pull them in, control them, banish them.
“I’m not interested,” I said, more resolute. “What I wrote on the paper, I meant it. I want you to stay away from me.”
He grimaced, and something flashed across his face.
Disappointment, I realized.
“If you think I’ll give you up that easily, you’re mistaken,” Chase said.
“We’ll see about that,” I muttered and turned away to the taxi halting at the corner.
Only after taking my seat in the back and slamming the door did I throw a glance back, expecting Chase to be standing here, ready to dash after me. To my surprise, the space was empty.
Like a ghost, he had just disappeared, his last words echoing in my mind.
Chapter 9
I reached the hotel in less than an hour.
The moment I closed the door behind me, I sank on the bed, my arms spread out to either side. As I stared at the ugly stained ceiling, all sorts of thoughts ran through my mind. But it was not the state of the ceiling that kept my attention busy.
It was Chase’s words.
Chase’s eyes.
Chase’s lips.
And his frigging, muscular chest.
How could anyone so physically perfect have such a flawed character? I had never asked him if he worked out, but there was no doubt that he was doing something to look so godlike.
Does it even matter, Laurie?
I groaned inwardly. Since meeting Chase, I had asked myself that one question on numerous occasions.
So far from home, I had thought I could escape his allure and get a grip on myself. That I’d stop wanting him. Stop fantasizing about having him inside me, and forget all about his breathtaking eyes, which seemed to undress me at every opportunity.
And yet I found that I couldn’t escape the memory of his disappointed expression when I walked away, and the stupid hope that he’d come after me, which he didn’t do.
But that wasn’t even so bad.
Now that he had bailed me out, new thoughts emerged. Thoughts that were so scary, they confused me, and made me question everything I had found out about him.
Why did he bail me out? He had married me. His mission was already accomplished. Or was there more to it?
I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower. The water was hot, relaxing my sore muscles. I don’t know how long I stood under a stream of water, my body a shivering mess, my fixation on Chase taking root in my belly, embedding itself deep in my heart.
Chase was like poison.
Seeping into me, infecting me, leaving me with fragments of broken dreams—of hope that there might be more between us.
I was so absorbed in my thought, I didn’t hear the door opening.
The shower curtain was drawn aside, and I jumped back, a scream escaping my throat.
I turned and found Chase standing inches from me, watching me with a hungry look in his eyes.
“What the fuck, Chase,” I yelled. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”