A Debt Repaid (1) (7 page)

She’d felt it last night. She hadn’t slept because she’d been feeling it, and the thoughts it had caused her had kept her awake late into the night.

It was why Aria hadn’t been able to stop herself from going there. She’d
needed
to go there. Because she felt—

“Aria? Hun, you’re pale. Are you okay?” Lori appeared in Aria’s line of vision, her green eyes worried. “Aria, it’s not a bad thing that you’re a protective person.”

Easy for her to say. She was only guessing half-right when it came to the reason behind Aria’s reaction. Lori had no clue about the moronic thoughts going through her head.

“I, for one, am so grateful that you are the way you are,” Lori continued, now rubbing Aria’s shoulder and trying to soothe her. In vain. “You’ve helped me so much. You and Mr. Blaine. And I know it’s one of the reasons he’s so into you.”

Before Aria could say anything, the frosted glass doors they were in front of opened, and none other than Chase and his brother Brent stepped out of them.

ARIA’S HEART DROPPED three floors beneath her.

C
hase had been in the middle of telling his brother Brent something, when he felt her. His eyes shot her way. The kind of stare that was almost hard, like metal chains that held her in place.

“Aria?” Chase took a step
toward her, his eyes darkening.

“I have to return to work. It
was nice of you to stop by, Aria…I’ll see you later when I pick up Adam.” Lori gave her shoulder one last squeeze then abandoned Aria, leaving her stuck in the path of Chase’s stare.

Out of her peripheral, Aria saw the hesitant way Lori approached Brent. He
was still leaning against the doorway, his stare intense as he watched Lori get closer.

Aria wanted to know more. Wanted to know what
was going on between those two.

But she
couldn’t rip her eyes away from the man now walking toward her. She was desperate to move out of his way; her body refused to do so. It was rooted to the spot, filled with that one emotion she recognized, but refused to acknowledge.

Chase
looked beautiful in that suit. He always looked great. Every single damn time she saw him. Still, that wasn’t reason enough for her freaking body to heat up the way it was. Her heart was pounding from the desperate need she had to—

Chase came to a stop, close enough to touch her although he didn’t make any move to do so.

Aria once again found herself with the asinine thought that he was too far away.

“What are you doing here, Aria?”

She stared up into his eyes.
“...Chase Blaine, 5, son of John and Samantha Blaine, claims otherwise.”
Aria licked her dry lips. “I—I…” Fuck. His eyes were giving her body a slow perusal. The kind that made it impossible for her to speak
,
and made her hands break out into a sweat.

She was such a moron.

“I came here to see Lori,” she forced past her tight throat. Great, her voice had come out shaky. A perfect echo of what
was happening inside her.

“Are you okay?” Chase asked, stepping closer. Then he had one of those big hands of his wrapped around her arm.

Aria felt the touch through her thick sweater, almost as if the material hadn’t existed. All the way passed her skin, down to a level she couldn’t understand.

“You don’t seem well, Aria.” Chase’s tone was one of concern.

She wasn’t okay. “I’m f-fine. I’ve just been… forgetting to drink water. Yeah, that’s—”

“Come with me.” Chase didn’t even give her a chance to assimilate what he’d said. He began all but dragging her down the hall.

For two seconds, Aria let him, too shocked to do otherwise. Her surroundings had become a white and silver blur that raced past the edges of her vision. He was going too fast, almost causing her to jog behind him.

Where the heck
was he taking her?

More importantly, why the hell
was she letting him?

“Chase.” Aria pulled her arm out of his grip. Unfortunately, the brute had been going at close to Mach Five. The moment she tried pulling out of his grasp, she ended up almost f
lying back the way they’d come.

“Aria!”

The world tilted and spun before coming to an abrupt halt when her back impacted with the wall.

Fuck, she’d tripped.

Fuck, that’d
hurt
.

Oh, triple fuck— “No. Wait. Chase!” Aria gasped as her world once again moved too fast for her eyes to keep up. She
felt the heat of the arms now holding her up. “No. No, no no! Chase put me down right now.”

“Relax,” he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world to do. She was in his arms. Strong
arms.
His.
Arms.

“Relax? You’re carrying me like an invalid down this hall and… and…” Straight into the too large, too populated reception area.

All heads turned to watch as they passed.

Motherfucker.

Chase adjusted his hold on her and she had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck. Right as her eyes met his secretary’s.

Cynthia’s blue eyes
were wide as she watched Chase carry Aria into his office.

Aria waved weakly at her. The lease she could do was say hi to the girl while her boss showed the world how much of a lunatic he
was.

Chase set her down on the large white sofa inside his office then rushed away from her.

Good for him. He was aware of the danger he’d just put himself in. Aria jumped back up, so damn ready to show him that he had
every
reason to be afraid.

Water
. He had run to the small bar on the other side of the office and was serving her a freaking glass of water
.

Her mouth fell open and she just…well, she just stood there. Confused, hands hanging limp at her sides, she watched Chase storm back in her direction, glass in hand.

“Sit back down.” Chase grabbed her shoulder and urged her back onto the couch.

For the sake of it, Aria attempted to resist, however pathetic her attempt
was.

“Aria, don’t fight me.” The glass appeared in her eyesight at the same time that a warm hand cupped her face. “Please. Sit and drink this.”

She would not focus on the sensation of that hand against her face. Refused to dwell on how it made her feel, what it made it her
want.

She
would ignore everything.
Everything
. Including the fact that she was letting him ease her into a sitting position on the couch, all the while she stared up at him like a dimwit.

Chase kneeled before her and offered her the glass. He hadn’t let go of her cheek and his thumb
was doing that caressing thing again, the one that scrambled her reasoning. “Drink this. And if it’s not enough, we’ll take you somewhere to get checked out.”

She
couldn’t very well tell him what a liar she was, and he looked just about ready to pick her back up, and take her to the nearest doctor. So, she had no choice but to grab the glass from him.

The shaking in her hand was so bad, that the water almost sloshed out of the glass as she brought it up to her mouth.

“Easy there.” Chase’s free hand came back up and wrapped around hers, helping her steady the glass.

There
was no way she was going to be able to drink that water. She couldn’t breathe, how was she supposed to swallow?

Chase hadn’t stopped stroking her face. His other hand
was still wrapped around her own, dwarfing it and the glass.

She looked into his eyes, finding them dark and so close. His lips, too. They
were right there. All she felt was heat, everywhere, infecting her with the oddest urge to lean further into his touch. Turn her head and nuzzle his palm—kiss him. She was still dying to kiss him, had been since that day back in the soup kitchen.

It’d never gone away. For days, she’d pretended it had, but it hadn’t.

Chase shifted, leaning closer and his movements once again reminded her of a lion. “Aria…”

The way he trailed off made her clench deep down. The fuck if she knew why, but she
couldn’t help it. His lids lowered, his thick lashes hiding his eyes from her. It didn’t matter. She knew where he was staring.
Felt
him looking at her lips.

“I’m starting to think,” Chase paused, swallowing heavily. When he looked up, he did it slow, real slow, hitting her with the full impact of those eyes.

The air around seemed to vibrate with the force of the hunger she was feeling.

Horror and need. Aria
was starting to think that she would never be able to be around him without feeling both.

“I’m starting to think it’s not the water you need.”

“Huh?” Blinking, she stared down at their hands and the glass.

“I’m starting to think it’s not the water you need.”

Oh, hell no. It was one thing—a very hellish thing—to feel the way that she felt. Him knowing put the situation on a whole other level. Glaring at him, she jerked her hand away from his. She didn’t even care that some of the water landed on both their hands. Nope. Aria was too focused on her goal. She swallowed back the water in two large gulps.

Chase tried to reach for her when she handed him the empty glass and jumped to her feet.
Probably because she
was coughing so hard that she wheezed.

Aria waved Chase away. “I’m fine. Thank you.” He stood, eyeing her fist as she coughed into it a few times. Those wheels
were turning. She knew what he was contemplating: either her ass meeting the couch again, or it sitting in a doctor’s office, waiting for an emergency check-up.

The fact that he cared registered. It registered just long enough to hit her like a punch to the abdomen. She
almost
didn’t move. She couldn’t.

Almost.

Logic, her absent friend, reared its head long enough to come to her rescue, reminding her of all the reasons why what she wanted was wrong.

It didn’t matter that the highly emotional, female part of her
was
starving
for more of what Chase did to her. That it was somehow convinced that what he erupted inside her was right.

It
was all so wrong.

“Thank you for the water… it
was exactly what I needed. I have to go now, and pick up Adam.” Aria forced herself to turn around after that, and was rewarded by her nerves shrieking like a banshee.

So stupid.

Shaking her head, she walked over to the door. Except, she couldn’t leave. She was standing in front of the door, her hand right on the door, but her body wouldn’t turn the knob. Not without thanking him. She’d thanked him for the water, something she hadn’t needed, but she hadn’t thanked him for what mattered.

It
was silly. Idiotic, considering he hadn’t done
her
the favor, but she didn’t feel right leaving without letting him know.

“Aria?”

She tensed at the sound of his voice. Her hand tightened around the doorknob. Even the cold discomfort wasn’t enough to distract her, and she hated herself for it. “Th–thank you.” He didn’t say anything, but she could sense his confusion like a presence in the room.

She didn’t turn to him.  Instead, she squeezed down on the door knob harder, staring at her reflection in the sleek-white surface of the door. “Lori needs the help. And I agree with you, and Brent, about moving her out of that shelter. She and Adam need to be somewhere that’s mor
e secure. She’s hesitant to take it because she has her pride, but thank you for helping her.”

There. She’d had
her say. Now it was time to go.

So why
wasn’t she opening the door and stepping through?

She should’ve left while she still had the chance.

Chase moved close to her. She felt the heat of his body a split millisecond before he cupped the back of her neck. He overtook the entire span of her neck with his gentle hold.

He wasn’t keeping her in place. She
could’ve broken free of him if she had wanted to.

But, Aria didn’t want too. Or rather, her body had once again gone traitor. Chase kneaded his thumb into the side of her neck,
his touch eviscerating everything. Her resistance, her doubts, her anger… her identity. She couldn’t remember who she even was for a bit.

“I’ve
been worried about you,” he said out of nowhere. 

The door in front of her
was made out of an ultra-smooth alloy. Chase towered over her with an expression she’d never seen before on his face.

“Aria, before you leave, I need to know…is everything alright with you?”  Chase punctuated his question with another stroke of her neck.