Wild About The Bodyguard (18 page)

“
What’s it
say?”

“
Something so
simple and strong. Something she always used to tell us...” A tear
slipped down her cheek as she met his gaze and smiled.
“
Don’t forget...find the
joy
.”

The closer
they got to home, the thicker the tension grew inside the car. By
the time Chase pulled up in front of Sammy’s condo, he’d recited in
his head two dozen different ways to keep from saying goodbye.
Beside him, clutching that envelope, Sammy looked just as
torn.

Parked with
the engine idling, he studied her profile, while she pressed her
lips together, and then finally looked across. Her eyes were wide—
like she wanted to invite him in but didn’t want to prolong the
inevitable.

“
Did I
mention the club’s anniversary evening?” he asked, trying to sound
casual. We’re extending invitations to wives and dates.”

She found a
smile. “That’s a turn up.”

“
So, I was
thinking, if you’re still in town...”

Her eyes were
glistening. “I’d like to. Even if Mr. Garfield might not be so keen
to see me there—”

“
He’d be
fine.”

“—
but I don’t
think it’s a good idea.”

“
He probably
wouldn’t even recognize you.”

“
I don’t mean
that.” She turned in her seat to face him. “Truth is...” Her eyes
glistened more and her throat bobbed on a deep swallow. “God, this
is hard.”

He reached for
her hand and squeezed. “This doesn’t need to be goodbye,
Sammy.”

Her expression
softened. “We’ll see each other again. If you’re ever in L.A.,
you’d better give me a call.”

“
And if
you’re ever back here and need a…”

When he
hesitated, she grinned. “Need a bed?”

Christ, he
wanted to sweep her close, take her home. Instead he shrugged and
grinned. “Well, you’re always welcome.”

“
At
Chase’s Place
.”

She was
referring to his stained glass panel, the project that he’d started
with such zeal but now felt a bit flat about. He’d vowed he
wouldn’t get in her way. Try to make her feel guilty about doing
what she needed to do...

He set his jaw
and drank in every inch of her face.

“
Keep in
touch,” he said.

Her smile was
achingly beautiful. “Yeah,” she said. “You, too.”

When she
leaned across and pressed her lips against his cheek, Chase forced
a groan back down. He’d never felt like this before. It felt
crushing. Agonizing. Like his heart was breaking in two.

Chase drove
around the rest of the day.

Cruising
relaxed him–helped him think more clearly. But by the time dusk
fell, he still wasn’t done with it. None of it. If Sammy felt as if
she had closed some doors today, he was only feeling the draft.
Sammy had faced her demons. It was past time he faced some truths
of his own.

Chase had
Hurly Green’s current address. Chase updated his notes whenever
Hurly moved, and slime like that moved a lot.

Chase pulled
up outside a dingy looking house in a crap neighbourhood and
glanced up and down the street. Kids wandered around wearing big
brother’s clothes and no shoes. Women sat on porch steps chugging
on smokes and sucking on beers. Youths on “interplanetary missions”
strutted down the street, hoodies hiding their faces.

How many
cookhouses were hidden away in this square mile? Chase knew at
least one.

He sat parked
for over an hour. Every now and then, he’d study the glove box. His
chest would squeeze visualizing the gun he’d placed in there this
morning. It made him feel strong. Made him feel sick.

When a dude
finally crept out that front door and flicked his roach at a bush,
Chase sat straighter. While he’d had addresses, he’d always
cautioned himself to stay away. This was the first time he’d seen
Hurly Green since that black day at the station when he’d been
brought in for questioning. Now, like then, Chase’s skin turned to
ice. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and quivered. He
acknowledged the dark urge flapping its wings against his
insides.

He wanted that
fucker dead.

Glancing at
the glove box again, Chase thumbed the passenger side window down
and carefully leaned across. The younger man was already curious.
Cars like this weren’t often seen in this neck of the
woods.

Then Green
slowed to a crawl, his head cocked. Wearing shades, Chase delivered
a humorless grin. For so long, he’d imagined Green looking into his
eyes, recognizing him and packing shit a heartbeat
before—

A sound
drifted into the car. Blinking, Chase dragged his thoughts back and
peered over his shoulder. Two boys were strolling down the
sidewalk, laughing and telling some story. Brothers? Friends? Maybe
cousins.

When they
approached Green, the boys glanced left then right and hurried
across the street. They were avoiding trouble, just like Chase’s
father always used to tell his son to do. What Chase should do
now.

Avoiding
trouble, like he and Will hadn’t done that night.

Gritting his
teeth, Chase started the engine. Looking only ahead, he drove to a
different part of town. After parking out front of a familiar
house, he knocked on the door. Will’s wife Tina answered. Seeing
him for the first time in too long, her face lit with a big smile
at the same time her brown eyes sparkled with disbelief.

“
Chase...my
God.” She swallowed a big breath. “We’ve missed you.”

A boy,
five-years-old, appeared behind his mom. Tina moved and placed a
hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Zach, you remember Chase, don’t you?
He was your Daddy’s partner.” Her eyes smiled and sparkled more.
“His closest friend.”

Zach’s smile
spread clean across his face. Then he stepped forward and hugged
Chase’s legs like he was Santa Claus come early.

Chase had told
Tina everything that had happened that night. Every thought, every
action, every word. Back then, with his head in his hands and
cheeks wet, he had begged her for forgiveness. She’d told him there
was nothing to forgive. At the time, he hadn’t believed her. He
couldn’t forgive himself. How could Will’s widow? The mother of
Will’s child?

But now this
woman circled her arms around him, leaned her cheek against his
shoulder. Chase felt a warm rush of understanding—of
absolution—wash through him a moment before she welcomed him
inside.

When Chase
heard a knock on his front door, he put down the soldering iron and
doused a surge of hope. He hadn’t heard from Sammy in two
weeks...since the day he’d dropped her home after seeing her sister
and settling, once and for all, the question which had lain behind
the theft of her courtesan’s ring. After this long, could it be
her? He’d almost accepted he might never see her again.

Moving to the
door, he asked himself the same question. Could he have done
anything to change what had seemed inevitable? Sammy was moving to
L.A., away from here. Away from him. He’d hoped for a call, a
text–some kind of suggestion that she’d meant what she’d
said.

Keep in
touch.

He and Sammy
had enjoyed fun times. Hell, the
best
times. At some stage, he
guessed he would have to move on. Find a nice woman. Have that
family. But right now he’d sell his soul to have Samantha Mayne
back in his arms, with her harebrained ideas, amazing body and
off-key songs.

He missed her
like he never thought he could miss anyone. Even more than he
missed Will.

When the door
fanned back, he felt his eyes widen.
What
the–?

He ran a hand
through his hair. “What are you doing here?”

Tessa
Coleman’s rouged smile shone out. “I got tired of waiting for an
invitation.”

When he
continued to stand there, stunned, she angled to look over his
shoulder.

“
Are you
going to invite me in?”

He let out
that breath and, with a sweep of an arm, ushered her inside. Since
that day in his office when she’d suggested they could welcome
guests together at the club’s anniversary celebrations, her
behavior had been particularly professional. No invitations to
lunch or suggestions that he had to think twice about. So, what was
this?

She wandered
into the living room and he closed the door. “Can I get you a
coffee?”

“
I’d love a
glass of wine.”

Chase zoomed
in on the outfit. Tessa always looked good. This dress, however,
screamed,
Take me now.
It was white, clingy and on the short side. Tessa had a fine
set of legs. That butt could give an elastic band a
boner.

But she
wasn’t Sammy, would
never
be Sammy, because Sammy was one of a
kind.

At the
worktable, Tessa crossed her arms under her breasts and turned to
face him. “What’s this?”

He joined her.
“Something I’ve been working on.”

Her manicured
fingertips traced over the words. “Do you have any other talents I
don’t know about?”

He was
studying the stained glass. The exercise had taken longer than he’d
thought. Now the pieces all fit together. The soldering was even.
Colors and textures were compatible. But…

Something
about it didn’t feel right.

When he didn’t
answer, she prodded. “I’ve been worried about you. You’ve seemed so
preoccupied lately.” As she edged closer, her hand brushed his—and
lingered. “I’ve been a little preoccupied myself. Thinking a lot.”
Her fingers brushed again. “About you. And me. Particularly after
you told me that woman wouldn’t be coming to the anniversary party.
That she was moving away.”

Tessa smelled
feminine and fresh like a woman ought to. Her lips were plump and
glossed and slightly parted. In her heels, she was almost his
height. And her face…

He
smiled.

For a minute
he thought he’d seen Sammy in her eyes.

Tessa coiled
fingers around his and placed his hand on her hip.

“
I’ve tried
being subtle, Chase. For months now. Don’t you know that I want
you?” She blinked slowly as her mouth came nearer. “Maybe we could
try it. Even once, with no conditions. No promises.” Her lips
grazed his as she hummed in her throat. “Just two people keeping
each other company.”

His hand on
her hip automatically squeezed at the suggestion. Foremost he was a
man, and men enjoyed sex with willing partners who also happened to
tick all the boxes that added up to
HOT
. But he had become involved with
another woman and as much as his caveman brain grunted at him to
forget about sentiment, he didn’t want to sleep with anyone else.
The truly scary part was he didn’t know when or how he would ever
get over this…
attachment
.

When Tessa
moved to loop an arm around his neck, Chase stepped back and
explained.

“
It’s not
that I don’t think you’re attractive.” He paused. “Thing is I have,
well, feelings for someone else.”

“
That woman?”
Tessa’s chin went up. “Chase, she’s gone.”

He owned it.
“I’ve fallen in love with her.”
Fallen
hard
.

Tessa’s eyes
glistened and edged with moisture before she forced a smile.
“You’re in love with her...” Then she studied the ceiling as if she
might find the answer there. “I hope it wasn’t love at first
sight.”

Chase
remembered back to that first day, to how intrigued he’d been by
practically everything about Samantha Mayne. He hadn’t been able to
get her out of his head. He’d enjoyed working with her...solving
her mystery. But that was only part of it. As it turned out, the
much lesser part.

“
Sammy’s an
actress,” he told Tessa. “She wanted to give Hollywood a
go.”

Tessa blinked
several times. “She left you to chase the limelight? My God...” She
shook her head slowly. “Silly girl.”

“
It’s her
dream. We all have them. Or we should.”

She caught his
gaze again and cupped his cheek as if she had one more try left in
her. Then she hitched her tote strap over her shoulder and headed
out. Chase followed.

After opening
the door, she turned to him. Her expression was calm but
determined. “I don’t want to leave you in the lurch, but it’s time
I moved on, too. I’ll finish organizing the party, tie up a few
loose ends.”

“
Tessa…” What
could he say? “I’m sorry to see you go.”

Her lips
trembled but she held her smile. “Yeah. Me, too.”

When she was
on the porch, she glanced back over her shoulder at him and winked.
“I think this might be your lucky day.”

Walking up the
path was the one person in the world he wanted to see. Wanted to
hold and kiss and so much more. But as soon as their gazes met and
Sammy gave a nondescript smile, he reined all those impulses back
in, so hard and fast, he felt punched in the chest. The women
nodded as they passed, and then Sammy took the half dozen porch
steps to stand there in front of him.