by Bella Andre
Page 8
Author: Bella Andre
Working to fight down the panic at being completely without a vehicle she said, “It didn't have many miles left on it anyway. ” She tried to smile back. “Thank you for dealing with it. I'll pay you b—”
He cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “Stay, Chloe. Stay here at the winery while we’re shooting for the next few days. ”
She licked her lips, shook her head. “You’re busy. And I need to…” She paused, knowing all she had ahead of her were problems, at least for a while.
“Stay,” he said again, more softly this time, but with that determination, that focus she was so afraid of threading through every letter in the word.
And, ultimately, that was the main reason she needed to leave. Because she had no intention of getting involved with another man. She was still learning how to be alone, how to rely on herself, how to trust again. It hadn’t even been one year since filing for divorce. She wasn’t ready for another relationship.
And she definitely wasn’t ready for determination. For focus.
Or for a man whom she could so easily—too easily—lose herself in completely.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I c—”
“Please. ”
He hadn’t come any nearer, hadn’t gotten in her face and demanded her agreement, but the gentle entreaty in his voice was like warm arms wrapping around her, pulling her close.
“Don’t agree to the whole week. Just take it one day at a time. ”
And one night at a time, too.
She heard the words even though he hadn’t said them. And that was when Chloe knew just how weak she really was, because she couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Okay. ”
She could feel Chase studying her, knew he didn’t like her answer even though she’d just given him exactly what he wanted. But whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a skinny young man with big, thick-framed purple glasses.
“Chase,” the man said, “everyone’s ready for you. ”
His gaze continuing to hold hers for another long moment, Chase slowly turned to the person she assumed was his assistant.
“Jeremy, this is Chloe. She’s my special guest. Be sure to show her a good time today, would you?”
Jeremy’s eyes flashed over the bruise on her cheek before quickly flitting away. “Oooh, someone to share all the gossip with. ”
The young man reached for her hand and grasped it before she could pull away and then he was walking away with her and chattering in her ear.
Chloe threw a desperate glance at Chase over her shoulder, only to find him grinning at her. How did he always manage to be three steps ahead of her?
And—just as she’d asked herself last night—why the heck didn’t she mind a whole lot more?
Fifteen minutes later, Jeremy had her settled into a comfortable chair where she could watch the action. Chase was photographing three young women in absolutely gorgeous ballgowns.
Amanda had been positively stunning. But all three together? She couldn’t stop herself from turning to Jeremy and remarking, “That’s a whole lot of beautiful up there, isn’t it?”
Jeremy sighed and looked at Chase in clear admiration. “And can you believe he doesn’t even know it?”
There was no holding back her laughter, loud enough that everyone—including Chase—turned to look at her.
“I was talking about the models,” she clarified.
Jeremy shrugged. “They’re all right. ”
Of course, the truth was, she agreed with his assessment: Chase was better looking than all of the models combined.
Nonetheless, the young women were all shockingly attractive. Rather than being jealous, Chloe told herself she was glad they were there to remind her that she had nothing to worry about when it came to Chase. How could she have actually let herself get caught up in thinking, Oh no, he wants me so much, and What am I going to do if he’s determined to have me?
She chuckled again, realizing how ridiculous it seemed now that she’d seen the models he was practically close enough to kiss as he got into position for another shot. It might be a whole lot of beautiful out there in the vineyard, but it was definitely a whole lot of delusional where she was sitting.
Silently laughing at herself, Chloe suddenly felt worlds better. Maybe she actually could hang out here for a few days. Maybe she could extend “normal” for a little while, before she had to buckle down and face all that ugliness again.
Because, really, how could Chase possibly want anything from her when he had these other visions of gorgeousness around? Sure, she was cute. Pretty, even. But she certainly wasn’t looking her best, with no makeup on and all bruised and wearing crappy clothes.
And yes, okay, so it would probably kill her a little bit to see him flirting with—or kissing—one of these beautiful young things.
Then again, as she watched him work for the next hour or so, she realized Chase didn’t play those kinds of games with his models. He simply let them know when they were doing a great job and as their confidence grew, so did their skill at posing for him.
Chloe was surprised to feel her own creative juices flowing, even though she’d never cared much for either fashion or photography.
Her true passion was quilting and as she watched him work, she realized that more than fashion was coming to life. The way Chase manipulated the canvas of models and clothes and the natural background of the vines and mountains and sky was so brilliant that simply watching him was helping her develop a new eye for composition. A new vision for the way she could block her next quilt.
Fortunately, now that she was firmly convinced she had nothing to worry about anymore when it came to Chase “wanting” her, she could allow herself to acknowledge just how awesome he was. She even let her insides go a little gooey.
At least now she could chalk her feelings for him up to artistic genius…rather than how good-looking or how charming he was.
“Oh my god, hot boy alert!” Jeremy’s voice sounded squeaky.
“What? Where?” Chloe asked, looking around and seeing that Chase was busy shooting pictures a hundred yards away.
“To your right,” Jeremy stage-whispered and she followed his gaze across the field to the very good-looking man who was walking toward them.
“Who’s that?” she whispered back, even though she didn’t know why they were whispering.
“It’s Marcus. ” Jeremy said the name reverently.
Oh my. That was Chase’s brother?
There were six of them?
Like Chase, Marcus was ridiculously good looking. Still, while she recognized pure male beauty when she saw it, her heart wasn’t pounding and she wasn’t getting breathless and wanting to touch herself, or anything. Still, there was no denying the powerful allure of the Sullivan men.
“I really need to see a photo of the whole family,” she muttered to herself, not intending for anyone to hear.
Of course, Jeremy heard and saw everything. “Their genes are insane,” was his response. “Their mother used to be a model, back in the day. And their father was probably Cary Grant or something. ”
Chloe didn’t say anything more—not now that she knew Jeremy was the worst, and most delicious, kind of gossip—but she was thinking that having six brothers and two sisters this good-looking all in one place must be too much for the eye to behold.
“Just watch. I can’t even speak around him,” Jeremy told her. “I’m going to go to pieces even though I know he’ll never ever play for my team and it doesn’t make any sense for me to be so nervous. I hate how the best ones are all totally, completely hetero. ”
As he approached, Chloe decided Marcus looked a little bit older than Chase, and a whole lot more serious. Then again, maybe it was because he had a suit on, whereas her Sullivan was in jeans.
Her Sullivan?
What the heck was wrong with her
? Chase wasn’t hers. She was merely hanging out in this perfect world for a little while before heading back to her real life. She couldn’t afford to get attached to anyone or anything here.
“Hey, Marcus. ” Jeremy stuttered out another, “Hi!”
Poor Jeremy. He was so nervous, Chloe actually forgot to be nervous herself. She even forgot to put her hand over her cheek to cover the nasty bruise.
She was about to reach out her hand to introduce herself when Jeremy blurted, “This is Chloe. She’s with Chase. He found her last night on the side of the road. ”
Chloe shot him a horrified glance. She knew she should have kept her mouth shut with Jeremy about how she and Chase had met.
Clearly mortified by what he’d said, two bright pink spots appeared on his cheeks. “I need to check on things,” he said before running off.
Jeremy wasn’t the only one who was mortified. Willing her composure to come back after that embarrassing introduction, she held out her hand. “Hi, it’s so nice to meet you, Marcus. ”
“Nice to meet you, too, Chloe. ”
Marcus had a low, slightly rough voice that was undeniably attractive. Only for some reason, it didn’t do anything for her. Well, hardly anything. Heck, she was human, wasn’t she? It wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t completely blind to male beauty. She was more than a little complimented by that quick flash in Marcus’s eyes when he’d first looked at her that told her he thought she was an attractive woman.
“So, you met my brother last night?”
She swallowed, trying not to be defensive. “I did. On the side of a road, just like Jeremy mentioned. My car skidded into a ditch and I was lucky enough that he drove by during the storm. ”
“I’m glad he was able to help. ”
“And I’m glad to get the chance to meet you because I wanted to thank you for—” She felt terribly awkward as she said, “—for letting me stay the night in your guest house. ”
The look on his face told her he had no idea she’d even been there. A beat later, he said, “Any friend of Chase’s is a friend of mine. ”
He was very sweet, but she knew what he had to be thinking. It was what any person in his right mind would think upon hearing Chase had picked her up last night and taken her to the guest house. Just the two of them, all alone in the beautiful house, with all those beds…and bathtubs. From Marcus’s standpoint, what reason could there possibly have been for them not to get it on?
“Really, it’s not what you—” But she couldn’t get the rest of the sentence out. Not without flashing back to that moment in the tub when she was coming and saying Chase’s name and he was there.
So yeah, maybe it was exactly what Marcus thought.
She felt a blush cover her cheeks as she realized there was, quite clearly, nothing she could say about the previous evening without sounding like a total freaking idiot.
Planting a smile on her face, she said instead, “Your winery is beautiful. Just stunning. ”
Marcus was clearly pleased with her compliment. “Thanks. How about I give you a tour?”
No question about it, their mother had raised her Sullivan boys well. The only problem, as far as Chloe could see, was that it had also turned them into lady killers, one and all.
How could a woman possibly resist those faces? Those bodies? Especially when they came with manners?
“That’s very nice of you, but I’m sure you have far more important things to take care of. ”
“I love showing people around the property. That’s part of the joy of this for me—watching other people take it in. ”
Just then, Chase stepped up. As the two men did their half-handshake, half-hug, Chloe barely held back a sigh of pure female delight at all that beautifully made testosterone in front of her.
* * *
“I see you’ve already met Chloe,” Chase said.
“Sure did. I was just offering to show her around. ”