by Cat Johnson
Leesa drew in a big breath. It was probably safe. Actually, it might be good for her to go. If there had been strangers poking around here asking questions lately, this was a small enough town that word would spread. She was so isolated on the farm she’d never hear it here, but at a bar in town where the locals hung out, she definitely would catch some of the gossip.
She nodded. “Okay.”
Chase grinned. “Good.” He turned toward his sister. “Tell Mama Leesa and I are going out for dinner.”
Christine skittered away down the hall and Leesa felt Chase’s gaze back on her.
“Thank you.”
She raised a brow. “You’re the one taking me out and buying me things. Why are you thanking me?”
“For giving me someone to do those things for.” His hand touched her face and as usual, sent warmth straight through her.
She shook her head slowly. “Why hasn’t someone already scooped you up and claimed you as their own?”
He shrugged. “I guess I’ve been waiting to be claimed by the right one.”
Her heart twisted. Another time, another place, she would love to be that one. “Get out. I have to change.”
“Can’t I stay and…help?” The devilish side crept out through his usual angelic aura.
“No.” She pushed him backward toward the door.
He went easily enough, grinning. “Can’t wait to see you in that dress.”
“Yeah, and don’t think I don’t know why.”
Chase didn’t argue. He just laughed and began pulling the door shut. “See you in a few minutes.”
“Okay.”
When the door clicked shut, Leesa turned toward the bag on the bed. Her gaze caught her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright, and her lips just a tad bit swollen from his kisses. If she hadn’t already decided not to be, she’d have to say that she looked like a woman in love.
Chase’s hometown reminded her a bit of her own as they drove down the main street. He parked along the side of a dark colored building with a sign lit by a few bulbs that read Murphy’s.
He didn’t immediately jump out to run and open the truck door for her, something she’d learned to wait for him to do so he didn’t kill himself trying to get around the hood only to find her already out of the vehicle. That was her clue he wanted to say something. “Something wrong?”
“Um, not really. It’s just that this is a small town.”
She nodded. “Yeah?”
“Everyone here knows me. They have since the day I was born.” He looked pained. “I think maybe we should take our rings off before we go inside.”
Leesa felt a little twinge in the vicinity of her heart. “Oh. Okay.”
Chase grabbed both of her hands before she had a chance to absorb the meaning of what he’d suggested. “Listen to me first. It’s not that I’m not proud to have you on my arm, because I am. But if we’re gonna end this thing, it will be easier if no one in town knows. The gossips will chew on this forever and I…I don’t want that. Do you understand?”
Two things struck Leesa. One was Chase’s use of the word if. If we’re gonna end this thing. The second was the expression on his face, as if it would cause him pain later on to be reminded by town gossip that they’d once been married.
Leesa shook that theory from her mind. She was thinking like a silly girl with a crush, assuming he felt the same way. Chase was young and attractive and in the midst of building a great career. He was in the public eye. He probably had girls hanging all over him all the time. He could be with someone new the minute she was gone.
“Okay. That’s fine. I totally understand and I agree.”
She pulled her hands away from his and slid the ring off before he could say anything else to cause her imagination to run away with her.
He pulled off his and held his hand out. “I’ll stick them both in the cup holder for now.”
Leesa nodded, not letting on how she’d kind of wanted to hold onto it. In case they never put them back on, she wanted it as a memory. Something to look at to make her feel bad about what she’d missed out on when she was somewhere else, doing something else. She’d eventually have to figure out where and what that would be one day very soon.
With the rings stowed safely in the truck’s console, Chase turned to her. “Okay. Ready?”
She nodded and waited for him to come around and open her door. There were only two other vehicles in the lot. An old rusty truck and a tiny hatchback. She couldn’t picture Bruno and the goons arriving in either of those, even if they were trying to be inconspicuous. She relaxed a bit and decided to try and enjoy her night out with Chase. It may be her only one.
Of course the owner knew Chase. The older woman who greeted them, Mrs. Murphy, asked about his family and how long he’d been in town, all the while keeping one eye on Leesa, waiting for an introduction, she supposed. Chase didn’t supply Mrs. Murphy with any information, not even when she said, “I’ll seat you and your…guest.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Chase didn’t give Mrs. Murphy her adjective of who Leesa was and what she was to Chase.
Once they’d been seated and the owner went through the kitchen door to get them water and rolls, Leesa smiled. “That just about killed you didn’t it?”
“What?” Chase looked up from the single page menu on the table in front of him.
“Not introducing me to her. You’re so polite. I could feel how badly you wanted to.”
He shook his head, looking horrified. “I am so sorry. I did badly want to introduce you. I just didn’t know what to call you.”
She knew it. Leesa knew him so well, even though they’d only been together for a few days. “Chase. Honestly. It’s okay. I totally understand.”
“No, it’s not okay. I should have just called you my friend or something. I’ll introduce you when she comes back.”
Reaching out, she covered his hand with hers. “No. Really. Leave it. It’ll give her something to wonder about for a while. Maybe make her slow night go a little faster Besides, I kind of like being mysterious.”
Chase let out a snort. “You are mysterious enough already. Believe me.”
He squeezed her hand then withdrew his just as Mrs. Murphy came back out. Leesa didn’t have time to ask him what he’d meant. Not that she had to. That was probably a conversation better left alone. In fact, once they had rolls, water and had ordered off the menu, Leesa thought it best to change the subject totally.
“Tell me how you started riding.”
He glanced up at her. “You really want to know?”
“Of course I do. I mean it’s not every day a guy decides to jump on the back of a bull. At least it’s not normal where I come from.”
“Where do you come from?”
Uh oh. She’d walked right into that one. “A little town no one’s ever heard of. But I asked you first. How did you start riding bulls?”
He sighed, looking dissatisfied. “Well, I started riding rough stock when I was in elementary school.”
Leesa had no idea what rough stock was, but she didn’t care. She knew once Chase started talking about riding, he’d get so absorbed he wouldn’t think about anything else, such as where she was from and what she was hiding from him.
She was right. He had started talking and kept going. “I was raised on the farm, and even though we don’t have a whole lot of acreage we’ve always owned a horse or two. I was riding before I was walking. In fact, she doesn’t talk about it much, but my mother is a former barrel racer.”
“Really.” Not sure what exactly a barrel racer did, Leesa nodded suitable encouragement so he would keep talking, which he did.
“We used to go to see the pro rodeo that came through these parts every year. I guess that’s what inspired me to want to go pro when I got a little older, but when I was young I just liked it. I started riding bucking stock when I was six. I entered sheep riding contests.”
“Sheep? Really?” She pi
ctured a little curly headed, six-year-old Chase hanging onto a sheep and smiled.
“Yeah. It’s a good time. You should go to a competition. I’ll be riding in a rodeo here in a few weeks. I mean, if you’re still here.” His eyes dropped.
In a few weeks she’d likely be long gone. That thought made her more determined to enjoy what little time she had left with Chase.
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I moved on to steers about two years later and worked my way up through the junior ranks. I even qualified for the National High School Rodeo Association. I was on the rodeo team in college. Turns out I was good enough to go pro. I was very lucky. I won Rookie of the Year.”
“I somehow don’t think luck had much to do with it.”
“Thanks.” He blushed and she couldn’t help but smile.
Meanwhile, she found herself mesmerized by the way his lips looked so sexy. Her gaze dropped to his hands, clasped politely on the table in front of him. She flashed back to all the places they’d been on her body and how good they had felt. She wished she could hold them now, without old lady Murphy seeing them.
“Okay. That’s my story. Your turn. How did you end up in Vegas?”
She supposed she could safely tell him part of her story. It might appease him enough he’d stop questioning her about the stuff she couldn’t tell. Leesa drew in a deep breath and launched into the tale.
“I was about to go into my senior year of college.”
“Where?”
“California.” She hoped he wouldn’t ask any more questions. In fact, once he’d heard how stupid she was, he probably wouldn’t want anything more to do with her. He’d be running to the divorce lawyer and she wouldn’t blame him. That would probably be for the best anyway. “I met a guy and was silly enough to believe we were in love and that would be enough.”
The full weight of her stupidity hit her hard as she told the story. How she’d dropped out of school after the deadline to get the semester’s tuition back that her parents had already paid. It was a considerable sum and she still felt so guilty about it she couldn’t bring herself even to voice it out loud.
Leesa glanced at Chase as he watched and waited for her to continue. “Anyway, I left school and followed him to Vegas where he proceeded to run up tens of thousands of dollars worth of credit-card debt. Then he left me with three months worth of back rent to pay.”
“He left you?”
She nodded.
“Tell me the credit card wasn’t in your name.” Chase was leaning forward now.
“Um, sorry. I wish I could.” She cringed knowing how absolutely foolish she sounded.
He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “Wow. What a shithead.”
“Yeah.” That she could agree with easily.
“What did your parents say?”
“I didn’t exactly tell my parents the truth. They think I dropped out of school because I got offered a great job with a huge salary by a corporation in Vegas.”
He frowned. “Why would you lie?”
“I’m too embarrassed to tell them the truth. And besides, I figure it won’t be a lie one day. If I work hard enough, I can pay off the credit-card debt. Then I’ll pay for my last year of school, get my degree and then get that great job they think I already have.”
He shot her a doubt-filled look.
“I know. I’m crazy. It seemed like a good idea at the time. First I started temping with a secretarial agency. That was too sporadic and didn’t pay that great. So I started waiting tables in a restaurant at one of the casinos. I pretty much sucked at that so my tips were really bad. I was already working the night shift so I thought why not try one of the clubs. I’d talked to one of the other waitresses who’d worked…you know…doing what I ended up doing. She said the money was phenomenal. I figured I could make enough at the club to get out of the hole within a year. But living expenses are so high in Vegas and the interest on my credit cards.” She shook her head. “Have you ever looked closely at your statement? The part where it says if you pay the minimum balance you will pay this balance off in thirty-nine years or whatever. It’s insane.”
“I don’t have a credit card.”
That stopped her story in mid-flow. “How can you live without a credit card?”
“I have a debit card for hotels and airplane tickets or car rentals. Stuff that needs a card.” She considered his credit-less life as he continued. “You don’t think you could tell your parents the truth? It would be easier to pay everything off if you moved back home.”
“My parents are older. Their health is kind of frail. They don’t need my problems on their shoulders.” Leesa shook her head. “I can’t let them see what I’ve become.”
Chase frowned. “What do you mean, what you’ve become?”
“You know.” Her gaze dropped and she rubbed one fingertip aimlessly over the smooth tabletop.
“Because you worked in a strip club?” Chase kept his voice low. “So what?”
“It’s not exactly the profession they paid a fortune in tuition for. It’s not something I’m very proud of.” Leesa forced herself to look at him, expecting disappointment, but all she saw was sincerity in his eyes.
“Don’t you think they’d rather know the truth and have you there with them, than be kept in the dark and separated from you?”
She shook her head. “No. Besides, my older brother lives right down the road from them. With his great job and beautiful wife and perfect children, he can take good care of them. They don’t need me there.”
Chase’s hand covered hers, stilling the idle motion of her fingers.
“You won’t have your parents forever you know. If they’re old and frail like you say, you’re wasting precious time with them.”
When she frowned at that Chase rushed on. “I’m not saying that to be mean, Leesa. I’m saying it because it needs to be said. There are no rerides in life.”
He’d described what a reride was in the truck, but even if he hadn’t the phrase was self-explanatory. She had to admit he was right. “No, there aren’t.”
“I think if you told them the truth, they’d welcome you back with open arms. Living at home, you could pay your bills off in no time even with working and going to school. I know you can.”
She laughed sadly. He made it sound so easy. “You’re big on the truth, huh?”
He raised a brow. “I’d like to think everyone is, or at least should be.”
“I’m not. You already know I lie to my parents.”
Chase shook his head. “You’re lying for a good reason. To protect them. I happen to think you’re wrong and they could handle the truth, but I understand why you’re doing it.”
“So lying for a good reason is okay?” She waited for his answer.
“I guess. It’s better than lying for a bad reason, but personally I think telling the truth is still the best course to take.”
Leesa nodded. “I know. You’re right. I just can’t right now.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
Her gaze met his. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For being so easy to talk to.”
“Well, hell. That’s easy.” Chase grinned, but his hand held hers more tightly. “You know you can tell me anything. Right?”
He was obviously hoping she’d tell him what exactly she was still hiding.
“I know. Thanks.”
Mrs. Murphy returned with their food and once again, they separated before she saw. When she’d gone again, Chase glanced up from his steak. “So this ex boyfriend of yours. He still contact you?”
“No. Thank God.” She bit into her hamburger. It was hot and juicy and almost made everything seem right with the world. Kind of like how she felt when she was alone with Chase.
“Good.” The single word was said with such resolve, she glanced up at him.
“Would you have beat him up for me if he was still around?”
“Hell yeah. And after I was done, I
’m sure a few of my buddies would have wanted a shot too.”
She nodded. “Good to know.”
That settled it. She could never tell Chase about Jerry, or Bruno, or the two goons, because he’d do exactly what he would have done to her ex. He’d try and take care of it. Only this time, instead of some weak-willed guy who took advantage of girls and then ran away, Chase would be up against an organized-crime syndicate. Way out of his league. The only thing she could do was keep him out of it, and that meant shutting him out of her life.
Suddenly she lost her taste for the burger.
Chapter Fifteen
Chase opened the truck door for Leesa, saw her safely inside, then walked around to the driver’s side. She’d opened up to him, more than he’d ever imagined she would actually. Yet there was still something between them. He could feel it. It had been written all over her face as she’d picked at her burger. She was still hiding something. Maybe, eventually, she’d trust him enough to tell him what it was. He only hoped she stuck around long enough for that to happen.
The thought reminded him of the two gold rings lying in the cup holder between their two seats. He reached down in the dim light of the parking lot and picked them up. Holding those rings gave him such mixed feelings. They made him feel both warm and sad at the same time. While she wore it, he knew she wouldn’t leave. The minute they were legally no longer bound, he felt certain she’d be gone. He could see that in her eyes too.
After feeling for the larger ring, he slid it back onto his finger. He held out his hand toward her. “Left hand, please.”
She did as he asked. He slipped the smaller of the two bands onto her fourth finger. She stared down at it for a second, then her gaze moved to his face. “Is there somewhere we can go?”
“Sure. Like where? There’s a movie theater in town. I’m not sure what’s playing or what time—”
“I mean to be alone.”
His eyes opened with the realization. “Oh.”
He couldn’t get the truck started fast enough. Once he had, he backed them out of the space and headed out of town to a place where they could be alone. He hadn’t been there in a few years, and he wouldn’t dare tell Leesa he’d been there at all. Girls could get jealous about stuff like that. It was silly actually, because he had a feeling if he could only get her to trust him and stick around, Leesa could be the last girl he’d ever want to take parking at the lake.