False Match

by Lynne Silver

  Chapter Twelve

  Chase lifted the long wooden beam with a grunt. The swing set company would’ve built it for him for an additional fee, but he wanted to do it himself. He had to prove to Samara he wanted more with her than sex. He wanted to be her and Luca’s family. Building the swing set himself seemed like the right gesture, even if she never knew he’d built it himself. He knew, and at the moment, it mattered.

  And it wasn’t as if Shep would have allowed a local company to come on campus to build the darn thing. Since Xander’s kidnapping, they were on total lockdown. No missions, nothing as simple as even going to a local restaurant. He’d arrived back on campus late last night to find a fairly fucking miserable mood.

  Even the teenagers weren’t their usual boisterous selves. Chase had overheard them muttering at breakfast about being targets because they were teens in their sexual prime. He’d found his first smile of the week when he’d heard that. Although maybe they were right. Perhaps Paulson would want an eighteen-year-old’s sperm over a thirty-year-old’s. Who the heck knew how the man’s mind worked?

  Samara probably knew better than anyone, but she didn’t know he was back on campus, as he’d been hiding from her until he had this swing set ready.

  He heard footsteps rustling in the grass and called, without turning around, “Yo, Gavin, a little help?” He’d enlisted Gavin’s help building the swing set, because someone had to hold the beams in place while he hammered the bitches together.

  “Chase! Watcha doing?”

  He nearly dropped the beam at the sound of Luca’s voice. Holding it steady in shaking arms, he turned to see Luca grinning at him and Samara watching him. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in the lab.” Shit, he’d sounded angry. Not his intention, but he’d been surprised to see them, especially when he needed more time to finish the damn swing set. They were messing with his plans. He’d had grand ideas of presenting the house to Samara, complete with swing set. He was only halfway finished with the set. He needed more time.

  He knew it was her dream to have a real home for her son, after their lost year with Paulson. “Did you hear about Xan—recent events?” He didn’t know if Luca knew about Xander yet, and he didn’t want to upset him.

  “Yes, it’s terrible. Is that why you’re back so soon? Because…” She trailed off, obviously not willing to talk about it in front of Luca. She was right, if he had been on a mission to rescue Xander, learning about his possible death would’ve changed the mission. She flushed and visibly swallowed. “I feel so guilty. If I hadn’t volunteered to be bait, he wouldn’t have been with me in the parking lot.”

  “Don’t say that. It was his job to go into dangerous situations. He knew what he was doing.”

  “I know but…still. I want to be here for you. I know he’s your good friend. I wanted to…” She stopped and swallowed again. “I’m sorry. It’s a horrible tragedy. I had no idea Paulson was capable of doing something like that. I knew he was unethical, but I didn’t guess he was a murderer.”

  “Don’t say that. He’s not dead. I refuse to think that until we find his body. I doubt Paulson would do the killing. He has his henchman for that.”

  “He still has blood on his hands.”

  “Who has blood on their hands, Mommy?” They’d obviously both been too caught up to remember Luca’s presence in their grief.

  “No one, Luca. It’s just an expression.” Luca didn’t look happy with the answer, but he didn’t carry on.

  “Chase, I know you’re busy and that Xander is your first priority, but I need your help. I wouldn’t come to you unless it was urgent.”

  He hated hearing her apologize to him, as if she were ever a bother to him. “Samara, I’m here to help. What’s wrong?”

  “I want to visit my mother. She’s deteriorated to the point she can’t speak on the phone. I need to see her.”

  “I think that can be arranged,” he said, finding his first smile in days. He’d wanted everything set and perfect for his surprise for her, but she looked so worried, it was probably best to tell her he had her mother here on campus. He hadn’t gone after Xander as she thought. He’d requested personal time and gone to Colorado to bring Samara’s mother back here. Luca stopped him from blurting it out when he dashed too close to the swing set in progress.

  “Stand back, buddy. This swing set is not finished yet.”

  “Whose swing set is this?” Luca asked.

  “It’s yours,” he said. Samara looked stunned, but Luca took the gift as his due.

  The kid couldn’t stop jumping. “Are there swings? And a slide?” He turned to his mother. “Can Kylie play on it with me?”

  Samara gazed slowly around the backyard. “Why are you building a swing set for Luca behind this house?”

  “Because it’s your house now. I put in a request to Shep for you. Since you have a kid, it should’ve been yours to begin with, but…” He didn’t want to remind her she’d been persona non grata when she’d moved onto campus, but he didn’t have to. She understood. “And your kid needs a swing set. We used to have one on campus when I was a kid, but it got rusted out and was rebuilt into the obstacle course.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m overwhelmed. You’ll tell me how much I owe you for the swing set.”

  He scowled, hating that she even thought to repay him. “It’s a gift. Say thank you and leave it alone.”

  “Thank you,” she repeated.

  “And one more thing,” he said, taking a breath. “Your mom is here.”

  “What?” She looked at him as though he’d spoken in a language she didn’t understand.

  He helped her out. “I didn’t go after Xander. I took some personal days to go to Colorado and move your mother.” He couldn’t read the look on her face so he plunged forward with his reasons. “It needed to be done. She was in danger from Paulson, and you couldn’t care for her as well from here. I know you said she might suffer confusion from being moved, but we’ll work together to help her orient herself.” He took a breath to go into the next reason when Samara launched herself at his chest. Her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders and hung on. He shifted the wooden beam in his hand to keep from dropping it, and hugged her close.

  “Thank you. Thank you,” she whispered against his chest.

  “She’s with Thea right now,” he said, taking a step back and smiling down at her. There was one more thing… He hadn’t planned on it, but now she was here, and it needed to be said. “I don’t want the enhancements. I know you and Thea think it could be done, but I don’t want them. Why mess with perfection?” He allowed a cocky grin to widen his lips, and it was worth it to see the sunshine and rainbows spread across her face.

  “Really? Are you sure?” She wiped a stray tear from her eye.

  “Hell yeah.”

  Samara couldn’t seem to stop smiling and staring at Chase, and admittedly, it was from more than the news he’d just imparted. He was shirtless and glistening with sweat while his biceps bulged from holding up the wood beam. It took concentrated effort, but she managed to tear her gaze away and physically drag Luca away before he was injured in the building of his swing set. But Luca refused to be pulled.

  “I wanna help,” he insisted. “Chase, can I help?” Before she could say no and come up with an excuse to move Luca to a different part of campus, Chase spoke up.

  “Absolutely, buddy. Gavin was supposed to help, but since he isn’t here, I need a helper, and you’ll do great.”

  A glow practically emanated from her son, he was that excited.

  “Luca, you stand back while I put this beam in place,” Chase ordered.

  She tucked her son against her side, out of harm’s way, while Chase hoisted the connecting beam up to where it belonged. “Hold this in place, Jones,” he said.

  “Me? I couldn’t, could I?” Her palm fluttered to her abdomen, then dropped. She was being silly. Chase wouldn’t ask her to do anything dangerous, it was nothing that cou
ld harm the baby.

  “Sure you can. There’s no lifting involved. It’s already in place, you only need to steady it while Luca and I tighten the screws.”

  She walked over and allowed him to put her in position. When he was certain she was stable, he left her and grabbed a large Phillips head and instructed Luca. He let Luca do all the work, telling him he only wanted to inspect the work at the end, and used the “inspection” to tighten the screws properly.

  Her heart filled with even more love, that this man demonstrated infinite patience to teach a little boy how to use a screwdriver. It was yet another example of why she needed this man in her life.

  It took another half hour, with Chase and Luca doing most of the work, before Chase deemed the swing set ready for play. Luca took the inaugural ride down the long, green heavy-duty plastic slide with a squeal.

  “Have a swing, Samara,” Chase invited.

  She hesitated. “Will it hold my weight?”

  “Are you questioning my building skills? Hell yes, it’ll hold your weight. It’s rated for a few hundred pounds. And besides, you’re a featherweight.”

  “Not for long,” she muttered to herself, but she gingerly tucked her bottom into the green rubber U of the swing.

  “Don’t just sit there. Swing,” Chase ordered.

  Feeling a little silly, she used her feet to kick off and start the swing moving.

  “Need a push?” Chase stood behind her, a smirk on his face. Without waiting for her reply, he pushed his palms into her lower back on the next arc. She gripped the rope of the swing tightly and sailed forward, the breeze rushing past her cheeks.

  She’d forgotten the fun and freedom of flying on a swing. Her lips spread in a grin, and she started pumping her legs harder. For long minutes, laughter and the swing cutting through the fall air were the only noise.

  “Look at your mommy, Luca,” Chase called. “Think she can grab a cloud for you?”

  Luca hopped from the bottom of the slide and jumped. “Grab a cloud, Mommy! Grab a cloud.”

  The laughter quickly turned to a nightmare as Luca, in his excitement, jumped in front of her swing. He hadn’t had enough public playground experience to know never to walk in front of a moving swing. Yet another thing that could be blamed on Paulson.

  To Samara, time slowed down, and yet everything happened so fast. One minute she was laughing and reaching for a cloud. The next, she was kicking her legs back and falling forward to avoid smacking her son in the head with her shoes.

  She hit the ground with a hard thud, landing on her belly and palms. Chase sprinted over, kneeling at her side. He helped her sit up and examined her for damage.

  “A little dirt on your hands, but no blood,” he pronounced. “Anything hurt?”

  She mentally did a body check, then froze as panic set in. The baby. She’d landed on her belly. The medical doctor part of her brain pointed out that she hadn’t fallen that far, and chances of injuring or miscarrying the baby from so small an incident were slim.

  And yet the irrational mama bear inside needed to go lie on a couch in a fetal position.

  “What’s wrong, are you hurt?” Chase almost sounded irritable, but concern shone in his eyes.

  “I—” Her arms wrapped around her lower belly protectively. “I’m fine, I think.” And before she could assess the wisdom of her next words, she blurted, “I’m pregnant.”

  Time stopped. The birds stopped chirping and even the grass stopped rustling. There was only she and Chase staring at each other. Dimly she noted Luca was already back on the slide, unconcerned with his mother’s minor fall and his near brush with an accident.

  “You’re pregnant?”

  She bit her lip and nodded.

  A grin grew on his face until it took over. “With my child?” he asked, obviously remembering her past blithe mention of impregnating herself with another man’s child. How could she have ever thought that would be a good idea when she had this man looking at her as if the sun rose and set by her whims?

  She nodded again. He lost his smile and snatched her off the ground, lifting her carefully in his arms. “Luca, let’s go,” he said in a brisk voice. He set off up the hill toward the lab.

  “What are you doing? Put me down.” She struggled a little, but it felt so good being back in his arms, her fight was for show at best.

  “We’re going to see Doctor Wise. You had a big fall.” He looked down at her but didn’t slow the pace. Poor Luca was jogging behind them to keep up.

  She rested a palm on his cheek. “Chase, two seconds ago you told me I was fine. And I am. Really. I’m a doctor also. Remember?”

  “How can I forget?” he asked in a mutter, but he stopped walking. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. It was a very minor accident, and I’m sure it did nothing to the baby.”

  Gently, he set her on her feet. “If you’re sure. How far along are you? Did it happen the night…in the grass?”

  “Yes.”

  When he looked away with a scowl on his face, she stepped into his line of sight. “What? What has you upset?”

  “There was so much anger that night. I was so pissed, I took you in the grass.”

  She held a finger to her lips and tipped her head toward Luca. Even if he didn’t understand the grown-up’s words, he didn’t need to hear them.

  “I always thought when I had a child, it would be created in love, not anger,” Chase said.

  Her heart pounded at his words. “Oh Chase, there was love there. You couldn’t have been as angry as you were at me if you didn’t love me. You wouldn’t have cared so much otherwise. And I let it happen, because I love you.”

  His expression softened at her words. “For real? You love me?”

  She nodded.

  “Because of the baby,” he said, obviously thinking he understood.

  “No. Because of you. You accused me of always walking away and running away from conflict. You were right. I stopped running. I don’t ever want to run from you. You make me want to stay.”

  His smile was brighter than the day’s sun. “Tell me again.”

  “You make me want to stay?”

  “No, the part about love.”

  She smiled. “I love you.”

  He whooped and picked her up again and started spinning in a crazy circle with her. “Chase, I’m getting dizzy.”

  He practically dropped her on her butt. “Are you going to hurl? Do you have morning sickness yet?” He looked excited by the possibility.

  “Of course not. I’m barely into the first trimester.”

  The smile left his face as he sobered. “I’m going to take care of you, Samara. I will be with you every step of the way for the pregnancy and everything that comes after.”

  “I know you will,” she said simply.

  “And for you too, Luca.” Chase reached a hand toward her son and pulled him into their little circle. “I never needed a genetic code to tell me who my perfect match is. My heart and my eyes tell me. She’s standing in front of me. I love you, and I want to be your family.”

  “You already are, Chase. You are.”

  Epilogue

  Xander cracked open his eyes, feeling pain down to his toenails, if he even still had any toenails. Paulson’s crew had worked him over but good. Every bone in his body ached, and his skin felt matted with sweat and crusted-over blood.

  He’d been blessedly drugged between beatings, probably to keep him silent and still for wherever they’d taken him. He tried to look around, but nothing in his body wanted to cooperate. Didn’t matter, nothing was visible but darkness. He was in a room or a container of some kind, maybe the size of a bedroom, or maybe the size of a coffin. He didn’t know, and he was almost past caring. He only wanted the pain to go away.

  Abruptly, his belly and throat filled with bile and he managed to turn his head to the side a fraction to vomit in a disgusting puddle next to his head. He had no sense of time. He remembered watching the back door and the parking lo
t at the restaurant for Doctor Jones, and then…nothing.

  Fragments of darkness followed bits and pieces of memories of being shoved into a car and waking up to a strange rocking sensation, as if he were on a boat. But mostly it was darkness. He wondered if he’d ever see the sun again.

  About Lynne Silver

  Award-winning author Lynne Silver lives the life of a suburban soccer mom, volunteering with the PTA, doing laundry and working. By night she enters the sensuous world of alpha males and passionate heroines.

  She lives in an old fixer-upper with her husband and their two sons. When not writing romance, she reads it. Lots of it. Over and over and over again, preferably with a bag of M&Ms in hand.

  Lynne welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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  Also by Lynne Silver

  Coded for Love 1: Heated Match

  Coded for Love 2: Conquered Match

  Mistress in the Making

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing

  www.ellorascave.com

  False Match

  ISBN 9781419944956

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  False Match Copyright © 2013 Lynne Silver

  Edited by Grace Bradley

  Cover design by Valerie Tibbs

  Photo: Jenn Leblanc/Dreamstime.com

  Electronic book publication March 2013

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.