“Goddamn you, Chase! I fucking hate you!” she railed at him as the icy water soaked her.
With his back to Brenda, Chase smiled for the first time since picking Brenda up. When he winked at Anna, she had to turn away before she laughed. She decided that Chase had things well in hand and went to the kitchen to make some sandwiches.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Chase sat across the kitchen table from Brenda, who was drinking her second cup of coffee. Her short, dark brown hair was still a little damp because she hadn’t bothered to blow dry it, but at least she was clean and didn’t reek of booze.
Chase just couldn’t figure Brenda out. She was beautiful, smart, and talented in her own ways. Brenda resembled him so much that some people thought that they were twins. When they’d been kids, her personality had been much like Chase’s, but a couple of years after the divorce, she’d begun changing.
Watching Brenda pick listlessly at her sandwich, Chase remembered trying to get her to come live with their mother and grandparents, but she’d refused.
“Will you stop staring at me?” she asked him.
“Just watching those wheels in your head spin.”
Brenda took a bite of the sandwich. “Just let me go, Chase. I’ll get out of your hair and disappear.”
“You’ve told me that a million times, but you always show up again. And then this last time, you wound up in jail.”
Brenda swallowed and banged the table. “It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t know that Mike had a gun or that he was gonna rob that store. I was just waiting for him out in the car.”
Chase held up a hand. “I know all of that. The cameras showed that, but just the fact that you were with him made you an accessory. We’ve been through this a thousand times, Brenda. You got the best deal that your lawyers could get. You did your time, and now you’re out. You have a simple choice to make.”
She gave Chase a suspicious look. “What choice?”
“You either go to rehab and then take the job I give you, or else I’m going to wash my hands of you once and for all.”
He held his hands together and stared directly into her eyes. A spark of fear shone in them for a moment. “What’s the job?”
“You fix up Nana and Granddaddy’s farm and get it operational again.”
Brenda choked on a sip of coffee. “You want me to do what?”
“I visited their place when I was home the last time, and I got looking around. Call me sentimental, but I’d like to see it running again,” Chase said.
“You want me to run a chicken farm?”
“Is there something else you’d rather raise? Beef cattle? Goats? I don’t give a shit what livestock you raise as long as you make a success out of it. Even though you pretend you don’t know anything about ranching, I know that you learned well from Father. I’ll give you enough to start up with, but I’m gonna be up your ass, watching every penny you spend. If you can make it a success within five years, I’ll give you the deed to the place,” Chase said.
Brenda was silent and then gave him a hard look.
Chase slid his hands across the bench toward her wishing like hell she’d reach out and take his hands in hers and agree. “You got about ten seconds to take my deal. Once I wash my hands of you, you know that I really mean it. You’ll be dead to me.”
Her eyes widened for a moment before she narrowed them. “Fine. I’ll take the deal. What hellhole are you gonna send me to this time?”
Pulling his hands back, Chase sighed. “I’ll make calls on Monday and see which one will take you the soonest. In the meantime, you don’t leave this apartment except for at night once everyone goes home. Then you can go up to the Playground. I’m not gonna have you wreaking havoc like you did the last time. And no booze. I got it all locked up, anyway.”
“You oughta talk. You drink just as much as me. And don’t act superior to me. You just got lucky in business.”
“No, I don’t drink like you do, Brenda. And I worked my ass off to get to where I am. Two, three part-time jobs on top of going to school. You could’ve gone to college. Dad would’ve sent you, but you wouldn’t go. I’ll never understand that. You’re smarter than me, Miss IQ of 145,” Chase said.
Brenda smiled. “That pisses you off, doesn’t it?”
Chase laughed. “Not really because it turns out that I have more common sense. I put my smarts to use by helping to create a highly successful business. What have you put yours to work doing?”
“I can’t help it if everything bores me to death. If I went to school, I’d graduate in two years. You coulda graduated early.”
“Yeah, but then I couldn’t have played football or hung out with my friends,” Chase said. “There has to be something that challenges you. Something that interests you.”
“Like what? What challenges you?” Brenda asked.
“Being creative. Figuring out what people want and creating ads and commercials that sell products. People in general interest me,” Chase said.
Brenda shook her head. “I don’t want any part of people. People suck.”
“Not if you surround yourself with the right people.”
“Okay, Ward Cleaver. I think we’re done here for the night,” Brenda announced, getting up. She put her dishes in the sink and looked at Anna. “Amy, it was nice to meet you.”
“Anna,” Chase corrected her.
“Sorry I was mean earlier, Anna. Alcohol brings out my inner bitch.”
“You mean intensifies it,” Chase said.
Brenda flipped him off and stomped out of the kitchen with Lola following her.
Chase rubbed his tired eyes and looked at Anna. “Welcome to my crazy family.”
* * *
“Is she always like that?” Anna asked.
“No. Sometimes she’s worse,” Chase said.
Anna shook her head and got up to clear off the table. “I admire your restraint with her. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d hit her when she punched you.”
Chase folded his arms. “I just can’t hit a woman. Of course, she’s the only woman I’ve ever seriously considered slugging. Baby, leave that stuff for Carla. Let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted.”
Anna yawned. “Me, too.”
They turned the lights out and Chase took her hand as they walked down the hallway to his room. Anna started undressing as her mind spun with questions. “Is Brenda a genius?”
“Close. She’s actually classified as highly superior,” Chase said.
Anna put on her yoga shorts and a Pink T-shirt and crawled into bed. Chase came to bed naked. He turned out the bedside lamp and met her in the middle of the bed. Anna rolled until her head rested on his chest.
She kissed it. “You’re a good big brother.”
Chase grunted. “I’m a damn idiot. I should’ve cut ties with her long ago, but I just can’t.”
“I can understand that, she’s your sister, you want to help her.”
“I do want to help her. I wish I could but she has to learn to help herself. I can’t do it for her. Once I realized that, I took a step back. I usually stay out of the way and wait until she needs help again, but it’s draining.”
She yawned again. “I’m sorry. I’m a little punch drunk,” Anna said.
“Well, let’s get some sleep.”
“Yeah.” Anna kissed him. “Goodnight, honey.”
“Nighty night, darlin’.”
She smiled against his chest at the now familiar phrase and closed her eyes.
Chapter 13
By the time mid-November rolled around, Anna and Chase’s relationship deepened, and she started to believe that she may have finally found happiness. For a former playboy, Chase surprisingly made good boyfriend material.
Ever since that day in the shower when he’d told her about his sterility, a new intimacy had grown between them. Chase took her out to dinner at least twice a week, and they’d gone to the movies a few times. They’d even attended a play. Chase had finally co
nvinced her to go to the beach volleyball game, where she’d had a blast and gotten plastered.
The next morning, he’d called Tom and had just simply informed him that he’d gotten Anna drunk the night before so she wouldn’t be in to work. At first, Anna had been pissed that he’d done that instead of letting her tell Tom that she had a stomach bug. However, her hangover had rendered her incapable of lifting her head from the pillow early enough in the morning to call in.
When she’d gone to work the next day, Tom had stopped by her office to inquire about her health. He’d had a shit-eating grin on his face the whole time.
Pissed off, Anna had replied, “Nothing that a day off and a night of great sex couldn’t cure.”
Tom had just laughed and left her office.
Chase was always a gentleman, paying for their entertainment, opening doors, and seating her. It was touching and made Anna feel special.
It was also rare when they didn’t spend the night together, either at his place or hers. They’d even started leaving toothbrushes and nightclothes at each other’s apartments. Spending the night in Chase’s arms, even if they were just sleeping, was addictive, and Anna couldn’t stay away from him.
So far, he hadn’t shown any inclination towards reverting to his philandering ways. She knew because she talked to him several times a day in addition to seeing him at night, so his opportunities to see other women were limited. Sometimes he called regarding business, but he also called just to say hello and to see how her day was going.
Although things were serious between them, neither had mentioned any plans for the future, and that was fine with Anna. She was happy with how things were progressing, and she didn’t want to move too fast after the hell she’d been through with Greg. Even though Chase was nothing like him, Anna couldn’t help being cautious.
As she worked on a budgeting issue one afternoon near three, her Skype alert went off. She knew without looking that it was Chase because he usually called her around that time of day.
Answering, she saw that he was in his bedroom.
“Darlin’, I have that meeting at four with that idiot from Carlson’s. Which tie?”
It amused Anna no end that although Chase possessed many talents, picking out formal wear wasn’t one of them. “I told you the blue one.”
His irritated expression made her smile. “Which blue one? I have three.”
“The satin one.”
“Okay. Thanks. I doubt that I’m gonna see you tonight.” His displeased expression was clear. “I have this meeting and then dinner with other clients.” Then he brightened. “Unless you wanna come with me?”
Anna didn’t know what to say. It was the first time he’d asked her to go to a business dinner. His expression was so hopeful that she couldn’t refuse. “I’d like that. I’ll get to see Chase McIntyre in action.”
He smirked. “It ain’t exciting, believe me. I’m like the Stepford version of Chase at these things.”
Anna laughed. “I still can’t wait to see it. What time?”
“Can you be ready by seven-thirty?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. I’m really glad you’re going tonight.”
“Me, too.”
He sighed. “Okay. Gotta go shower, baby, but I’ll see you at seven.”
“Chase?”
“Yeah?”
“Use the mint chocolate body wash, please?”
“You got it.” He gave her smile. “See ya.”
Anna smiled as she went back to work.
* * *
Chase conducted business efficiently that evening, but his attention was mostly on the stunning redhead sitting beside him. She wore a shimmery red dress with thin straps that made her look like an actress, and the sexy updo she’d put her hair in showed off her pretty neck and shoulders.
She’d been shooting seductive looks his way with those dazzling green eyes of hers, and he wanted to drag her to the coat check room. It had given him great pleasure to introduce Anna as his special lady to his business associates, and she was a wonderful conversationalist, charming his male guests and entertaining their wives.
For the life of him, Chase couldn’t figure out why Anna didn’t see the way that men looked at her. He’d caught Larry Arnold ogling Anna a couple of times and had given him a warning look. If any man made a wrong move towards Anna, he’d open a good old-fashioned can of whoopass on him.
By the time dessert arrived, Chase knew that he wanted to do these kinds of things with Anna on a regular basis. He wanted Anna to move in with him. It was a huge step for a man like him, but when something was right, it was right. Chase knew in his heart and soul that Anna was the right woman for him.
He wanted their relationship to move forward, but did she want to move at the same pace? He was afraid that she’d pull away if she felt rushed. But how was he supposed to know without discussing it with her? It was one hell of a conundrum and he didn’t know how to solve it.
When they were leaving the restaurant to go home, Anna asked, “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Just glad that’s over,” he replied as they walked over to the limo he’d ordered that night.
Having someone drive him impressed clients and that night was no exception. The driver opened the door for Anna while Chase went around to the other side.
Once he was seated beside her, he said, “Thanks for going with me. It made it more bearable and you look so gorgeous.” He leaned closer and whispered, “You want me to tell the driver to go for a walk?”
Anna giggled and pushed him away. “No. It’s too public here and he’ll know what we’re doing.”
Chase waggled his eyebrows at her as he took off his tie. “That’s half the fun.”
She laughed, but still refused.
“Okay. Home, Jeeves!” Chase said to the driver.
The driver chuckled at his cliché quip. “Yes, sir.”
Chase put an arm around Anna’s waist and pulled her over against him as they pulled out from the parking lot of the swanky restaurant. The next thing he knew, he felt her unzip his dress pants and reach her hand inside them.
When he looked at her, she lifted an eyebrow and gave him the sultry look that always got him hard in seconds.
Putting his lips close to her ear, he whispered, “I thought that you were afraid of someone knowing?”
“Just priming the pump.”
“Don’t prime it too much or it might explode.”
Anna grinned and stifled a laugh as she caressed him. “That might be fun to see.”
“No, it won’t be. Oh, shit.” He bit his bottom lip and tried to resist his reaction to her touch.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Don’t bite your lip like that. It…makes me horny,” she answered.
Chase met her gaze. “Jesus. Really? I can’t help it.” He shifted restlessly as his hard-on pressed against his pants.
Then she pulled his boxer briefs down and wrapped her fingers around him.
“Anna, please.”
“Please what? Stop or keep going?”
She was driving him out of his mind.
“Stop!” he said loudly.
“Where would you like me to stop, sir?” the driver asked.
“Nowhere,” Chase said while Anna shook with silent laughter. “If you don’t stop, I’m gonna do you right here without him pulling over.”
“Promises, promises.”
Chase put up the panel between them and the driver. Then he hauled Anna over onto his lap and they proceeded to make the limo rock as it made its way to Horizon.
* * *
The Friday before Thanksgiving, Chase nervously paced back and forth on the trampoline as he waited for Ric to answer his call.
“Hey, bud—”
Chase plowed ahead, cutting Ric off. “She told me, I mean, I told her and I love her, and she doesn’t care if I can’t make babies. How do I tell her that I love her?”
Chase froze when he heard Emily’s voice. “Do you have me on speaker phone?”
“Uh, yeah,” Ric said regretfully. “I accidentally hit the speaker button.”
Chase closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is Hayley there?”
“No. She’s downstairs watching TV. We’re in the nursery.”
“Who all is ‘we’?”
“Me, Kate, Emily, and Tyler. And the baby.”
“Sonofabitch! I don’t believe this! I wasn’t ready!” Chase started bouncing, which helped ease his agitation a little.
Emily asked, “Chase, do you want to talk privately to Ric?”
“No. Might as well tell all y’all and be done with it. Remember me telling y’all about having the mumps when I was a kid?”
They sent him a collective affirmative answer.
“Well, it was so bad that now I don’t have any swimmers. No making babies for me. And I know because I tried for close to a year to get Denise pregnant. Didn’t work,” Chase said. “Please don’t tell me how sorry you are. I’m not looking for pity.”
Tyler said, “It’s not pity, Chase. Why didn’t—never mind. Okay, so you can’t…”
“Make babies, Ty,” Chase said. “I can’t get anyone pregnant.” He bounced higher and smiled. “It actually feels good to get it off my chest.”
Kate asked, “Who is it that you love?”
Chase laughed and did a flip. “Anna Spencer.”
“From Innovative Graphics?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah. I started seeing her about a week after we met, and we’ve been together ever since,” Chase said.
“Why didn’t you tell us before now?” Tyler asked.
“Because I was afraid to jinx it.” Chase continued bouncing. “But God, I love her. She’s beautiful and sexy and fun and smart.”
His friends laughed and he couldn’t hold back his own laughter.
Ric said, “So you told her about not having swimmers and she’s okay with it?”
“Yeah. She said that if things ever got that serious that we could adopt or look into other ways to get pregnant,” Chase said.
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