“Knock yourself out.”
She walked over to the door and inspected the flimsy little lock on the door handle. It was secure back there, no doubt, but a bolt lock would make her feel a whole lot better.
“Would you mind if I installed a bolt lock on this?” she asked.
He furrowed his brow. “As opposed to one of my crew doing it?”
“No, I mean, do you mind if I add that to this door, is what I’m asking.”
“Of course not. But let me handle that.”
“No, I can do it. I’m not trying to put you out with any of this.”
“I think adding a bolt lock to a door a tenant is going to be living in is pretty standard landlord stuff.”
“I want to do it myself.”
“You think I won’t do it right?”
She rubbed her forehead. “No. I would just be more comfortable if I knew I was the only one who had a key, and you, of course.”
He nodded, but she sensed his concern…and his questions.
She jerked a thumb toward the door. “I’m just gonna run home and grab some grubby clothes and some cleaning stuff.”
“I’ve got cleaning stuff.”
“No. I’ll get my own.” She moved past him toward the main house, hearing him follow behind her.
“Do you need any help? I can come with you and get the lock at least.”
“I’ve got it.”
“Let me help you clean then. I can get started while you’re gone.”
She held up a hand. “Nope. I’ve got it.” She started to open the door to the house, then she remembered that she said she’d leave out the gate, so she stopped short and turned around to find Chase in her face. Instinctively, she pushed him away with both hands knocking him off balance. When it registered in her brain what she’d just done, she covered her mouth with her hand, her heart rate racing. She pulled her hand away from her mouth, shaken as much by her bizarre reaction to a man close to her as her own dramatic hand-to-mouth reflex. Shayla was the collected one, always. Her dad used to tell her she had ice water running through her veins. She liked being a calming presence, not an over-reactor.
“I’m sorry. That was my fault. I just…I said I would go out the gate.” She rubbed her knuckle on her forehead. “But my purse is in the kitchen, of course. I’m just going to head out that way.”
She tried to force a smile, but his dumbstruck facial expression was enough to make her give up and get out of there. She hurried inside, grabbed her purse, and bolted.
Her stomach sat ill at ease as she drove down 30A. What was wrong with her? She’d never hit anyone before. She was starting now? Was this a side effect of having been hit herself? Whatever it was, she wanted it to stop.
As she passed through Rosemary Beach, her text alert dinged, making her wince. Was that Chase texting to say don’t bother coming back? She’d just assaulted her landlord. She was pretty sure that could very easily be a deal breaker. She swallowed hard, rubbing her temple, trying to keep it together as she drove back to Bo’s house.
This was supposed to be a happy day. Progress. She still had her house in Franklin to deal with, but during the few moments she thought she had a new home she started to feel human again. She loved her brother, but she’d simply stepped into his life two months ago. Moving into his house and his business while he went to Indianapolis to be with his girlfriend. Hell, she was even driving his truck, but she’d talked him into that. He was living downtown in Indianapolis, and she convinced him it’d be easier to maneuver her car up there than his truck. That way she also could use his truck for the business, so they’d switched. That it also gave Brian one less way to find her was a definite plus.
Two months ago, she’d needed a new life away from Brian and Nashville, but while still paying on her house and bills in Franklin she couldn’t afford a new place. Bo’s exit had worked out perfectly. But Bo’s house and Bo’s business weren’t her life, not long-term. Moving to her own space that she was paying for herself would be a step in the direction to feeling like a whole person again. And Chase’s tiny house could be that first step. They hadn’t even discussed a price, but with him saying she could just live there, she was sure they could settle on something reasonable.
But that text waiting for her could change all that.
She made it all the way home without looking. She needed a few moments to dream that this could still happen. The setup was too perfect to be real. Beside the security and privacy, she was tired of being alone. She liked the idea of living a stone’s throw from a person, and one who she liked. She had to admit that living next to a guy who was six and a half feet tall didn’t hurt matters. He wasn’t buff like Brian, but he was in decent shape. He had plenty of muscle—she’d noticed it in his forearms, not that she was looking. But he damn sure looked like he could take care of himself, especially if Brian were to show up at his house.
God, what was she thinking dragging a nice guy like Chase into her mess? It didn’t matter. He had probably just texted her to fuck off, anyway.
She put Bo’s truck in park and stared at her phone, afraid to pick it up. When she finally did, she garnered up the courage to swipe his text open.
Bring Jake back with you if you want. Does he do windows?
Relief washed over her and she smiled without even thinking about it. But her smile faded as soon as it came. She definitely didn’t need to be dragging him into her shit.
Chapter Three
As Chase sat at his kitchen table working, he tried not to pay attention to the woman in his pool house, but that was about as doable as wrestling a whale. He’d almost felt like he knew her before he ever met her because of how much Bo had talked about her over the years. But this woman’s personality didn’t match the one Bo had described. Bo had talked of a sister who kept peace between him and his brother with her calm personality and in high school was voted most likely to have Robert De Niro as her sidekick.
The woman he’d spent time with these past two days was on edge. He could see flashes of the personality Bo described when she was wordlessly calling him out on a stupid joke or when she seemed to momentarily forget what was clearly weighing down on her, and he had heavy suspicions of what that might be.
Between the security concerns and the way she shoved him when they almost collided earlier, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that either someone had hurt her or they’d tried. He suspected Bo knew nothing about it or he wouldn’t be still up in Indiana in la-la land with Maya. Bo adored Maya, but Chase had never been around him when he didn’t either talk to or about his sister. If he had a clue she was in distress, his ass would be down here.
Chase felt a pull in the direction of telling Bo what he was witnessing. Chase would want to know if the tables were turned. Of course, Chase didn’t have a sister. But he had brothers, and if he knew one of them was in trouble he’d move the Gulf of Mexico to help them. But Chase didn’t know anything for certain, so there was no need for alarming Bo just yet. Besides, Chase could keep his eye on her until Bo moved back, which wouldn’t be long.
Chase remembered his trip to Vegas with his investment group this week. He’d have to figure a workaround for that.
The doorbell rang, and Chase went to answer it, letting the grocery delivery guy in. He signed off on the receipt and started unloading food. Blake and Seanna would be there in an hour and a half. He wanted to invite Shayla to stay, but he was half afraid to approach her again. He’d never gotten signals to back off from a woman in a more extreme way. He wasn’t one of these alpha males who took a rejection as a challenge to try harder. He only needed to be told no or anything similar to it once. There were too many women in this world to get hung up on one.
But then again, if she stayed here cleaning and saw Blake and Seanna come in, she might feel weird that he didn’t invite her. And it wasn’t a date. Shayla knew Blake and Seanna. It was friends hanging out, and she was here. He finished with the groceries and then headed out to th
e pool house.
Jake wagged his tail from his spot in the sun by the pool. Chase had always wanted a dog but he traveled a lot for work, and he didn’t want to be constantly boarding it or having to arrange for someone to come let it out. He also didn’t always make it home on a Friday or Saturday night, and he wouldn’t let a dog ruin his chances to spend the night with a beautiful woman. Of course, when was the last time he’d done that? Felicity two months ago, for sure. When before that? He probably didn’t want to look under that rock.
He knocked on the door, and it opened by itself. It must have been ajar. “Hello?” he said, glancing around.
She poked her head out of the bathroom, wiping her forehead with the back of her arm. “Hey.”
Standing there in dirty shorts and a T-shirt holding a toilet brush, her hair up in a loose ponytail/bun thing, wet strands hanging down in her face, she was still one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen in person, and he’d known a lot of beautiful women in his life. How a man could hurt this woman, any woman, was so far out of his brainstem that he couldn’t even fathom it, and the idea caused an ache in his chest.
“The place looks great. I should have asked you to rent much sooner,” he said.
She looked over at the bed. “Do you care that I changed the bedding out?”
“Of course not. I’m glad you’re making it your own.”
“I’m gonna take your old bedding home tonight and wash it.”
“You know, I do have a washer and dryer in the house.”
“I imagine you do, but no thanks.” She glanced around. “It’s really perfect. I can’t thank you enough.” She narrowed her gaze. “We didn’t actually talk about rent yet.”
“Yeah, I was hoping we wouldn’t have to. I’m not out anything by you living here. I just don’t see any sense in you paying me.”
Her expression turned serious. “I’m paying you or we’re not doing this.”
He glanced around. “Look at what you’ve already done. I owe you.”
“Chase, I’m not playing.”
Damn. She wasn’t with that tone. “Okay, what works for you? Fifty bucks a month?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not funny.”
“A hundred, but you’re killing me.”
She stared at him. “Would five hundred a month work? Plus utilities, of course.”
“Including utilities and you’ve got a deal.”
She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “That’s the most ass-backwards negotiation I’ve ever been a part of. You say you’re a successful businessman?”
“I never said that.”
“Your face plastered all over South Walton says differently.”
He winced. “You know that wasn’t my idea.”
“Mmm hmm. Whose idea was it?”
“My marketing team.”
“Led by a woman, no doubt.”
He scrunched up his face, busted. His neck heated a little bit, wondering if she was insinuating that his was a nice-looking face.
“Mmm hmm,” she said again and headed back into the bathroom.
“Wait,” he said, scratching his cheek. Why was he nervous? He didn’t get nervous around women, especially ones in the process of scrubbing a toilet. “Blake and Seanna are coming over at six. I’m grilling steaks if you’d like to join us.”
She blew some stray hairs out of her face. “Thanks for the invite, but I’ll head out in just a minute.”
He nodded. “Okay.” One no was all he needed to hear. He turned to leave, but his feet were heavy like they were muddled down in quicksand. He turned back around and opened his mouth to speak, but she’d already disappeared into the bathroom. He started to leave again, but his desire to know what was going on with her won out. He walked back toward the bathroom. “Are you sure you want to deal with Seanna knowing you left before she got here?” He pushed the door open to find her on the floor with her knees straddling the toilet. Why the hell did he find that sexy?
She dropped her posture. “She knows I’m here right now?”
“No, but do you want me to not mention you’re here?”
She pulled her leg out from under her. “No, don’t hide anything. It’s not like people aren’t going to find out. Just let me call my brother before you tell her I’m here.”
“I’m not planning on talking to her before she gets here at six.”
“What time is it now?” she asked.
“Four-thirty. Are you gonna run home?”
“I’ve actually got my clothes from earlier. I just grabbed these when I was at home and changed here.”
He paused to take in the fact that she was naked in there earlier, momentarily. What was he, twelve? “You’ve got a shower right there.”
She glanced in there. “I don’t have any soap or anything.”
“Use my guest room. It’s stocked.”
She met his gaze. “Really?”
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
“I’m crashing your party. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid…you thinking you had to include me in stuff.”
“First of all, this isn’t stuff. This is two people, both of whom you are friends with, coming to my house to eat steaks. It’s mainly so I can see Blake, who I never see anymore outside of work because he’s old and married now. But he also never sees his wife which is sort of my fault because she works for me, so we compromise and Seanna and I agree to stomach each other another day of the week for the sake of her husband’s and my friendship. But I promise you what will end up happening is they won’t be able to keep their hands off each other, and if you’re not there, I’ll have nobody to roll my eyes at.”
A smile played at her lips. “You and Seanna have trouble stomaching each other?”
“Not Monday through Friday, but we’re both damn sick of each other by the weekend.”
“Why didn’t you two get together?” she asked and then winced. “That was a dumb question. Don’t answer it.”
“Can I if I want?”
She gazed at him with that barely there smile and shrugged.
“Actually, I really don’t know. She was remodeling my kitchen, and then I was offering her a job. I guess I saw her as more of a co-worker than a date. Besides that, Blake was nuts over her from the start. Anyone with senses could tell. I didn’t want to get my ass kicked.”
Her smile deepened, still closed-mouth though. She wasn’t easy to impress. Some people would laugh at anything he said, courtesy or otherwise, but Shayla was stingy with her smiles. He could appreciate that.
She tossed a glob of wet paper towels in the wastebasket and stood. “I’ll grab a shower if that’s okay.”
“Be my guest. Or my tenant, I guess.”
She moved past him and grabbed a bag off the kitchen table. He closed the door behind them and followed her to the house. “When will you move in?”
“I probably need to stay at Bo’s until he gets here because of Jake.”
“Jake is welcome here.”
She gave him a look as she weaved around the corner of the pool. “You say that now.”
“He’s been fine all day. He’s just been sleeping by the waterfall. It’s a good thing, too, because he’s got a date coming over tonight.”
She opened the door to the house. “Did you tell Blake to bring his dog?”
“Yeah.”
She looked at the pantry. “Oh, crap. I need to get him some food for tonight.”
“I’m making him a steak.”
She shifted her gaze to him. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m totally serious. He’s got to eat.”
“Not a steak.”
“I’ve got one marinating for him, Sadie too.”
She looked him up and down. “It’s a good thing you don’t have a dog of your own. You’d spoil it rotten.”
“Probably so.”
She pointed at the living room. “Your guest room’s through there?”
“Yeah, here.” He mo
ved past her and headed that way. His cleaning crew always kept it clean and stocked, but he wanted to check it out, just in case. He and Felicity had used that room the week she was here. There was no need for women he wasn’t attached to seeing his bedroom or the picture on his nightstand.
He hadn’t had a woman back to his house since Felicity was there, the same week Bo met Maya. Felicity had kept him busy for a full week, wore his ass out. He liked her a lot, but he was ready for her to go back to Indianapolis when she did. He wasn’t getting attached, but if she would have hung around much longer, he’d start to feel like he was lying to her if he didn’t tell her about Sam. Felicity was all about having fun, and so was Chase. The last thing he wanted was to burden her with his personal shit.
They still talked about twice a week, among other things. She’d call him and tell him about a date she’d been on that went well or didn’t. He’d make her laugh, and then she’d lower her voice into that breathy register that was as goofy as it was sexy, and the two of them would finish each other off from seven hundred miles apart. He didn’t really even hit on other women anymore. That wasn’t true. He hit on them, bought them drinks, flirted, and then came home and called Felicity. It was kind of fucked up now that he was thinking about.
He scanned the area around the bed for condom wrappers while Shayla checked out the shower.
“Got everything you need in there?” he asked, peering into the bedside wastebasket, which had been emptied at some point during the past couple of months, thankfully.
“Looks like it. Thanks.”
He gave her a nod and left her to it…to get naked in his shower, soapy suds dripping down her breasts and over the curve of her ass. He shook himself back to earth.
“Damn it,” he said under his breath as he headed to the kitchen. “I’ve got to get laid for real.”
Chapter Four
Shayla combed through her hair with a pick. She really needed to get a trim, but she hated messing with it. Maybe she should get it cut short, just in case. She rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t on the run, not really.
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