Favorite Places (A TroubleMaker Novel, #2) (13 page)

With her eyes
back on the suitcase, she whispered, “Closer.”

He moved, watching
her face for signs of resistance, but none came when he halted a few inches
from her body.

“That’s what I
thought.” She lifted long eyelashes and looked up at him. “It’s you.”

The crazy
statement was almost lost on him. His usually meticulous brain was fried. He couldn’t
comprehend being so close to her and not being able to touch her. The sweet
smell of her breath was taunting the tips of his fingers, daring him to pin her
to the wall and kiss her, but then her words dawned on him. “Sorry. What did
you just say?”

“When you’re
near me, I don’t…tense up.”

He arched an
eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe
I’m growing out of it, or maybe you’re helping me with it. I know it sounds
nuts, but since you stayed the night with me at my apartment…well, getting
close to people has been, uh…less intense. At the market yesterday, I didn’t
freeze up or freak out because someone entered my three-foot comfort zone. Even
the bus ride here was tolerable. It’s weird, and it makes no sense, but I really
do think you have something to do with it.”

“You’re right. It
doesn’t make any sense.” He almost kicked himself for saying that aloud.

“Yeah, well that
brings up my next condition. I want you to help me break the phobia.”

“How do you
purpose I do that?” Chase had a few ideas of his own, but they required
forty-eight hours, a bed, and no clothing whatsoever for either of them. Damn,
he was so happy she’d come back to him. He wanted to tell her, to show her, and
he planned to the second she finished with her conditions.

“You need to
invade my space on purpose. Sit close to me, sleep in the same bed, and so on.
It’ll be like exposure therapy, and I think it might help. I’ve been a prisoner
to this safe zone for most of my life, and I’m sick of it.”

She’d mentioned
a bed, so he was glad to hear they were at least sort of on the same
wavelength. “Sure,” he said with a shrug and no reluctance, since it really
wasn’t much of a compromise at all and all of her conditions only brought him
closer to her. “Is that it?”

“No.” Her eyes
dropped back to the floor, and a long second dragged out before she presented
her final condition, before she efficiently stomped on Chase’s heart. “My aunt’s
inheritance is $100,000. If I’m going to help you with Caplin, I will need you
to triple that.”

Son-of-a-bitch!
That fucking hurt! She didn’t come back for me at all. Damn it.
He wanted to reach up and touch his chest. The pain there was killing him. He tried
to ignore it, realizing his first impression had been accurate. Jessina Landi
was all about the money. His teeth ground together as he tried to keep his cool.
He managed to pry his locked jaw apart long enough to say, “Sure, 300 grand.
Like I said, I’m good for it, but I have a condition of my own.”

“Oh?” She sounded
surprised, and that pleased him.

“Sleeping in the
same bed is one thing, but there’s not gonna be anything physical between us—no
sex whatsoever.”

His anger must
have been on the forefront. A quick but nervous smile appeared on her face as
she attempted to tease his irritation away. “And remind me again what your definition
of sex is.”

“Anything that
has you calling out my name…or God’s for that matter.”

“Hmm. What about
you? Don’t you think I could make you call out
my
name if I really tried?”
she purred in a tauntingly sexy voice that almost drove him mad.

“What makes you
think I haven’t already?” he was quick to respond, refusing to give in to any
of her tempting pussycat calls.

“Uh…” Her eyes
widened.

“I’m not immune
to you, Jess. My body needs release too.” Observing her tension, he grinned. “Still,
I’ve got no problem taking care of it all by myself.”

“You mean…?” Her
eyes skimmed down to the crotch of his pants. His insubordinate cock swelled
from the fleeting look.

“Oh yeah, hon’.
That’s
exactly
what I mean.”  

Her eyes grew bigger.
“And you’ve done this already?” she asked, her amber orbs popping back up to
his.

“Wouldn’t you
like know?”

“Yes, I would
actually,” she articulated, a clear-cut admission that swirled downward,
squeezed through the teeth of his metal zipper, and wrapped around his rigid
shaft.

“No sex, period.
You’ve given me your conditions, and I’ve agreed, and this one is mine,” he
snarled, banishing her brazen declaration out of his pants to reclaim control
over his misbehaving cock.

“Fine, no sex, but
I want a clause in our agreement that states we may revisit this condition at a
later time and renegotiate, as long as both parties are in agreement.”

“Why, Ms. Landi,
are you trying to say you
want
to have sex with me?”

“No! I just
don’t think sex should be
any
part of our agreement, that’s all,” she
said, as though confused about whose condition was whose.

“Yet you want me
to sit close to you to cure your crazy comfort-zone issues. Christ, you want me
to sleep with you! Seriously, where the hell do think all of that’s going to
lead?”

“Hmm. Well, I
suppose I see your point.” She grimaced. “All right, fine. I strike those terms
from my conditions.”

“Consider it stricken.”
He chuckled, fully aware that if he wanted to sit next to, sleep in the same
bed, or have sex with her, there wasn’t a single condition in any deal that could
or would stop him from doing so. The no-sex rule was for his own good and his
pride, a declaration of his self-control, which he tended to lose whenever he
was around Jessina Landi. Upset as he was to realize she really was just a selfish,
money-hungry bitch, it still didn’t turn him off like he wished it would. It
hurt deep in the chest, but the rest of his body hadn’t been affected by it. Every
other inch of him still wanted her more than it had ever wanted any other woman.
Besides being all about the money, Chase couldn’t deny that in every other way,
Jess was different from the other women he’d known. He was also sure that the
ache in his chest had been his heart all along, and he was pretty damn certain she’d
reached right in and had touched him there, on purpose or not. And crushed or
not, his heart longed for her to pay it another visit, and that scared the
living hell out of him.

Jessina heard the
apartment door close, followed not by the
pitter-patter
of feet, but the
echo of firm, confident steps, alerting her that Chase was home. From out of
nowhere, butterflies found their way to her belly.
What the hell is wrong
with me? Stop it, Jessina! This is a business deal and nothing more!

When Chase
strolled into the kitchen and tossed his suit coat over a chair, she knew what
the hell was wrong with her. It was him. The man was so damn irresistible all
the freaking time, be it in a suit and tie or just getting out of bed. She gorged
him with her eyes for a few seconds, still hating him for being so desirable
and weakening her resolve every time she laid eyes on him.

He shifted to
the left, spying the counter. “Grilled cheese?”

Taking her
short-lived eye-fill, she turned back to the griddle and flipped the bread. “Yep.
With tomatoes, just like Mamie’s,” she said and set the sandwiches on the plates,
laughing to herself about serving up grilled cheese to a multimillionaire for
dinner. To be fair, it was about the only thing the tycoon had in his fridge, other
than eggs and bagels.

“Wow. So you
remember the name of the lady who raised me. You also know the name of my
lawyer, my assistant—”

“And let’s not
forget about Nora, your maid,” she teased, putting the plates on the table.

“Uh, yes, good
ol’ Nora.” He winked at her before she turned to grab the wine. “Speaking of
names, what’s
his
?”

Confused,
Jessina stopped with the bottle still in her hand. “Whose?”  

“The guy who
ruined your faith in men, the one you compare every other guy to.” He pointed
to the wine. “Excellent choice, by the way. It’ll go really good with grilled cheese,”
he teased, wearing that award-winning smile that often seemed like a mockery.

“What?” Dumfounded,
she stared at him. He’d nonchalantly gone from men to wine, then back to
grilled cheese, exercising the gift of gab that had helped to make him
successful in the business world. She was sure he couldn’t possibly know about
her ex, her former fiancé, but then again, he knew far more about her than she
knew about him because he could afford to hire a P.I.

“C’mon, Jess.
Who is he?” he cued, continuing his fishing expedition in a way that assured he
didn’t know about Lance.

“I don’t know
what or who you’re—”

“Oh, hon’, are
we really gonna play this game?” He easily pulled the wine from her hands and
picked up the corkscrew. “I’m not looking for the whole tragic story. All I’m
asking for is a name,” he said just as the cork popped from the bottle. He set
the wine on the table, leaned his backside against the counter, and crossed his
arms over his stout chest. A gesture that verified he wasn’t going to let up
until he got the information he was digging for.

“Fine,” she
huffed, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to tell him the truth. “Lance. His name is
Lance.”

“Lance?” he derided
with a hiss. “Hmm.” He pushed off from the counter and filled the wine glasses.
“Well, that explains it all.”

“Huh? Why?
Really,
Chase
? As if you’re one to talk about names,” she hissed right
back at him.

“My name is
perfectly fitting, don’t you think?” He loosened his tie. “In case you hadn’t
noticed, chasing is sort of what I do.” He casually popped open the first, then
the second button of his shirt. “I chase after what I want, and I don’t stop
until I get it.” He pulled the tie from his collar and hung it over his suit
coat. “Sweetheart,” he said, placing both hands on the back of the chair, “to lance
is to pierce or to cut, right?” He arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what he did?
Did he slice open your heart?” He swayed forward. “Or did he just break it?”

“He didn’t do a
damn thing to my heart! For him to do that, I would have had to give a shit about
the backstabbing asshole, which I didn’t.”

“Back-stabbing
asshole, huh?” He tilted his head to the side. “Now, a name like that really does
explain it all.”

She bent over
the table until she was just inches from his jeering expression. “Screw you,
Chase! This is none of your business, and I’m through talking about it.”

“Uh-huh. He sure
did a number on you.” He tapped her on the nose. “Lanced you right through the
heart, didn’t he?”

Jessina arched
her back, scrunching the very nose he had playfully touched. “You don’t know
anything about it or even about me, for that matter!”

“Then tell me.”
He waved his hand in the air. “Sit down, we’ll enjoy this wonderful feast
you’ve prepared, and you can tell me a little bit about Jessina Landi, the
woman I’m accidentally married to.”

She glared at
him, furious but conquered nonetheless for running wasn’t an option. She yielded
to her fury and pulled the chair out from the table. She was starving after
all, or at least that’s what she told herself. In any case, two could play at
his little
quid pro quo
game. “You first,” she dared, turning the tables
on him as she settled into the seat.

Undaunted, Chase
followed suit and sat in the chair across from her. Rolling up his sleeves, he
glanced up at her. “What do you want to know?”

She picked up
her sandwich. “Start with your mother. Tell me about her.” She bit into the warm,
cheesy sandwich and watched his expression. She expected him to go from cocky
to hesitant, but he surprised her yet again.  

He grabbed his
own sandwich from the plate and inspected it. “Not much to say.” He shrugged. “My
father didn’t make enough money for the greedy bitch, so she left us when I was
seven.” He bit into his grilled cheese.

Calling his
mother a “greedy bitch” was a bit harsh, but Jessina had just called her
ex-fiancé a “backstabbing asshole,” and she’d called Chase more than a few
choice names, so she had no room to judge. If the woman really had left him
when he was only seven, she had to be a heartless bitch. It was heart-wrenching
to think of little boy Chase being deserted by his mother. It pulled on Jess’s
heartstrings and made her realize why he was the way he was about women. Her
mother hadn’t exactly left her, but she sometimes hated having her around, and Jessina
felt guilty for feeling that way.  

“Now,” he mustered
between swallows, “about this Lance. I take it he cheated on you.”

“Yeah,” she
breathed out. “If that was all he’d done, I could have handled it better, but
he was just…” She shook her head and trailed off, not wanting to revisit those
awful memories.

Darkness cast a
gray sheen over Chase’s bright blue eyes. “Why? What else did he do to you?”