Page 36 of The Heartbreaker (Chandler Brothers 3)
Sloane hung up, opting not to mention Chase or the fact that her stepmother had assigned him to look out for her. She figured Madeline deserved some motherly liberties. With matters at home as settled as they could be, she changed clothes and headed back to the living room.
She was exhausted from the day’s events. If not for the subjects that still needed discussing, she could easily fall asleep and rest easy with the knowledge that her secret was still safe.
But she still had to deal with Chase.
* * *
Exhausted and wired at the same time, Chase stretched his feet out on the table in front of the sofa and waited for Sloane. Finally she walked out of the guest room, the smaller bedroom Chase had given her for the time she stayed with him. “Still waters run deep, huh?” she asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that nothing’s apparent with you. You shocked me back in the bar, with your dominant attitude.” She curled into a corner of the couch, across from him, bringing with her the fragrant scent of vanilla. Now that they’d agreed she’d be staying here, she’d unpacked a few things in his one and only bathroom.
She’d asked him if he minded. He’d said no. He lied. Already she was making herself impossible to forget.
She’d changed out of her bar clothes and now wore a comfortable pair of gray sweats, which covered her legs, while an old pink T-shirt pulled tight over her breasts. And she wore no bra.
He tried to swallow, but his mouth had grown dry. “Would you prefer that I’d have let Dice have his way with you?”
“No.” She managed a laugh. “But now I know there are many sides to Chase Chandler.”
“I could say the same about you, Sloane Carlisle.” Which was why he couldn’t risk taking her into his room, into his bed. Not again.
Though she’d sent out all the right signals earlier tonight, he wasn’t about to take her up on her silent invitation. He was so drawn to every aspect of her personality, even the parts he didn’t yet know, she presented a real risk to his future.
Which brought him back to her secrets. “I think it’s time you told me why you were in Crazy Eights to begin with and why we have to go back Friday night.”
“We?” She wrinkled her nose, questioning his choice of words.
He frowned at her obvious attempt to change the subject. “You already know I’m not letting you go alone. So just fill me in on why we need to go back there at all.”
She leaned against the cushion and shut her eyes. Her hair fell in soft curls over her shoulder and the intoxicating burnished hue stood out in contrast to his bland gray couch. She brought such color and light into an otherwise drab existence. He wanted to stretch her out on the couch and take that light inside of him in the only way he could.
Not now Chandler. Tread lightly, he warned himself.
“Before I tell you about Samson,” she said, her voice startling him back to reality, “I need to know I can trust you.” She rolled her head to the side and met his gaze.
“Not that I believe in calling in a debt, but I did save your life today. Twice,” he reminded her. “And you’re still questioning whether you can trust me?”
The hurt in his voice took him by surprise. He was a journalist. His interest in her was supposed to be about the facts. Not feelings. But for some reason, his interest was anything but dry and factual.
She bit down on her glossed lips, thinking before she spoke. “I’m trained to be wary of reporters.” She nervously twisted her fingers together.
As a barrier, she was putting up a bigger one than he could have come up with on his own. “We can’t change who we are.”
“True. And I can’t forget things you’ve said.” She drew a deep breath. “Anything I tell you that can help your career, it can also hurt people I love. So forgive me if I need to know and question how much I can trust you, Chase.”
He wished he could offer assurances at the same time his instincts and adrenaline began pumping hard. “Are you asking for my silence?” Because if her secret was as big as she implied, he wondered how and if he could keep such a huge promise.
“I’m hoping that once you hear what I have to say, you’ll understand why you need to keep it quiet. But at some point, I’m guessing the time will seem right for you to expose the story.” She squeezed the armrest on the couch, her fingers turning white. “And that scares me.”
He was frustrated, clueless and completely in the dark. “You’re not giving me a straight answer.”
