Page 37 of The Heartbreaker (Chandler Brothers 3)
“I know.” She shifted to her knees and came up beside him.
Her scent knocked him off balance.
She inched closer. “That’s because I haven’t gotten what I want from you yet.”
“Information on my personal life.” He treated her to a wry grin, but he felt anything but sarcastic and light.
“It seems like a fair trade.”
When she faced him, lips inches away, teasing him with their glistening moisture, nothing seemed fair. Especially divulging information on a life he’d always kept private, even from his brothers. And they were his best friends.
But sitting with Sloane in his home, a place where he’d never brought another woman, seemed comfortable and right. “You can’t really want to hear about me, not after the long day we had.”
“Stalling?” she asked him.
He laughed. “No.”
“Then talk.”
“Okay.”
At his agreement, she curled in beside him, letting her body lean against his. He felt the moment her muscles relaxed and she yawned, sighing with what sounded like contentment. Ironic. She was obviously hesitating about revealing too much information to him, yet with this subtle body language, she’d given him trust in a completely different way. Did she realize that?
He did, and it scared him to death. Even talking, divulging his personal secrets, seemed a less painful exercise than thinking about his feelings for Sloane. “My father died when I was eighteen,” he said at last.
He’d never had this conversation with a woman, not even Cindy, whom he’d been intimate with for far longer than any other woman in his past.
“I’m sorry,” Sloane murmured.
He shrugged. “It happened; I dealt with it. I withdrew from college, took over the paper, and helped Mom raise my brothers. There was no other way.” He recalled those days, the pain and difficulties a dim memory, yet one that still drove him now.
* * *
As Sloane listened to Chase reveal his past, she finally understood what had shaped him. “You’re a good man, Chase Chandler.” And she knew now what he meant when he spoke of living life for others. How much he was willing to compromise his own life for his family was humbling.
He merely grunted, and she guessed accepting compliments wasn’t easy for him. “It must have been tough.”
“At times. And setting a good example for Rick and Roman was a pain in the ass.” His laugh rumbled through her. “It didn’t leave any room for a social life. Not while they were young and living at home.”
She tensed as she asked, “And what happened to your social life after they moved out?”
“Discretion had become a habit. Besides, living in a small town, if you don’t want your personal business broadcast the next morning, you don’t do anything you might regret. Either that or you spend time in the neighboring town.” His fingers ran over her hair, tangling in the strands as he tugged on her scalp.
“Where does Cindy fit in?” She forced herself to ask him, even as she focused on the sensual feelings he created inside her by the simple act of touching her hair.
“What if I said we had a relationship? Would you leave it at that?”
“If I said I have a relationship with Samson, would you leave it at that? Would you let it go?” she shot back.
He chuckled. “Touché.”
“What kind of relationship?” Sloane had no choice but to push. She wanted answers too badly.
A long period of silence followed and she wondered if he was annoyed.
“We have an understanding,” he said at last.
The pain in her stomach was worse than she’d anticipated. “Present tense?” Sloane was amazed she could speak.
He let out a long breath. “Neither of us wanted a relationship or anything that would require commitment. We get together when it’s convenient.”
“You still haven’t answered the original question. Are you still involved?”
“It’s not that simple. You heard her say she hasn’t heard from me in a while.” She felt him shrug, and his fingers began to massage her neck. “With Cindy, the allure has been gone for a long time now. It’s just that she’s …”
“Convenient?” Sloane asked hopefully.
“And safe. It kept life simple for me. No worries about my brothers, and with my meddling mother, privacy had its privileges.”
Having met Raina, Sloane managed a laugh. “And what did Cindy have invested in you?” His fingers kept up a steady rhythm and pressure against her skin. His touch reassured her in some small way. “Because somehow I don’t think she was counting on you picking up a strange woman in a bar.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t counting on it either. But I never made Cindy any kind of promises.”
Sloane wasn’t certain how to feel. He obviously cared about this woman, Cindy, since he’d been in a relationship with her for a long time. But he wasn’t committed to her. He didn’t want to be committed to anyone, Sloane reminded herself.
