Page 40 of Her Elusive Cowboy Billionaire

“No, I’ve never brought anyone else here, for work or not.You’re the first person other than my cleaning lady, my family, and, of course, Paige, who have seen the inside of this apartment.”

“Where do you go to swim?Is it close?”

He chuckled.“Come with me.”He took her right hand and led her down the hall on the opposite side of the apartment from the bedrooms.They passed a door and went to the end of the hall.He opened the door and ushered her into the room.

The room served as a workout area.He had a Peloton bike, a rowing machine, and a bench with weights.Another door stood on the far wall.Chase headed that way and opened the door for her.

The distinctive smell of chlorine assaulted her as she stepped further into the room.Meri turned back to Chase.“You have a swimming pool?A swimming pool in your apartment.”

He grinned.“Not just a swimming pool, an infinity pool.Look.”Chase pointed to the opposite end of the pool.

It seemed to run right out of the room and spill onto the street below.

“I had the entire wall built extra thick, so there’s no chance of it breaking.It’s eight-inches thick and bulletproof.”

“Who will shoot at you up here?”

“You might be surprised.There are lots of buildings east of mine that are taller than this one.I can’t be too careful.”

“Well, I will never venture to that end of the pool.I can tell you that.I don’t like heights.”

He started laughing.“You live on the top floor of an eight story building.How can you be afraid of heights?”

Heat rose up her neck and into her cheeks.“It had the best view, and I got a great deal on it five years ago.How long have you lived here?”

“About four years.Just since I bought the building.”

“Let me guess.You bought the building because it already had an apartment on the top.”

He laughed and then headed back into the main living area.“You’re right.I looked at several other buildings that were for sale.Not just here in Denver, but in LA, New York and San Diego.This was the only one that needed only a little renovation.Some of them I would have had to build from scratch.This one I could just move in.”

“I can see how that would make a difference.”

They took their seats again.“What about you?Meri Anderson, what are your dreams?Where would you like to live if you could live anywhere?”He took a sip of wine.

She rested her chin on her left hand.“Honestly?I think I live in the perfect place.Warm summers but not usually sweltering and mild winters.Some like this year have been too mild, but that’s okay.I enjoy sixty-five degree days at the end of February.”

He sat with his left arm stretched along the back of the sofa and faced her.“It has been mild down here, but the mountains have had a lot of snow.Do you ski?”

She shook her head.“I gave up trying to learn at eighteen when I fell on an ice covered slope, just trying to get to the tow rope.It was a tiny ski area with just one slope and a tow bar.Anyway, I couldn’t get up.My skis kept sliding out from under me.A friend ended up standing on the front of my skis with his skis and pulling me up by the front of my coat.It was so embarrassing.I took off my skis and walked up the icy hill to the lodge and had a hot chocolate.I haven’t actually skied since.Though I’ve gone with friends.They skied while I sat in the lodge with a hot buttered rum and a good romance novel.”

He laughed.“Oh, you’re one of those.”

“What?”She cocked up a brow and looked at him through narrowed eyes.“A romance reader?Yes, Iamone of those.We are fifty percent of the fiction market, so I’d be a little more respectful if I were you.”She leaned forward and poked him in the chest with an index finger.“Besides, most books have some romance in them.Even a spy novel likeThe Last Agentby Robert Dugoni has a romantic relationship in it.”

His eyes widened, and he snapped his fingers.“You know you’re right.I think back to every fiction novel I’ve read and there is some romance, or at least a relationship, between two of the characters.”

She snickered.“Of course, I’m right.”Then she smiled.

He laughed.

Every time he laughed with the deep timbre of his voice, her stomach did a somersault.She couldn’t imagine in her wildest dreams that someone like Chase Harper could be interested in her.Yet here she was, sitting on his couch, drinking a glass of water, wanting a glass of wine, and wondering how she got so lucky?

That he was keeping her safe didn’t count.He could have set up armed guards outside her loft and the building.But he’d brought her here.To his apartment…his home.He even admitted he wouldn’t have done it for anyone else.But what did that mean?Was he interested in a relationship?They’d gone to dinner a few times.And he’d taken her along with his niece to the ice show.Would he have introduced her to his family if he didn’t want a relationship?

She normally wouldn’t have, but she did the same.He’d met her mother and would meet her father on Sunday.Since she wasn’t working, she could go to Sunday dinner with her parents.She hadn’t let Jared meet her parents until they’d been dating for almost a year.Yet she wanted Chase to meet her dad, too.Why was Chase so different?