Page 67 of Lead Me On
“This is really good. And as long as you behave, we’re in a strong position. Don’t screw it up.”
“I won’t.” He tried to give the Scouts’ honor sign, but Jessie had never been in the Boy Scouts, and he raised two fingers instead of three. But no one called him on it. His expression was sincere.
He started to stand, but Ms. Holloway put a hand on his arm. “If you two will excuse us, I need to speak to my client for a moment about some procedural issues.”
Jane nodded and walked out of the room, smiling at Mr. Chase when he held open the door and gave her a chivalrous little bow. She could see where Chase got his charm. And it suddenly hit her how sad it all was. That his dad was so sweet and charming and smart, because that meant Chase knew exactly what he was missing when his dad was drunk.
“I think you may be right about your brother, Miss Morgan. I don’t think he killed those women.”
It felt as if a giant fist squeezed her in its grip. To have someone outside the family say that about her slouching, long-haired brother… “Thank you so much, Mr. Chase.”
She touched his arm as she turned toward the group of chairs in the reception area. But her body hesitated when she caught sight of someone approaching past the glass sidelight of the office door. It was Chase, looking down at his phone.
When he glanced up, his eyes locked with hers, and he smiled. Hesmiled.Chase wasn’t mad anymore. Her heart jerked to a stop before sputtering back to frantic life. This was just a fling. She’d thrown that in his face so many times. So why was she so incredibly relieved that he wasn’t angry with her?
She couldn’t think about that now, because she was too busy smiling at him as he drew closer to the door.
“Hey, Miss Jane,” he said as he walked in. Her stomach shivered at the warm slide of his voice.
“Hi, Chase.”
“Dad? Are you ready to go?” Right. His dad probably didn’t have a license. Chase hadn’t come to see her, but he looked happy with her presence, at least. Didn’t he?
“…just a few more minutes,” his dad was saying. “I want to speak to Ms. Holloway before we take off.” He withdrew to a seat and started flipping through the files.
Nodding, Chase turned to her, hands in his pockets, head ducked a little. “How are you?” he asked softly.
“Good. Jessie’s out. He’s staying with Grandma Olive.”
“How’s that going?”
“You don’t want to know,” she answered, sharing a secret smile with him. “How are you?”
“Good.” He rocked back on his heels, and Jane watched, wanting to touch him. “Busy.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He met her gaze, his eyes immediately softening. “You just…confuse me.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. What more could she say? She confused herself.
“It’s all right, Jane.” His voice was so…understanding. She couldn’t tell what he meant. He could be understanding because he was done with her and at peace with it. Or he could be understanding because he cared.
After finding out about his career, she’d had to admit to herself that her only objection to Chase was superficial. His tattoos and boots and beat-up truck reminded her of her past. And his drunk father and trailer-park past were just too close to her own embarrassments. She wasn’t proud of her prejudice, but she wasn’t afraid to accept it.
She didn’t want to date Chase because of his family and his looks. But seeing him now, those worries fell away. He was smart and hardworking and nice. She missed him. Maybe she could justtry?
“Tomorrow is Tuesday,” Jane said inanely, hoping it was some sort of prompt.
“Yes, it is.”
She wanted him to ask her out. She wanted to see him, but she couldn’t admit it, because she’d made clear that she wasn’t serious about him. Oh, God, she’d backed herself into an untenable position. An indefensible position that she couldn’t abandon. This was how the Visigoths had gone down. At least according to last month’s book club selection.
Chase watched her past his lashes.
She cleared her throat as he took his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms.
“Jane,” he said, eyes narrowing, “would you like to go out to dinner on Tuesday night?”
