Page 71 of Lead Me On
“Nuh-uh,” he said, popping open the pizza box as he set it on the granite countertop. “What the heck have you done to this pizza?”
“It’s none of your—”
“You’ve ruined a perfectly good pie. I mean, green olives, Jane? Come on. That’s disgusting.”
“Chase.” She sighed.“Please.”
He closed the box and leaned against the counter. “Something bad happened to you, didn’t it?”
Icy flakes floated against her skin, so Jane reluctantly closed the door behind her, letting her weight rest against the cold wood. “No.”
“It did.”
She shook her head, teeth pressed together.
“You want me to believe that you were on that path as a teenager, drinking and sleeping around and partying all night, and then, out of the blue, you decided to straighten out?”
Her skin was colder now than it had been outside. “Yes.”
“You’re saying that’s what youwantme to believe?”
“Yes.”
Chase put his hand flat on the counter and stared down at it for a long moment. Lines appeared around his mouth that she’d never seen before.
She wouldn’t tell him. She’d never told anyone.
“All right, then, Jane. That’s what I’ll believe.”
Relief swelled so strongly through her that she had to put a hand to her stomach to settle it.
Chase looked toward the television. “What are we watching?”
Shaking her head, she told herself to send him away, make him leave. He reminded her of things she didn’t want to be reminded of. He was everything she didn’t want.
But that relief was still rocking through her, leaving her giddy and susceptible to the sparkle of mischief in his eyes. He knew who she was, and he still wanted to talk to her, sit with her, watch a movie.
Just that made tears burn in her eyes.
And in truth, despite all her fears and hang-ups and snobbishness, shewantedto sit on the couch with him and watch an action movie. It would feel so normal.
Somehow he turned her from a steel-spined martinet to a wilting flower.
Jane whispered the name of the movie, and Chase’s smile bloomed into a grin. “You’re kidding. I haven’t seen that one yet, and I can’t say that very often. Do you want my green olives? And my mushrooms?”
“Yes.”
“Well, all right, then.” Chase shrugged out of his coat and began opening and closing cabinets until he found plates. Jane stayed where she was, back pressed to the door, and watched him.
Her weakness in the face of his smile scared her. How many times in their short relationship had she decided that it was over? And how many times had he brushed her resolutions aside as if they were made of cottonwood fluff?
“Diet Coke?” Chase groaned, half his body hidden behind the fridge door. “I think I might cry.”
“Sorry.”
“I’ll have orange juice. What do you want?”
Jane finally snapped from her daze and went to help him in the kitchen. And every time their bodies touched, Jane grew more and more afraid of the comfort settling deep into her bones.
