Romance Book Club

by Michelle Hughes

  "That's why I wanted to meet with you today." Sitting back in his chair, he frowned. "My physician diagnosed me with malignant Mesothelioma, and unfortunately, the prognosis doesn't look great."

  Leave it to his dad to just lay the truth on the table, he thought. Chase felt like the world had just slipped out of the realm of reality. It took him several minutes to control his emotions enough to speak. He wasn't a weak man, but the thought of losing his father almost made him faint. "How bad is it, dad?" This was the man who had raised him and taught him how to be a decent person.

  "I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure, but it's end stage so I'm refusing chemotherapy." Shrugging he continued, "Maybe three months."

  "What if you decide to do the therapy?" Chase knew his father well enough to know he wouldn't even consider that. He’d been a healthy man most of his life, with a contempt for hospitals. George was also prideful, this would seem like a weakness to him.

  "You are well aware how I feel about poisoning my body like that, son. If the good lord is ready for me, then I'll just live out what time he's left for me without all those drugs." Smiling bravely, he took a sip of his water.

  Chase wanted to order him not to be so stubborn, but an argument with him wasn't going to happen, or change his stance. "You know I'm here for you,” he said. “Just let me know what I can do to help you through this." He had to choke out the words. The thought of losing him was devastating, but he had an immense respect for his father, and knew he expected him to be strong.

  "Well there is something. I know you're fond of that club you own," he glanced down at his glass, "but I don't want my company being handed over to some stranger when I make my way home to be with your mother. It would give me a great sense of peace if you'd take over when my time comes."

  He knew what it cost his father to ask. How could he refuse? The club was important to him, but he was growing tired of the scene. "If that's really what you want, you know I won't refuse." He knew his father's company better than anyone, having worked for him years after college and until the time he'd bought Sensation's. It wasn't that he didn't like the company. He'd just wanted to do something that was his dream and not his old man’s. But his needs were inconsequential at the moment.

  "Thank you, son. I appreciate you agreeing to keep my legacy going." Smiling, he raised his cup.

  Did he really think he'd refuse him? "No, dad, thank you for showing me what honor and respect means." He forced a smile, raising his own cup. He was numb as he thought about losing this man who had taught him so much. He wouldn't show his emotions. In what little time they had left together, he planned on making sure his father knew just how much his son loved him.

  "I didn't do anything any self-respecting father wouldn't have done for their son. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep working, so if you're sure about this, I would like to get the ball rolling as soon as possible."

  His head started to pound. He needed to find someone to take over the club quickly, but he had a candidate in mind. His main concern now was helping ease his father's worries. "I want you to be able to relax and take things easy right now,” he said, “so you just let me know what needs to be done, and I'll see to it that it happens." George nodded and his mouth rose in an attempted smile. Chase knew that was for his benefit.

  "We need to set up a meeting with the lawyers and get all the details tied down, and son, I want you to know how much I appreciate this."

  They enjoyed the rest of their lunch and restricted themselves to topics that had nothing to do with George's illness. Hoping to take his mind off the terrible situation, Chase turned the topic to football. It was one topic they could both agree on. They both were fans of the same college program.

  Chase left the lunch feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. He managed to keep his emotions in check until he made it back to his home, and then for the first time since he’d become a man, he sat down in his study and cried. The knowledge that his father was leaving this world, sat heavy on his heart.

  He remembered fondly the first time his father had taken him to the plant, and the pride that shone in his eyes. As a single father, George had brought him there on school vacations and during the summer. Everything he knew about business was because of that great man.

  Turning the club over wasn't as disheartening as he'd thought. He loved the lifestyle, but he no longer craved a public dungeon. Maybe he was just getting older, but the thought of settling down with one woman to enjoy this, appealed to him. Thoughts of one particularly enchanting woman suddenly filled his mind.

  His thoughts strayed to Jessie a lot these days. There was something special about her, and he wanted to discover her secrets. Knowing the news his father gave him wasn't conducive to rational thinking, he brushed aside all thoughts about her. He had much more important things to worry about at the moment. With that thought, he kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed. The stress of the day had made his head pound, and rest proved impossible.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Waiting

  Jessie waited for the phone call that never came, and wondered if Chase had decided to just not bother with her. It hurt a little more than she would have thought to know he wasn't really interested in her. After taking a run, grabbing a shower, and checking again for messages, she sat down with her new best friend of the moment, rocky road ice cream.

  Finishing half the cartoon, she felt on the verge of vomiting, and it did little to help with her depression. "Some friend you are," she spoke to the box as if it were responsible for her bad mood, before placing it back in the freezer.

  Sebastian rubbed against her ankle, his silver and white fur, soft against the bare flesh. Picking him up in her arms, she nuzzled her face against his back. "I guess that's what I get for thinking about a man." Sebastian's answering purr seemed to say he agreed with her.

  Two sappy romances later, she turned off the television. Watching movies was something she didn't do often, and it was just more proof of her depressing mood. Finally she made a decision.

  Sitting around moping about him, definitely wasn't going to help, so she called Amanda. They agreed to meet at her house later for drinks, and she forced herself to keep up a cheerful disposition that she really wasn't feeling. As the evening arrived, she couldn't help but wonder how she'd so misread the signs Chase was giving off last night. It never entered her mind that something might have come up.

  She dressed casually for her visit to Amanda's and on the drive over she hoped her company would help cheer her up a bit. Several glasses of wine later, they sat on her oversized couch, and her friend seemed just as puzzled as she was about him never returning the call.

  "It just doesn't make sense; the man was practically eating you up with his eyes at the book club." Curling her legs under her on the couch, Amanda scrunched up her face.

  "I guess maybe he realized I wasn't worth his time." She gave a small laugh to show that she was joking, but internally that was how she felt.

  "That's not funny Jessie, you know what? I'm going to call Carolyn and let her know how poor her judgment in men is!" Sliding down to the arm of the couch she picked up the phone and dialed her number.

  "That's not very nice Amanda," but gave up trying to convince her to not call since she was apparently ignoring her at the moment. Sipping on her wine, she decided that it was time she started making herself available again. It was apparent her heart had healed enough to want to date again, and even though the thought of meeting strange men wasn't comfortable, she knew she didn't want to be alone forever.

  Amanda tapped her manicured nail against the phone receiver, waiting for Carolyn to pick up. "I want you to know that your friend is not everything you say he is."

  "Which friend are we talking about?" Carolyn slid on her heels, and checked her reflection in the mirror before walking across her bedroom.

  "Chase, who else, Jessie is just heartbroken that he didn't call her back."

  "You've l
ost me Amanda, what has Chase done and why should Jessie care?" Sighing into the phone Carolyn waited.

  "He asked her out last night and then didn't call her back today; you know how hard Jessie takes things."

  "Hello, sitting right here, he just isn't interested, it's not the end of the world." Amanda was her best friend, but even she could admit that she enjoyed stretching the truth when it suited her.

  "I'd love to talk about this Amanda, but I'm heading to Chase's now, there's been a family emergency. I'll have to explain the details after I talk with him about it."

  "Oh," Amanda's attitude changed immediately. "Well I hope everything's okay."

  "I'll let you know later, and tell Jessie I'm sure with everything going on he just didn't think to call her. I really need to run, we'll talk soon." Carolyn hung up the phone.

  "Apparently something's going on with Chase's family and Carolyn is headed over to discuss it with him. She said to let you know that it wasn't you, he just had a lot on his mind."

  She was more than a little relieved knowing he hadn't just blown her off, but now she was worried about him. They didn't know each other well enough for her to call Carolyn back and ask for answers, but she hoped everything was alright. She didn't know him well enough, that really struck home.

  With the missing phone call issue solved, she and Amanda finished off a bottle of wine and Amanda insisted she stay over since she was obviously too inebriated to drive. Jessie wasn't about to argue with her since two cups of wine were usually her limit.

  The wine made her feel a little more open. "So what do you think about Chase?" She considered Amanda an expert on the subject of men, so she trusted her opinions.

  Drinking another sip of wine, she tapped her finger to her chin. "I can't put my finger on that one honestly. Knowing about his desires, I would like to label him as a womanizer, but after seeing how respectful he acted, both at the dungeon and the book club meeting, it doesn't fit."

  "He's treated me with nothing but respect, of course we've only met two times." Her head feeling light from the alcohol wasn't really allowing her to use her reasoning skills at the moment.

  "There's no doubt he's hot as hell to look at," laughing at Jessie she waggled her eyebrows. "I think he's complicated. That definition seems to fit, yes complicated."

  "In other words you don't know what to think about him, other than the fact he comes in a pretty package," giggling at the thought of her best friend being confounded over a man made her heart feel a little lighter.

  "I'm sure it's just the wine," she smirked taking another long drink. "Bad boy with a heart, that's how I'll label him."

  Amanda always enjoyed categorizing men. It was something of a hobby for her but bad boy just really didn't fit Chase. "I don't know, I mean I basically offered myself up to him and he encouraged me to go home and think about it, bad boy?"

  "Well considering the things he does for pleasure, I wouldn't call him an altar boy," snorting wine out her nose, as she laughed so loud she could barely breathe.

  Jessie couldn't argue with that, and the sight of her friend with wine all over her face had her giggling hysterically. That and the overindulgence in wine was almost too much.

  Amanda stood and walked to the bar, still laughing as she pulled out a napkin, wiping her face. "So seriously, were you really going to allow him to do some of those things to you?" Her expression grew serious as the words were spoken.

  The look on her face was enough to stop her own laughter. "The thought of him touching me was enough to make me not care what he did." Gazing back into her best friend's face she wondered about her own sanity for a moment.

  "He turns you on that much?" Amanda's eyes widened.

  Shaking her head at the surprise in her eyes, she nodded. "I know it's crazy but when he's near me, I want to fall into his arms and just give in to every ounce of pleasure he can make me feel."

  "Damn you've got it bad." Grinning again, she sat down on the couch. "Have you ever thought you just might need to get laid?"

  Slapping her friend on the arm, she laughed again. "You know my feelings on that, I want more than just casual sex."

  "Yeah but tied up having your ass spanked to get it?" Cringing, she wrinkled her nose.

  "I think it's not having to tell him what I really want. Does that make sense?" She wasn't sure she understood why she was suddenly willing to experiment with this.

  Amanda nodded. "I guess there's that. I could see you not being able to put into words what satisfies you. From what you've told me about your relationship with Greg, you never experimented outside of a little petting."

  "Exactly, so the thought of him taking control in that aspect isn't all that frightening to me. Now the other stuff like we saw in the dungeon, that makes me want to tuck my tail between my legs and never find out if the other stuff is worth it."

  "I don't know, I think I might enjoy a little experimentation in that area. Speaking of, I got an offer from one of the men at Chase's club." Waggling her eyebrows, her mouth lifted in a smile.

  "And you were going to tell me when?" Amanda never held out on telling her about her dates before.

  "We only went out to dinner, but he was a first-timer at Sensation's the night we were there. He seems like a decent enough guy, so we'll see."

  "Tell me more," Amanda's face was harboring a secretive little grin and she was intrigued.

  "He's a lawyer at one of the firms' downtown, and says that he's been curious about this for a while. Honestly he just seems like an average guy, of course he's drop dead gorgeous." She shrugged.

  "So when are you meeting him again?" Maybe this was the one for Amanda, she really hoped for once this was a nice guy. She always dated the nice looking ones, but so far they'd all failed to strike a spark in her heart.

  "He's cooking for me at my place this weekend. A man that can cook, now that's a first for me. We know the same people, his company has even done business with daddy. It's odd we haven't met before now."

  "Well be careful, I mean just because the guys a lawyer doesn't mean he isn't a closet jerk." It was funny to be giving advice to Amanda when she really didn't have any past experience with dating outside of Greg.

  "I will but he's a professional, I'm sure he's just as worried about his career as I am about daddy discovering I went to Sensations." Laughing, she rolled her eyes.

  Yawning, she realized the wine was really catching up with her. "Still, be careful all the same." Standing up she stretched. "I think I'm going to call it night."

  "Same here, I've got the guest room all made up." Waving, Amanda walked off to her bedroom.

  Knowing her way around her friend's house by memory, she found the other room and quickly undressed. As her head found the pillow, she fell asleep, dreaming of Chase making love to her underneath a waterfall.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Details

  Chase had explained the situation to Carolyn when she'd arrived last night. After hours of discussion, he was pleased that she would be running his company for him. There was no one better suited for the task, so at least that was one worry he could take off his mind. He was meeting with the lawyers today to sign papers on his father's company, and have other's drawn up for Carolyn for his. Stress was a mild word for what he was dealing with at the moment.

  The message from Jessie wasn't found until after Carolyn had left, and he thought it would be rude to call her back so late, so he decided to try her after all the meetings today. He wasn't really in the frame of mind to start a relationship with all the changes going on in his life, but the thought of not seeing her didn't sit well with him either.

  Signing the papers with the lawyer made everything seem so final, and his emotions were strung tight. There were so many things to take care of, many of which he still didn't understand especially when it came to taking care of his father's needs. He knew his father needed fulltime care, and if he was going to run the company, unfortunately it couldn't be him. He thought of hiring a p
rivate nurse, but knowing his dad, that idea was going to get shot down pretty quickly.

  In the course of a day his entire life had been turned upside down, and he needed to find a way to keep his thoughts organized. Driving back to his father's business, he decided to at least call Jessie and let her know what was going on. He owed her that much, he thought. Using his overhead phone system in the car he spoke her number out loud for his car's hands free device, and waited for her to answer. When she picked up, the sound of her voice was enough to make his day a little less despairing. "Hey Jessie, I'm really sorry about not calling back last night, I had some family issues."

  "Carolyn told me something was going on, are you okay?"

  He didn't want to burden her with his problems, but it was nice to at least hear her voice. "I'm fine. My dad is having some medical issues." That was giving enough information without burdening her.

  "Oh Chase, I'm so very sorry, what can I do to help?"

  "Honestly there's not much anyone can do, he's refusing chemotherapy so it's just waiting on the inevitable I guess." As much as he hated to admit it, it was nice being able to share his problems with someone else.

  "Cancer? Oh Chase, you must be going through hell right now."

  "It's not one of the better times in my life," he spoke solemnly, the kindness in her voice made him want to continue talking about it, which shocked him somewhat.

  "Do you want to have coffee and talk about it? I know when I lost my mom, if it weren't for Amanda I'm not sure I could have lived through it."

  Torn between taking advantage of her generous heart, and needing to be a strong man, he couldn't deny wanting to see her. "Could we do it at my place later tonight? I'm really not interested in being around a crowd of people at the moment."

  "Of course, just give me directions and a time."

  He gave her directions, "Would eight be alright? I've still got to sort some things out at my father's office, and I'm not sure how long that's going to take."