“Wow,” Emily said. “She sounds amazing.”
“She is. I want to ask her to come home with me for Thanksgiving, but I’m afraid of freaking her out. I mean, you guys are my family and meeting family is a big deal,” Chase said. “I also want to tell her that I love her, but I don’t know how. How do you know someone is ready to hear that? Like, is it too soon?”
Ric said, “You know the answer to that, Chase. You’re just scared. It’s scary putting your heart on the line, but take it from someone who knows: it’s worth it.”
Kate echoed his sentiments.
“I’ve never felt like this about anyone, not even Denise,” Chase said. “Just hearing her voice makes me happy, you know?”
Emily said, “You are so adorable.”
Chase laughed. “I’ve been told that. Hopefully she’ll say yes to coming for Thanksgiving so you guys can meet her. You’ll love her. I sure do. Okay, I’m gonna go. Nighty night, y’all.”
He hung up and spun around. A jolt of alarm shot through him when he saw Anna standing not far from the trampoline.
Chapter 14
Anna watched Chase’s bouncing come to an abrupt halt as he stared at her.
“How long have you been there?” he asked.
“I…just a minute. Not long. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop,” she said. “I was just coming to find you.”
He walked over to the mats and then hopped down from them. “Anna, did you hear what I think you just heard?”
“Yes, I did.”
His brows drew together. “Damn. I didn’t want you to find out that way.”
Anna’s heart constricted as she looked in his eyes. “How long?”
He cocked his head. “How long what?”
“Who is she?”
She’d overheard Chase’s last statements about loving a woman right before he’d hung up. How could she have been so wrong about him? He’d certainly fooled her.
“Who’s who?” He shook his head.
Anna balled her hands into fists. “This other woman you love! The one you want to take home with you for Thanksgiving!”
Chase’s eyebrows shot up. “Other woman? Anna, there’s no other woman.”
He smiled and tried to put his hands on her shoulders, but she backed away from him.
“Bullshit.”
“Anna, I swear that I’ve been completely faithful to you. I was talking about you, baby. You’re the woman I love.”
“Me?” Anna shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Yeah, you. Here. I’ll prove it to you.” He hit a couple of buttons on his phone.
“What do you want now?” she heard a man ask.
“Rikki Tikki Tavi, who was I just talking to you about? Who did I tell you guys that I love?”
Ric asked, “Did you hit your head and forget already?”
“Just say it.”
“Anna Spencer. You said that you were in love with her, that she’s sexy and fun and doesn’t mind that you can’t make babies.”
Anna gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
“Thanks, Ric. I appreciate it.”
Obviously confused, Ric said, “Don’t mention it.”
Chase hung up and tossed his phone up on the safety mats. “You weren’t supposed to find out like that. I wanted to do something romantic for you when I told you.”
Anna couldn’t speak as he closed in on her and caressed her cheek. “How could you think that I was seeing someone else? I’m with you whenever I’m not working and we’re together almost every night.”
Happiness, fear, and disbelief fought for dominance in her heart.
Chase’s jaw tightened as determination filled his eyes. “I love you, and that ain’t all. I want you, and I need you. You don’t have to make up your mind right now, but I want you to move in with me and come home with me for Thanksgiving to meet everyone. I’m not going to pressure you about any of it, but I just had to get it all out in the open.”
Dizziness swamped her and Anna felt herself start to fall. Chase caught her and scooped her up into his arms.
“Anna, are you okay?”
He took her to the outdoor room and laid her on one of the couches.
Anna took some deep breaths, and her mind began to clear. She slowly sat up.
Chase brought her a bottle of water. “Here, baby. Drink this.”
She took a couple of sips, and the cold water further helped to revive her.
Sitting down beside her, Chase ran a hand over her hair. “Better?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laid all of that on you at one time. That was stupid of me.”
Anna took another sip of water and then met his gaze. “I didn’t know that you felt that way about me. I know things are getting serious between us, but I never imagined that you’d fall in love with me.”
“Why wouldn’t I? Never mind. We shouldn’t talk about this right now. You should lie down, and I’ll call my one friend who’s a doctor to come check you out,” Chase said.
Anna took a hold of his forearm when he went to rise. “No, no. I’m okay now. It was just a shock.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay. Anna, you don’t know how special you are. You’re intelligent, beautiful, sexy as hell, and I always have fun with you, no matter what we’re doing,” Chase said. “I’m always thinking about you when we’re not together, and I love doing nice things for you. I love you.”
Anna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Chase McIntyre, the millionaire with the womanizing reputation had fallen in love with her? “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
His dead serious expression convinced her. “I believe you.”
Embracing her, he said, “Good. I told you that I’d always be honest with you, and I know how serious this is. I’d never joke about it. I’m also serious about you moving in with me, but I know that you’ll need to think about it. But will you come home with me for Thanksgiving?”
Anna wanted to move in with Chase, but her heart just wouldn’t let her accept his invitation—not yet, anyway. But his last question was easy to answer. “I’d love to go home with you for Thanksgiving. We can also see my family since they’re in Denver.”
Chase blew out a nervous breath. “Oh, boy. Meeting the parents. Do you think they’ll like me?”
Anna chuckled. “My father will grill you, but yes, I think they’ll like you. Just use that famous McIntyre charm and you’ll be fine.”
“Okay. I guess since you’re meeting my family it’s only right that I meet yours. Let’s do it.”
Anna brushed hair back from his face. “I do need some time to think about moving in with you.”
“That’s okay. There’s no rush,” Chase said. “Are you hungry? I’ll make us something for dinner.”
Anna smiled. “That sounds good. And maybe later we could have some bouncy sex.”
Chase gave her a heart-stopping grin. “There’s one we ain’t done yet. Dinner and bouncy sex it is. C’mon.”
He took her hand and tugged her off the couch. As they walked downstairs to the penthouse, Anna’s heart was full of joy, and she knew that she’d fallen head-over-heels in love with Chase. Smiling to herself, she started plotting how she was going to tell him.
* * *
That following Monday, Anna sat in a conference room at Innovative Graphics, working on a project with her team. Instead of quitting at their usual time, they’d decided to push through to get it done that night versus leaving it until the morning. By the time they completed it, it was close to eleven, but they all felt good about accomplishing their goal.
Her cellphone rang as she was gathering up her laptop and files. She chuckled when she saw Chase’s picture. He’d put it on her phone along with a ringtone of him singing Real Good Man.
She tapped the answer button. “Hello, handsome.”
“Hey, sexy. Are you close to being done?”
She’d told him earlier that she was staying late. “Just finishing up. Why?”
“Because I’m in the lobby. Security wouldn’t let me come up.”
Anna was surprised. “Why are you here?”
“You know that I don’t like you going home alone this late at night.”
Her heart melted. “You’re so sweet, but you didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to,” he said.
“I appreciate that. I’ll be right down.”
“Okay. See ya in a few.”
Anna said goodnight to her team and took her things to her office. She readied her desk for the morning, grabbed her purse and briefcase, and headed downstairs. The elevator doors opened and she almost laughed when she saw Chase leaning against one of the marble pillars in the lobby.
He wore a baseball hat backwards and a white Monster, Inc. tank top along with baggy red sweat shorts. His ultra-casual look was completed by his red and black flipflops. A black duffel bag sat at his feet. No one would ever take him for a millionaire.
He straightened when he saw her and walked to meet her, planting a firm kiss on her lips. Several of her team members had rode down with her and they smiled over the affectionate greeting.
Chase had met most of her team by this time. He greeted her head graphic designer, Tristan Williams, her administrative assistant, Carrie Collins, and Elena Cartwright, one of their other graphic designers. They made some small talk, and Chase thanked them for all their hard work on Horizon’s latest designs. Then they said goodbye and went their separate ways.
“I really like your team,” Chase remarked as they made their way to the parking lot.
“I’m glad. You know, you really didn’t have to do this,” Anna said.
Chase put an arm around her shoulders. “Stop saying that.”
“Okay, okay.”
Chase took her keys from her when he reached her car. “You’re tired. I’ll drive.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“No such thing.”
He opened the passenger side door for her and closed it once she was seated. Settling behind the wheel, he moved the seat back to accommodate his longer legs, buckled up, and then stared at the hood.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Well, you either need a new paint job or a new car. The paint’s peeling off your hood,” Chase said.
“I know, but I don’t want a car payment right now.”
He nodded and then said, “I’d also like to lay you right back on that hood and take you right there. Gonna have to make that happen sometime.”
Anna’s breath came a little faster when he turned his midnight eyes on her. The hot gleam in them captivated her as she pictured them doing that. Suddenly, her fatigue was gone and all she could think about was getting home.
He quirked an eyebrow at her and gave her a wicked smile as he turned the ignition. This was the first time that Anna had seen him drive. Normally, he ordered a car for them when they were going out or she drove. Watching him handle the wheel was erotic for some reason, and she wanted to feel his hands on her body right then.
When he glanced at her, he caught the way she was looking at him and smiled. Anna reached over and ran a hand over his crotch.
“Oh, baby. Are you telling me that you want to drive stick?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck.” He depressed the brake pedal as they approached a red light, but the car didn’t slow. “What the hell? Do you usually have brake trouble?”
Anna withdrew her hand and sat straight. “Never. I just had it inspected last week and the only thing it needed was a rear tire.”
Chase pumped the brakes repeatedly with no success. In fact, the car sped up.
“Why are you going faster?”
“I’m not! The Goddamn fuel valve is stuck, too. What the hell is going on here? Hang on.” He reached over and pulled her seatbelt tight.
Anna braced herself on the dashboard as he started weaving in and out of cars so they didn’t crash into someone else.
“What are you going to do?”
“Find a soft place to crash this bitch. It’s the only way we’re gonna get stopped.”
“Oh, God.”
* * *
Chase flicked a glance over at the woman he loved and then concentrated hard on avoiding other vehicles. No way in hell was he going to let any harm come to her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her take out her phone. “I’m going to call 911 and tell them what’s going on and where we are. Maybe they can help us.”
“Good thinking.”
“I saw that on TV once.”
Chase smiled despite their dangerous situation. He turned on the flashers and then stomped the brakes all the way to the floor as they neared another red light. No dice. He was thankful that traffic wasn’t as heavy at this time of night and they made it through the intersection without smacking into oncoming cars.
Anna stayed on the line with the 911 dispatcher so that she could keep them apprised of their location.
“I’m gonna try something. Hold on,” he said.
Chase hoped that his idea worked because their luck wasn’t going to hold out forever. He took a hold of the gearshift and pulled it down into neutral. The car bucked a little, but then it started slowing down. He breathed a sigh of relief until he saw the way that the temperature gage was rapidly climbing towards the red zone.
Smoke started pouring out from under the hood and then he saw the flicker of flames.
“Anna! Get out of the car!” he shouted.
“What?”
“Undo your seatbelt. I’m gonna throw it in park. That should slow it down more. We gotta get out of here before it blows up. The engine’s on fire! Do what I’m telling you.”
* * *
Anna hung up her phone when she saw that the engine fire was getting worse. Her heart thudding, she unfastened her seatbelt and prepared to jump from the car. Is this really happening? Chase’s grave expression convinced her that it was.
“Okay. I’m ready,” she said, feeling anything but.
“On the count of three. One, two, three!”
He threw the car into park and a horrible grinding sound came from underneath the car as the gears took hold. The rear end came up off the ground a little, but banged back down onto the road. The car had slowed down a little more, but it was still moving.
“Now! Get out!” Chase yelled.
Anna opened her car door and saw the pavement rushing past the car. Suddenly, she felt Chase give her a mighty shove, and she was hurtling through space. The ground rose up and smacked into her. Anna’s stomach dropped sickeningly as she rolled and slammed hard against a parked car.
Dazed and battered, Anna lay still for a few moments. Then she started scrambling to her feet. She gained them just in time to see her car collide with the back of an eighteen-wheeler and burst into flames.
“Chase! No, no, no! Chase!”
Horror sent her pulse skyrocketing as she ran towards the flaming vehicle as fast as her sore legs would allow. She saw something lying in the middle of the road and recognized Chase as she neared it.
“Chase? Chase!” Please be alive! Anna saw him slowly pull himself up on all-fours. Reaching his side, she took his arm. “Can you stand?”
“I think so.”
With her help, he rose to his feet. “Fucking seatbelt wouldn’t release.”
“Oh, my God.”
Slowly, they started for the side of the road as the trucker ran up to them. “Are you guys okay?”
“I think so,” Anna said.
Chase stopped and took her face in his hands. “Are you sure you’re okay, baby. Anything broken?” He started running his hands over her.
“Chase, I’m okay. Bruised, but nothing is broken. What about you? You have a cut on your head,” she said.
The trucker said, “Let’s get out of the street. What the hell happened?”
Chase said,
“Brake failure and a stuck fuel valve.”
The man looked down. “Uh, buddy, what happened to your pants?”
Anna put a hand over her mouth as she saw that Chase was naked from the waist down. She’d been too focused on getting him away from the burning car to notice before then.
“When the seatbelt didn’t release, I started pulling myself out of it so I could jump. I guess I slid right out of my shorts, too,” Chase replied. “I don’t care about being naked. I’m just glad that we’re alive and that my junk is still intact.”
Nerves and relief made Anna giggle. “That’ll teach you to go commando.”
Chase grinned at her, and then they were hugging, laughing, and crying with relief over still being alive. Flashing lights caught their attention.
Chase said, “I better cover myself so that they don’t think I’m a pervert and cite me for public nudity.” He pulled his arms out of the sleeves of his tank top and slid his shirt down his body until it covered his privates.
The trucker, who introduced himself to them as Jake Tremont, chuckled over the way Chase looked in his make-shift skirt. Paramedics, cops, and a firetruck had arrived. Chase and Anna were taken over to the ambulance to be checked out.
While one of the paramedics started assessing Anna, the enormity of what had just happened hit her, and she started shaking as shock set in.
* * *
Chase sat down by Anna when the paramedic finished with her. Chase had let the other one clean up the cut on his head and put a bandage on it. They were insisting that they both go to the ER to be further evaluated.
Chase decided not to fight them on it. Hayley’s terrible experience last year had shown him that sometimes injuries didn’t show up right away. He’d hit his head pretty hard on the road, so it was better to be safe than sorry. The insurance company would also insist on a medical evaluation.
Wrapping his arms around Anna, he said, “I’m so glad you’re okay, darlin’. I was worried shitless about you.”
She trembled against him. “I know what you mean. When I saw the car explode I was petrified that you were in it.” A sob escaped her and she looked into his eyes. “I can’t lose you, Chase. I love you so much and if something happened to you, I couldn’t take it.”
Want Me (Coopers Creek Book 3) Page 14
