Secrets & Chance (The Sterlings Book 1)

by Lynn Hastings

  He shook his head. “No, I am not.”

  “Then, let’s rephrase that. Apples rarely ever fall far from the tree.”

  Chance smiled as his bright gaze danced around her face. Finally, he slapped his knees and stood. “I think it’s time we get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day. We have a grandmother to find.”

  She stood. He was so close that the energy flowing from his body washed over her.

  She could barely speak past her tight throat. “Yes, we do.” Should she kiss him? Rub his muscular bicep? Ask if he wanted to just do it and get it over with?

  Rosalie took a step back before she fainted from desire. “See you in the morning,” she said.

  Chance nodded.

  Goodness, she didn’t want to leave. She turned her back to him, anyway. Each step made her feel as if she were walking on air. Her heart was a magnet, and it wanted to draw her back to him so that she could find solace in his strong, manly arms. However, one step led to another. She opened the door, and soon, she was back in her own room.

  A feeling of longing settled over Rosalie. She wasn’t a teenager anymore, yet that was exactly how she behaved when it came to men she liked—a scared, shy, and unconfident girl, who was afraid of rejection.

  Regardless, it was too late to go back now. Rosalie took off her jeans, sweatshirt, and comfy socks. She turned off the lights and crawled into bed. Memories of Chance’s sexy smirk and manly physique competed in her mind with thoughts of all she had just learned about Edna, as well as the information about Conrad’s illegitimate children. The fact that one of them had been found dead in a ditch sounded shady. No one ended up like that unless they were in a car accident and ejected from the vehicle or someone killed them and put them there.

  Rosalie blinked in the pitch-black room. Her eyes had yet to adjust enough to give form to the objects around her. What in the world had Edna tricked her into signing? Had she been set up to take a fall? If so, how hard would she land?

  Regardless of the anxiety that surged through her, Rosalie could barely keep her eyes open. The day had been drawn out and eventful. Before long, she was out like a light.

  SOMEONE WAS KNOCKING ON A DOOR. For a moment, Rosalie wondered where she was. She had been sleeping so hard that it felt as if she were home in her own bed. Her head was loopy, and since she had gone to bed at about three in the morning, she felt as if she hadn’t been asleep long enough. Then she recalled Chance Sterling and all they had discovered before she went to bed. Was it him knocking on her door?

  She sat up straight, feeling as if a thousand volts of pick-me-up surged through her. “Who is it?”

  “Me, Halo,” she tried to whisper.

  The tension flowed out of Rosalie’s body as she rested against the headboard, raised her knees, and pulled the covers up around her shoulders. “Come in.”

  Every time she looked at Halo, one word came to her head—stunning. Rosalie also noticed that her friend had on a black bomber jacket and platform sneakers.

  “Going somewhere?” Rosalie asked.

  “I’m heading out. You know Grandmother’s not going to show up at that party, don’t you?”

  Even though Rosalie already knew the answer, she asked, “She’s not here?”

  “No, she isn’t.” Halo thumbed over her shoulder. “My PF ride is here, though. I just said goodbye to Chance, and I wanted to say goodbye to you too. It was nice getting to know you, Rosalie. Let’s stay in touch.”

  “Sure, yeah. But are you leaving because of lunch yesterday?”

  She frowned as though she didn’t understand what Rosalie was referring to.

  “How William treated you?”

  “Oh,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t fucking care about him. I’m leaving to take care of myself.”

  “Oh, rehab?”

  “Yes.”

  “But so soon?”

  “There’s no time better than the present.”

  Rosalie wanted to hug her but then looked at her near-nakedness under the linens that covered her. “I would hug you, but I’m only in my bra and panties.”

  Halo rolled her eyes. “OMG, I used to be a model, remember? We walked around naked all the time. Actually, I wouldn’t think you were normal unless you get out of that bed so we can give each other a big, tight, you-naked, me-not hug.”

  Rosalie laughed as she flew out from under the sheets to hug Halo. They embraced tightly. It felt as if they had known each other forever.

  As they let go of each other, Halo slapped her on the butt cheek. “Chance is going to have a time hitting that ass.”

  Rosalie gasped and covered her mouth bashfully as Halo laughed. “It might not be today, but it will be soon,” she said as she backed out of the room, waving goodbye.

  Still stunned, or maybe thrilled, by Halo’s prediction, Rosalie pulled herself together enough to wave back. When the door had closed and Halo was gone, Rosalie looked down at her thighs, crotch, abdomen, and tits. “It won’t be today?” A minute past the day felt like a wait that would last forever.

  Rosalie took a few steps backward until she collided with the bed and sat. She needed to put things into perspective. There was nothing going on between her and Chance.

  Someone knocked on the door. She figured it was Halo returning to get her number, since once again they had forgotten to do the exchange.

  Rosalie ran to the door and cracked it open. “Oh!”

  Chance was standing there. His eyes dropped downward then made their way back to her face. “Um…”

  “Sorry.” Rosalie quickly shut the door and repeated “oh my God” as she scrambled all over the room, trying to find her robe. She finally found it in the bathroom. She quickly put it on and rushed back to the door. “Sorry about that.”

  Chance raised a hand. “It’s okay.” His gaze dropped down to her body again then worked its way back up to her face. He cleared his throat. “I was going to tell you, there’s breakfast downstairs. But I wanted to warn you, we have a full house.”

  She nodded and gulped nervously. “Thank you.”

  They stared at each other.

  “I better put some clothes on, then,” she finally said.

  “Unless…”

  “Yes?”

  “You want to go and grab a bite together.”

  “Yes,” she said without worrying about finessing her reply.

  His eyes ran down her form once again. “How long do you think you’ll be?”

  “Five minutes.” She cursed herself for sounding too eager. “I mean I can be ready in about five minutes.”

  He bobbed his head. “Okay.”

  “Okay.” She looked down to break eye contact and closed the door.

  Rosalie raced around the room like a chicken with its head chopped off. She ran into the bathroom to brush her teeth, wash her face, and put on a light coat of lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara. She wanted to make a bold but subtle statement, so she slipped into her black, fitted crewneck sweater dress, which extended just past her knee. It was a sexy length and flattered all parts of her figure. The thought of wanting to attract Chance Sterling made her put her hands over her face.

  She couldn’t date him and work for him too. Sure, you can. However, Rosalie didn’t want to use sex appeal to affect him. She couldn’t stand those kinds of women. So she quickly took off the dress and put on the jeans she had worn last night and the white V-neck sweater she’d worn yesterday, which at least made her cleavage look good. Then she put on her gray Chucks since, from her window, it looked sort of wet and soggy from raining all night.

  “My hair,” she muttered.

  She was sure five minutes had already passed or was close to passing. If only she had time to wash and blow-dry. Her mane was limp and dull. She quickly wrapped her hair into a bun. She looked sporty, cool, and admittedly sexy. Rosalie smiled, grabbed her purse off the chair, and hurried out of the room.

  The walk down the hallway was stressful. Then she heard a door open behind h
er and close quickly. Hers were still the only footsteps that could be heard. But still she was curious, so she looked behind her. Whoever had come out of their room must’ve gone back inside when they saw her. Then she remembered that none of the guests were particularly fond of socializing with each other. She would have bet that not one person was having breakfast at the main table, especially since Edna wasn’t home. But then she thought that maybe they were, simply because Edna was missing.

  As she walked down the steps into the foyer, her eyes connected with a familiar face. He was one of two men who were wearing law enforcement uniforms. The men were facing Chance and Penelope. As Rosalie descended the steps, she was still trying to identify the officer with the curly, light-auburn hair, overly pale complexion, and slight frame. Then it hit her. He was Myrtle’s nephew, Barry, and he hadn’t changed much since high school.

  Chance and Penelope looked behind them to see who or what had caught Barry’s attention. The moment felt awkward, so Rosalie looked down and watched her careful feet take the stairs one step at a time. When she reached the bottom, they were all looking at her as if she had infringed upon their privacy, even Chance. However, she was not going to retreat.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  The officer standing beside Barry looked at Chance.

  Penelope’s face was stern and red, and her eyes were teary. “This is a family matter.”

  “She should hear this,” Chance said.

  Penelope’s mouth dropped as she glared at him.

  Rosalie wasted no time in joining the circle and took her position beside Chance. It felt good to stand beside him. His height and stature made her feel safe.

  “These are Officers Bunting and Fitzpatrick.” Chance raised his eyebrows when he said “Fitzpatrick,” which appeared to be an attempt to clue her in that the man was Myrtle’s nephew.

  She shook Bunting’s hand and then Barry’s.

  “I know you,” Barry said.

  “Yes, we went to school together.”

  “You’re Rosalie Stetson. You used to be married to Pete.”

  “Yes.”

  “But they’re divorced now,” Penelope said.

  “Okay, so here’s another picture we found at the scene.” The older gentleman, Officer Bunting, handed Chance a photograph. “We also found these items that belong to Edna Sterling in the home of Christine Valdez.”

  Rosalie stood on one side of Chance and Penelope on the other, viewing the image. Rosalie wanted to gasp in shock, but she knew better. She needed the officer to confirm that Christine Valdez was deceased first. However, she was looking at photos of Edna’s driver’s license, credit cards, and her favorite tiny black Chanel bag. When she saw Edna’s engagement ring and wedding band on the gold chain she had put them on so she could wear the pieces around her neck, Rosalie’s heart sank.

  “Oh my God! Where’s my mother?” Penelope grabbed ahold of Chance’s arm.

  “Mrs. Sterling wasn’t found in the home,” Officer Bunting said.

  “Is there any physical evidence to point to the fact that she was there?” Rosalie asked.

  Officer Bunting narrowed his eyes inquisitively.

  “I’m a lawyer,” she said, answering his expression.

  “I see.” He eased the tension out of his shoulders. “Well, Christine Valdez’s body was found in a ravine off Rivers Road.”

  “Oh no,” Penelope whimpered. Her body was trembling. “I just thought Mom was, you know, being Mom. I had no idea. We haven’t even tried to look for her.” She clutched her stomach as though she was going to be sick.

  Chance set his eyes on Rosalie. “Could you call Halo before she gets too far?”

  Rosalie nodded spastically. “Sure.” Her brain was about to explode because of all the processing it was doing. “Shoot, I don’t have her number.”

  Chance called off the numbers, and Rosalie made sure she memorized them. “Got it.”

  “What was the cause of the woman’s death?” Chance asked as Rosalie walked off.

  “It seems she fell and hit her head.”

  “What the hell’s going on down here?” William asked, stomping down the stairs.

  Rosalie walked faster toward Edna’s sitting room. She didn’t want to witness the sort of spectacle William was about to make of himself. She could still hear voices and could tell who was speaking, but she didn’t try hard enough to make out what they were saying. Instead, she repeated the phone number Chance had given her over and over so stress wouldn’t make her forget it. She turned on her cell phone, and it instantly alerted her that she had voice messages and texts. She had no doubt that most of them were from Dennis. When it came to work or anything else, Rosalie had never dropped the ball in the way she had since Thursday. She was done with the public defender’s office, finished, and kaput.

  Rosalie tried to control the shaking in her body as she sat on the sofa. One step at a time, she reminded herself. She dialed the number that was in her head and bounced her knee impatiently, waiting for Halo to pick up.

  After the fourth ring, Halo answered. “Hello?”

  “Halo?”

  “Yes.” She sounded different, more cautious.

  “This is Rosalie.”

  “Oh.” She sighed. “What’s going on?”

  Rosalie spoke in a rush as she told her about the photos the officers had shown them and how badly Penelope was shaken up.

  “Fuck,” Halo cursed.

  “How far out are you?”

  “Not that far, but I have a flight to catch.” She groaned as if deliberating on what to do next caused an agonizing pain deep inside. “Okay. I’ll be there soon.” Halo ended the call.

  Rosalie felt as if heavy weights had been lifted off her shoulders as she sat back against the sofa. The next step was figuring out those photos. It all seemed too timely. She and Chance had signed contracts, Edna had gone missing, then her ID, credit cards, and wedding rings were found in a dead woman’s house.

  Rosalie finally found the strength to stand and walk back to the foyer. Both Chance and Barry looked at her. She nodded at Chance to let him know Halo was on her way back to the manor. He cracked a barely there smile.

  “Well, that’s all we have for now. Mrs. Sterling’s personal property is considered evidence.”

  “Bullshit. I want my mother’s things,” William said.

  “Sir, that’s not going to happen, not while we’re in the middle of an investigation.”

  “Of course,” Chance said, scowling at William.

  By the way William glared at Chance, it was clear he was not going to back down. “At least return her wedding ring. It belongs to the family,” he said.

  “It’s evidence,” Chance said in a stern but controlled voice.

  William huffed as his face turned redder. “What about her credit cards? Do you need to keep those?”

  “We can provide you with a statement for reissue,” Barry said.

  William pressed his lips together. Apparently, that was a big enough win for him to stop trying to throw his weight around.

  The officers left. Penelope needed to go lie down. William called Baylor to give him the download of what had just happened. Rosalie could hear Baylor shouting on the other end of the call.

  Chance pointed his head toward the hallway. Rosalie did what she figured he was asking and followed him. They walked side by side in the opposite direction of the sitting room.

  “How well did you know Officer Fitzpatrick in high school?” Chance asked.

  She eyed him incredulously. “Not that well. Why?”

  “No reason. But pretty soon, my uncles are going to descend on this house like flies on shit.” He shook his head. “But I just don’t get the feeling that Grandmother is dead. Do you?”

  She followed him into the library. “I don’t know what to think,” she replied.

  Chance closed the door then stood very close to her. She could feel his warm breath against her lips as she gazed into his glas
sy eyes.

  “This is the worst time to ask this, but I want to kiss you so I can think. Will you let me?”

  Her lips parted. She was too awestruck to reply verbally or nod. The phone in her purse rang, and she blinked herself out of the daze.

  “One second.” Rosalie’s voice was barely audible. She frowned at the phone before answering. “Halo?”

  Chance took a step back and away from her. She wished he hadn’t done that.

  “Keep me posted,” Halo said. “I really need this program. Did Chance ask you to call me earlier?”

  Rosalie gazed into his curious eyes. “Yes, he did.”

  “Is he with you now?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Let me speak to him.”

  “Halo wants to speak to you,” she said, holding out her phone for him to take.

  He studied her for a moment then took the phone. “You’re on the way, right?” he asked, turning his back to Rosalie.

  She wondered if she had taken too long to say, yes, Chance. I have been waiting too many hours to be kissed by you.

  He straightened his posture and pressed his finger against the ear that wasn’t occupied by Rosalie’s cell phone.

  “Okay, yeah, I get it.” He sounded disappointed but settled. He paused. “I’m happy you’re doing something about it. Okay, I’ll keep you posted.” He paused again. “I love you too.”

  Rosalie gulped. Perhaps Chance would one day say those same words to her.

  Chance’s cell phone rang just as he handed Rosalie hers. It felt as if they were getting further and further away from that kiss she had agreed to give him.

  “She’s not coming?” Rosalie asked.

  He shook his head and answered his phone. “No. Hello? Okay. I’ll be there in a sec.” Chance ended the call and gazed into Rosalie’s eyes. “Yes?”

  She gulped. “Do you mean the kiss?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes.”

  He gripped her hips and held her against him. He was hard as a rock down there, leading Rosalie to believe he wanted more than a kiss. Chance’s lips were against hers, and his warm, wet, minty tongue slid into her mouth and pressed passionately against hers.

  Rosalie believed she was floating. Every part of her body was on fire. Wetness drenched her panties. She wanted out of her clothes. She wanted him to grab her by the ass and shove her harder against his erection. She wanted him to pull down her sweater to expose more of her breasts and suck greedily on her nipple. But more than anything, she wanted the kiss to last forever.