CHAPTER NINE
Todd had quickly fallen into a deep sleep. It took him a few seconds to realise the blood-curdling screams yanking him to consciousness came from inside his apartment. He bolted out of bed and down the hall to the guest room, where the screams were now a whimper. Unsure of what he would find, he threw open the door. Chloe was curled up on the bed, fists clenched, her face buried in the pillow.
Without a second thought, he sat on the bed and drew her into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder as he held her. Her whole body shook. Her tremors reverberated through his chest.
“Shhhhhh, Chloe, shhhhhh. It was a dream. Only a dream. It’s okay, you’re okay now.” Todd stroked her hair and tried to soothe her.
“I was falling. The audience below was watching. I could see their horrified faces. I felt my leg hitting the podium, and then the pain … the pain again. I was falling into a deep pit. I just kept falling, and falling, deeper and deeper into the darkness, breaking more and more of my bones, breaking into pieces as I fell.” Chloe said, through her tears.
Todd rocked back and forth on the bed, rubbing her back and stroking her hair until she calmed down enough for him to tuck her back under the covers. He rose to leave. Her hand shot out and closed over his.
“Please stay,” Chloe whispered. The recurring nightmare had shaken her. She didn’t want to close her eyes. Or be alone.
Todd stretched out on top of the bed behind Chloe. She relaxed into his arms and eventually fell asleep. Todd, however, did not enjoy that luxury. With her body nestled into his, he had time to analyse his feelings. He could push them down, bury them under friendly banter, but he could no longer deny he had strong feelings for Chloe. He had an overwhelming desire to protect her. Was this love? He wasn’t sure, as he had no experience with falling in love. He lay awake until the early hours, and when exhaustion finally took over, he fell asleep briefly and dreamt of Chloe once again.
As dawn appeared, he slipped away to the gym to work off the frustration before the temptation became too much for him to withstand.
When Chloe finally woke, Todd had left the apartment. She noted his immaculately made bed, the sparkling kitchen, and the sticky note attached to the fridge announcing he had left her a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice. A decadent chocolate croissant from the French bakery downstairs sat taunting her on the kitchen bench. He had obviously made a special trip to the bakery for her breakfast treat. This simple gesture made her smile. She pulled off a chunk of the delicious crumbly pastry, and popped it into her mouth, licking her fingertips as she prepared her morning coffee. Mmmmm, delectable.
Her thoughts were drawn back to last night, and the way Todd handled her emotionally fragile state. He sure is full of surprises. He can be very sweet and tender when he wants to be. It had been a long time since she had been treated with such care. Throughout her stay, he had been the perfect host, and had also proven himself to be the perfect gentleman. Strangely, though, she wasn’t sure if the latter made her feel happy or sad. Perhaps I don’t want him to be such a gentleman. Confessing that thought had her questioning her motives.
Patrick had rearranged his workload to knock off early. He planned to drop in on Chloe. He had been thinking about her, wondering how she was feeling, and as yet had not made the call. He stopped off at the real estate office in Port Melbourne, surprised to see Todd packing up his laptop, also way ahead of his schedule for the day.
“I thought I’d drop by and see Chloe.” Patrick announced.
“I am sure she would be very pleased to have a visitor.” Todd smiled, but only because he felt it appropriate. Their evenings had been happily spent together, just the two of them. He didn’t want a visit from Patrick. He didn’t want Patrick to spoil what they had built over that past few days.
“Good. Any idea of what I could take along? You know. Something to make her feel better. Something for me to score some points.”
“Why do you need to score points with Chloe? I thought you were currently seeing the redhead from Williamstown?” Pangs of jealousy flared in the pit of his stomach.
“You can never have enough points up your sleeve, Todd. Haven’t I taught you anything? All women love beautiful gifts, all beautiful gifts win you points. Then when the time comes, you use those points to your advantage.” Patrick looked pleased imparting this pearl of wisdom to his brother.
“You’re all class, Patrick.” Todd shook his head. “Chloe likes flowers.”
“Cool. Flowers it is then.”
He stuffed the papers into his laptop bag in his haste to leave. It annoyed him more than he wanted to admit that Patrick was going to be spending time with Chloe today. At least he had already planned to be home early; he’d make sure his brother kept his distance. He didn’t want his brother taking advantage of Chloe when she was feeling vulnerable. Especially after he had done the gentlemanly thing and kept his distance.
Chloe reluctantly left the comfort of the couch to answer the doorbell. She buzzed Patrick through the foyer, and in a few minutes he arrived at the door carrying a large pot of orchids wrapped in clouds of soft white tissue paper.
“Hello Patrick. It’s been a while hasn’t it.” He handed her the pot of flowers “These are for me? They are beautiful, thank you.”
“You’re looking well. My brother must be taking good care of you.”
Cradling the flowers in the crook of one arm, she moved towards Patrick to kiss his cheek. However, he pulled her close and kissed her on the lips.
She could feel his enjoyment in that kiss pressed against her stomach, and surprisingly, it unsettled her. Wow, things sure have changed. Her head began to throb, and she pulled back quickly, out of his embrace.
“Careful, you’ll squash the flowers. Thank you. Orchids, wow … they really are beautiful.” She fussed over the flowers to give her a few precious moments to think. A few weeks ago she would have been thrilled to have him kiss her like that. Now it was as though she could see him for what he really was. Much to her amazement, she didn’t want to be just another notch on his headboard. Todd’s maturity shone through when she held both personalities up to the light.
Unaware of her reluctance, he placed his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him as they walked towards the kitchen to put the flowers on the bench.
Todd opened the apartment door at that precise moment. Patrick had his arm proprietarily around her, and from the expression on his face, the heat rising to her cheeks from embarrassment had been misconstrued.
“Should I go out and come back in a couple of hours?” Todd strode by, heading for the kitchen.
“Settle down, Todd. We were just getting reacquainted.” Patrick still had his arm around Chloe.
“Right. I see.” Todd dropped the box of groceries on the bench and marched off to his bedroom.
“Could you reach that jug up there on the shelf for me please? I want to give them some water.” She slipped out of Patrick’s embrace to take care of the flowers.
The intercom buzzed, announcing another visitor. Chloe pressed the button to unlock the foyer door for Samantha, who also carried flowers, along with a bottle of champagne. She beamed at Chloe when she entered the apartment.
“Hi Chloe. These flowers are for you. But not the champagne, that’s to celebrate!” Samantha kissed Chloe’s cheek. She turned and spotted Patrick.
“Hey Patrick. Where’s Todd? He’s not answering his phone and he said he was going home early.” Samantha seemed excited.
“He’s here. I’ll get him.” Grateful for the distraction, Chloe left the kitchen and knocked on Todd’s bedroom door. She could hear cupboard doors banging inside. “Todd, Samantha’s here and she wants to talk to you.”
He opened the door abruptly and nearly bumped into Chloe, his expression closed and unreadable. He had changed out of his suit and into jeans and a polo top. He manoeuvred carefully around her. “Hi Sam, what’s the problem?”
“We got it!” Samantha threw her
hands up in the air in a victory sign.
“You beauty!” Todd covered the few metres between them in record time, grabbed Samantha in a bear hug and swung her around.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Patrick and Chloe asked simultaneously.
Todd ignored Patrick and addressed Chloe. “Baker Real Estate now owns a slice of prime real estate in Paddington, Sydney. There’s an old heritage listed building on the site which we plan to renovate for our Sydney office. As well as being a functional space, we thought it would showcase Patrick’s renovating talents.”
“Let’s have some champagne!” Samantha announced.
“I was going to barbeque some steaks for dinner. If we are going to drink champagne, and you’re driving, we’d better eat. Would you two like to join us?”
Todd looked first at Samantha, and then pointedly at Patrick. Chloe hoped Patrick had plans. Unfortunately not.
“Dinner for four then.”
Chloe and Samantha propped themselves up on stools at the breakfast bar to prepare the salad. Todd and Patrick decided they would take care of barbequing the steaks on the balcony, as only men could, according to their rhetoric. As the delicious aroma of barbequed steak and garlic Swiss mushrooms permeated the apartment, everyone appeared to relax into party mode. Chloe used the remote to activate the sound system. Before long, they were all enjoying the music and making a valiant attempt at the lyrics to the old classics. Patrick danced around in the kitchen with Samantha, as she held aloft a plate of anchovy stuffed olives in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other.
Needless to say, the talk around the dining room table focused on the new Sydney venture. Relived, Chloe noted that Todd had finally relaxed with Patrick, who, it seemed was either oblivious to his brother’s bad mood or wise to it and hoped it would pass.
Samantha took the opportunity to grill Chloe in the kitchen, while they were stacking the dishwasher. “Todd seemed tense when I arrived. Any idea why?”
Chloe didn’t look her in the eye. “He didn’t say.”
“You do know I love both boys, don’t you. They’re like family. I won’t think badly of either of them.” Samantha paused, a plate in one hand.
“Yes, I do.”
“Still nothing to tell me?” Samantha stacked the plate in the dishwasher and leant back against the bench, arms crossed, patiently waiting for Chloe’s reply.
“I think Todd was annoyed that Patrick had his arm around me when he came home. I think he overreacted, that’s all. Patrick and I are just friends.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay, we’ve been out on a date, but that was weeks ago, we’re friends. It’s nothing more,” Chloe replied. “Don’t look at me like that. I was interested and now I’m not. Okay?”
“Does Todd know that?” Samantha reached forwards and took Chloe’s hand. “You do know he’s in love with you, don’t you? I have known him for many years and he has never been this concerned for any woman until now.”
“Who, Todd? Don’t be ridiculous, Samantha. We’re good friends.” Chloe insisted.
“Oh. So you are trying to tell me you are ‘just friends’ with both brothers, and have no intention of taking it any further with either of them?” Samantha let go of Chloe, and fisted her hands on her hips.
Their conversation came to an abrupt halt when they heard the sliding door open. Todd and Patrick returned from the balcony carrying the barbeque tools and the platters. As Chloe bent down to the dishwasher, she glanced up. Samantha’s eyebrow arched. She’s not going to let this drop.
Even as they sat talking and drinking coffee after dinner, Chloe could not get Samantha’s words out of her mind. “You do know he’s in love with you, don’t you?” kept circling round and around in her head. She thought about the way Todd had rushed into her room when she had the nightmare, and the fact that he had stayed with her through the night when she was an emotional wreck. She’d thought at the time he was being kind. She hadn’t considered anything more. Be honest, you haven’t let yourself consider it, have you?
Chloe said her goodnights and excused herself early. The day’s events had tired her out, and she wanted some time alone. She had some serious thinking to do.
Todd switched off all the lights. Patrick and Samantha had finally left the apartment a little after eleven o’clock. Sipping from a glass of Scotch, he absentmindedly stared out at the night sky through the unadorned windows as he thought about the last few hours, and his jealous reaction. Not surprisingly, Melbourne’s eclectic cityscape did little to cheer him tonight.
He didn’t hear Chloe approach, but he sensed her presence behind him. He turned to see her bathed in moonlight, dressed in a long white silk nightgown. She couldn’t have looked lovelier, or more delicate, than at that moment. Todd’s heart beat a little faster as he waited for her to speak. He surmised they were going to talk about his behaviour earlier. How could he adequately explain the flash of anguish he experienced on seeing Patrick with his arm around her, without exposing his feelings? Feelings he had tried unsuccessfully to bury.
“Would you like a drink?” Todd held up his glass, swirling the amber liquid.
Chloe slowly shook her head as she walked towards him.
“Todd we’re friends, right? Good friends?”
“Yes we are.”
“Okay, so can you tell me what was bothering you when you arrived home?”
“It doesn’t matter, Chloe.”
“Yes it does. I want to clear it up. I don’t want this to hang over us. You seemed to be angry with Patrick and me. Why?”
“I wasn’t angry with you. Patrick should have waited until you were better to make a move on you. He didn’t have to have his hands all over you …”
“Hey, hang on a minute, he didn’t have his hands all over me.”
“When I came in he had his arm around you. If I hadn’t interrupted you, I can imagine where that would have gone.” Todd’s gut twisted with the memory. “You’re still not one hundred per cent, you know. I don’t like to see him taking advantage of you. You’re not out of the woods yet.”
“You don’t give me much credit do you?” Chloe took one more step towards him, so she could look him in the eye. “Nothing was going on, and nothing would have today. Patrick and I are friends. Sure, he has taken me out for dinner, but other than a date, and a few kisses, nothing has happened. Not that it’s any of your business anyway. But to set the record straight, he wasn’t taking advantage of me. I can look after myself, and when or if I decide to welcome a man’s advances, I don’t need your permission. You’re not my father, so back off.”
She turned swiftly, intent on returning to her bedroom, and clumsily bumped into the chair. As she faltered, Todd’s hand shot out, steading her and pulling her firmly to his chest.
Her body trembled against his. “Are you okay?” Todd asked.
In a flash of awareness, time stood still for Chloe. She had a painful recollection of being hurt, then held safely in Todd’s arms. His voice was in her head talking to her, saying things to her no one else could have said. The scenes of the accident and in the hospital were being played out. A kaleidoscope of images flashed through her mind in quick succession.
She turned to face him, her eyes wide in amazement.
“It was you. You found me. You were with me at the hospital, talking to me. It was you who brought me back.” Chloe whispered.
All this time she had been mistaken, and had thought it was Patrick. Tears swam in her eyes as she remembered Todd’s strong arms holding her, the fear in his voice. She remembered his hand clasping hers, talking to her when she drifted in and out of consciousness, struggling to get back to the surface. She remembered lying in the hospital room, when he said he thought he loved her.
She remembered everything.
Todd cupped her upturned face in his hands, his thumbs gently wiping away the tears trickling down her cheeks, and then placed the softest of kisses in their wake. He longed to remove that hurt from
her eyes, to reassure her that he only had the best of intentions, that he never wanted to see her hurt or in pain again. He heard Chloe’s sob catch in her throat, and it nearly broke him. He placed his lips against the curve of her neck, just under her ear. His stubble brushed her cheek, rasping against her soft skin as he brought his mouth round to within centimetres of hers, poised, waiting, wanting to taste her, to drown in her kiss. His lips glided over her trembling mouth, caressing, reassuring. He pulled back to look at her, before he picked her up effortlessly. Cradling her in his arms, he turned towards his bedroom. She had given no indication she welcomed his kiss. He would take it no further until she did.
“Shhhhhhhh. Please don’t cry. It’s going to be okay, Chloe.” Todd placed her on the king-sized bed, lay down and wrapped himself around her.
Held her gently while memories flooded her senses. He understood that the trauma of the past few months, the death of her father, the loss of her career, the pain of the fall, had taken its toll. She had understandably reached her limit. The tears she hadn’t shown before flowed freely now. With love guiding him, he held her and gave her what she needed for that night. Someone to hold her. Someone to protect her. Someone to love her and ask for nothing in return.
At 4 am, Todd’s body woke up a few minutes before he did. He felt his erection growing between their spooned bodies, desire for Chloe instantaneous given the circumstance. As realisation dawned, he slipped quietly out of bed before she awoke. The last thing she needed or wanted was to be made aware of his carnal appetite. He only intended to comfort her when he brought her to his bed. He could never take advantage of the situation. Something he was condemning his brother for hours earlier. If anything were to happen, it had to be at her instigation.
From Paris to Forever Page 9
