Loving the Chase (Heart of the Storm #1)

by Sharla Lovelace

  Zach folded his hands in front of him. “Not a problem, then.”

  “Tell us about yourself, Mr. Chase,” Richard Woodbriar said, sitting back in his chair. He had the air of someone who had five other things he’d rather be doing, whereas Brown leaned forward like a dog looking at a shiny new bone. Taking his cue from Woodbriar, Zach sat back in his chair and summoned every ounce of confidence he could find, hoping it showed in his face. He let his hands glide along the smooth wood of the table, his fingers finding the natural grain. The earthy aroma of the wood relaxed his muscles and chased the nerves away.

  “My family and I have been chasing storms our whole lives, and we’re the best in the business,” Zach said. “Our parents—”

  His words were interrupted as the door opened behind him, and Brown’s eyebrows pulled together in a frown. Zach caught a whiff of something soft and sweet in the air as a dark-haired woman brushed past him in a white dress that hugged her ass perfectly.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen,” she said, making her way around the table, not looking his way. She set a file in front of her and took a seat next to Brown. “Miss Brian sent me in her place. I’m up to speed.”

  Her voice was clipped and uncomfortable, which matched the troubled expression on her face. Zach understood that. Because everything he’d been about to say had left him the moment she’d turned around and he saw her face.

  “This is Madison Hayes,” Brown said, his mouth pinched. “Miss Brian’s production assistant.”

  She didn’t look up from the file or extend her hand, and Zach sat frozen in his chair, her name ringing in his ears, his chest clamping down and pushing all the air from his lungs. The breath he managed to draw was physically painful, and he had to clear his throat to keep from showing it. It fucking can’t be.

  Her eyes bored a hole in the file folder she gripped, and Zach was determined to stare her down until she looked up. When she finally did meet his eyes, steel came with them. As if she’d had to pull it up out of the floor before she could look at him.

  “Mr. Chase,” she said, her tone even and professional.

  Slap. Zach’s muscles released and his eyebrows rose as he repressed a scoff. Mr. Chase? Okay, then.

  “Miss Hayes,” he responded, just as coolly.

  “Proceed,” she said, after clearing her throat and folding and refolding her hands twice. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  Zach licked his dry lips and tried to remember what he was saying. Nothing came to mind. All he could do was look at the face he’d last seen streaked with dried mud and blood and tears seven years earlier. All he could hear were the hurt and angry words of the only woman he’d ever given a damn about, telling him she was done.

  Maddi Hayes wasn’t crying now. But she hadn’t forgotten, either. That was evident in the cold glaze her eyes took on.

  “Like I was saying,” he said, his voice sounding rough to his own ears. “We’re storm chasers. And we’re good at what we do.”

  “Whatever it takes?” Maddi said, turning both the other men’s heads in surprise.

  Zach felt the twitch in his jaw muscle and the sucker punch to his gut as the words hit their target.

  “Whatever it takes.”

  Chapter Two

  Breathe in. Breathe out. Don’t sweat. Maddi’s feet were crossed together so tight she was losing feeling in them, but it kept her hands from shaking. There was no way she was going to let Zach Chase see her looking nervous.

  Oh, hell, nervous didn’t even come close. She might have been holding it together on the outside, but everything inside her was a hot nuclear mess.

  Seven years was a long time, but sitting there across the table from her first love—Jesus.

  Maddi went into that meeting with the only armor she had. The advantage of knowing he would be there. And after the torturous hours of video research, she knew what to expect. Maddi had studied news footage of Zach in two on-site interviews. She’d nearly broken a pencil in half on the first one, as she watched him smile and converse with the reporter. He hadn’t changed much. The charisma and charm she remembered too well still ate up the camera, and she’d cursed her body’s reaction to it.

  Now, after hyperventilating in the bathroom for a minute and then walking into the meeting like a bull ready for battle, two seconds of locking eyes with Zach had her praying not to throw up on him.

  God he was still beautiful. He looked stronger and more solid and—those eyes of his.

  Don’t look at them.

  His hands, folded in front of him, were big and rough and calloused. She used to adore holding his hands once, always loving how something so rough could touch her so tenderly. Maddi cleared her throat and went into survival mode. Anger got her through leaving him before. She needed to find that again and let it get her through this now.

  “It’s a family thing,” Zach was saying, pushing out a smile and turning his gaze to Woodbriar instead of her. That was good. The tips of her fingers had lost all feeling, so the break from his stare was very welcomed. “My parents did it before us, and we’ve since built up our knowledge base and equipment. One of my brothers has a master’s in meteorology, my sister is a photographer and videographer, and my oldest brother runs the business side. He crunches the data and maintains the website.”

  “So, then why isn’t he here?” Brown asked.

  “Eli is tied up today,” Zach said. “We had a field event earlier, and he’s back at the base compiling data.”

  “Is he on board with this?” Brown asked.

  “Mr. Chase hasn’t even heard the pitch yet, as I understand it,” Maddi said, a practiced smile curving one side of her mouth. “Miss Brian saw a news segment and contacted him with just the general idea. There hasn’t been any other discussion yet—that’s why he’s here.”

  Zach’s eyes landed back on her, and Maddi had to count to three as she inhaled to stop the gasp that nearly happened. It wasn’t arrogance she saw there, but something else. An unsettling of sorts. Old pain. She looked down at the file to break the moment. She knew a thing or two about old pain.

  “I’m all ears,” Zach said, putting on a charming smile. “We’re definitely interested. I’m here to listen and bring the info back to the base.”

  “The base,” Woodbriar echoed. “You have a facility?”

  “Yes, sir,” Zach said. “We have a building that houses our storm vehicles—”

  “You have special vehicles?” Woodbriar asked.

  Zach licked his lips. “In a sense,” he said. “We hope to upgrade to some custom armored vehicles one day, but right now we’ve equipped two SUVs with tempered double-paned windshields. That’s all we’ve been able to do so far, but it does help immensely.” Maddi watched him take a breath to slow down. He was nervous, and somehow that helped her heart slow as well. “We have a portable anemometer that attaches to the vehicle to take readings, as well as some handheld equipment.

  “What exactly do you do on these chases?” Woodbriar asked.

  They lose their minds, Maddi thought. Their sanity. Their memory of anything else not swirling in front of them.

  “We take readings, record wind speed and anomalies,” Zach said. “Take still shots and video footage for online weather sites. We get information to city and county weather centers so that they have advance warnings.”

  “And drive into tornadoes?” Brown asked. “Please tell me you drive into tornadoes or there’s not much of a show.”

  Zach grinned slowly. “There is that, yes.” He sat back in his chair. “But we aren’t just that. We aren’t thrill seekers looking for a fix. There are those out there, don’t get me wrong, but our father always drove home the point that we’re out there to help people. We try to do right by his legacy.”

  Woodbriar nodded. “So, where do you get your funding?”

  “Private investors and donatio
ns for the research we provide,” Zach answered.

  “Meaning your grandmother,” Woodbriar said, his expression unchanged.

  Oh, shit. Maddi put the file down and folded her hands, needing to squeeze something. A realization settled over her, and she knew it did over Zach as well. This wasn’t an interview after all. Woodbriar already knew. Of course he did. Zach’s grandmother, Annabelle Chase, always had long fingers.

  “Well, if you know that, then I have nothing new to enlighten you with,” Zach said, looking carefree and tense at the same time.

  It irked Maddi that she could still recognize his body language like that. She could tell by looking at him that everything in his body wanted to stand up and pace. Damn it, why did she still know him like that? It made her neck hot, and she fanned her hair off her neck as a reflex, regretting it when Zach’s eyes landed there.

  Woodbriar pulled a small notepad from an inside pocket and flipped it open.

  “Siblings Elijah, Simon, Zachariah, twins Levi and Hannah Chase,” he began. “Parents Josiah and Louella. Father deceased, killed twelve years ago during a chase gone bad. Brother Levi left and moved to the Gulf Coast with his girlfriend Heather Walters, where he is now a high school football coach, thirty, divorced with one daughter Kinley. Hannah Chase, thirty, unmarried no kids, four year degree in liberal arts and photography, freelances. Oldest brother Elijah Chase, thirty-five, unmarried no kids, owns an auto body shop. Simon Chase, thirty-four, unmarried no kids, scientist with a master’s and several published articles on weather anomalies, meteorologist with Channel Four News.”

  Woodbriar looked up from the pad, continuing from memory.

  “Zachariah Chase, thirty-one, unmarried no kids, no college, no solid jobs of record, several speeding tickets.”

  Zach sat there like a bird in a cage, and Maddi suddenly felt sick. The ire rose in her belly, and her muscles tightened to match the clenching of Zach’s jaw. It wasn’t supposed to be an interrogation. It was supposed to be a meeting about the prospect of the show. Were they always like this? Attacking and predatory? Maddi had no idea, this being her first one.

  Zach met Woodbriar’s gaze as he continued, and refused to meet hers.

  “Annabelle Chase, paternal grandmother, steady source of funding for research, equipment, and basically anything else needed.” Woodbriar set the pad down on the table and folded his hands. “The base, as you call it, is an oversized garage on your mother’s property in Cody, Texas.”

  He stopped talking, and Zach took a long slow breath. “Check,” he said. “Are we done?”

  “You have somewhere to be?” Woodbriar asked.

  “Well, you’ve clearly got all the information you need,” Zach said, his jaw twitching with anger. Maddi’s stomach flipped over at the déjà vu that brought on. That’s exactly what he’d looked like the last time— “Hell, I didn’t even know about Simon’s articles, so hey, thanks for the heads-up.”

  Woodbriar sat forward for the first time, studying Zach with a narrowed gaze. “You’re angry.”

  “I’m not a fan of stalking,” Zach said, his voice low. “Or being put under a microscope without my knowledge.”

  “Get used to it,” Woodbriar said, equally low. “The public eye puts you there, and they will celebrate you when you’re up and crucify you when you’re down. I bring on no one—I don’t care who they are or who they’re related to—without a thorough background check to find out who’s coming into my house.”

  No one breathed. No one blinked.

  “Did we pass?” Zach asked finally.

  Woodbriar sat back in his chair, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “You people seem to have something against spouses and children.”

  Zach’s lip twitched and his eyes moved to Maddi’s. She did gasp that time, clamping her lips shut to swallow it back. Because for one unprepared second, something raw showed before the walls locked back up tight. And what worried her more was what he might have seen in hers. He looked away and rubbed at his eyes, looking tired.

  “And you have something against boundaries. Do I have a reason to even be here, or did my grandmother already set the table?”

  Woodbriar’s eyebrows twitched. “You think we’ve been talking to a little old lady about filming an action reality show?”

  Zach chuckled. “A little old lady—right,” he said. “This project—if we do it—doesn’t involve her,” he continued.

  Maddi glanced at Brown, who looked questioningly at Woodbriar. Who was sitting there like a giant unfeeling boulder.

  “If that’s not the case, I’d appreciate knowing right now,” Zach said.

  “Nothing in the file mentions Mrs. Chase whatsoever,” Brown said, tapping it in front of Maddi. Woodbriar’s gaze never moved, locking in on Zach’s. “Outside of her monetary contributions, that is. I don’t know of any correspondence with her.”

  “There you go,” Woodbriar said. “What’s the story with your younger brother, Levi?

  Zach’s eyebrow shot up. “Story?”

  “Why is he the only one not in the family business?” Woodbriar asked.

  “He was,” Zach said. “Till he didn’t want to be. He moved,” Zach said with a smile Maddi knew was forced. “Kids do move away.”

  “Guess they do,” Woodbriar said.

  Zach traced the wood grain in the table, his forefinger moving along the line. A clock ticked somewhere nearby, and the air was so thick Maddi could feel it moving around them.

  “So—we’d like to talk to you now about the new show,” Brown said, taking his pause as acceptance. “Or, I guess Miss Hayes will, since she’s here on her boss’s behalf.”

  Shit, Brown, nothing like whiplash. It was a horrible way to introduce the project, to attack him and then court him, and she forced a grimace-like smile and plowed forward, opening the file in front of her.

  “A reality show following you and your crew,” she said. “Just as Miss Brian suggested to you on the phone.”

  “If we do this,” Brown interjected, “it’ll be for a pilot and three episodes to start. To see how well it’s accepted.”

  “It’s been done before,” Zach said.

  “Yes, but not with a family,” Maddi said. “That will bring a whole new dynamic to it.”

  Zach blinked and met Woodbriar’s gaze again. “My brother-the-scientist will want assurance that our data isn’t compromised, and my sister-the-photographer will have serious heart palpitations if the cameras get in her way.”

  Maddi felt her left eye twitch at the way Zach purposely spoke away from her, but she went with it, looking to Woodbriar, who grinned, clearly amused by Zach’s vitriol.

  “I’m sure they’ll work it all out,” he said.

  “What about insurance?” Zach asked.

  “Insurance?” Brown asked.

  “Yes, insurance.”

  “Like medical?” Brown pursued, holding his hands up in question with a slightly condescending laugh. “Life? Car?”

  “Yes—all of it. What we do is dangerous.” Zach rocked in his chair, meeting Maddi’s gaze head-on that time and sending fire from her scalp to the soles of her feet. Dangerous. “You can be sure that Elijah will point that out repeatedly. We can’t be held liable for anything that happens to you on these runs.”

  Maddi averted her eyes, the memory of what could happen flooding her brain.

  “All that gets worked out with Legal,” Brown said, shrugging and leaning forward on the table like they were two guys just having a beer. “So what do you say, Mr. Chase?”

  Maddi looked up into the eyes she once thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. Eyes that once loved her without boundaries. Belonging to a man she had loved beyond reason. Doing this project with him would put her right smack back in his aura. Either strengthening her resolve or unraveling every knot she’d tied for herself when she secu
red herself a life outside of destruction and danger. And at that one second, she had no idea what she wanted the answer to be.

  Chapter Three

  Maddi hadn’t changed.

  She still looked fucking amazing, and now knew how to show it. Her hair was a little shorter than it used to be, but still swung dark and shiny around her shoulders. Her eyes still did that thing—going so dark when she was irritated, that the blue appeared nearly black.

  Clearly, she was irritated.

  Which was okay. Because it gave Zach what he needed to get through the firing squad. Somehow, the fact that Maddi seemed pissed off took some of the shock away and gave him the fire and audacity he needed to keep going.

  Now it was over, and he felt like he was in a well. The blonde receptionist was talking. Her cute little mouth was moving, she was smiling and working the body language and all the things that normally tweaked Zach’s attention, but he didn’t hear her. He wasn’t there. Every ion in his body was tuned into the group of people behind him, their business chatter about legalities and making copies and arrangements and—the subject didn’t matter. Maddi’s voice was like a magnet tugging at the back of his head. How he’d managed to sit across the table from her with a straight face, uttering somewhat intelligent words, was a miracle. Actually, he had no memory of the first five minutes after she’d sat down.

  He heard the group disperse, and he took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. He was reacting like someone he didn’t even recognize. He shook his head, and the receptionist whose silly name he couldn’t remember raised her eyebrows.

  “No?”

  Zach blinked. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  One eyebrow came down while the other stayed up. “Really? Are you that old?”

  “What?”

  “You already forgot what I said?” she asked, leaning over her desk a bit, showing even more of what she was clearly proud of. “I asked you if you’d like to go get something to eat, old man.”