Home Sweet Love

by Ava Miles

  “I told you that you needed to stop putting me on a pedestal, Evan,” he said with a sigh. “I’m just a man. Who runs your company in Virginia.”

  “You could run it from anywhere,” Evan said. “Think about it. Now, I’ll stop pressing you for the moment because judging by the way your jaw is clamped, you might bite your tongue.”

  Chase had to consciously relax the tension in his jaw. Truth be told, it made his neck hurt. “Don’t hold out hope on this one, Evan. You know you’re like a brother to me, but I still run your company.”

  Evan pulled out a chair from the dining room table and brought it over. “I’ve been thinking about that,” he said, sitting down next to him.

  Dread pooled in his belly. His friend wasn’t planning on taking that away from him, was he? “I’ll be back to work as soon as I can.”

  “I know that,” Evan said. “You look green. Did you think I was going to fire you? Chase, I can be something of a mad inventor, sure, but I’m not certifiable. I’ve been thinking we should call ourselves a family business. You and me. Like brothers. Equals.”

  Chase felt his body grow heavy at the thought. “We’re not related, Evan.”

  “Why is blood the only indication of family? When people marry, they make a family. Why can’t two men who feel like brothers call themselves a family?”

  Chase could think of all sorts of reasons. “Evan, people already know we’re friends. This would confuse our shareholders and our clients.”

  “I don’t think so,” Evan said, putting his hands on his knees. “It’s not like I want to put out a press release. I just…want you and everyone else to know how I feel. Chase, I want you and I to create a legacy. I look at everything Arthur Hale and Emmits Merriam have done here in Dare Valley, and I want the two of us to create a legacy like that. Something that’s going to keep helping the world long after we’re gone.”

  Chase never thought about things like that. He’d seen early on how someone’s life’s work could disappear in an instant. “We don’t have to be family to create something sustainable. By the way, how did your meeting with J.T. Merriam go?”

  His friend shook his head. “He politely turned down my offer. Seems he has his own plans for the Merriam land they still own in the valley. Margie was crushed, but I told her we’d find something else.”

  Chase wondered how much, if anything, Evan knew about J.T.’s meeting with Caroline and decided to ask outright. “What do you know about his plans?”

  Evan was silent for a moment. “This is all confidential, but I don’t think he’d mind me telling you. He’s working with the university’s administration to finalize the details of a new art museum that will house the Merriam art collection. I guess he and I both kinda love the idea of bringing more science and art to Dare Valley. There’s a poetic justice there.”

  Poetic, huh? Evan always had been a romantic. “It will certainly bring in a lot more tourists to Dare Valley. I wonder how the long-time residents will feel.”

  “From what J.T. said of his discussions with Arthur Hale, there will be some resistance. It helps that the university is so well respected.”

  “And that J.T. is like the prodigal Merriam son returning to Dare Valley,” Chase said.

  “He announced a couple of days ago that he was stepping down from Merriam Oil,” Evan told him. “Didn’t say why.”

  “Africa and the Middle East aren’t an easy beat,” Chase said, stroking Barney. “Maybe he was burned out.”

  “Maybe.”

  Chase could appreciate the problem. He’d been feeling a little burned out these last couple of years.

  “I also need to share some news you aren’t going to like,” Evan said, resting his elbows on his knees. “I didn’t think you’d want me to wait on this one. Promise me your head won’t explode. It’s about the bid.”

  Chase’s eyes narrowed immediately. “Spill it.”

  Evan started tapping his feet. “Gopal Urwod backed out on us.”

  Gopal was the project candidate they’d chosen for the giant government contract they were bidding on, a man Chase had spent a lot of time with recruiting. “What? He fucking signed a letter of commitment. I negotiated his salary, his benefits package. How could this happen?”

  “I don’t know!” Evan said, standing up and pacing. “Rajan said the guy called him up and started listing concerns.”

  “What concerns?” Chase asked, but he already suspected.

  “Don’t explode. He said he was concerned about your accident and ongoing health,” Evan said. “I tried calling him personally, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “Give me your phone,” Chase said, holding out his good hand.

  Barney leaped off his lap and ran into the kitchen.

  “I don’t want this hurting your brain,” Evan said.

  “Evan, if you don’t give me your phone now, I will run you down with this scooter. We can’t lose Gopal. I know who’s behind this crap about my health. Maurie Wallins of K-Barker.”

  “Rajan thinks so too,” Evan said. “And so do I. Gopal wants this position, and everyone in the industry knows Quid-Atch and K-Barker are the firms to beat.”

  “It’s going to be won by Quid-Atch,” Chase corrected him. “Your phone, Evan.”

  Evan nodded. “But just this once. You’re not ready to get back to work yet.” He handed his phone over.

  Chase didn’t bother to respond. He called Rajan for a debriefing. Before their call was over, Chase’s gut was writhing with anxiety. It sounded like Gopal had made his decision.

  Only Chase wasn’t going to let him off that easy.

  He called the man and went through the expected pleasantries before addressing the topic at hand. His head was splitting by the time he hung up the phone.

  Evan was resting his head in his hands. “I hate shit like this.”

  Chase didn’t want to rub the back of his neck in front of Evan. No need to tip him off to the pain he was experiencing. “You know how competitive government contracting is, and when we compete against K-Barker, it tends to get dirty. Maurie likes it dirty.”

  “From the gist of your conversation, do I understand Gopal is back with us?” Evan asked.

  “You heard what I told him,” Chase said. “We have a signed letter of commitment from him, pre-dating anything he might have signed with another company—although he wouldn’t say so outright. I also have emails with a negotiated salary and benefits package. If he doesn’t go with us, I’m putting his name in anyway and letting the selection committee draw its own conclusions about what happened. It’s a risk, but if we let K-Barker bid with him, they’ll be hard to beat. Gopal needs to understand that this sort of behavior will ruin his reputation with our colleagues in the Defense Department.”

  “But how can we have him run the project after this should we win?” Evan asked. “It’s clear we can’t trust him.”

  Chase sadly agreed. “Normally I wouldn’t do it this way, but we have no choice if we’re going to win. We bid with him. Once we win, we replace him after six months. Our Defense Department colleagues won’t be happy, but I can handle the fall-out. In the meantime, have Rajan and his team start looking for another candidate.”

  “Will do,” Evan said with a sigh. “Sometimes I wish we were in a different business. All I ever wanted to do was have enough money to create my inventions and share them with the world. I hate government contracting.”

  Chase laughed. “So do I, but it puts bread on our proverbial table, so to speak. Evan, it’s the way governments—not just the U.S.—do business. Otherwise, people like Maurie would be bribing officials with planes, trains, and automobiles in exchange for contracts. This is a fairer system.”

  “The system still sucks,” Evan said darkly. “How’s your head?”

  “Great,” he lied. “Feel like I could handle three more calls like that.”

  “I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re lying,” Evan said. “My phone.”

 
Chase handed it over.

  “Please don’t say this wouldn’t have happened if you’d gotten injured,” Evan told him. “I don’t want you blaming yourself.”

  “I blame Maurie,” Chase said. “This is how he plays the game. Are you ready to cancel his invitation to the fundraiser?”

  Evan looked down. “Chase, the invitations already went out.”

  “Call and say this one was made in error,” Chase suggested. “Maurie will know why. Gopal is going to have called him after our chat, remember?”

  He secretly reveled in imagining how the call would go down. Maurie deserved that and worse for being so unethical.

  “We can’t rescind an invitation,” Evan said. “That would be playing his game.”

  “Give me your phone again,” Chase said, not believing what he was hearing. “I will happily rescind it.”

  “We’re better than that, Chase. Don’t you want to smile in his face at the fundraiser, knowing we got Gopal back?”

  That would put Maurie’s over-priced knickers in a wad. “I still don’t want him showing up at the fundraiser, especially after this.”

  “Let’s stay the course,” Evan said with a sigh. “He can’t do anything to us at the fundraiser. He wouldn’t dare.”

  Chase wasn’t so sure.

  Chapter 25

  On Saturday morning, Moira came over to Chase’s cabin after his acupuncture appointment with Dr. Sarah. She’d offered him a drink, and he’d joked that he was afraid the liquid would escape from the puncture marks.

  The silly side of him only warmed her heart more. Then there was the way he was with Barney. Despite his grumbling, it was obvious he was happy about Bonnie’s decision to delegate the kitten to him for the duration of his stay in Dare Valley. From the constant purring the kitten emitted from Chase’s lap, she could tell the feeling was mutual.

  “How is Caroline’s trip going in Rome?” he asked.

  “Ridiculous,” she told him. “The pictures she’s texted me all look amazing. And the food!” Her sister hadn’t said anything about the art, except that it would take decades to properly appreciate the paintings. Regarding her companion, J.T., she was oddly cool. Moira knew what that meant. Something was up between them, but Caroline was striving for professionalism.

  Moira understood. But she was so grateful she’d decided to take a chance with Chase.

  “Barney seems to like you,” Chase commented, using his good hand to tickle her under the ribs.

  She jerked, making the kitten, who’d been on her lap, stand on all fours and arch his back. “He won’t if you keep that up.”

  “Since we’re waiting to have sex until I’m free of all this plaster, I have to find innocuous ways of touching you.”

  He did? For a smart man, he was so simple sometimes. She disengaged from him, causing Barney to jump down. Turning to face Chase, she tugged off her aubergine-colored sweater. Today, she’d made sure to wear a fabulous apricot-colored padded bra since she was a little sensitive about her flat-as-Kansas chest. The push-up style gave her a little cleavage and the color worked well with her skin tone.

  “How’s this for innocuous?” she asked, reaching for his hand and bringing it to her right breast.

  “I believe the creator of that word had a different definition in mind,” he said in a deep voice, one she’d learned to recognize as cautious.

  Deciding it was time to encourage him to see past his injuries, she stood and shimmied out of her fleece tights. They were sitting close enough to the fire that she wouldn’t turn into a ball of goosebumps.

  “Your lingerie matches, I see,” he said, taking his sweet time looking her up and down. “My God, you have gorgeous legs. How have I never noticed that?”

  “Because I’m five-two,” she said. “No one notices my legs first. I’m also not exactly endowed in the boob department, despite your comment about my breasts being fabulous. Thank you for that, by the way.”

  He ran his finger up her thigh, making her body turn to liquid. “How is it you’re selling yourself short? That’s not the Moira I know.”

  “Because I’m a girl, you idiot, and most of us have some insecurities about our bodies.” Then a light bulb went on. “Like you do right now with yours. You think that I’ll find you less manly with two casts on, but you’re wrong. While it’s not ideal, it doesn’t make me want you any less.”

  “I’m happy to know that,” he said dryly.

  Sitting next to him cross-legged, she faced him. He was watching her with those intense gray eyes while she was turning into a puddle on the inside. Deciding he wasn’t going to initiate anything, she tugged on his plaid shirt. “Let’s get this off you.”

  “Moira, we’ve talked about this,” he said, stopping her hands. “I don’t want to make love to you until I can do it properly.”

  “And I appreciate that,” she said, leaning in to kiss him on the mouth, “but you’re forgetting that I have the power to make love to you properly. I think you just need to lie back and let me.”

  He grumbled while she took his clothes off. Goodness, he had a marvelous chest. She gave him a gentle push, urging him to lay supine on the couch. After arranging one of the pillows under his arm cast, she looked down at him.

  “Comfortable?” she asked.

  “You think I’m making love to you for the first time on a couch?” he asked, glaring at her. “Give me a little credit.”

  “Oh, don’t sound so put out,” she said, pursing her lip for effect. “This isn’t a bad gig.”

  His good arm gripped her waist, sending bursts of fire up her torso. “Whoa.”

  “No it’s not.”

  “What was I saying?” she asked, feeling hot all of the sudden.

  His fingers stroked her skin. “You were taking charge.”

  “I was, wasn’t I?” And he seemed to be letting her. That made her smile. “How am I doing so far?”

  “Really good,” Chase said, sliding his arm around to trace her spine. “This is hard for me.”

  She raised herself up until she was straddling him. “I can tell,” she said, rocking a little against his impressive hardness. She’d forgotten how good foreplay could feel.

  He groaned and caressed her back. “I wasn’t talking about that. Being hard around you is a given.”

  “How nice.” She wanted to shimmy in celebration.

  “I meant letting you take charge like this when I don’t feel like I’m pulling my weight. But we need to talk about something first. Birth control.”

  She was glad he’d broached that conversation. “Right! I’m not on the Pill right now, so I brought condoms. Are you good with that? I was waiting to see how long-term this was going to be before I went to the doctor.”

  “I’m good with condoms for now,” he said carefully. “And I had a clean bill of health in the hospital—like always.”

  “I haven’t been with anyone in three years, and I’m good too.”

  He traced a line across her stomach, making her shiver. “Why so long? You’re beautiful.”

  “I don’t let just anyone touch this body,” she told him. “I hope you realize how special this is.”

  His eyes darkened. “I do. I hope you know how special you are to me too. Moira, I…”

  She froze at the hoarseness in his voice.

  “You’re starting to mean the world to me.” He reached for her hand and placed it over his heart. “I wouldn’t let just anyone see me this way. Or take charge like this.”

  For Chase, it was akin to the most romantic declaration he could make. She found she was ready to make her own.

  “I love you, Chase.”

  His face closed for a moment, like a curtain had been drawn over his emotions. Then he gave her a slow smile. “I don’t know if I can say that. I haven’t told a woman that. Ever.”

  How was that possible? “Not even your ex-wife?”

  “I told you we had a different relationship.”

  She couldn’t imagine living li
ke that. “You take your time. I have it on good authority you excel at everything you set your mind to.”

  He regarded her very seriously. “You’re right, and I keep letting the past run this reel of my life, don’t I? You deserve better than that. Moira, you deserve everything. I want to give that to you.”

  She leaned forward over his chest until she could caress his jaw. God, she was getting misty-eyed. “That’s really wonderful of you to say.”

  His chest rose under her, and he let out a long breath. “I love you too, Moira. Whew! I said it. Man, that was…intense. I’ll do better with practice.”

  Oh, she was so going to cry. She curled around him, and they held each other. “I didn’t expect you would say it,” she whispered into his ear.

  He gave a hoarse laugh. “My whole life seems totally upended right now, but one thing I know for sure is that I like being with you. Moira, you’ve helped me…feel happy again. I like how you’re not intimidated by me, how you don’t want anything from me. That’s been my interaction with women for a long time.”

  Given all of his power and money, she wasn’t surprised. “Well, aren’t you lucky your whole life got upended? You deserve to be happy, Chase. Remember how you said you cared about my happiness?” Maybe that early comment of his had foreshadowed all the possibilities between them.

  “Moira, I don’t know where this is going, but I want to explore it.” He cupped her bottom with his good hand, squeezing it while rolling his hips under her. “And God, do I want to make love to you. But please. Not on the couch.”

  She was a frisson of nerves after that maneuver of his. “All right. I’ll get the condoms while you make your way to the bedroom. We’ll figure it out, Chase.”

  “Damn right, we will.”

  And they did.

  He couldn’t use both hands to caress her, but he used words to arouse her to a fever pitch, describing what he loved about her body and all the things he wanted to do to her. The man was downright inventive.

  When she finally took him inside her, she arched her back and gave a low cry at the fit. They were perfect together.