A MATTER OF TRUST

by Kimberley Reeves

  “Maddy wait…”

  “I’ll be back in the morning,” she said as she skirted around him and hurried back into the house.

  Maddy’s chest tightened painfully when she heard Angela’s silky voice telling Chase to let her go. How stupid and naïve she’d been to think he didn’t have a girlfriend; men like Chase always did, and it was even more foolish of her to feel so damn crushed by it. She all but ran to her room to grab her purse then raced down the stairs and out the front door before the tears that were welling up inside of her could break through.

  She fired up the engine and headed down the hill towards town. She’d get a hotel for the night, allow herself one good cry, and in the morning she’d return as if nothing happened. It was just a kiss after all. It didn’t mean anything. Maddy wiped away the tears, wondering just how many times she’d have to tell herself that before she actually believed it.

  Chapter 4, Part 1

  “Go home, Angela.” Chase gripped her elbow and steered her towards the stairs.

  “But you’re little helper has gone for the night, who’ll take care of you?”

  He trotted her around the house to her car, desperately trying to keep his temper in check. “Angela, please. I’ve been as patient with you as I can be, but showing up at my house unannounced is the last straw. We spent a few nights together, but that was ages ago and I have no desire to pick up where we left off.”

  Angela ignored the door he held open for her and stuck her lip out. “But we were so good together, Chase, and I still care about you. I dropped everything to come running to you as soon as I heard about the accident, doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  He let out an exasperated sigh. “All it means is that you’re not listening to me. Look Angela, you’re a beautiful, desirable woman and I’m sure there are a ton of men that would kill to go out with you, but I’m just not interested.”

  “Why not? Is it because you have the hots for your little housekeeper?”

  “She’s not my…oh, forget it! Do yourself, Angela, and set your sights on someone else. You might want to lose the dumb act too. You demean yourself and it only works on men who are looking for a quick romp and nothing else.”

  Angela’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you telling me that’s all it was to you, that you were just using me for a few nights of great sex?”

  Chase laughed. “First of all, I didn’t use you. As I recall, you asked me up to your room, not the other way around. And just for the record, the sex wasn’t that great.”

  She let out a most unfeminine grunt of anger and hurled a string of expletives at him that would have been quite shocking if he hadn’t already pegged her for the fraud she was. Angela Donelli was a spoiled little rich girl, pure and simple, and though Chase harbored no ill-will towards her for wanting to find a wealthy man to support her lavish life style, he had no intention of playing that role himself. The few times he’d slept with her had been pleasurable, but she ranked no higher than any other woman he’d been with and Angela’s aspirations for marriage would have deterred him from taking her out again even if her mediocre skills in bed hadn’t.

  “You’re a cold-hearted bastard,” she hissed venomously. “Do you really think that little nothing of woman you’ve hired can even come close to satisfying you the way I can?” With a haughty flip of her head, Angela climbed into her car, her pretty face red with rage as she peeled out of the driveway.

  Chase imagined she’d find some way to repay him for what he’d said but he didn’t have time to worry about that now. Finding Maddy was his first priority. Somehow he’d convince her Angela wasn’t his girlfriend and get her to come back to his house. That little nothing of a woman, as Angela called her, had awakened a fiery passion inside of him that had lay dormant for years and all she’d done was kiss him. How much hotter would that flame burn when he got her into his bed? And once he’d bound her to him physically, Chase would work on her heart and bind her to him emotionally as well.

  He laughed at himself as he grabbed the keys to his truck and headed back outside. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him. He’d spent most of his life dodging relationships with women, preferring to keep his heart intact and his encounters brief and meaningless. He never promised them more than what the night would bring and though they agreed eagerly enough at the time, inevitably they hounded him afterwards just as Angela was doing. Most of the time he just ignored their calls until they finally gave up, but with women like Angela he had to take a firmer stand and be downright cold to make them see how futile their efforts were.

  And then there was Madysen Sawyer. In a class of her own, that woman was. She stirred something in his heart and made his insides turn to mush with nothing more than a shy smile. How she could have him dreaming of white picket fences and making babies and a future together when he barely knew anything about her was beyond him. Chase wasn’t a dreamer, and he didn’t believe in love at first sight, but he did believe in destiny and following his own instincts and those instincts were telling him that nothing in his life would ever be right again if he let Maddy get away. Their destinies were intertwined, and he was going to make damn sure they stayed that way.

  ****

  Maddy drove into the small town that was nestled in a valley a short distance from Chase’s house, searching for a hotel to hide out in until morning. If she hadn’t left all her paintings and supplies behind, she would have been tempted to just keep right on driving and let Angela have the cheating louse all to herself. Not that the stunning brunette would have wasted much time doing just that once Maddy was gone anyway. Her stomach churned as she envisioned Chase leading Angela up to his room and making love to her, their bodies clinging to each other intimately while he kissed her with that same intense passion he’d unleashed on Maddy not thirty minutes ago.

  “Don’t be so childish,” she chided, “it was just a kiss that got a little out of hand.”

  She was acting like a teenager with a crush for Pete’s sake. Getting jealous because Chase’s girlfriend showed up; honestly, wasn’t that proof enough that she’d lost her mind? At least she’d been smart enough to give Angela a plausible excuse for being there, which was more than she could say for Chase. Either he’d never been caught before and wasn’t very good at coming up with a cover story that quickly, or maybe he simply didn’t care if Angela knew or not. Now that she thought about it, the woman certainly didn’t seem upset to find her there. In fact, she’d dismissed Maddy as a threat almost immediately. Was that because Angela trusted Chase or because she’d been confident Maddy was so far out of her league she hadn’t concern herself with it?

  It didn’t really matter anyway, the point was Maddy had behaved childishly and was now driving around in an unfamiliar town trying to find a place to hole up for the night. If Chase made a big deal about it tomorrow, she’d act wide-eyed and innocent and insist the reason she left was so that he and his girlfriend could spend the night alone. As for the kiss, she’d play that off as a mistake; a foolish lack of discretion that wouldn’t be repeated. Assuming of course that Angela didn’t decide to make her visit an extended one, Maddy would stay for the month as she’d promised. Having a course of action helped steady her nerves. She’d show Chase Malone he wasn’t as irresistible to women as he thought he was!

  Maddy continued down what she believed was the main strip of town and heaved a sigh of relief when she finally spotted a small hotel. It wasn’t as upscale as the places she was used to staying at, but it looked clean and she wasn’t in the mood to scour the whole town in the hopes of finding something better. Maybe after she’d settled in she’d drive down to the beach and take that walk anyway. The exercise would do her good and it would help clear her mind. She eased into a parking space and killed the engine, absently reaching for her purse and opening the door at the same time. The sound of screeching brakes not three feet away made her heart leap to her throat and brought her head around sharply.

  With a groan, she r
ealized the big black pickup must have been swinging into the parking space beside her just as she opened her door and only quick responses had kept the driver from plowing into her and taking the door off. She reached out and yanked it towards her, waiting until the truck had pulled completely into the space before getting out. The apology she’d worked up instantly died on her lips when she saw the blistering scowl on the man’s face as he rounded the front of his truck and advanced on her.

  “You are a damn accident just waiting to happen,” Chase growled. “Someone needs to lock you up in an ivory tower where you can’t do harm to yourself or anyone around you.”

  “You were the one who came whipping into the parking space,” she shot back. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  “Looking for you.”

  “Why? Can’t your girlfriend cook or does she even know what a frying pan is?”

  A slow grin spread across his face. She was actually jealous! “She’s not my girlfriend and never has been. As for whether she can cook, I don’t know and I don’t care. I told her to leave and made it clear I didn’t want her to come back.”

  Maddy fought to keep her emotions in check and squelch the bud of hope that started to bloom. Both were exercises in futility. “I…I don’t understand. Why would you do that?”

  He closed the distance between them, trapping her between his body and her car. “Because she’s not the one I want.”

  “Chase…”

  “Listen to me, Maddy. I’ve dated a lot of women in my life, women like Angela who were beautiful on the outside and pretty much vacant on the inside. They were warm and willing and that’s all I cared about. But you…” his voice softened as he drew her into arms, “you’re different. I knew it before I ever kissed you, and afterwards I was more even more certain. I felt something in here,” he put his palm to his chest, “and I think you did too.”

  She desperately wanted to believe him, but how could she be sure it wasn’t just a line he’d given countless other women. “But Angela…”

  “Angela and I had a very brief encounter over a year ago but I swear to you there’s been nothing but wishful thinking on her part since. I don’t want you to go, Maddy. I’ll let you set the pace, and we’ll take it as slow or as fast as you want, just say you’ll stay and give us a chance.”

  “A chance at what, a brief affair?” She shook her head. “I can’t, Chase.”

  “Not an affair. Don’t ask me to explain it, sweetheart, because I wouldn’t even know where to begin. All I know is that I want something more with you, something solid that we can build on. Give us a chance to get to know one another, that’s all I’m asking right now.” Chase could see she was wavering. All Maddy needed was one tiny nudge and she’d give in. He dipped his head, whispered a soft plea, and pressed his lips gently to hers.

  It wasn’t a difficult decision to make, not once she admitted she’d felt it too. Maddy wasn’t an impulsive person. Under normal circumstances she would have backed away, given herself time to think it through and tick off the pros and cons before deciding how to proceed. And she always exercised caution; even her plans to go on the road and paint for a year had been carefully thought out before she’d packed up and left. She’d spent the two years prior working for her father, saving every penny she earned to use on this trip so she wouldn’t have to dip into her trust fund or cash out any of her investments. She wanted to prove to herself and her family that she could make it on her own and didn’t have to rely on her inherited wealth to see her through.

  And now here she was, contemplating doing something so impulsive and irrational it should have sent her into an anxiety attack instead of making her heart pound with excitement. Give us a chance to know one another. Yes, she wanted that too. She had nothing to lose since she’d already committed herself to remaining here until his cast was removed, so if things didn’t work out and they discovered they were incompatible she would leave just as she planned to. On the other hand…

  Maddy drew her head back, losing herself for a moment in those green eyes of his before her sanity slowly returned. What if she fell in love with him? All her plans to travel and paint the people and places she saw would go by the wayside. Even worse, what if she fell in love with Chase but he didn’t fall in love with her? She pictured herself clinging to him as he dragged her towards the door and tossed her out to make way for the next lover. She’d be devastated. Maybe she should leave now before it was too late.

  ****

  “Maddy, stop trying to come up with reasons why you should go,” Chase rebuked lightly. “I can almost see the wheels turning inside that pretty head of yours. You want to stay, but you’re afraid of what will happen if you do so you’re playing out all the things that could go wrong.”

  “I’m not,” she started to say, then shook her head. “Okay, so maybe I was thinking about what could go wrong, but it’s not just that. It’s…the way you make me feel, especially when you’re as close to me as you are now.”

  “You’re telling me you don’t like it?”

  “I do like it. I like it too much, that’s the problem.”

  Chase’s eyes danced with amusement. “Let me get this straight. You’re worried because I make you feel too good?”

  “Well…yes.” Maddy tried to wriggle away from him when he started laughing. “It’s not funny! It’s like an alien has invaded my body or something.”

  He tightened his hold on her, laughing even harder. “I swear I’ve never met anyone like you Madysen Sawyer. Explain why you feel an alien has taken over your body.”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t understand,” she huffed.

  “I understand more than you think. Is it because your body trembles when I do this?” He nuzzled his nose in her neck and began plying her with soft, butterfly kisses.

  “Yes,” she said weakly.

  “And your skin starts to tingle when I touch you like so…” he glided his hand up her side and gently cupped her breast. “Your breath slows, and your heart races until you can hear the roar of it in your ears.” Chase raked his thumb across the taut peak of her breast, enthralled at how easily he could arouse her. He lifted his head and trailed more kisses along the delicate line of her jaw. “The heat builds inside you like a fire burning out of control…”

  Maddy gasped when he pressed his hips into her. She could feel the rigid length of him pulsing against the softness of her belly and it both shocked and excited her to realize what they were doing to each other. They were practically making love in the middle of a hotel parking lot, in broad daylight no less!

  She should be ashamed of herself for allowing him to touch her like this, but she couldn’t force herself to make him stop. It was sinfully delicious, and she’d never felt so free in her life. Maddy cupped his face in her hands and drew his mouth down to hers, quivering as his tongue found hers and imitated the carnal act of mating. But it was not enough, not even close. She wanted more, she wanted…

  Maddy jerked her mouth away. “Chase…”

  “I know, sweetheart,” he let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let it go this far.” He started to release her but something in her eyes made him stop and draw her close again. “Oh God,” he groaned. “Maddy, honey, you have to stop looking at me like that. I can barely control myself as it is.”

  She reached up and touched his check. “Is it wrong to…want you to lose control?”

  A low growl rumbled in the back of his throat. She was trying to kill him, that’s all there was too it. How could anyone look so innocent and so incredibly seductive at the same time? Judging by the way she kissed, Maddy was no stranger to the temptations of the flesh and yet he could see the trepidation in her eyes and feel the uncertainty in her touch.

  The very idea that another man had held her and kissed her as he had done was enough to twist his insides into knots, but imagining someone else making love to her sent a jealous rage surging through his body. It was insane to apply such a double standard con
sidering how many lovers he’d taken over the years but then again, he’d been more than a little off kilter from the moment he’d laid eyes on her.

  Chase pressed his lips into her palm. “Follow me home,” he said huskily, then gave her one last lingering kiss to make sure there was no mistake about what was going to happen once they got there.

  ****

  Maddy’s fingers clenched the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white as she trailed Chase out of town and up the hill to his house. Physically, her body was honed and ready for what was to come, but her mind was still throwing up road blocks and screaming at her to slow down and not rush into anything. It was hard to listen to the voice of reason when the taste of him still lingered on her mouth and her heart was fluttering so wildly in her chest. Her cheeks were flushed, she felt hot and feverish, and the ache that had settled deep in her abdomen bordered on pain. Oh, she’d felt the stirrings of sexual desire before, but it was nothing like this. This was a volcano waiting to erupt.

  Maddy barely had time to throw the car into park and kill the engine before Chase had her door open and was pulling her into his arms. For a few breathless moments he simply looked her, his eyes moving over her face as if he was trying to memorize each feature. Finally, he lowered his mouth to hers, his lips soft and gently probing. It was nothing like the frenzied kisses in the parking lot, but it was every bit as devastating in its slow, torturous application. Maddy melted into him, all her previous misgivings evaporating to be replaced with a joyous sense of anticipation and longing.