Kate glanced up to see what the sudden hum of activity was about. She saw the matronly office manager walking down the aisle between the cubicles with a vase of lovely red roses. One of the pretty girls in the back must have a new beau, Kate decided and went back to work.
A heartbeat later the vase was deposited next to her keyboard.
Raising her gaze once more, Kate noticed a handsome man with sparkling blue eyes, rumpled dark hair, and a sexy day’s growth of beard coming in her general direction. His worn leather jacket and snug worn blue jeans left no doubt in her mind who he was. But what was Chase Scott doing here?
‘So far, so good’, Chase thought. ‘She looks stunned, not mad.’ Stopping beside her chair, he took her hands. He tugged her into a standing position, then brushed his lips over hers. “I couldn’t wait to see you, baby. Please, don’t scold,” he said loudly enough to be heard by their audience. “Please, don’t,” he whispered for her ears only.
“Ch-chase...” was all Kate could manage, shock making her brain short circuit.
“Your very own.”
Partial question tumbled out of her “How did?... Why are?... What did?...”
Chase chuckled. “Can you get away for lunch now?”
“I—umm—I guess.”
“Then come away with me.” Lifting one hand, he brushed his lips across her knuckles.
Snatching her hands from his, she stammered, “I—uh—Let me grab my jacket and handbag.”
Chase snagged her jacket from the back of her chair and held it for her to slip on. It was impossible to guess if she had any curves beneath her frumpy, shapeless clothes. Did she really need the large tortoise shell glasses? They swallowed her facial features. It was a shame her auburn hair was twisted and piled primly on top of her head. Tresses like that needed to be worn down and gloriously messy.
Grabbing her bag from a drawer, she nervously announced, “I’m ready, Chase.”
With a smile, he tucked her hand into his. As they strolled passed the office manager, the woman beamed like a proud mother sending her daughter off to prom.
Once outside the building, Kate jerked away, her shock giving way to irritation. “What in the hell are you doing here?” she demanded sharply.
Chase sighed heavily. “I suppose it was too much to ask for the shock and awe to last through lunch.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Kate—”
Crossing her arms across her chest, she glared at him. “I’m waiting.”
“I needed a change in scenery so I decided to come visit you.”
“I never told you where I was,” she pointed out.
“Sure you did!” He tried another one of his disarming smiles. “You talk a lot after a glass of wine.”
Kate groaned. She and alcohol had never been a good mix.
Chase looked like a little boy who was pleased by his own ingenuity. “I knew you were Kate. You worked in a clerical pool. You lived in the Midwest and worked at Abbington, Inc. Abbington has only one Midwest location—Chicago. Lucky for me there is only one Kate in the clerical pool.”
His astute deductions didn’t please Kate. “I could have been lying,” she reminded him.
“You could have,” he agreed amicably. “But you weren’t. You lie about as good as you hold your alcohol.”
She shot him a warning glance.
Sensing she needed immediate appeasement, Chase said, “So let’s go to lunch and give the other girls in the clerical pool something to gossip about.”
Well… She did have to eat—and she did get tired of the silly tittering of various Tiffanys, Brittneys, and Jennifers as they bragged about boyfriends, exciting social lives and what-have-yous. Their pitying ‘poor Kate’ glances irritated her. And their eyes had nearly fallen out when the roses and Chase arrived for her.
He could practically see the wheels spinning inside her head. “Thinking is good, right?”
Giving him a weak smile, she nodded. “And you can tell me what sort of trouble you’re in.”
“So… Whom did you piss off?” Kate asked once their deli sandwich baskets had been placed in front of them.
Chase pretended to be interested in his chips. It had been easy enough to put off questions while they had decided where to eat, found a table and ordered. Of course, Kate wanted answers. Lying wasn’t something he was fond of, though few would believe it.
“Well?” she questioned.
“I didn’t piss anyone off.” He would try for as much truth as possible.
“Then why did you need to leave town?”
Because he didn’t need to be there anymore. “I gave up my apartment.” Truth.
“You couldn’t pay your rent?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Drawing her own conclusions, Kate sighed. “You didn’t need to.”
“I really did think it was time you and I met.”
“I know you’re disappointed. You thought Plain Jane was just a screen name.” Her mode of dress was far from glamorous with the bulky sweater and long skirt. The school marm hair and big glasses only added to her homely appearance. Some mornings she didn’t recognize herself in the mirror.
Chase shook his head with a smile. “I see potential for great beauty.”
“Liar.” Men just weren’t that perceptive.
“I’m not lying, Kate. You just don’t play up your features to your advantage.”
She had good reasons for blending into the background. “I don’t need anyone telling me to change.”
“Of course not.”
After that curt exchange they ate in silence.
What was she going to do with Chase? Kate certainly didn’t need a houseguest. Still she was fairly certain he didn’t have much if any money—He’d probably spent what he had on the grand gesture of the roses.
Every once in a while, he would catch her eye and he would smile. Damn those eyes! He had the most beautiful clear blue eyes...
“So, Chase, what are your plans now you’ve met me?” she asked.
“To get to know you.”
“Surely a little on-line flirtation—”
“A lot of on-line flirtation,” he reminded her.
“I am supposed to believe you just gave up whatever your life was to come to Chicago to get to know me?”
“Not exactly,” Chase hedged.
“Then what exactly?”
He shrugged. “I did want to meet you.” Truth. “And not just because you get sexy a little wine.” Truth. “It was time I moved on.” Truth. He’d accomplished what he’d set out to do. “I don’t know why I came here exactly.” Lie.
“Where were you planning on staying?”
With you. “I’ll find some place to crash.”
“That’s the problem with you, Chase. You never look at the big picture.”
“I do okay.”
The waitress came with the check and Kate snatched it up. “You probably would pay for this with your last fifteen dollars,” she said to Chase.
“Actually I have forty,” he quipped.
Chase insisted on walking Kate back to her desk. His arm was around her waist, making them look like intimates. He helped her with her jacket in gentlemanly fashion. Then just before he left, he pressed a soft kiss on her surprised lips.
Kate felt the zinging heat clear to her toes. It left her mute and wide-eyes.
He merely grinned, tapping the tip of her nose playfully. “Tonight,” Chase promised as he walked away.