She had a houseguest.
The enticing aroma of coffee brewing woke Kate the next morning... And if she wasn’t mistaken... Bacon!
Well as houseguests went Chase did make himself useful. At least he knew how to cook!
Blearily she tossed on her robe and belted it around her before she headed for the bedroom door. With her brain still half-asleep, she forgot her glasses on the bedside table.
Damn, she didn’t belong in this shabby dump wearing a ratty robe, Chase thought when he looked up to see Kate. Sleep tousled and drowsy, she was the beautiful woman he knew her to be. Wisely he chose not to remind her of her missing glasses—or the fact she was an attractive female who hadn’t had the time to make herself plain yet. “Good morning, Kate.”
“Morning,” she murmured then stifled a yawn. “Sorry.”
“How do you like your eggs?”
“My eggs? Breakfast is a cup off coffee.”
Chase tsked her. “That’s no way to start the day.”
“I don’t cook.”
“Then I guess you’ll just have to keep me,” he replied blithely.
In the old days, she could have afforded to keep a man... “Sorry, Chase. My salary barely covers the rent. It certainly can’t stretch to hire a chef.”
He shrugged. “I work cheap.” His smile was non-threatening, leading her to believe he was joking. Chase had no intention of letting Kate get rid of him. “So, Kate... How do you like your eggs?”
It seemed uncivilized to toss the man out before breakfast… “Fried. Over medium.”
“Dippin’ eggs.”
Kate smiled sadly. “Daddy used to call them that.”
Offering her bacon from the plate he’d prepared, Chase made an observation. “You and your father were close.”
“As long as I can remember it was just us. My mother died when I was a toddler. I barely remember her beyond photographs. Daddy was my world.”
“I’m sorry, baby.” The sorrow in her voice drove him to put his arms around her in a supportive hug.
Kate couldn’t find the strength to push him away. She had been so alone for so long... She had forgotten how good it felt to be held in this comforting, non-sexual way. Warm, non-threatening human contact. She relaxed with a soft sigh, melting against him. After a long, luxurious moment, she pulled away slowly. “I’d better get ready for work and walk Tulip.”
“Tulip has been walked. You get dressed and I’ll have breakfast on the table.”
Chase cringed inwardly when a transformed Kate came to the breakfast table. It took real effort to hide her true beauty, making herself drab and homely. Why? Why did she do it? Instead of posing his question, he said, “Dig in and get it while it’s hot.”
After breakfast, Chase rode the train into the city with Kate. He walked her to her workstation, his arm around her.
“Meet me for lunch,” he suggested as he assisted her with removing her jacket.
“I really shouldn’t—”
“You have to eat.”
“I have my sandwich from yesterday.”
“Yuck!”
At his look of distaste, Kate laughed a little. “Chase, you are currently unemployed and I have a tight budget.”
“I have some money stashed—”
“Save it. You’ll need it.”
“Kate—”
She pointed towards the elevator. “Go,” she commanded sternly.
He looked mutinous.
“Go.”
“On one condition.”
“You are hardly in the position to be making demands.”
“I’ll be here when you get off.”
“Chase—”
“In the meantime I’ll go home and keep Tulip company.”
How had this happened? She still had a houseguest—and had given him her key! Kate was always sensible and levelheaded. How had she let this man into her life? Loneliness makes you stupid, she told herself.
“Later, baby.” Chase gave her a quick kiss, retreating towards the elevator before she could protest.
“Damn the man,” Kate grumbled. Then she became aware of the speculative glances of her coworkers.
How could boring, plain Kate catch a handsome charmer like Chase? They were probably wondering.
She was wondering the same thing.
Kate never intended to let Chase stay. It just happened – and it seemed to work for her benefit. Chase ensured her safety by seeing her to and from work each day, and walking Tulip early in the morning and after dark. Tulip seemed to enjoy having the extra company. Food miraculously appeared in her refrigerator and on the table. Her houseguest prepared breakfast and dinner as well as packed a lunch for her. She often neglected housework, another one of the skills she had never learned in her father’s house. Chase readily kept the apartment neat and tidy, even cleaning the bathroom. The food he bought along with the cooking and housekeeping more than paid for his room and board, which consisted of sleeping on her lumpy, old sofa.
Chase never questioned her about her life or made any sexual demands beyond the peck he gave her at her desk each morning. Even that she suspected was more for their audience than any desire on his part, a bolstering her ego.
What was he getting out of it? Was he using her to hide out from some disgruntled person he’d cheated – or perhaps someone wanting to collect a debt? Was he so good at not asking questions because he didn’t want to answer any?
This Chase was a mystery, but was he a dangerous mystery?
And how much longer should Kate let him stay?
The early autumn thunderstorm raged on. The very ferocity of it reached into Kate’s slumbering mind, altering her dreamscape. Her picnic in a sunny open meadow with Chase and Tulip morphed into the dark, dreadful night that had altered her life forever.
Lili Abbington was usually one for partying until dawn, but on this night nasty weather, a pounding headache, and a date who was part octopus made for an early night. By the time she’d reached Abbington Manor, flashes of lightening continually charged across the sky as the rain came down in a torrent. She had no fear of storms; still she didn’t particularly relish the idea of getting drenched to the skin. So unlike her habit of parking at the front door, she pulled her sporty little red BMW into the garage next to her father’s stately Bentley.
She used the service entrance to the kitchen to access the foyer to the quiet house. It was then she noticed a faint sliver of light beneath her father’s study door. Since she hadn’t seen him all day, she decided to stop and bid him good night, perhaps share a nightcap.
Rapping lightly on the door, she called, “Daddy!”
John Abbington didn’t respond. That in itself was not unusual. If he were engrossed in whatever occupied him, often he wouldn’t even hear a summons.
“Daddy...” She entered the room.
The big desk chair was turned towards the picture window.
“Daddy, what is so fascinating—” Rounding the huge walnut desk, Lili saw her father slumped down, his head lolling to one side—a large crimson stain spread across his snowy white shirt.
A movement in the shadows caught her periphery as she screamed.
Chase bolted upright on his bed made of the lumpy sofa. Kate’s scream tore him from sleep as a loud clap of thunder shook the windows. Without a second thought, he tossed off his light cover and ran for Kate’s room. He found her thrashing in her twisted bedding, sobbing helplessly.
“Noo… no… no…” she moaned.
Despite Tulip’s growling protest, he climbed on the bed to gather Kate into his arms. “Kate... Kate, you’re just dreaming. C’mon, baby, wake up... Shh...” he crooned. “It’s all right. It’s Chase, sweetheart.”
Very slowly the terror receded. A storm still shook the heavens, but two strong arms held her against a muscled chest while a concerned, male voice made comforting sounds. Reluctantly she opened her eyes.
Chase. Chase was with her—and somehow she felt safe. She crowded against him, sobbing out her relief. She was a weak coward. Daylight would be soon enough to be strong. Tonight she had Chase to lean on, to keep her demons at bay.
“It’s okay, babe,” he reassured her. “It was just a bad dream.”
If only it were! She would wake up and be Lili once more. Sadly it was her reality. She clung to Chase as if he were the only solid thing in her world.
After switching on the bedside lamp, he tenderly smoothed her fiery hair back from her pale face. She was truly lovely with her hair down and those damn glasses not masking her honey brown eyes. “Are you awake now?”
Nodding, she gazed up at him, losing herself in his deep blue eyes. How could a supposed con man have such clear, honest eyes?
Chase read a softening in her face, a dawn of real trust. He couldn’t endanger that with what he was currently feeling. “Okay then... I’ll let Tulip take it from here.”
When he made to leave, she clutched at his hand. “You can’t go!” she declared vehemently, turning frightened eyes on him. The storm continued outside. What if she would have the nightmare again? “Please don’t go.”
“You’re scared of storms?”
She hadn’t been until her father’s murder. She nodded. “I know it’s silly... Please, Chase? Stay?”
Her vulnerability disarmed him. Kate was supposed to be feisty and sassy. He could deal with that, was even comfortable with it... Slowly he nodded.
Scooting over to make room for him, Kate dislodged an unhappy Tulip from her usual spot. Huffily the canine moved to the foot of the bed. Unthinkingly, Kate flipped back her light covering.
Oh, God, this was so not a good idea! It was Chase’s first real look at her. Damn... She didn’t wear a shapeless shift or a nightshirt to bed as one would suspect by the way she usually dressed. She wore a skimpy, short gown of ivory lace and satin. Kate had been hiding a killer figure under all her ugly clothes! Getting under the covers with her, though tempting, didn’t seem prudent. “Ahh... no. I’ll sleep on top of the blanket.”
“Oh.” By the flash of heat she’d seen in his eyes, she realized in her panic she had made a tactical error. Chase now knew she was not so plain as she wanted the world to think. Smoothing the bedding over herself, she nodded.
Stretching out beside her as she settled back on the pillows, Chase let her snuggle against his shoulder. It could only happen to him—a gorgeous, sexy female in bed with him and they were going to sleep, simply sleep.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Yeah... Welcome,” he grunted.
“Mmm... Night, Chase,” she purred sleepily.
A night of torture. “Night.” It was all he could trust himself to say.