Page 164 of Master of My Heart

Matt raised his eyebrows and looked back at Martin. “Because of... ?”

Martin nodded. “Yes.” He turned to Ethan. “I assure you, Ethan, you have nothing to worry about. Matt has been happily married to a beautiful woman for over twenty years.”

Matt grinned. “I have.”

Sabrina looked back to see Ethan studying Matt carefully, then he nodded. “I’ll be by the door.” He strode back to the door and took his customary seat, looking slightly less menacing than he had when he’d been introduced.

Martin went through the opening steps with Matt, and Sabrina’s mind wandered back to rehearsals with Aiden. Why had someone been using him to get to her? Why him? Is that why he was dead?

Chase had taken her out to lunch yesterday and did his best to cheer her up. She’d felt better by the time he’d taken her home that evening, and reading The Last Unicorn together had certainly taken her mind off it. Being back in the studio, though, had brought the thoughts back to the forefront of her mind.

“Sabrina, you ready?” Martin asked with an expression on his face that made her wonder if he had to ask more than once.

She forced a smile and nodded. “Sorry. Yes.” She went to her place for the beginning of Matt’s entrance and the music began.

*****

Chase shrugged on his jacket as he stepped into the elevator after a long afternoon at the bank. He was eager to have a quiet evening with Sabrina, shooting off a quick text to let her know he’d be at her apartment to pick her up in twenty minutes.

The elevator stopped one floor down and the doors opened. Tara, the security manager, stepped inside.

“Hi, Chase,” she said with a bright smile. “I had hoped to run into you before you left. A bunch of us are going to O’Malley’s for drinks. Would you like to join us?”

Chase shoved his phone into his pocket and gave Tara a friendly smile. “Thanks for the offer, but I have plans.”

“With your girlfriend?”

Was Sabrina his girlfriend now? He hadn’t stopped to consider their relationship status. He certainly wasn’t interested in anyone else. He intended to marry her, if she decided she didn’t want to be with Richard. It was probably simpler to refer to her as his girlfriend around other women.

“Yes.”

She turned and batted her eyelashes at him. “You don’t sound very sure of yourself there.”

Chase frowned. This woman was insistent. “I have plans tonight,” he said in a firm voice. “With Sabrina, the woman I intend to marry.” Maybe that would get her off his case.

Tara raised her eyebrows. “You’ve only just met her. How can you possibly know you want to marry her?”

Chase took a deep breath. She was making a fool of herself and it was getting annoying. Subtlety didn’t work with her, so it was time to deal with it outright. “Listen, Tara. I’m not going to go out with you. Ever. I don’t date clients, and I’m heavily invested in my relationship with Sabrina. Please, drop the idea that we’re ever going to get together.”

Tara pressed her lips together and briefly narrowed her eyes before waving her hand in the air and giving a light, albeit forced, laugh. “Oh, Chase. You know I was just playing around.”

He gave her a tight smile. “Of course.”

They spent the remaining thirty seconds in the elevator in tense silence, but Chase hoped she would leave him alone now. When the doors opened to the lobby, she nodded to him and hurried away. He suspected that he’d hurt her feelings, but what else could he do? She kept throwing herself at him, even though it was a pointless and annoying effort. He hoped, eventually, she’d appreciate his honesty. If not... Well, that wasn’t his concern. He was here to do a job, not sleep with her.

He was still frowning when he got to his SUV in the parking garage and punched the button to start the vehicle. By the time he’d parked in front of the apartment, though, thoughts of Sabrina softened his mood and he hurried into her building, eager to see her.

*****

Chase and Sabrina walked silently along the river, fingers intertwined. The moon was just coming up in the eastern sky, and Chase noticed the light seemed to give Sabrina’s hair a silvery glow, settling around her like an aura of innocence. It was different than the normal golden glow of her skin and her dark hair that caught fire in the sunlight. The white light of the moon made him think of the unicorn they spent their evenings reading about.

“What are you thinking about?” Chase asked, keeping his voice gentle.

“You.” She smiled up at him, melting his heart.

“Me?”

Her dimples deepened and she looked away. “I was thinking about how lucky I am that you wouldn’t stay away, even when I wanted you to.”

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