Page 6 of Just A Little Chase

She refrained, just barely, from rolling her eyes.

Under any other circumstance she would have given this man a wide berth and avoided him completely. But she didn’t have that luxury. He was hers for a weekend, bought and paid for, and she planned to at least get her money’s worth.

* * *

When Chase agreed to stand in as a replacement bachelor at the auction for Billie, he knew he’d hate the entire ordeal, and that had proven to be true. Standing onstage had been uncomfortable and awkward as fuck, and despite Billie trying to encourage him from the sidelines to smile and charm the women in the crowd, he hadn’t been able to pretend to be anyone’s fairytale hero. Faking anything, especially a particular emotion, wasn’t in his genetic makeup.

What Chase hadn’t counted on was a bold and beautiful brunette not giving a damn about his grimacing smile or unenthusiastic participation, and actually bidding on him. There had been a moment between them, right after she’d shouted out five thousand dollars, when he’d arched a brow at her, questioning her sanity and courage for even wanting a date with a man who was clearly less than thrilled to be a bachelor up for auction.

She didn’t seem to care and had arched her brow right back at him. She’d been assertive and determined despite all the reasons why she should have steered clear of him, just as the other women had, and he’d been silently impressed with her gumption. And, admittedly, a bit turned on. He was used to women backing down in the face of his imposing personality, not challenging him, as this one had.

The fact that this woman’s actions intrigued Chase made him all the more determined to get the hell out of there before he found himself spending the rest of the evening “getting to know her”, which wasn’t part of his plan. Yes, he’d fulfilled his obligation to Billie and stood in for the guy who’d been sick, and he intended to make it worth this woman’s while for bidding on him for the sake of charity. But, he had absolutely no intentions of actually spending an entire weekend with her doing… well, anything.

Besides, she was probably already harboring regrets for bidding on him so spontaneously, like an impulsive purchase that seemed exciting at the time, until the reality of the situation set in. He was hardly the kind of charismatic guy the rest of the bachelors had been, and instead of the two of them spending a boring and awkward weekend together, he’d make sure she walked away from this transaction satisfied, nonetheless.

As he continued to wait in the meet and greet area for her to arrive, he shifted impatiently on his feet and checked the time on his watch, beyond ready to call it a night.

“Is there somewhere more important you need to be?” a cheeky female voice asked.

Chase lifted his head at the audacious question, watching the woman who’d won him approach where he was standing, her pink lips quirked in a very slight, but humorous smile.

That wasn’t what he’d been expecting at all. Wariness or trepidation at meeting him, possibly. But a woman regarding him with amusement was quite the anomaly for him, and he wasn’t sure what to do with that.

“Yes,” he lied, thrown completely off-kilter by the pure, physical awareness that flooded his veins, especially when she was the complete opposite of the type of women he normally dated. She was understated and naturally pretty, in a fresh-faced, girl-next-door type of way.

While most of the other women at the gala wore sleek, sexy, head-turning gowns, the lower half of her burgundy-hued dress was loose instead of formfitting, skimming her curves instead of accentuating them. Her seemingly low maintenance hair was worn down in what appeared to be natural waves, and her makeup was so minimal that he could see the faint sprinkling of freckles over the bridge of her nose and along her cheeks.

Her full, soft-looking lips were distracting as hell, or maybe it was the way her eyes danced with more of that unexpected humor that completely unbalanced his equilibrium.

“You really have somewhere else you need to be?” she asked, tipping her head to the side and unabashedly challenging him again.

“I’m only here as a favor to my sister,” he replied, his tone gruff.

That part was all truth, and he figured he’d be upfront and honest about his reasons for participating in the auction. He hadn’t willingly volunteered but had been coerced into it.

She nodded as if understanding and pushed her hands into the pockets hidden in the voluminous skirt of her dress. “Ahh, so your arm was well and truly twisted. I’d be a bit crabby myself if a sibling pressured me into doing this, too,” she replied, brazenly calling him out on his behavior and attitude.

He was so caught off guard by her sense of humor that a surprising chuckle almost escaped him. He managed, just barely, to maintain his staid composure.

“Who is your sister?” she asked curiously.

“Billie,” he replied.

Her pretty brown eyes widened in shock. “Wait. Billie Coale is your sister?”

He heard the confusion in her voice, since he and Billie had different last names. “Yes. She’s my half-sister.”

“Oh, that explains everything,” she said, as if he’d just clarified the wonders of the universe.

Chase frowned. He was an intelligent man, but he had no clue what she meant or what she was referring to. “What does that explain, exactly?”

“The vast differences in your personalities,” she said, and dared to grin. “You’re half-siblings, so clearly Billie got all the bright, warm, positive qualities in her half of your shared DNA, and you were left with the cantankerous, grumpy traits.”

Her tongue-in-cheek analysis of their significantly contrasting personalities would have amused Chase if she hadn’t nailed it all so accurately. This woman had no idea how much truth her seemingly innocuous statement held.

“I’m Lauren Connelly, by the way,” she said, introducing herself and changing the course of their conversation.

She removed her right hand from her pocket and extended it toward him. He slid his hand into hers, trying to ignore her warm, soft skin and how slender her fingers felt clasped in his larger, stronger ones. He held on longer than he should have, and couldn’t even explain why except that he liked touching her. Even crazier, he also enjoyed seeing the flash of awareness in her eyes as he skimmed his thumb along the back of her hand.

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