Page 17 of Worth the Chase

She cleared her throat and gripped the steering wheel even tighter with both hands. I watched as her knuckles whitened. “Honestly? I think I started pursuing real estate because it felt like the grown-up thing to do. But I really don’t like it.” She started laughing.

“Seriously?” I let out a gruff laugh of my own.

“Yeah. It sucks. It’s not fun at all. People complain a lot, and the hours are kind of crappy.”

“Then, why keep doing it?”

Bells didn’t seem like the kind of woman to do something she didn’t enjoy, but then again, what the hell did I know about her?

“I’m not.” She glanced at me, her hazel eyes softer than they had been just moments before.

“You’re not doing real estate anymore?” I was confused. If she wasn’t doing it, then why was she driving me around and showing me houses?

“I’m only helping you because you guilted me into it and left me no choice.”

Oh.

“Is that true?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter, Matthew. I said I’d help you, and I will. But other than you, I don’t plan on having any future clients.”

“You like bartending that much?” I wasn’t sure why I’d asked her that in such a surprised tone. It was kind of a shit thing to do.

“I do. I love it actually. Creating new drinks makes me happy. And I like coming up with all the new menus. The only thing that’s hard is when the regulars don’t take a hint.”

“Oh, was that for my benefit?”

I reached out and put my hand on her thigh. She tensed under my fingers, and I instantly pulled them away even though I didn’t want to. I wanted to keep my hand right there on her leg and pretend like she was mine, like she belonged to me somehow.

“Why do you keep showing up during my shifts anyway? I don’t understand what you want from me. You were gone for seven years, and suddenly, you showed up like you’d never left.”

I took a few breaths as I contemplated her question. It was something I’d been asking myself since I had come back a year ago. At first, I’d tried to stay home and leave her alone, but everynight, I found myself back in the same place… wherever she was, watching her and needing to be in her presence.

“You center me,” I finally admitted to her and myself.

I watched as she swallowed hard, almost like she’d taken my words and eaten them whole.

“I center you?”

“When I came back and saw you for the first time, you were the only thing that felt right in my whole fucking life. My world was spiraling out of control. Again,” I said because Bells had been there when my world fell apart the first time.

Losing my mom had been awful, but the Sanchez family had been firmly rooted in place, always grounding me, especially her. She always asked me if I was okay, if I needed to talk, or if there was anything she could do. It was more than just her teenage crush; Bells had genuinely cared about my well-being.

“Seeing you calmed me. You felt like home.”

She laughed, but it was uncomfortable and spilled out of her like she couldn’t stop it. “Sorry. I’m not laughing at you. Just the irony.”

“What irony?”

“That looking at me calms you. Because when I look at you, I feel the exact opposite. You make me feel scattered and out of control. You basically ruin me.”

“Fuck, Bells. I don’t want to ruin you.”

“We’re here,” she said as soon as she pulled up to a gate. When she rolled down her window, the cold air blew in as she punched in the code and waited for the giant iron gate to swing open.

I already knew that I hated the place without even going inside. It was way too fucking big and over the top. I wanted a nice place, but I didn’t want it to lookout of place, you know?

“We don’t even have to go in,” I said as she pulled through the gate and stopped at the circular drive, where a massive fountain stood.

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