Page 12 of Tormented Bastard
A prickle of something that I couldn’t put my finger on skittered down my spine. It wasn’t the type of fear felt when walking down a dark street alone and swearing you heard footsteps behind you. No, this fear was more personal. More like, once I crossed the threshold of this gate, my life was going to change, and I wasn’t ready for that. I blew out a breath and lifted my foot off the brake.
About one hundred yards in, the driveway became brick and it forked. Instinct told me the house was to the left, so I followed it, and soon, part of the house came into view. Most of the front of it was so obscured that it looked as though the vegetation and the structure were one.
I parked in the circular driveway and got out, scanning the area around me. If Chase had wanted to get off the grid, he’d succeeded. He couldn’t get more secluded if he tried.
The wide, brick driveway led up to the side of the house, where it was covered. Handy on an island where quick, drenching storms were sure to be a daily occurrence. I’d grown up in Florida, and you could set your watch to the rainstorms that would pop up in the late afternoon.
To my right, a flight of stairs—brick that matched the driveway—led to a set of heavy-looking light oak doors. I blew out a breath, not quite ready to face Chase just yet. Instead, I kept walking and ended up at a half wall, and the view took my breath away.
There was an unobscured view of the ocean from there, and I found that the house sat on a bluff about fifty feet above the water. With the looming storm approaching in the distance, the sea was angry and more deep blue than turquoise, but that didn’t detract from the beauty.
I could only imagine what the views from inside were like. Not that I wanted to find out. I needed to beg Chase to help me and get the hell out of Dodge.
“Well, I see you found me. And early as always. Nice to see some things haven’t changed.”
I jumped, startled by his deep voice out here in the quiet. My heart banged against my ribs, and I closed my eyes to regain some footing. I straightened my spine before turning to face him. “Yeah, I found you.” I crossed my arms over my chest and jutted out a hip. “Nice effort trying to throw me off, by the way. But the next time you see Odette? You might want to let her know not to rat you out. Of course, she did vet me about whether or not I was here for your secrets.”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “That woman…we don’t need Google around here as long as we’ve got Odette.” One side of his mouth lifted in a sardonic smile, and his green eyes raked down my body and back up to my face. “That’s a bit casual for a business meeting, don’t you think?”
I narrowed my eyes. “What about you? With, uh, with…” I gestured to his shirtless torso and tried to find words. His chest gleamed with sweat, and he still had abs for days and that sexy-ass V. My mouth went dry as the sawdust on his ballcap.
His smirk deepened. “With no shirt? Yeah, but this is my work attire. You, on the other hand….” His eyes wandered down to my legs. “Well, this would be slumming it for you, wouldn’t it, sweetheart?”
I gritted my teeth at the endearment that sounded more like a sneer. “Look, can we just talk for a minute? Give me a chance to give you details before you completely shut me down.”
His crossed his arms and frowned before looking away. I studied his profile, the hard line of his jaw. One would think the broody, grumpy thing would be a complete turnoff. But no, I was the sadistic type that enjoyed playing with fire and therefore found his hard lines to be droolworthy.
God, I was so screwed up.
He sighed and turned to walk away. “Come on. You can give me details while we work. Then I can tell you no without any guilt.”
“Guilt, my ass,” I muttered under my breath, but followed him.
He stopped and did an about-face, causing me to almost run into him. He reached out to steady me, gripping my biceps. The breath in my lungs backed up when his gaze met mine, and he moved in close enough that his manly scent surrounded me.
“When you’re done with the details, then you can tell me why you ran.” He released me, and his eyes glittered with bitterness but also a shadow of something else. If I didn’t know him any better, I’d say hurt.
But Chase never got hurt. He only did the hurting.
I fisted my hand to keep from slapping the shit out of him. “Fu—” No. I had to keep it together. “I’m not doing this, Chase. I’m here for business.”
“You want to keep it all business? Fine. Let’s get to work. The storm is coming in faster and stronger than predicted, and I need to get this done.”
I let out a sigh and followed him down a path surrounded by trees that led us away from the house. I bit my tongue to keep myself from letting loose the stream of curse words I wanted to fling his way. I needed to stay somewhat professional here. My usual armor was lying in the backseat of my rental, rumpled and wrinkled. I was here to save my business after all. “You’re still a bastard, Hanover.”
He tossed a smirk over his shoulder. “Don’t forget it, babe.”
I shouldn’t feel a little burst of pleasure in my belly at him calling me “babe.” It was ridiculous. We hadn’t left on the best of terms the last time we saw each other. I may have been the one to lace up my running shoes the last time I saw him, but I had my reasons. Just like he had his years ago when he broke his promises to me.
A single level, craftsman-style home came into view, and next to it sat what looked to be a detached garage. Chase walked toward a pile of plywood stacked in the driveway.
“Grab those screws.” He gestured to a red box sitting on the ground as he lifted a piece of plywood and carried it to one side of the garage. I followed him, trying not to admire the bunch of muscles in his arms or the cords of his neck. Or the line of sweat that rolled down his spine and stopped at the waistband of his jeans.
Even the dark red scar from his surgery that snaked along the backside of his shoulder didn’t detract from the hot working-man picture.
“What is this?” I asked as we drew closer.
“You forget what a garage is, Mitchell?”
