I nearly fainted when my hero suggested that Katie and I stay with him until we figured things out. He clearly knew my name and Katie’s, but I had never heard his until the landlord read out the business card, which told me two important things at once. First was his name, Chase Stanford, and second, that he was a lawyer of no mean skill, working for Howell and Howell, which even I had heard of in my relatively short time in L.A.
Up until that point, I had only known my neighbor by what little I had seen. He was a well-dressed, somewhat intimidating guy who came home with a different woman each night. Usually two on the weekends.
I should have been a bit more hesitant when he suggested we stay with him. Though I was so tired and scared by then that I agreed without even thinking much about it. The prospect of a night on the street was much scarier than anything Chase might have planned.
“There you go, sir, ma’am,” the landlord said, nodding to Chase and me in turn when he was finished bringing my stuff up from the curb — at least the stuff that wasn’t broken. The landlord nodded again and beat a hasty retreat as though our roles had been reversed.
“This is beautiful,” I said, sitting down on Chase’s soft leather couch. I set Katie’s backpack down on the floor, having to grab her to keep her from wiggling away.
“It’s the largest floorplan in the building,” Chase said, going over to the minibar.
“Not quite what I meant,” I said, picking Katie up onto my lap. “Oh, yeah, the renovations. I own the place.” “I thought it was rental building,” I said. “Mostly. There are a few units that have gone condo. The fanciest, of course. An upside is there is no condo board to deal with. Just the nasty gnome of a landlord who’s power does not extend to me. Basically, I’ve bought him out.” “Must be nice,” I said, almost whimsically. “It certainly has its advantages,” Chase said, taking a shot of Wild Turkey. “I guess I haven’t really had time to talk to the neighbors. I’m always either at work or looking for work.” I shrugged even though he wasn’t looking my way.
Now that I was here and we were alone, the situation felt awkward. I didn’t know how to handle the strange man. He was my hero, yes, but after my ex, no man felt safe. Especially not one as big and tall as Chase.
“So, I heard,” Chase said, taking another shot. “Drink?” “No thanks,” I said, more on reflex than anything. I had quit while I was pregnant and never really saw the point even when I was able to partake again. “There’s a spare room at the back,” Chase said, pouring himself another shot and pointing with the glass. “You can put the baby back there to sleep.”
Without a word, I picked up Katie and took her down the hall, stopping at the bathroom for a change before continuing on to the bedroom. The spare bedroom was huge and delightfully air-conditioned. The walls were decorated with beautiful art, some of which looked original.
Getting Katie settled down and setting pillows around her, I went back out to the living room, reclaiming my position on the couch. Chase was sitting in the armchair across from me, his shot glass replaced by a tumbler, also full of Wild Turkey. I tried to get some idea of what was going on, but his scarred face was unreadable. He would have cleaned up at poker.
“My sister and her best friend are coming into town tomorrow, that’s why I did up both rooms. I’ll tell them to get a hotel.” “You don’t have to do that,” I said, shocked. He shrugged. “Trust me, it’s safer this way.” “Safer?” I asked, getting scared. Maybe he was a crooked lawyer. “No one will think to look for you here.” “Who would look for us here?” “The cops for a start. It’s obvious that you don’t have a lease, or the landlord wouldn’t have been able to give such an arbitrary deadline or put your stuff out on the curb. Which also suggests that you rented your apartment under a false name.” My heart sank. Chase was right about everything. I had more than eviction to worry about. Not only could I go to jail, but I would also lose Katie and be in an even worse situation than I already was. I decided not to say anymore not wanting to get in trouble with the law. “The only other person who knows that you’re here is the landlord,” Chase said, seeming to sense my distress. “He won’t say anything. Not only is he shit scared of me, but he would also be as liable as you are. You gave a fake name, but he accepted it and charged well over the legal rate for rent to keep it quiet. That’s not only fraud but extortion. Did you see the look on his face when he found out I’m a real estate lawyer at Howell and Howell no less? I can help you, but I need to know a few things.”
“Like what?” I asked defensively. “Like who you really are and why you’re really here.” “My name is Ashlyn Tate; I told the landlord Ashlyn Brown. I came here about six months ago to get away from my abusive ex. Katie’s dad. I don’t know for sure, but I think he is still looking for us. He is not the sort to give up or take insults.” “Sounds charming,” Chase said, swirling the liquor in his glass. I sighed. “He was, at the beginning. Then I found out he was a hotshot gangster, with ties to some serious villains. He also had a coke addiction that made him really unpredictable.” We sat in silence as I remembered some bad things, and Chase stared at me.
“You’re just what I need,” he said suddenly.
“For what?” I asked, shaken out of my misery. “My sister’s best friend is also my ex. She is going to try and get back with me because I am about to inherit half of my grandpa’s substantial estate. I want to put my ex off but don’t want to hurt my sister. A friend at work suggested I try a fake fiancée to throw her off the scent. It worked for my friend and apparently several other people at work. All of whom are married now. I wasn’t sure it would work, but this is just perfect. Not only would I have a fake fiancée but a fake family. Did you notice how Katie and I have the same hair color?”
My mouth fell open. I hardly knew what to say. “Would we have to—” “Fuck?” Chase asked, putting it bluntly. “Yeah,” I said, my cheeks getting hot. He shook his head. “No, strictly business. I’ll give you a place to stay, and you help me play happy family.”
He was serious. It was crazy, but pretending to be in a relationship with the womanizer sounded better than living on the streets.
“Deal,” I said, and we shook on it.
Chapter Five
Chase
I could hardly believe my luck. The perfect woman just showing up like that. Ashlyn also didn’t seem to object to the fake fiancé idea, which was a relief. I could have been a sleaze and tried to leverage her legal situation against her, but there were limits to what even I would do, real estate lawyers in L.A. having roughly the same reputation as Beelzebub. Not only was I getting a hot, younger fiancé but now I also had a cute little kid. One who looked a bit like me to boot. I went over it again and again in my head, but I couldn’t find a way in which this plan wouldn’t work. The only weak link might be holes in our story. If we got that down, everything would be fine. Even if Etta was low enough to try to steal me away from what she believes was my fiancé and our daughter, I would have sound reason to turn her down and make her look like the villain. At worst, I would get rid of her without any major fallout with Whitney. At best, my sister might see what a bitch her friend was and finally cut ties — like I had long ago.