For a moment, Sloane watched Chase as he made his way to the fridge to grab a bottle of water before he rolled to the garage for his morning workout as she sat there waiting for him to say something to make this easier only to groan when he didn’t say anything. Why couldn’t he make a smartass comment to make this easier for her so that she could quit and pretend that this never happened?
Last night, while she’d laid there struggling to catch her breath, she’d expected Chase to say something to piss her off, but he’d only held her. He’d kept his arms around her, gently caressing her back while she’d laid there, feeling sick to her stomach as the gravity of what she’d done hit her. She’d never done anything like this before, never even been tempted to cross that line and then last night, she’d thrown away her career without blinking an eye and she had no idea why.
She’d worked her ass off to get where she was today. She’d paid her dues, took the jobs that no one else wanted and slowly built a reputation that guaranteed her first pick of jobs only to ruin it over one moment of weakness for a man that annoyed the shit out of her.
The only question now was how was she supposed to explain this when she didn’t even understand it? Not that it really mattered, Sloane reminded herself with a heavy sigh as she pushed her chair back and decided that it was time to face the music. She needed to get this over with and hope that she only ended up getting her license suspended. Not that it would matter since she doubted that anyone would hire her after this.
As she walked into her room, Sloane debated calling his sister first and telling her that she needed to be replaced only to decide that it would probably be a better idea to call the agency and line up someone else to take over for her before she broke the news to his sister. Either way, Melissa was going to be pissed, but at least this way she might not feel the need to call up the agency and destroy everything that Sloane had worked so hard for.
Decision made, Sloane went to grab her phone off the nightstand only it wasn’t there. It also wasn’t on her bed, under her bed, on her bureau, on the bathroom counter, in the living room, or in the kitchen. Sighing, she went to grab the house phone so that she could call her phone only the phone wasn’t on the charger and neither was the one that was supposed to be in Chase’s room.
Hoping that she was wrong, she forced herself to walk into the garage and
“Nothing happened,” Chase said as soon as she stepped into the air-conditioned garage that had been turned into a home gym sometime before she’d started working here.
“Is that why you stole my phone?” Sloane asked, glancing around the large garage, hoping to find her phone so that she could avoid this conversation.
“I knew you’d do something stupid,” Chase said as he placed the weights back on the bar and sat up.
“I can’t stay,” Sloane said, hoping that would be enough, but of course, it wasn’t.
“And why’s that?” Chase asked, grabbing a white towel off his wheelchair and used it to wipe the sweat off his face and chest while he waited for an answer.
“I crossed a line, Chase, and I can’t stay here. I just need my phone so that I can arrange for someone else to take over before I go,” Sloane said, really hoping that he took pity on her and just let her leave.
“You don’t need to find a replacement,” Chase said, shaking his head as he tossed the towel back on his wheelchair before he laid back down on the bench and grabbed hold of the bar.
Sighing, Sloane said, “Yes, I do,” as she turned around and
“No, you don’t,” Chase said, sounding bored as she forced herself to turn back around.
“You need help, Chase,” she said, gesturing lazily around them.
“No, I don’t,” the stubborn bastard said, making her sigh.
“You can’t take care of yourself, Chase,” she said, shaking her head as she turned back around and
“Is that what you really think?” he called after her.
“You don’t want to know what I really think,” Sloane said, deciding that she’d call the agency from her brother’s house because she really could not do this right now. She walked into her room and grabbed her bags from the closet and threw them on her bed, struggling not to lose it.
“So, tell me,” Chase said as he rolled into her room.
“No,” Sloane said, grabbing a stack of shirts out of her drawer and carried them over to her bed, refusing to look at him as she shoved them in a bag.
“Then I guess it’s my turn, huh?” Chase said, nodding absently as he added, “We both fucked up, Sloane.”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” she said, shaking her head in disgust as she grabbed another stack of shirts.
“Yeah, it is,” he said, sounding thoughtful as he watched her. “You promised to help me.”
“And it looks like I’m breaking that promise,” Sloane said, shoving more clothes in her bag and
“It must be really fucking devastating to know that a cripple made you wet,” Chase bit out coldly, making her go still.
“Are you kidding me?” Sloane asked, shaking her head in disgust as she turned around to face him.
“Not one fucking bit,” he said evenly through a clenched jaw.
Shaking her head, she forced herself to grab more clothes. “You have no idea what it’s like to screw up this badly.”
There was a humorless chuckle and then, “Are you fucking kidding me? It’s all I fucking know,” Chase bit out angrily as he rolled over to her bed, grabbed her iPad and swiped it open before typing something in while she stood there, berating herself for not leaving the first time that she realized that this wasn’t going to work. Now she was
“When you have to listen to two children begging for their mother as they lay dying in your arms, then you can talk to me about screwing up,” Chase snapped as he tossed the iPad on her suitcase and left while she stood there, staring down at the picture of Chase in a fireman’s uniform beneath a headline that had her stomach turning.
Chapter 15
“Son of a bitch!” Chase snapped, clenching his hands into fists as he dropped his head forward and closed his eyes as he struggled to get that look on Sloane’s face out of his head only to find himself frowning when he felt a cold bottle pressed into his hand.
“So, a fireman, huh? That’s pretty hot,” Sloane said casually as she dropped down into his wheelchair with a heavy sigh, making his lips twitch as he sat back and took a sip of water.
“I never had a complaint,” he said, watching as her lips twitched while she ran her eyes over at him.
“I bet you didn’t,” she murmured with a wink, making him chuckle until she added, “You didn’t screw up.”
“Yes, I did,” Chase said quietly as he took a sip of water, wondering why he’d said anything to her.
“How do you figure?” Sloane asked, sounding curious as she lounged back in his wheelchair.
“Because it should have been me,” Chase said as he dropped his head forward, getting his hair wet before he sat back.
“No,” Sloane said, reaching over and plucked the bottle of water out of his hand, “it shouldn’t have,” as she took a sip before handing it back to him.