Roman laughed and pulled her aside. “You mean you’ve had enough handshaking for the day? You’d better get used to it.”
“Don’t I know it.” Her warmth was unmistakable. “Who’s this handsome devil next to you?” She turned to Chase and, without waiting for an introduction, said, “I’m Madeline Carlisle.”
“Chase Chandler.” He stepped forward and shook the woman’s hand. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Madeline looked him over, approval in her gaze. “Your mother is one lucky woman. Is the third brother as handsome?”
“Not if you ask us,” Roman said wryly.
Chase laughed at his brother’s dry sense of humor. “You’re also fortunate. I saw your daughters and they’re beautiful,” he said of the twins.
Madeline beamed. “He’s a charmer, just like you, Roman.”
“Of course he is.” Roman chuckled, then glanced around, seemingly searching for someone. “Where’s Sloane?”
The smile on Madeline’s face dimmed. “She’s . . . not quite herself.”
“Well, I hope she’s feeling better soon.” Roman took her hand. “Madeline, I’ve told you Chase publishes the Yorkshire Falls Gazette ,” he said, his concern turning to business matters. “It’s Jacqueline’s hometown and I told him I could persuade you to do an interview. Since you haven’t done many to date, I was hoping you’d give my brother an exclusive.”
“I’d be more than happy to follow any guidelines you set out,” Chase explained. “I’m just looking for something extra. You have to know the public is interested in you. Your family is so politically perfect, the world would benefit from an inside look. And you’d get the opportunity to introduce the private side of your husband as seen from your perspective.”
She narrowed her gaze, eyes focused on Chase. If she was waiting for him to blink or squirm, she’d be here a long time, but he understood her need to scrutinize him. Madeline Carlisle was known to protect her family and went overboard to guard the private parts of their lives despite the fishbowl in which they lived. No matter what politics dictated, she wouldn’t give up an interview to just anyone.
“Are you as honorable as your brother and sister-in-law?” Madeline asked.
“More so.” Roman grinned. “Not only did Chase raise me to be the outstanding gentleman I’ve become, but he followed the same rules himself.” He slapped Chase on the back. “Honorable is Chase’s middle name.”
Ribbing aside, Roman had a point. Chase was known as the upstanding Chandler, the dutiful oldest brother. The honorable one. If he didn’t count last night, Chase thought wryly. Taking the beautiful Faith to his hotel room and into his bed had been a departure from his normal upstanding moral code.
But she’d been different, just as their connection had been. Even now, he couldn’t shake those beautiful green eyes from his mind or the sounds she made while he was deep inside her body. For a one-nighter, she’d made one hell of an impression.
Madeline grasped Chase by the elbow. “I’d like to speak to you and Roman alone. Away from prying eyes.” She tipped her elegant head toward the people and reporters milling around, many waiting for her to extricate herself from them and make herself available once more.
Minutes later, they were in the Carlisles’ suite, the door shut and locked behind them.
Chase waited until Madeline settled herself on the sofa before doing the same. He liked to study a person, take their measure, and he planned to do that to Madeline Carlisle now.
But Roman, his antsy younger brother, could never sit still and he paced around the room, picking up odds and ends before putting them down again and moving on. “What’s going on?” he asked at last.
Madeline laced her hands together on her lap. Apparently, like Chase, she preferred to do business calmly. “I called Charlotte this morning.”
“At the shop?” Roman asked from the other side of the room.
She nodded. “I wondered if either of you would be going home anytime soon. To Yorkshire Falls.”
Chase didn’t know the woman, but even to him, her question seemed odd. Roman and Charlotte commuted between their hometown and D.C., Roman’s home base for work.
Charlotte had her lingerie shop, Charlotte’s Attic, in both towns. But why would Madeline Carlisle care?
“Unfortunately, we’re in D.C. for the next week,” Roman said. “Barring anything unexpected, work’s got me busy here.”
“That’s what I thought Charlotte told me. What about you?” Her gaze strayed to Chase, and this time, she did the studying and her curiosity was evident. “Is that true for you too?” she asked.
“I’ll be home tomorrow.” Chase felt like he was being led someplace, but he hadn’t any idea where. He pinched the bridge of his nose in thought but couldn’t come up with any answers.
“Is there something I can do for you?” he asked, hoping she’d end the suspense.
She dug through her purse and pulled out an insert of pictures but didn’t turn them over.
“I need someone to watch out for my daughter.”
“Sloane?” Roman asked before Chase could.
Madeline slid her finger back and forth over the top photo. “When I said she wasn’t quite herself, I was serious. She’s had some . . . disrupting personal news and she needs time alone.” She raised her gaze to eye Chase once more and chewed on her bottom lip. “This has to be off the record.”
“Of course.” He wished he could see the picture, but she was keeping her cards close.
Madeline exhaled, obviously relieved. “Because I adore Charlotte and Roman, and because I consider myself a good judge of character, I’m trusting you with this information.”
“You won’t be sorry,” he assured her. But he wondered if he would be. He stretched his hand over the back of the sofa and waited for her to continue.
She offered him a strained smile. “I hope not. You see, Sloane took off to regroup. She went to her mother’s hometown. To your hometown,” she said to Chase.
“Why?” Roman asked, jumping back into the conversation.
“Good question,” Chase said.
“One with an easy answer. Yorkshire Falls is as quiet a place as you can get. Sloane thought she’d see where her mother grew up and maybe learn a few things about herself in the process.”