“I’m hoping that once you hear what I have to say, you’ll understand why you need to keep it quiet. But at some point, I’m guessing the time will seem right for you to expose the story.” She squeezed the armrest on the couch, her fingers turning white. “And that scares me.”
He was frustrated, clueless and completely in the dark. “You’re not giving me a straight answer.”
“I know.” She shifted to her knees and came up beside him.
Her scent knocked him off balance.
She inched closer. “That’s because I haven’t gotten what I want from you yet.”
“Information on my personal life.” He treated her to a wry grin, but he felt anything but sarcastic and light.
“It seems like a fair trade.”
When she faced him, lips inches away, teasing him with their glistening moisture, nothing seemed fair. Especially divulging information on a life he’d always kept private, even from his brothers. And they were his best friends.
But sitting with Sloane in his home, a place where he’d never brought another woman, seemed comfortable and right. “You can’t really want to hear about me, not after the long day we had.”
“Stalling?” she asked him.
He laughed. “No.”
“Then talk.”
“Okay.”
At his agreement, she curled in beside him, letting her body lean against his. He felt the moment her muscles relaxed and she yawned, sighing with what sounded like contentment. Ironic. She was obviously hesitating about revealing too much information to him, yet with this subtle body language, she’d given him trust in a completely different way. Did she realize that?
He did, and it scared him to death. Even talking, divulging his personal secrets, seemed a less painful exercise than thinking about his feelings for Sloane. “My father died when I was eighteen,” he said at last.
He’d never had this conversation with a woman, not even Cindy, whom he’d been intimate with for far longer than any other woman in his past.
“I’m sorry,” Sloane murmured.
He shrugged. “It happened; I dealt with it. I withdrew from college, took over the paper, and helped Mom raise my brothers. There was no other way.” He recalled those days, the pain and difficulties a dim memory, yet one that still drove him now.
As Sloane listened to his words, she finally understood what had shaped him. “You’re a good man, Chase Chandler.” And she knew now what he meant when he spoke of living life for others. How much he was willing to compromise his own life for his family was humbling.
He merely grunted, and she guessed accepting compliments wasn’t easy for him. “It must have been tough.”
“At times. And setting a good example for Rick and Roman was a pain in the ass.” His laugh rumbled through her. “It didn’t leave any room for a social life. Not while they were young and living at home.”
She tensed as she asked, “And what happened to your social life after they moved out?”
“Discretion had become a habit. Besides, living in a small town, if you don’t want your social life broadcast the next morning, you don’t do anything you might regret. Either that or you spend time in the neighboring town.” His fingers ran over her hair, tangling in the strands as he tugged on her scalp.
“Where does Cindy fit in?” She forced herself to ask him, even as she focused on the sensual feelings he created inside her by the simple act of touching her hair.
“What if I said we had a relationship? Would you leave it at that?”
“If I said I have a relationship with Samson, would you leave it at that? Would you let it go?” she shot back.
He chuckled. “Touché.”
“What kind of relationship?” Sloane had no choice but to push. She wanted answers too badly.
A long period of silence followed and she wondered if he was annoyed.
“We’re lovers,” he said at last.
The pain in her stomach was worse than she’d anticipated. “Present tense?” Sloane was amazed she could speak.
He let out a long breath. “We have an understanding. Neither of us wanted a relationship or anything that would require commitment. We get together when it’s convenient,” he explained.
“You still haven’t answered the original question. Are you still involved?”
“It’s not that simple. You heard her say she hasn’t heard from me in a while.” She felt him shrug, and his fingers began to massage her neck. “With Cindy, the allure has been gone for a long time now. It’s just that she’s . . .”
“Convenient?” Sloane asked hopefully.
“And safe. It kept life simple for me. No worries about my brothers, and with my meddling mother, privacy had its privileges.”
Having met Raina, Sloane managed a laugh. “And what did Cindy have invested in you?”
His fingers kept up a steady rhythm and pressure against her skin. His touch reassured her in some small way. “Because somehow I don’t think she was counting on you picking up a strange woman in a bar.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t counting on it either. But I never made Cindy any kind of promise.”
Sloane wasn’t certain how to feel. He obviously cared about this woman, Cindy, since he’d been in a relationship with her for a long time. But he wasn’t committed to her. He didn’t want to be committed to anyone, Sloane reminded herself.
This wasn’t the first time he’d made such a comment and she’d better make sure she did more than listen. She’d better believe and protect herself because she could fall for him way too easily.
He held Sloane tighter. “I’m a man of my word, and if I make a promise, you can be certain I’ll keep it.”
“Was that your backhanded way of telling me you’ll keep my secret about Samson?” she asked.
“For as long as you need me to keep it quiet. But I guess it’s up to you whether or not to believe me.” He pulled her away from him and she met his steady gaze.
The time had come for her to confide in return. And she would. But first she wanted to seal their agreement with their bodies. She needed that emotional connection, to feel him inside her again and to know that he wanted only her for now.
He inclined his head, waiting for her to reveal her secrets. But instead of talking, she leaned forward, sealing her words with a kiss.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Chase wanted answers, but when Sloane’s arms came around his neck and her lips brushed across his, his body came alive. When she touched him like this, he found answers of a different sort—and damned if he didn’t like it—but still, he pried her arms apart and held them at her side.