"What?" Amaya’s eyes widened. "Are you kidding me?""Do I look like I know how to joke around?" Chase smirked. With their lips so close, so tantalisingly close, and the ever-present heat shimmering between them like an invisible thread binding them despite their time apart, it took a few seconds for his words to penetrate.What the hell is wrong with him? How could she play her like this?When they did, she jerked back, shock rendering her speechless.Her mouth opened and closed as her mind spun with confusion. She could’ve sworn he’d just proposed."Miss Patterson, you heard me."He straightened, and while half of her wanted to clobber him for the ludicrous statement he’d just made, the other half irrationally missed his proximity.He perched on the desk, towering over her."Marry me. That’s my condition.""Are you out of your mind?"She leaped to her feet and stood toe-to-toe with him. "What sort of stupid condition is that? Like I’d ever marry you, like I’d agree to—"The idea didn
Amaya shook her head.Why a man like him with charm to spare would choose her for his insane idea had been bothering her since he'd first laid out his outrageous proposal."Surely the great Chase Johnson would have a slew of babes waiting to tie you down?"His eyes sparkled as she hated her choice of words and raced on. "I mean, why me specifically? What do I have to offer?"Chase smiled and asked, "Do you really want me to answer that?""Yes.""For the fact that we have history, and I know that you aren't after my money; otherwise, from what happened six years ago, you can trick me into—""Why on earth would you bring up such an incident again? We already made a deal to never talk about it, remember?""I'm just stating a fact—I'm just answering your question. The obvious one." Chase bit her lips and looked at her.Amaya's breath hitched at the clear intent in his loaded stare, and she took a step back. "The obvious one is that I don't want to—""Are we going to argue again about this
Chase couldn’t stand it—he just couldn’t stand it!For weeks, Donna had been ringing every day, then every hour, and now even here on the farm, she’s been bugging him.He picked the mobile up and threw it across the room, but still it rang.He picked up his landline phone and tossed that too.Ah, but soon the emails will come...So with one swoop, he cleared his entire desk of its contents: the computer, papers, his lamp, his coffee, everything, crashing in one swoop, a smash of glass, and chaos, with no relief or reprieve because Amaya walked in."Out now!" he roared at her, but Amaya just stood there, frozen. "Get out!" "NOW!"Except she didn't; she just stood there, eyes wide in shock and then, worse, with tears in them, refusing to leave, refusing to go. So he stormed out of his office.Inside the office, Chase began to pace. Shocked. He would explain.He must explain the sudden outburst.He hadn’t wanted her to see him like that. Chase turned and walked back, calmer now, together
What the hell was he doing? She thought to herself.Was he out of his mind? Changing the subject, Amaya frowned before saying, "Just as well, because I absolutely do not fancy you!" Amaya turned to go, her face burning. She’d heard enough and lied enough, but she hadn’t actually said enough.She turned back. "You’re right, Chase—I do get you. And, yes, I get your good looks and your sentiments where women are concerned. I get that you have no desire to settle down and that women want more—I get it all. Well, enough to know that you rarely sleep alone, and no matter how you introduce me to your family or what you think may or may not happen between us while we’re away, but you and I, sharing a bed, well, it wouldn’t work!""But it did work before?""Are you out of your mind? The past is the past. Stop bringing it up.""Come on, Miss Patterson, I think it would work rather well!" he retaliated.And just then there was a tiny shift, a brief moment when they were both imagining it, both t
From the moment Amaya left Chase's office, she called the forbidden number of her father after receiving a message from her best friend Mary. Mary insisted on saying hello, but the moment it rang, Amaya knew she’d be recalling old memories. She’d been bracing for this confrontation.However, no matter that she told herself it was ridiculous, no amount of deep breathing, steeling her nerves, or trying to remember how far in the past it all was could calm her in any way as she called her father for the first time in years. She could feel her hands shaking.She paused at the entrance to her own room.Not that her father would ever admit to his seventy years. He’d had work done on his face several times, had hair plugs to arrest a threatening bald patch, and continued to wear designer clothes better suited to a man half his age.But pots of money, cosmetic work, or fancy clothes couldn’t buy health, and that was one thing he didn’t have these days.Five years ago, he tried to guilt her in
The next morning, after a shared breakfast, Chase knew Amaya would knock on his library door.And yes, he wasn't wrong.Chase squinted at Amaya between the spokes of his step-sister’s wedding, trying to read her expression but coming up empty.Last night, she’d left a message on his phone, requesting a meeting after breakfast, and he had suggested meeting at the library instead, which is basically almost like his shared library slash bedroom in the US, where they made love all night long, hoping that the memories might throw her off balance—make her vulnerable and more easily manipulated.Chase hadn’t anticipated that those very same memories might unsettle him as well, but with Amaya standing there, dressed in a flounce white skirt and yellow tube-top, gnawing at her full bottom lip, an action he remembered all too well, attending to his step-sister’s call was the last thing on his mind.He waited for her to speak and continued listening to Donna’s nonsense, an action he found soothi
"Come on, Amaya, stop thinking too much and stop over-analysing this. Give me your answer and we’ll go from there," Chase asked.With her heart pounding and the heat from his proximity prickling her skin, she wrenched her gaze from his chest within tantalising touching distance and slowly raised it until wavering blue locked with questioning brown. "I told you I'd marry you, but I need to see the contract.""Of course, it's not like I'm signing you into a death sentence.""Exactly my points, Chase. Exactly that.""Wow, I wonder what made you so distrusting that you thought I could trick you into something drastically evil in the contract."Her voice barely above a whisper, she nodded. "Things...Chase, bad things can make someone so distrustful. Bad decisions and regrets...that too.""Hmmm."Chase snuck into the side entrance of his office ten minutes later, not wanting to intrude but driven by curiosity.Since Amaya had agreed to his proposal, she’d morphed into a businesswoman dervis
"How's this dessert?" Amaya asked as she held out the chef’s chocolate mint cake, wishing Chase would take the damn thing before it tumbled from her shaking hands.They had been silent during their late lunch, and it was making Amaya nervous.This meal was supposed to set her mind at rest—a pre-wedding get-together to discuss plans and take the edge off her nerves.So far, it hasn’t worked.How could it work when Chase kept looking at her like she was a damn lemon pie with chilli? It made her self-conscious."Oh, well, at least my pasta is not overcooked. Anyway, thanks, that looks delicious."His gaze flicked over her, appreciation lighting his eyes, and she had no doubt he wasn’t talking about the cake.She’d spent an hour deciding what to wear, aiming for casual yet wanting to make him look twice. After five changes, she’d finally decided on a green yoke-waist skirt and white crop top that fitted like a second skin. The fresh tones highlighted her hair and skin to perfection.In th