A word that he hadn’t even been searching for. Because he hadn’t realized it was missing from his life.
Until now.
Until Chloe.
“So,” Marcus said, “where are you from, Chloe?”
She instantly snapped to attention, sitting up so fast in her seat that the wine sloshed almost to the rim of her glass. “I’m in the process of moving, actually.”
She took a gulp of wine and Chase tried to use Sullivan telepathy to tell his brother to shut up.
It didn’t work.
“Where to?” Marcus asked.
Chloe took another gulp before replying. “I’m still looking at my options.”
As soon as Marcus refilled her empty glass, she shot up out of her seat. “I’ve got to go visit the powder room. Excuse me.”
Marcus waited until she’d left the room to say, “What the hell is going on? She’s got that bruise pretty well covered up tonight, but how’d she get it in the first place? Did that happen when she drove off the side of the road?”
Every time Chase thought about how she’d gotten the bruise, he wanted to hammer his fist into something.
No, not something. Straight into the face of the guy who had hurt her.
“I don’t know for sure. She hasn’t trusted me enough yet to say.” He gave his brother a warning look. “Don’t push her anymore. On anything.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “You like her.”
“It’s way beyond like,” he said, echoing Chloe's comment. Only he was talking about something a hell of a lot more important than an expensive drink. Talking more to himself than his brother at this point, he said, “I just need her to stay a few more days. And then maybe she’ll give me a chance.”
“I’ve never seen you like this before.”
Chase shook his head, as surprised by what had happened to him as anyone. “And here I thought I was coming here for nothing more than a few days of meaningless sex with—”
Marcus cut him off. “With one of your models?”
Chase snorted. “No. No way. You know I stopped sleeping with models years ago.” He knew his brother was going to be pissed off when he told him, “I was planning to hook up with Ellen.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes. “My employee, Ellen?”
“That’s the one.”
“God-damn it, Chase, you can’t screw around with someone who works for me. All I need is for her to get a broken heart on account of you and then having her take it out on my winery.”
Chase held up his hands. “Look, the hookup didn’t happen, okay? So don’t get all bent out of shape about it. I met Chloe before Ellen and I could get into any trouble. And you’ll be glad to hear that Ellen seemed fine with being let down.” Ignoring his brother’s glare, he gave in to the need to confide his feelings to someone, and admitted, “I’ve never been like this before, never felt like this with anyone but Chloe. And I haven’t even touched her yet.”
Damn it, he was saying too much. Marcus didn’t need to know what he and Chloe had—or hadn’t—done.
Chase refilled their glasses before turning the tables on his brother and asking, “Everything go all right in the city last night after you left the party? How’s Jill doing?”
“She’s fine.” A muscle started jumping in Marcus’s jaw. “I think I’m going to head in for the night. Got a busy day tomorrow.”
Chase stood up, too. This time around the Sullivan telepathy was working perfectly. Something was up with Jill and Marcus—and his brother had no intention of talking about it with anyone.
Chase wished like hell he knew how to bring the old Marcus back. As the oldest of all of them, after their father died, Marcus had immediately stepped into those newly empty shoes. Chase had memories of his brother changing diapers and wiping noses. Making sure everyone got to school on time with their homework in their backpacks. Fortunately, in their twenties, as everyone grew up and needed him less, he’d been able to break out of that responsible shell and cut loose.
Once upon a time, Marcus had been the biggest player of them all—almost as if he was making up for lost time. Women would throw themselves at him, and he’d catch each and every one of them.
But now, ever since he’d been with ice princess Jill, he’d changed again. Receded back into that too-responsible, too-mature shell.
Funny, Chase realized with a start, that while he was thinking his brother needed to shake off the chains and get back out there, he was looking at doing the exact opposite.
But the truth was, Chase had burned through more than enough women.
He was ready for one special one.
“I should check on Chloe,” Chase told his brother. “Got to make sure she didn’t get lost in your palace on the hill.”
A couple of minutes of searching later, he found her standing out on the back deck, her glass empty again. For a long moment, Chase had to stop and just stare.
She was stunning.
Not because of the moonlight. Not because of the dress.
It was all Chloe.
No other woman had ever taken his breath away like this. And he knew no other ever would.
Just her.
“There you are.”
She turned her face to his and it was full of so much emotion—and longing—that it was all he could do not to just reach for her.
They were completely alone out on the back porch. His brother was in bed, everyone else was gone. And he could tell just from looking at her that the wine had blurred some of her edges.
Unable to keep away from her, he moved behind her, putting his hands on either side of the rail. “Some moon tonight, isn’t it?”
He expected her to push away from him, but strangely, she did the exact opposite by turning slowly in the circle of his arms so that she was looking straight at him with those big eyes that mucked up his insides.
“Chase.”
Jesus, he was teetering on a thin edge, so close to her and yet so damn far.
Honor. Why had he decided that honor mattered? Everything would be so much easier if he simply took what he wanted...and worried about the consequences later.
She wasn’t drunk, but she wasn’t sober either. He should take her back to the guest house. Put her to bed.
Alone.
But he obviously wasn’t strong enough to do any of that. All he could do was say her name. And want her more than he’d ever wanted anyone or anything in his whole life.
“Chloe.”
Her full lips parted slightly at the sound of her name. For the first time, she wasn’t trying to hide her desire from him.