Chapter 34

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 now, and then he saw her.

A few minutes later, Amaya entered the office. Kneeling on the floor, crying and scared and shaking, picking up the lamp, retrieving shards of glass—trying to clear up the chaos so that it might appear to have never happened.

Chase groaned. It could have been his father years ago—only this time it was he who had caused the chaos and who had reduced Amaya to frightened tears.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Johnson!" Her voice was shaky as she took the blame, and that was what almost killed Chase. "I should never have put Donna through to you."

It almost killed him because Chase realised, with a dread that had been building for years now, that he was turning into his father. Just like his father.

Amaya had grown up with men long enough to refuse to tiptoe around them—oh, she steered clear of Chase for a while, and when the butler came back, a new lamp was purchased, a few items were replaced, and supposedly it had never happened.

Except it had.

Yet she refused to be silenced.

What the hell happened to Chase? What made him furious? She thought to herself.

Refused to dance around him and refused not to question him when a ridiculous plan made itself known.

"Chase, can you tell me why I’m booked to attend your step-sister’s wedding?" Amaya struggled to keep her voice even—after all, this was her boss and this had to be a mistake, but she wasn’t going to take this!

It was six p.m. and Amaya had spent the last two hours with Chase’s travel team online, working out the logistics of his impossible schedule for the upcoming days, only to see her name appear on the flight list the next day and the transfer helicopter to the city.

"About that—" Chase had at least the grace to wince. "I’ve been meaning to tell you..." Chase could read women as easily as a newspaper, and as her eyes widened at his choice of words, he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, ask you."

"Ask me what?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"You know, my sister is getting married very soon."

"I know, she is getting married," Amaya feigned surprise. After all, she was the one coordinating the lavish wedding gift—a pool, and not just any pool, an infinity pool cut into the edge of the volcanic rock no less. And she was the one who had been dealing with everything, not to mention Chase’s appalling mood! Oh, yes, she knew his sister was getting married!

"Please," Chase said. "Sarcasm doesn’t suit you." He frowned for a moment, then added, "Actually, it does—but not now. I need some help over the weekend. It’s a bit hard to explain."

She gave a tiny shake of her head. Chase never found things hard to explain—the Chase she knew always just came out and said what he meant.

"Well, I can’t help. I actually have plans when I get back to the city; my son needs me, Chase," Amaya said, her voice still even and calm. She didn’t actually—even though it was her birthday, she’d made no plans other than bringing her son to the park or the beach, but she certainly wasn’t going to let Chase know that. "And I know my job is varied, but playing the part of wedding planner is really out of my league."

"The wedding is all taken care of," he muttered.

"So what do you need me for?"

"It would make things easier to have someone there with me," he admitted.

Her eyes widened. "So you are going back to the city?"

"Yes."

"Good, but—wait, you m-mean you want me with you in t-the w-wedding?’ She was really shaking her head now. "No, Chase, absolutely not. You could ask anyone."

Chase sighed. "I want you there. I will tell them about our engagement," Chase said with a small smile.

"Engagement? I haven't even given you my answer yet. I need time to think about it, Chase. My god…"

"Amaya, you know me. The last woman I brought home." He gave a small swallow before he named her. "The Russian I explained to her not to get swept away, that my family would assume we were serious, that they would think that there was a wedding imminent. She assured me she understood, except when we got there..."

"Things changed?"

Chase nodded. "I can’t face going; I can’t stand the thought of being in the same house for two, maybe three nights on my own. My father will be there." He looked at her then, at her dark curls bobbing, at the mouth that could always somehow make him laugh, at the body he thought of at night now. This was the only way he could do it—with the one woman who could make hell bearable right now beside him.

Chase swallowed a lump. Even if it meant he would soon have to say goodbye to her, "I thought that with you there…"

"Mr. Johnson, did you really think I’d say yes to accompanying you?" Amaya demanded. "Well, obviously you did if the travel team already knew about it."

"I was going to speak to you later this afternoon. I didn’t realise the meeting had been brought forward."

"Well, the answer would have been the same—no!"

"You’re making this a bigger deal than it is, Amaya!" he protested.

"It’s a very big deal to me! Anyway, there are any number of women who would be more than happy to accommodate you. Ask one of them."

"My father likes to embarrass me. And the other women, you say? Surely they'll suck the hell out of me," he paused. "With you, I know I can—I can act without looking behind my back." He played the sympathy card, but Amaya just gave him a wide-eyed look.

More than irritated, she was angry at his assumption that he could just go ahead and organise something like that without even consulting her. "I’m sorry he’s a jerk, but—"

"I’m not sorry he’s a jerk, Amaya," he interrupted her, his voice dark. "I hate my father—really, the end cannot come soon enough. My step-sister has asked, pleading that I come."

Amaya frowned, but Chase didn’t elaborate.

"I cannot face it alone. The old man will make sure I lose my temper, and I know that some of my shareholders will be there…"

She’d never heard him say anything other than assured, and the plea for understanding in his voice momentarily swayed her. "I’m asking you because I know you get it."

"Get what?"

"About me, about those old men who wanted my position." For the first time, Chase looked uncomfortable. "I have no interest in marriage, no interest in settling down—not ever. You understand," he said with an irritated shrug, that this would be strictly business."

She rolled her eyes. "Sharing your bed isn’t my idea of business!"

"We aren't going to share a bed, if that is what you are worried about, unless you—"

"Oh God. Stop!"

"Come on, you’d be well remunerated…" He took in her furious expression and hastily added, "We could just say you’re my ex-girlfriend, and we ended up going steady again."

"That is not—"

Chase smiled before interrupting her. "Surely the father of Tommy wouldn't mind, and besides, I’m not asking for sex!"