Chapter 79
Chase leaned his head back on the headrest once he’d boarded his plane and closed his eyes, wishing he could close off his thoughts as well. The truth was, he could have sent someone else to Paris, but he needed some distance to sort out a few things in his head. Why was everything suddenly so complicated? He had a filthy headache and a gut full of worry over Amaya and her many questions. Of course, he meant that he said to stop acting, and he was stupid enough to even suggest it. He wanted her to not act but to treat him like a real husband and not glare at him when no one was watching.
Yes, they shared wonderful moments on the yacht, and it was a memory he would never be able to forget. For once, he had forgotten his thirst for vengeance, yet here he was again, searching for it.
Now it unnerved him how easily likeable and wonderful Amaya was. Now he’d upset Amaya over her brother. Besides, he didn’t want to live in her territory of beautiful, lustful nights, warm beds, and warm meals again. He didn't want to fall for her, but he knew he did.
Chase was the one calling the shots in their relationship. If he told Amaya about his fear of making the same mistake as his father, it would be so pathetic and stupid. She would pity him, and she would have the power to ask him to leave. He wasn’t giving her that power, no matter how good they were together in bed and out of it. He could never tell her that, but why should he worry?
She was being stubborn.
Like you. He thought to himself. Of course, he was being foolish too. Being stubborn was how you got things done. How you set goals and see things through to completion? Being stubborn was how you built up a business into a global empire that was worth millions. Being stubborn was how you rescued a massive dog from the street and got him clean so he could have a life. It meant Chase’s life was a little more stressful than he’d like it to be, but that was the way things were. Amaya would come around. It was early days, and she was still getting used to sharing her life with someone. As was he. This short separation would hopefully help him get some perspective. He had never been this close to another person. Not just physically, but emotionally. He looked forward to being with her, and he dreamt about her when he wasn’t. He had to rein it in.
Chase didn’t want to turn back into that callow youth of nineteen who’d fancied himself in love only to find it was a mirage. A fantasy. A dream built on air. He wasn’t in love. His heart was in a straitjacket, where it belonged. He missed Amaya and Tommy badly while he was away. But it didn’t mean he was in love with her. It meant he cared about her. It was a mild word, yes, but the way he felt about her was anything but mild.
However, when Chase got back to his hotel from his third and final difficult meeting with his client, he sat in his suite and thought about how lonely it was to be eating yet another meal on his own. He could have gone out to a restaurant, but the thought of dining out alone held zero appeal. There was no one to sit opposite him, challenging him, debating with him, smiling at his jokes, and giving him those sparkly-eyed looks that signalled the same desire he could feel burning in his loins. He missed Amaya. More than he’d thought he would. This time away was meant to give him some breathing room, but instead it was stifling him. There was no trace of her perfume in the hotel room, not even on his skin. When he turned over in bed, the place beside him was cold and empty. That had never bothered him before. An empty space beside him meant he was free of emotional entanglements, but now it made Chase feel... well, empty.
He’d tried calling her a few times, but the time difference and the long meetings he or she had been in hadn’t always worked in his favour. He’d been left feeling strangely out of touch with Amaya and Thea. Wanting them with an almost violent ache. Needing to see Amaya like he needed his next breath. He wondered if she was missing him. Did she stare into space and daydream about their honeymoon the way he did? Did she get a shuddery shiver all over her body when she thought about how they had made love on deck under the star-studded sky? Did she reach for him in the middle of the night and get a sinking feeling in her stomach when she realised he wasn’t lying beside her? Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to tell her that he missed her when he got back. A little bit of compromise wouldn’t go astray, especially when it got him what he wanted—Amaya.
Amaya got back from the HR department the following day to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers on her desk. She picked up the card and read the message.
I miss you.
From Chase.
The next day, Amaya got home after a lengthy and arduous meeting that evening. She had only spoken to Chase a couple of times during the week, as he’d been in transit or busy with work commitments, or she had been in the office, and the time zones had made it even more difficult to connect. Besides, the conversation she intended to have with him was not one she wanted to have over the phone. She wanted to see him face-to-face. He’d arranged to meet her at the mansion alone. Told the staff to take their day off and told the nanny to take care of Tommy for a few hours. Then she had prepared a meal the night before, and now she popped it in the oven to reheat before she showered and changed. The doorbell rang as she was drying off her hair. The fact that he’d rung the doorbell was another reminder of how odd their relationship was.
But then she didn’t have the key to his heart, either. Amaya’s resolve took a punch when she opened the door to him. “You don't have a key to your own mansion?”
“The butler always opened the door for me,” he responded, giving her a smirk.
Chase looked as heart-stoppingly gorgeous as ever in an open-neck dark blue shirt and white chinos that showcased his olive complexion. “Hi…” He stepped over the threshold and took her in his arms, covering her mouth with his in a long, spine-melting kiss that made her resolve to roll over and play dead. Her arms went around his waist, her hips flush against the potent heat gathering in his pelvis, her own body quaking with the need to get even closer.
Chase pulled back to look down at her. “That was a long week. Did you miss me?”
Amaya dropped her arms from his body and stepped back with a cool smile. “I’ve been too busy to think about anything but work. How was your trip?” His expression registered her response with a slight tightening around his mouth. “Exhausting. I’ve crossed so many time zones in the last five days, I’ve got no idea what time to eat or sleep.”
“Come through.” She led the way to the sitting room, where she had laid out drinks and some pre-dinner nibbles. “Can I get you wine or beer or…?”
“What are you having?”
“White wine.”
“Half a glass will do. Where is Tommy? I miss him.”
Amaya handed it to him with another impersonal smile. “The nanny took him for a walk. Here you go.” He took the wine but put it straight back down on the coffee table. “I have something for you.”
He took out a package from his back pocket—a flattish square box wrapped in black tissue, tied with a gold ribbon. She took it from him and carefully untied the ribbon and tissue to find a jeweller’s box with a sapphire-and-diamond pendant inside. It was a delicate and elegant setting, almost simple in design, but the brilliant blue of the sapphire and the tiny sparkling diamonds that surrounded it made it one of the most beautiful pieces of jewellery she had ever seen. “It’s…gorgeous…”
She glanced up at him. “Thank you. It was very thoughtful of you.”
“Glad you like it,” Chase said with a smile. “The sapphire reminded me of your eyes.”
He took the box back from her. “Here, let me put it on for you.”
Amaya turned around and lifted her hair out of the way while he looped the fine gold chain around her neck and fastened the clasp. The brush of his fingers against her skin made her whole body shiver in reaction. She turned back around to face him, her fingers absently playing with the sapphire. “Thanks for the flowers, by the way.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and meshed his gaze with hers. “Why don’t you tell me what’s troubling you?”
She pressed her lips together for a moment. “I have to tell you about something.”