Authors: Elizabeth Powers
“As
can you, Ms. Magill,” he smiled. Bending down, he caught her lips in a light
kiss, his mouth brushing hers gently as he gave her hand a light squeeze. “Thanks
for a fun night, Lena.”
She
smiled up at him. “I had fun too, Greg. Are you calling it a night?”
“Given
that there is a man across the dance floor glowering at me, and given the fact
that he’s been glowering since this dance started, and given the fact that he’s
even madder now that I’ve kissed you, then yes. I feel my work here is done.” Keeping
hold of her hand, he pulled her off the dance floor. “Listen, call me if you
need anything. Anything at all, OK? That goes for you and the shelter. Do you
want to stay here for a while, or would you like me to take you home?”
“Take
me home. Do you mind? I came with you tonight. I’d like to leave with you.”
“Are
you sure?”
“Yes.
If you’re not too scared to go back into my neighborhood.”
“I
can stop and pick up a can of mace on the way home. All right. Do you have to check
in with the glowering man?”
“No.
I’m ready.”
Tucking
her arm into his elbow, Lena walked with Greg to the exit, and waited by his
side while the valet brought his car around.
The
traffic was extremely light on the interstate, and Greg was parking outside of
Lena’s apartment building a short time later. They had bantered back and forth
in the car the entire time, sealing Lena’s determination to remain friends with
this man, regardless of what happened with Chase. Greg seemed more than
amenable to the idea, telling Lena that he hadn’t had time yet to make a lot of
friends in the city.
“How
long have you been here?”
“Fourteen
years.”
Lena
looked over at him incredulously. “And you’re just starting to meet people?”
“Hey,
the first few years in a law firm are like being in prison. You never go home. You
shower at the office. I met lots of fellow lawyers, but nobody else.”
“Wow,”
Lena said in disbelief. “OK then. I’m going to start introducing you around. You’ve
now become my special project.”
“Oh
great.”
“Have
faith, my friend.” Hopping out of the car, Lena waited for Greg to come around
and join her, knowing that he would insist on walking her to her door. He did. Waiting
until she had unlocked the locks and opened the door, he bent down and kissed
her gently on the cheek.
“Good
night, Lena. Can I still call you to go skiing or snowboarding with me?”
“Yes
to the skiing. And yes to the snowboarding if I have a death wish that day. Greg,
thank you. You’re a wonderful man. And while friendship might not have been
what you had in mind when you asked me to the benefit tonight, you’ve
definitely got a friend in me. Call me anytime.”
“Good
luck with Chase. He’s a good guy. If I didn’t like him, I’d be making a serious
move on his girl.”
Lena
laughed. “Thanks Greg. Next time you come, I’ll introduce you to my dog. If he likes
you better than Chase, I'm marrying you.”
Greg
grinned as he backed away from the door. “I’ll arm myself with dog treats when
I come over then. Talk to you soon, Lena.”
After
taking Gillian home that evening, Chase found himself heading downtown, rather
than back to his own apartment. Lena had been true to her word, and had never
once approached him since she had apologized to him. Since then, they had been
at many of the same functions, but she took good care to always be on the other
side of the hall, and to avoid him as much as she could. When forced, she
greeted him with a cool smile and a nod of her head, but her eyes betrayed her
hurt. She could never look at him. Not directly. And while Chase never made a
move toward her, he watched her.
A
couple of times, he’d nearly decided to approach her, but she was always
talking to people these days. Always smiling and laughing, as if he didn’t and
hadn’t mattered to her. She always managed to place her back to him, never let
herself be alone and available, and always left the functions early – before the
dancing started and people began to pair off. In many ways, Chase was surprised
that she still showed up – her parents were less and less a part of the social
scene this winter, and Lena came alone and left alone, despite the fact that
she never seemed devoid of male company.
But
tonight was the first night that she’d shown up with another man. And Chase was
stunned by the searing jealousy he’d felt. He should never have pulled her into
the hallway, should never have said what he did, should never have kissed her
like that. But he couldn’t bring himself to be sorry for his actions. Because
after seeing her with Greg Cartwright tonight, he realized that another man in
her life was simply unacceptable.
Chase
missed working at the shelter. He missed the camaraderie he’d found there. He
missed the feeling of accomplishment that he got every weekend he spent there. But
most of all, he missed Lena. He still wasn’t entirely sure what to think of her
– about the conversation he had overheard, about her father’s assertions that
she was not as altruistic as she seemed. But he wanted her. And after a few
minutes alone with her tonight, he only wanted her more. The thought of her
being with another man, touching another man, kissing another man, angered him.
So he pulled off his tie, loosened his shirt, and headed straight for Lena’s
apartment.
After
changing into comfortable clothes, picking up Winston from Kat’s apartment, and
then taking the sleepy dog out for a quick walk around the block to do his
business, Lena let them both back into her apartment and handed her dog a Kong
full of peanut butter.
“It’s
all yours, buddy. You deserve it after listening to me sob for the last few
weeks. But that stops tonight. I’m stronger than that, Winston. We both are. So
a Kong for you, and Chunky Monkey for me.”
Winston
took the Kong from her hand suspiciously, and retreated from the room into a
corner of the hallway. Hey, Lena thought. Progress. At least he's staying in
sight. Turning back to the kitchen, she was just opening up the freezer with a
spoon in her hand when she heard a knock on the door.
Wow.
It was late. Glancing at Winston, she saw that he was still relaxed, watching
the door, but not growling. So maybe Greg forgot something, she thought as she
padded over to the foyer and looked cautiously through the peephole. She
sighed.
Pulling
open the door, she looked up into the eyes of a very angry Chase Hamilton.
“Chase.
What are you doing here?” she asked. “It’s late.”
Chase
was still in his tuxedo, though he’d pulled off his tie and unbuttoned the top
buttons of his shirt. He looked rumpled and sexy, and Lena had to remind
herself that things were still a mess between them, and she had no right to
throw herself into his arms and kiss him silly. Besides. He really was mad.
“You
kissed him.”
“Technically,
he kissed me. Is that all you wanted? To point out the obvious?”
Chase
moved toward her, stopping when he was only inches away. His eyes bore into
hers. “Ask me in, Lena,” he said.
“Why?”
“You
know why.”
“Actually,
I don’t. If you’re just here to tell me that you’re upset that another man
kissed me tonight, and then tell me what a horrible money-loving witch I am, I should
probably tell you that I’m in no mood.”
Chase’s
eyes flashed fire. “Lena...”
“Oh
for heaven’s sake,” she sighed at last, pulling open the door and letting him
in. It was either that, or be prepared for a police visit when one of her
neighbors called the cops on her behalf.
Strolling
in, Chase’s gaze softened when he caught sight of Winston in the hallway, earnestly
working on his Kong. “He looks happy,” Chase said, nodding his head down the
hall toward the dog.
“He’s
getting there,” Lena agreed. “Slowly. What do you want, Chase?”
“Apparently,
I want you. Still. Despite everything.”
Inwardly,
Lena winced. But she hid it well, and just said, “Well, that’s every girl’s
dream of a romantic declaration.”
“You
want romance? Money isn’t enough?”
Lena
raised one of her eyebrows and stared over at Chase leaning on her countertop. “You
know, you’re not exactly batting a thousand with me tonight. Are you going
someplace with all of these lovely flowery words, or are you just here to
irritate me?”
“I
may be willing to negotiate.”
“Spoken
like a businessman. Negotiate what, exactly?”
“I
want you.”
“I
see. So what’s your negotiation? And if you say money, I’m kicking you out of
here.”
Chase
shrugged casually.
“OK,
look. Maybe you’ve had too much to drink tonight. I don’t know. But I think you
should go. This isn’t a direction that a conversation between us should be
going. Not when...” she stopped. If she said anything else, she was going to be
telling him that she loved him, and making herself incredibly vulnerable to
this man. And
that
would be a bad idea. No. A
really
bad idea.
“Not
when what, Lena?”
“Not
when it’s this late,” she recovered quickly. “And you’re this angry. And I’m
this tired. Go home, Chase.”
Without
looking at him, she walked over to her front door and reached for the lock to
open it for him. But Chase was there before she could unlatch it, his front
pushed up against her back as he leaned his full weight against the door with
one hand. His position both prevented her from opening the door, and stopped
her from turning around. Leaning down, he spoke softly into her ear, his voice
taut with anger. He was so close that she could feel his breath on the side of
her face.
“Then
you explain something to me, Charlene Magill. If you have all of these great
morals and values, and if money means nothing to you, then why did you pretend
to have a relationship with me? Why did you even start down that path if you
found me arrogant and pretentious? If I bored you, and if you cringed when I
touched you, why were you so damn willing to be with me? For months, Lena. Months.”
Lena
took a deep breath. Chase’s anger and pain were palpable, and she knew that she
needed to stay calm. If she showed any emotion at all, he would take it as
guilt. She counted to ten, then spoke as calmly as she could, putting her heart
into her words, hoping he’d really hear her this time. “Once we really started
to know each other, after you showed up at Helping Hands, I
never
pretended anything.”
She
took a deep breath and continued. “I do not find you arrogant. Or pretentious. Or
boring. Quick to jump to conclusions, maybe, but never, never boring. And your
touch did a lot of things to me, but it never made me cringe. And, for the love
of God, I do not give a damn about your money. I have more than enough of my
own.”
Chase
waited. For a long moment, he was silent, leaning over Lena as he took several
deep breaths. When he spoke again, Lena strained to hear him.
“Then
who was it?”
Lena
shook her head, still facing the door. “What are you talking about?” she asked
at last, puzzled.
“I
want to know who it was. The man you called pretentious and arrogant. If not
me, then who?”
Lena
finally understood what Chase was asking. She let out a long sigh and answered.
“Patterson James.”
At
that, Chase released the door and backed up a step, putting space between him
and Lena and allowing her to turn around to face him. The expression on his
face was incredulous. “You dated Patterson James.”
Lena
looked up defensively. “For about five minutes, yes. Dad loves him.”
“He’s
a prick,” Chase pointed out.
“Well,
no kidding,” Lena rolled her eyes. “Why do you think I called him pretentious,
arrogant and boring?”
“He’s
too old for you.”
“There’s
that too, though I care far less about his age than I do about the fact that he
bored me to tears.”
Chase
paused, then said quietly, “You weren’t talking about me.”
Shaking
her head vehemently, Lena stated firmly, “No.”
“
Damnit
,
Lena,” he said, the words nearly exploding out of him as he backed into the
kitchen and ran his hand through his hair.
“Don’t
‘
damnit Lena
’ me,” she said crankily. “You’re the one who got his boxers
in a bunch over this. I understand that my end of the conversation sounded bad.
I even understand that you’re carrying around baggage related to this. But what
I don’t understand is how, after all the time we spent together, you could
think that I’d ever think, let alone say, anything like that about you. To
anyone.” She looked straight into his eyes, and said, “Now go away. It’s late.”
“No.”
“Chase...”
“Do
you have any idea how angry I was, Lena?” he asked.
Lena’s
tone was sarcastic when she replied. “Why, yes. I imagine I do. Probably about
as angry as you’re making me right now.”
“
I'm
making you angry?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Let’s
see. One. Because you believed that I was so shallow that I could honestly think
and say such horrible things about you. Two. Because I thought we had something
really great between us, and I was wrong.” She stopped for a second and then
shook her head. “Which actually means that I’m mad at myself,” she admitted
quietly. “OK, so two, you broke my heart for no reason, and you’re not even
close to apologizing for it. Three. You didn’t just quit
me
, you quit
the shelter, and all the people there. Four. You apparently ruined me for other
men, since nobody seems to be able to live up to you in my head.” She sighed. “Which
I think I’m mad at myself for again. So back to four. Because you had to wait
until now to try to make things right. I was just starting to think that I
could get my life back after sobbing into my Ben and Jerry’s every night for
the past month.” She sighed. “Just go away, Chase. Go be mad at me somewhere else.”
“Still
not going anywhere,” he pointed out.
Lena
pushed herself away from the door and moved back into her living room, keeping
as much space between them as she could. Chase let her go, but watched her as
she moved to the other side of the couch.
Looking
into his eyes from across the room, Lena saw remorse, but she also saw a fleck
of bitterness in his gaze.
“You’re
still angry,” she noted softly.
“I
am.”
“At
me.”
“Mostly
at myself.” Chase took a step into the room. “Did you mean what you said?”
“I’m
sure I did. But which part?”
“The
part about me ruining you for other men.”
“Unfortunately,
yes. I meant it. But it doesn't mean I’m not going to get over you.”
“Are
you dating Greg?” he asked, fearing the answer, but needing to know.
“No.
Tonight was the first time we’d gone anywhere together. And probably the last,
if my own behavior is any indication. So no, I’m not.”
“Lena,”
Chase said, his voice low and husky.
“Please,
Chase. Just go,” she whispered.
Miraculously,
Chase seemed to understand that she was at the end of her rope. “I’ll go,
sweetheart. But we’re not done. I’ll find you tomorrow. Get some sleep.”
Lena
nodded, somehow managing to think clearly about the next day. “I have to be at
the shelter for a while in the afternoon,” she said at last. “Frank needs a few
hours off.”
Chase
just nodded. Lena watched as he made his way to the door and pulled it open. “Lock
this behind me, sweetheart.”
For
long moments after he left, Lena just stood where she was, until she realized
that she really did need to lock the door. After latching the bolts, she turned
to where Winston was watching her patiently.
“I’m
in trouble, Winston. Because despite the fact that that man is an idiot, I
still love him. And that’s going to mess things up for me.” She sighed, then reached
down to scratch her dog gently on the head. “OK. Come on. Let’s go to bed. I’m
not going to be able to make heads or tails out of this evening until I get a
good night’s sleep, and get some strong coffee in me in the morning. And some
breakfast in you. Ready?”