Through the Night (25 page)

The two women’s voices trailed off, but Skye remained behind, her candid gaze suddenly focused on Chase. “By the way, there’s something I want to say to you while Valerie isn’t around.”

Chase was all too aware of everyone’s eyes on him, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about being the center of attention among this tight-knit group, not when they were all suddenly watching him with a level of intensity that made him a little nervous. It was sort of like facing down a firing squad and not knowing what would prompt them to pull the trigger.

“What’s that?” He took a drink of his beer, wondering if he should have opted for something much stronger.

Skye braced her hands on her curvy hips and jutted her small chin out, and though she was petite in stature, she had a way of intimidating the hell out of a man. “I think you’re a nice guy, and Valerie seems to like you. A lot. So just know, if you hurt her, then you will have to deal with
us.
And though Kane might seem like the strong, silent type, he likes to break bones.”

The corner of the ex–Navy SEAL’s mouth twitched with humor, reassuring Chase that for the moment, he was in no danger of being snapped in two.

“Yeah, what Skye said,” Lucas tossed in for good measure.

Nathan just smirked, but Chase didn’t doubt for a second that the other man wasn’t just as protective of Valerie as everyone else.

Chase glanced back at Skye, who was waiting for him to acknowledge her warning. “I got the message, loud and clear.”

She gave him a bright smile. “Excellent,” she said, then turned and headed off in the same direction Nicole and Valerie had disappeared.

Nathan rubbed a hand over his mouth, as if he was trying to hide his mirth. “Umm, that one can be a bit of a ball-buster.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Chase said, chuckling.

Thank God the conversation took a turn for the better when Lucas asked about what Chase did for a living. All three men were fascinated with not only his psychometric abilities, but also how he traveled the world for clients to find rare and valuable artifacts.

In the next half hour, dinner was announced, a buffet-style meal that included chicken, ribs, and an assortment of savory side dishes. Chase sat down at the table next to Valerie and the rest of the Reliance Group members, and after the meal, when the band kicked up the music, people flocked to the dance floor, including Nathan and Nicole. Valerie excused herself because there was someone she wanted to say hello to, so Chase hung back at the table with the other two bachelors, Kane and Lucas, and continued to chat with them.

From a distance, Chase kept an eye on Valerie, watching as she talked to people she knew, so at ease in her element. With only a few dozen people attending the wedding, there was a strong sense of closeness and acceptance within the fold, and Chase experienced a twinge of envy that Valerie did have a family with the Reliance Group, while he truly had no one.

In order to take the sting out of his family’s writing him off, he’d convinced himself that he preferred to be alone, that he was deliriously happy as a single, unattached guy who didn’t have a care in the world. A guy who could come and go as he pleased and had no ties keeping him chained to any one place or person.

He’d fed himself the lie for years, and suddenly he was looking at a woman who made him want a lasting commitment. When he looked into Valerie’s deep brown eyes, so gentle and caring and real, he wondered what a future with her would be like. How having a family with her would change his life, for the better.

So many emotions welled up inside him, and instead of feeling stifled by his strong feelings for Valerie, he felt freed of years of regrets and a deeper bitterness that had driven him to such extremes. With his job. With his life. Because he hadn’t believed he deserved real happiness after his best friend died.

But now, finally, he truly felt he had something to live for, and that was Valerie.

“Yo, Chase, you still with us?”

Lucas’s voice penetrated his thoughts, making Chase realize that somewhere along the way, he dropped out of whatever conversation they’d been having. “What?”

Lucas frowned at him. “You look a little dazed. Are you okay?”

Chase grinned as the band started playing a slow ballad. “Yeah, I’m great. Couldn’t be better,” he said and stood, then headed straight for the woman who’d just boosted his mood without even knowing it.

When Chase reached Valerie, who was talking to another woman he hadn’t met, he lightly touched her arm, and that’s all it took for her to know it was him. He heard the audible catch of her breath because of that ever-present “static electricity” between them before she turned to look at him.

“I’m going to steal you away for a dance,” he said, not giving her the chance to refuse. Chase apologized to the older woman for interrupting, then whisked Valerie toward the semi-crowded dance floor. Then he pulled her into his embrace, taking one of her hands in his and sliding the other securely around her waist and bringing her body flush with his.

She slid her arms around his neck and smiled sensually up at him. She’d had a few glasses of champagne, just enough to soften her in all the right ways. “Are you having a good time?” she asked.

“Things just got
much
better,” he admitted as he caressed his hand down her back and let it come to rest just above the curve of her ass. He was so tempted to go lower, but behaved himself. “I don’t think I’ve told you yet, but you look incredibly beautiful tonight.”

Pleasure lit her eyes at his compliment. “Thank you. And I was right. You do look very handsome in a suit.” She absently smoothed her fingers down his silk tie.

“If I remember correctly, you said ‘gorgeous,’” he said in a teasing tone. “But handsome will do.”

“You and that ego of yours,” she said with an amused shake of her head.

He laughed as they swayed to the slow beat of the music. He glanced across the way and saw Skye literally dragging a reluctant Caleb out onto the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, closing the distance between the two of them. Caleb kept his hands safely on Skye’s waist, a less-than-pleased look on his face—which Skye either didn’t notice or didn’t care about.

Chase suspected the latter, which meant Caleb had his hands full with that one.

“What’s up with those two?” he asked curiously. “There’s, like, all this crazy sexual tension between them, yet Caleb is clearly trying so hard to act indifferent.”

“Which makes Skye torment him all the more.” Valerie sighed, and turned her head to glance at the other couple, exposing the creamy, inviting column of her neck to Chase’s gaze. “There’s a definite attraction there, but Caleb treats her more like a little sister.”

Chase had to resist the urge to dip his head and kiss her throat and that tender, sensitive spot just below her earlobe. “Why?” he asked instead.

Valerie looked back at him, a small smile on her glossy lips. “Probably because Caleb is our boss and he doesn’t want things to get complicated.”

“It’s only complicated if someone
makes
it that way.” And yeah, he’d just made the conversation about the two of
them.

She blinked up at him, and he felt her stiffen ever so slightly. “Relationships
are
complicated.”

“Not if the two people involved are willing to work on the issues between them, whatever they may be.” Before she could formulate a reply, or their discussion turned too serious, he spun her around in his arms and dropped her into a slow, playful dip over his arm that made her laugh and, most important, relax.

He spent the rest of the evening flirting with Valerie and showing her how enjoyable the
right
kind of relationship could be. He touched her at every opportunity, made sure she felt the heat rise between them, and wanted her to remember how good it felt to have his hands on her bare skin, his mouth skimming across intimate, tender places. He danced every slow song with her, and each time they came together, the sensuality and need grew between them. By the end of the night, desire burned bright in her eyes.

When the reception ended, Valerie drove him back to the hotel, since she’d picked him up earlier. She entered the employee parking garage and brought the vehicle to a stop at the private elevators that would take him up to his penthouse.

“I guess this is good night,” Valerie said, her hands gripping the wheel.

Chase took one look into her eyes and knew if he invited her upstairs, she’d come willingly. He’d just spent the past few hours seducing her mind and body, and while he knew they’d ease into sex with no problem, it wasn’t
easy
he was after. Because the next time he had her beneath him, both of them completely naked, he wanted more from her than just her body.

“Yeah, good night,” he said huskily, and had to hold himself back from leaning across the console and kissing her. But he knew what a kiss with Valerie would lead to, and that would defeat his purpose. “I’ll see you at the airport tomorrow morning.”

He got out of the car, and steeling himself against the disappointment that flashed across her features was more difficult than he’d imagined. But he hoped holding out for just a bit longer would be worth it in the long run.

*   *   *

After dropping Chase off at the Onyx, Valerie drove home to her apartment, her thoughts on how fun the evening had been, despite the way Chase had spent the night seducing her, only to leave her aching. The wedding had been simple but beautiful, and the reception afterwards had been one big party, which the Reliance Group always did exceptionally well when they were all together.

Chase had fit right in, not that she’d expected anything less. He was so likable and easy to get along with, and while she’d heard that Skye issued him a friendly warning that included siccing Kane on him if he dared to hurt Valerie, she knew he’d taken it all in stride. Even if Skye
had
been serious.

Besides, the one thing she believed wholeheartedly about Chase was that he would never do anything to deliberately hurt her. She trusted him that much, and every moment she spent with him, she knew he was knocking down barriers and insinuating himself in her life in a way that should have given her an anxiety attack. But instead, for the first time ever, those fears she’d lived with all her life were beginning to subside, and it was getting increasingly more difficult to resist anything about the gorgeous, sexy, charming Chase Pierson.

And did she really want to? She bit her bottom lip, knowing the answer to that question, which was a resounding no. It took way too much energy to deny herself something she wanted so badly, and she decided that while she was in Chicago with Chase, she’d indulge in everything the trip and Chase had to offer. She wanted no regrets when their time together ended.

Arriving at her complex, she parked her vehicle in her carport next to Skye’s, which told Valerie that her friend was already home, and walked toward the building and the stairway leading to the second-floor unit. It was after ten at night, and she pulled her shawl closer around her body to ward off the chill in the air … but something else made her shiver. A premonition that made the hairs on her neck suddenly stand on end.

Not one to ignore her instincts, she picked up her pace, but instead of walking away from whatever threat loomed, she walked straight into it. Angie stepped out from a shadowed alcove, dressed in black all the way down to her running shoes, startling Valerie and bringing her to an abrupt stop.

“Angie!” Valerie knew seeing this particular woman in the middle of the night with no one else around wasn’t a good thing, and she highly doubted Angie had stopped by for a friendly chat. “How did you know where I lived?” Valerie blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

Angie’s lips curved into a malicious smile. “I’ve been following you since you and Chase returned from Florida,” she said, confirming that she’d been in Boca Raton, too, and had been the one to get into their hotel room in San Francisco to read their itinerary. “I figured it was just a matter of time before you returned home from your date with Chase tonight.”

Valerie’s insides were churning, and it took effort to remain calm when she had no idea what Angie was truly capable of. “You need to go before I call the police and have you arrested.”

Valerie started to walk around Angie to get to the main stairway, but the other woman stepped in front of her and blocked her escape. In the next instant, Angie pulled a gun from the pocket of her black leather jacket and pointed it directly at Valerie’s chest.

“Don’t you walk away from me, bitch,” Angie rasped. “You’ve already made everything such a fucking mess when it should have been so simple. I should have gotten rid of you in San Francisco.”

Seeing how truly unstable Angie was, Valerie felt her heart pounding so hard, she could barely breathe, especially since she was
so
close to the building. But she knew she had to keep the other woman talking until she figured out what to do.

“What do you want from me?” Valerie asked.

“I already told you what I wanted when that guy delivered a message to you in Florida, but you didn’t listen,” she ranted as she waved the weapon wildly in the air between them, her face contorted in rage. “I want Chase and I want what he’s after, and you’re in the goddamn way, which I intend to take care of myself since you don’t listen very well.”

Angie cocked the gun, and the blood in Valerie’s veins turned to ice. She swallowed hard, her mind scrambling as she tried to consider her options, but at the moment there weren’t many that didn’t include a bullet somewhere in her body.

“What do you know about what Chase is after?” Valerie asked just as she saw movement behind Angie.

Someone was there, hopefully watching and waiting for an opening. Not yelling out for help took every ounce of strength Valerie possessed, again because Angie had the upper hand with the gun and who knew what would set her off.