She squeezed him tighter and kissed his neck gently. “No,” she whispered. “Please. You have to let me do this on my own. I have to face them. Alone. Or I’ll never be able to look myself in the eye again. This is my battle, and if you care about my well-being at all, you will let me fight it.” She held her breath, waiting.
It was so wrong to play on the feelings she felt growing between them. But if Chase discovered who her father was, she didn’t know what he would do. They’d had a breakthrough last night, and she didn’t want to jeopardize it, no matter what.
He held her arm, gripping it tightly. “Damn it, Elizabeth. Don’t do this.” He only used her full name when she was being naughty. Or when he was really, really pissed.
Oh, well. She’d gone toe-to-toe with his anger and survived. Barely. She was not going to back down. If her plan had any minuscule hope of success, it was only if she went alone. The minute her father realized her connection to Chase, he’d try even harder to destroy the man who was starting to mean more to her than she wanted to admit.
She waited patiently for Chase’s decision, letting the silence draw out between them.
Finally, he sighed. “You’re not going to budge on this one, are you?”
“Not a chance,” she said.
“I don’t like it.”
“I know.”
He turned his head, spearing her with that hard gaze of his. “You call me the second you feel like you need me. I’ll be there.”
“I know you will, baby.” She kissed him, trying to show him how much his support meant to her.
She forced herself not to smile when he ushered her into the car. He was going to drop her off at her place before going to the bank to plead his case. If her father had any say in the matter, he wouldn’t get anywhere, regardless of what deal he was willing to sign with the bank.
“You are a world-class brat. I’ve completely spoiled you. You know that, right?” he said as he drove toward her house.
She grinned. “I know. And you wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said sweetly, leaning across the console to rest her head on his shoulder.
“Yeah, probably not.” He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. “Remember to hold on to that orgasm for me, sweetheart. All day. You don’t get to come until I tell you to tonight.” His hand left the gearshift and traveled up the inside of her dress. She squirmed and swatted at his hand, sliding back into her seat.
“Stop that,” she said, giggling. But the words weren’t forceful. She didn’t really want him to stop, and they both knew it.
His hand moved expertly north as he drove, his gaze never leaving the road. Her thighs parted, granting him entrance.
“Son of a bitch,” he said between clenched teeth when his seeking fingers came into contact with bare flesh.
She hadn’t bothered to put panties on after her shower. It was so incredibly sexy to know she was walking around without underwear. All for him. She inhaled sharply as his fingers played with her.
“God, woman. This is all I’m going to be able to think about when I’m in that meeting. Do you know that?”
She would have laughed, but he chose that moment to tap her mound hard, and she cried out instead.
“You better think about me touching you here.” He rubbed her. “About how much I want nothing more than to pull this car over, lift your skirt, and bury my face between your thighs until you scream my name.”
She moaned.
“Say it. Say my name.” He swiped his fingers up and down her folds.
“Chase,” she whispered, panting.
He pressed his thumb into her clit, and she screamed. “Good girl.” He massaged his way down her inner thigh and settled her skirt over her legs again.
She shifted in the seat, unable to keep still, her body seeking release, her folds aching.
“It’s going to be
hours
until I let you come.” His dark voice wrapped itself around her, and she tipped her head back, her eyes rolling, her body flooding with a rush of chemicals.
He slowed the car to a stop in her driveway, and she sat up, hissing as her thighs brushed together. He cupped a breast and thumbed her taut nipple. “Mmm, that would taste so good right now.” He drew out every word, making her shiver with that hypnotic voice of his. Half the fun of submitting to him was the way he messed with her head, telling her all the dirty and glorious things he was going to do to her body before he did them. It heightened the pleasure and, sometimes, the edge of fear they played with as well.
He leaned across her body, crowding her against the seat, his heat sizzling along her skin. The passenger door popped open. “Well, off you go,” he said, his voice downright cheery.
She glared at him but didn’t comment. But as she stepped out of the car and glanced around, making sure no one was looking, she couldn’t help acting on a naughty impulse. She boldly slipped her hand up her dress, pulling the fabric out of the way so he could watch as she held herself and thrust her hips gently against her hand.
She moaned, and he clenched his jaw tight. She had to stop, right now. In another second, she wouldn’t be able to. She moved her hand back, settling her dress in place, and closed the door in his face without a word. She sauntered away, swaying her hips enticingly. Her phone buzzed to life between her breasts. She reached in and took it out.
I’m going to make you pay dearly for that.
She panted at his threat, turned back toward the car, and smiled at him through the windshield.
Naughty
, he mouthed. She lifted her hand in a half wave as he pulled out of the driveway. She let herself into the house with the keypad lock he had insisted on installing last week. She’d allowed him to have his way, since it was really a cool little device.
She took a few minutes to relax, drank some iced tea, and grabbed her phone. Dusty’s number was already saved in her contacts. She dialed, knowing she had to hurry to catch him before he was due to meet Chase at the bank.
“Hello?” he said.
“Hey, Dusty. It’s, uh, Liz. I need your help.”
“Uh, yeah, babe. I’ve only got a sec, but what’s up?”
“Well, you know that lovely senator who’s been trying to run you and Chase into the ground?”
“Hmmm… Yup, rings a bell.”
“Well, the SOB’s my father.”
Silence.
Liz took a deep breath, waiting.
“What?” Dusty’s voice blasted through her ear, and she pulled her phone away to save her hearing.
“Yeah.”
“Does Chase know?”
“No. And it needs to stay that way. At least for now. You have to swear you won’t say a word.”
“Oh, honey, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“He cannot know. Period. Do you hear me?”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. I think I might be able to talk some sense into him, but it’s a long shot. I’m not banking on it. But I have a plan. First, what do you owe on the loan?”
“Liz…I—”
“Are you going to make me keep repeating myself, Dusty?” she demanded in her hardest voice. Things would go a lot easier if he would shut up and do what he was told. For Chase, she would do whatever she had to so she could fix this situation. And that included lying to him, though she knew he’d hate her for it later.
“Fifty grand.”
That was more than she’d thought. She started thinking. If she put her house up for collateral, the bank might take it, but the minute her dad found her name was anywhere connected to this mess, he’d shut the deal down.
“Okay. Listen up,” she said, not letting the enormity of the loan derail her. She launched into an explanation of how they were going to use her father’s own methods against him. She’d learned a hell of a lot standing on the sidelines of his career. She’d made friends in high places, and she knew just who to call for favors. She would use every piece of leverage she’d garnered over the years.
As her plan unfolded, Dusty started to laugh. “Damn, woman, you’re nuts. You really think this will work?”
“It has to. At the very least it will buy you guys some time. If those rezoning laws go into effect, it won’t matter if you figure out a way to pay off the loan; you won’t be able to reopen the club anyway. My father is not screwing around. He’s going to do everything he can to run you out of business and out of town. I know him, better than I wish I did sometimes. He’s ruthless. And he’s never going to stop until you are gone or someone beats him at his own game.”
“Well, you can thank him for one thing.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“The mile-wide mean streak you’re threatening to unleash.”
“It’s not a threat. One way or another, his crusade is coming to a screeching halt. And soon.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Just say the word. But I gotta run. Chase is expecting me.”
“I know. You breathe a word of this to him, and I’ll cut your balls off with a rusty knife.”
“Oh, you’re evil,” he said, fear coloring his words.
She hung up and got in the car, on her way to face the man who’d made her life miserable her entire childhood. She would try to sway him with logic, manipulate him any way she could think of. But she didn’t hold out much hope it would work.
Now or never, Clark.
It was time to go to bat for the man who had shown her what it was like to truly be alive. The man she might someday be able to love.
Chapter Eighteen
Liz’s hand crept up to her earlobe, and she hastily yanked it away. The past couple of weeks, she’d barely engaged in the nervous habit, and she wasn’t going to let her father make her start again. She refused to give him that much power over her any longer.
As she drove to her parents’ house, she held tightly to her phone instead, knowing Chase was only a text or call away. She wanted to confront her dad on her own. Like she’d told Chase, this was her battle to fight, and she had to face the senator down all by herself. But as she neared the house, her anxiety spiked, and she knew if she needed him, Chase would be right there. The promise of his support calmed her, warmed her, and gave her strength.
So when she pulled into her parents’ driveway, anger had replaced her fear. How dare her father think he could impose his warped sense of right and wrong on an entire town? How dare he come after Chase? Liz wrapped herself in her wrath and pounded up the walkway and to the steps. She banged the brass knocker instead of ringing the bell. After a minute, she heard the muffled sounds of her parents’ voices on the other side of the door.
Just when she was sure they weren’t going to answer, the door swung open. “I need to talk to you about—”
“I told you never to come back here,” her father bellowed and slammed the door in her face. The urge to punch the door rode her hard, but she suppressed it, refusing to give him the satisfaction.
She could almost picture her mother on the other side of the door, ringing her hands, her eyes filled with unshed tears. Well, if she wanted to see Liz, she knew where to go.
Liz stared at the door for another second, not sure how she was supposed to feel. She should feel something, right? The last time they’d kicked her out, she’d fallen to pieces. Now she felt nothing.
She strutted to her car with her head held high. She got behind the wheel and started the car. So much for talking sense into her father. Should have known it wasn’t worth it to try. But Chase was worth the effort. Somehow in the past two weeks, what her parents thought of her had ceased to matter. Yet her hand was halfway to her ear when her phone buzzed. Crap. This time, though, she figured her anxiety was less about her parents and more about how she was going to help Chase. Without him knowing it.
She reached for her phone and sighed at his text.
You okay?
Sometimes it was like the man had ESP, for crying out loud.
Did not go well. I’m done. You may now consider me an orphan
, she responded.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
Well, screw them. You okay?
:-) Yeah. I think so. Gonna go home. Take a long bath.
After which she’d make the first round of phone calls to undermine her father. But she kept that information to herself.
Hmmm. Naked and wet. Thanks for the visual.
How’s your meeting going?
About as well as yours did, I’m afraid.
I’m sorry.
But she wasn’t surprised. She drove back to her cottage. Her phone buzzed all the way home, tempting her to pull over and read his texts, but she resisted. As soon as the car was in park, she scrolled through his messages.
Don’t be. Dusty and I will figure something out. Especially if you’ll help. We’ll be leaving here soon and heading to the lawyer’s office.
Have a nice bath. Not too nice, of course. Remember what I said. Touch yourself for me. Just enough to make you all hot and bothered. But not enough to make you come. That’s my job. And I take my job
very
seriously. Should I tell you what I’m going to do to you tonight?
Liz?
Elizabeth. Answer me. Now.
She waited a minute, a smile on her face and a flutter in her belly. Should she make him wait longer for a reply?
Sorry, Sir. Was driving home. Didn’t think you would want me reading your orders while behind the wheel. Going inside now.
She punched her code into her door and stepped inside, dropping her purse on the table beside the door.
She didn’t have to worry about locking up behind her since the door did that automatically. She’d been pissed when she woke up and found Chase elbow-deep in power tools, installing the new handle and lock. Now his insistence on safety made her smile and shake her head. Maybe letting him take care of her wasn’t the worst thing in the world after all. She was still her.
The phone buzzed again as she walked farther into the house, toward the bathroom. She stopped in the kitchen to grab a half-full bottle of white wine from the fridge and a wineglass.
Don’t be smart with me, brat.
Grinning, she turned the water on and plugged the tub. She set the bottle and glass down on the edge of the tub, then pulled her dress over her head and toed off her sandals. The whole morning, she’d been acutely aware of her lack of panties, and now, as she discarded her bra, she felt free for the first time in forever.