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She was smiling at me as she put me in check on the chessboard, but her beautiful hazel eyes were still slightly haunted.
Not that she really talked about her fears much, and the woman had been braver than an injured soldier twice her size during her recovery, but I could sense that the uneasiness was still there.
It was going to take time. I knew that. Hopefully, she’d feel more secure once we were back in the States.
“Check,” she said as she finished her move.
I lifted a brow from my cross-legged position on the other side of the board. “Do you really think I can’t get out of this one?”
I could absolutely get myself out of check, but hell, I had to give Vanna credit that she could play so well while she was still recovering from her injuries.
The sigh that she released from her lips went straight through me as she answered wistfully, “I’m sure you can, but it’s fun to watch you do it.”
“Evil woman,” I muttered as I figured out which move to make.
Savannah was a worthy opponent, and I was sure she could win as many games as she lost judging by her skill in her current condition.
“Thank you for staying with me until I was better,” she said as she watched me make my move. “You missed the holidays with your family, Chase.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Torie would have been even more miserable if you’d been here alone. She was chomping at the bit to get to Panama.”
Not that I would have left Vanna, even if Torie had shown up.
My little sister had come down with a bad case of the flu, which had kept her in California. She and Savannah had spoken by phone, and Vanna had assured Torie that she’d see her soon to keep my little sister from getting on Cooper’s jet.
Wyatt had stayed several days to make sure that Vanna was out of danger. He’d returned to the States to handle a few things at Durand that had to be completed by the beginning of the year.
“Itisa big deal,” she argued. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
I wasn’t sure how to answer.
Like I would have been anywhere else?
I’d been apprehensive even though I was right here by her side.
I would have been completely wrecked if I was far away.
I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but I was totally obsessed with protecting her until she was well again.
To me, the way I felt made sense.
She was my little sister’s best friend, and I’d treated Vanna like a sister when she was a kid.
Yeah, maybe those old protective instincts toward Vanna had resurfaced with a vengeance, but wasn’t it natural considering the circumstances?
I couldn’t have left her even if I wanted to, and I couldn’t fucking imagine not wanting to be here for her.
Maybe, during a happier time, I had a brief moment when I’d wanted to get her naked.
Thathad been a very bad idea and totally unrealistic, especially when I already knew that kind of intimacy wasn’t in the cards for me anymore.
I had no idea what I’d been thinking the day of Torie’s wedding in Vegas. I wasn’t a guy any woman wanted in her bed next to her anymore.
I wasn’t sure how I’d forgotten that for a single second.
The only thing I could ever be to Vanna was a friend and protector.
Neither one ofthoseroles were undoable for me. In fact, I was pretty much adamant that I was the perfect man for that job.
