I opened the door and let him in but that didn’t mean he was off the hook.
"Did the swooping in to save the day not speak for itself and completely absolve me of any wrongdoing?" he wondered.
"You singlehandedly saved the day, is that how you remember it?" I asked instead of giving into warring impulses and either laughing or punching him.
"I never said singlehandedly. Obviously you were a large part of saving your own ass. Maybe I was hoping this harrowing experience put you in a forgiving mood and you’d let me off easily?"
"You don’tdeserveto be let off easily."
"Yeah, I know,” Chase agreed. “The thought of me screwing things up and harming you or Merritt was torturing me. I’ve never really had anything worth protecting before, not in my personal life. So I thought it’d be safer not to have you. I was being an idiot and… I’m sorry. I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere. If you’ll let me stay."
His earnest, puppy dog expression turned on at full force. Either my eyes saw clearer in the dark or he just broadcasted it so clearly.
Ah, there was the crash. I suddenly felt tired.
"Let’s talk tomorrow. We were fighting for our lives not too long ago. Getting carried away in the heat of the moment won’t help. Don’t promise me anything or say anything—"
"I love you," Chase said.
"—we’ll regret later. Like that."
"I’m not saying it because of adrenaline or because you were recently in danger. I’ve been falling for you for a while now. Remember when we decided to cool things down, then you flashed your eyes?”
"You changed your mind, you said Aaron gave you some advice."
“It was more like a reminder. Aaron encouraged me and I made some remark about how I’d lost count of the number of times Merritt threatened to gut me with his claws but me hooking up with the focus of a case under his own roof while I’m supposed to be protecting him? That’s the only time I’m afraid he'll follow through on the threat. Aaron told me that was bullshit.”
"Really? I can’t imagine Merritt being happy in that scenario."
"Oh, of course not. He’d be furious. Scream, yell, have a coronary, heal from it, then have another one. To add insult to injury, there isn’t much he could do. It happens."
"Sure, but—"
"It happened to him. I’m one of the few people that not only knows all the details of how Merritt met his mate but also had a front row seat. Merritt was supposed to be guarding Aaron."
"I thought they met as part of your work, but I didn’t know the details."
"Yeah, Aaron was supposed to be off-limits, but Mr. By-the-Book himself broke the rules. That’s what Aaron reminded me. Merritt would only kill me if I had a fling or one night stand with somebody involved in a case. He couldn’t get too annoyed if this was something real since he’d done the same thing. I had a feeling it was real.”
"You didn’t say that before."
“We’d only hooked up once. Part of me was honestly a little freaked that I felt so strongly for anybody. But I had a feeling that night and then being with you confirmed everything. One night with you was never going to be enough.”
"Oh. You aren’t scared anymore?"
“I said freaked out, not scared… Yeah, I’m a little fucking terrified. Because this matters. But that’s not going to stop me again. I love you and if you’re willing to put up with my ass now that you don’t have to, we should—"
I kissed him. “Sorry, you were saying?"
"I was?"
"What should we do?"
"Whatever you want."
I kissed him again before parting our lips to inform him, “I love you too.”
29.Shiny New You
