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“I’m sorry. She called you last week, right? That must be hard.”
He nodded. “It was always hard. I’m not saying it’s easy now. But normally I go to a dark place after the mention of Peyton’s case. I pretty much expected to feel miserable after Sam walked out the door—waited for it to hit me even. Took a deep breath while I was waiting, and you know what happened?”
“What?”
“I smelled you on me.”
I blinked a few times. “I don’t understand.”
He shrugged. “Neither do I. But I fucking love smelling you on me.”
He looked so sincere, even though it was a bizarre thing to say.
“And smelling me made you feel better?”
His grin was lopsided. “Uh-huh.”
“Okay then.” I fought a blush. “I really should get back to work.”
“Dinner tonight?”
“I’d like that. How about if I make you something at my place?”
“Even better. Then I don’t have to wait to get you home to get you naked.”
***
Over the years, I’d learned to accept my neuroses. Checking under the bed, behind the shower curtain, and inside every closet had become part of my daily routine. I didn’t try to change it. I’d let it become part of who I was instead of letting it define me. Plenty of women were extra precautious…especially living in New York City. Yet, as I was about to enter my apartment with Chase right behind me, I wished like hell that my compulsions could take the night off. I unlocked the top lock, and my key hovered at the next one. Deciding to just get it over with before going inside, I spun around and confessed right there in the hallway.
“I have a routine when I get home.”
Chase’s eyebrows drew together. “Okay…”
“I told you I have issues with safety. I check behind the shower curtain, open all the closet doors, check under the bed and couch.” I paused and chewed on the nail of my pointer finger. “I have a routine, and I do it in a certain order. And I do it at least twice—sometimes more if I don’t feel calm after the second time. Although most days it’s only two passes.”
He said nothing for a few seconds, his eyes questioning. Finding I was dead serious, he nodded. “Show me the routine, and after you’re finished with the first pass, I’ll take the second.”
I had no idea what I’d expected him to say, but that answer couldn’t have made me happier. He didn’t poke fun or belittle my safety concerns. Instead he was going to pitch in. Pushing up on my tippy toes, I planted a sweet kiss on his lips.
“Thank you.”
Tallulah, of course, was waiting with green eyes glowing in the dark. If I ever had a house, I could put the beast in the window to scare away children at Halloween. I flicked on the lights, and Ugly Kitty stared at Chase as she licked her lips.
I know, Ugly Kitty, I know. He’s pretty delectable.
“Jesus, she’s even uglier in person,” he said.
I scooped Tallulah from the top of the couch and kneeled down to check beneath it, beginning my rounds. Chase followed quietly along. After my last checkpoint, I turned to him. “That’s it.”
He set the bottle of wine he was holding down on the kitchen counter and took Kitty from my arms.
“I’ll be back.”
Watching him go through my routine was comical. He must have thought holding the kitty was part of it. I didn’t bother to tell him because…well, because oddly, I really liked watching the oversized man walk around and check my closets for prospective intruders while holding a hairless cat. It certainly wasn’t a sight you see every day.
Finishing, he bent down, let Tallulah go, and walked into the kitchen where he began to open my drawers, looking for something. Finding a bottle opener, he spoke as he unscrewed the cork. “How’d I do?”
“Perfect. You’re hired. You can come sweep my apartment for criminals every night, if you like.”
He pulled the cork from the bottle with a loud pop. “Be careful. I might take you up on that.”
Since my refrigerator was even emptier than I’d thought, we ordered in Chinese food. I got the kung pao chicken, and Chase chose shrimp lo mein. We sat on the floor in the living room, eating out of containers with chopsticks and swapping meals from time to time.
“Do you think Sam knows?” I asked.
“About us?”
“Yes.”
“No. She’s not subtle. If she knew, she’d say it.”
“How do you think she would feel if she did know? Considering I’m an employee and all.”
“Doesn’t matter. She doesn’t like it, I’ll make her change the policy.”
“From prohibited relationships to screwing in the office strongly encouraged?”
He grinned. “Absolutely.”
I’d been thinking about the things I overhead in the bathroom all afternoon. While the conversation was obviously not meant for my ears, I couldn’t unhear it. Part of my hesitancy with jumping into this relationship full force with Chase—even aside from him being my boss—was wondering where his relationship with Peyton had left him. Whether he could truly move on. What shrine had Sam been referring to? I’d been in his house, and nothing had struck me as unusual.
