Page 7 of Chasin’s Surrender

If Nancy wanted love and care from her son, she shouldn’t have been a cheating twat.

Chasin pocketed his phone, turned to Alec, and admitted, “I haven’t had time to go over the file.”

He’d been gone for four days, got in late last night, and it had taken the better part of the morning to clear out his emails. He hadn’t even opened the file Nixon had left for him.

“No worries. Not much in the file anyway. Record label needs protection for one of their artists—some big-time country star.”

Perfect. After the week from hell, the last thing Chasin wanted to do was deal with some spoiled musician and uppity label people.

“Awesome,” Chasin muttered and Alec smiled.

Some of the tightness in his stomach waned, it was nice seeing his friend happy. Life had thrown Alec a curveball. Not that it wasn’t the best kind the universe could throw, but still, having a baby dropped on your doorstep, one that you hadn’t known you created, would’ve sent a lesser man into a downward spiral.

Sure, Alec had struggled the first few months being a single man in his upper-thirties—what the hell had he known about raising a daughter? However, Alec being Alec, meaning he was sharp and resourceful, had figured it out. Jocelyn was his world. Then he’d met Macy, and with her came her kids, Caleb and Rory. Now Alec’s world was complete.

Lucky bastard.

“When you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen,” Alec said as he turned to leave.

“What?”

“Just because none of us have said anything, doesn’t mean we don’t know something’s up with you. Whatever happened last week that’s got you tweaked, I’m here when you wanna talk about it.”

Fucking Genevieve Ellison.

That’s what happened to him last week. And seven days later, Chasin was still chewing on it. The woman plagued his dreams, invaded his thoughts, and the more he thought about her, the more pissed he became.

The bitch had turned him into the one thing he hated more than anything—a cheat. He didn’t care he wasn’t the one in a relationship, he’d still fucked another man’s woman. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d spent time with her, made her laugh, and started to fall in love. They hadn’t spent a great deal of time together, but enough to know he wanted to get to know her better.

They’d connected.

At least he thought they had.

Memories of that night churned his gut, yet every time he thought about her pretty smile, husky laugh, quick sense of humor, the way she kissed, tasted, felt wrapped around him, his dick got hard and his chest burned.

The woman he’d spent the last week trying to forget, yet knew he never would. She belonged to someone else, was the type of woman he despised. Yet, in some place deep inside of him, Chasin couldn’t shake the feeling that she was perfect for him.

A therapist would have a field day with this shit. Talk about mommy issues—son falling for a cheating liar just like mommy dearest.

What the fuck did that make him?

Weak.

“’Preciate it. But there’s nothing to share. Got played by a bitch. I’m over it. Let’s get this done so I can get home and get some sleep.”

Alec took in Chasin, assessing the veracity of his answer, quickly calculating the lie. Alec gave him a curt nod. “We’ll talk after the meeting.”

Again, awesome.

Chasin hit the lobby and jerked to a halt.

What the fuck?

Genevieve.

In the flesh—standing right the fuck in front of him.

Long brown hair, straight as a pin, and he knew she didn’t do anything to make it that way. A sexy sleeve of tattoos twined around her right arm—ivy, orchids, sunflowers, daisies, gardenias, a medley of flowers from wrist to shoulder. All vibrant colors that at the time Chasin had thought fit her personality. She was in cut-off shorts, cowboy boots, and some flowy top that hid her breasts, yet still managed to tease.