Page 4 of Rescuing Sadie

“Let me make something perfectly clear, Sparky, the last thing I think about when I’m around you is babysitting. You’re what, twenty-five? Only two years younger than me?”

“Yeah,” she answered reluctantly, hating that she’d thrown the same words at Chase that she had her uncle. “But you act a lot older,” she told him defensively when he didn’t say anything.

Chase grinned at her. Fuck, she was cute.

“And don’t stand there smirking at me,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

The smile left Chase’s face. “I’ve seen a lot,” he told her quietly. “Too much. So much that there’s no way I’m going to leave you here to fend for yourself when that asshole is out there, dying to get his hands on you. That is in no way baby-fucking-sitting. I can protect you, Sparky. Make no mistake.”

“Why are you calling me that?” she asked, instead of commenting on his over-the-top statement.

“What…Sparky?”

“Yeah.”

Chase grinned. “Red Hair. Explosive personality. Fire. It fits you. I like it.”

Sadie stared at him for a long moment before rolling her eyes. “You think I’ve never heard that one before? Newsflash, I’ve been called every name under the sun related to red hair. Chucky, Copper Top, Red, Carrot Top, Rusty, Fire Crotch—that one by an asshole at college, who thought he was God’s gift to women and was pissed I wouldn’t give him the time of day—Red Riding Hood, Pippi, Annie, and even Garfield. Sparky isn’t even that creative, all things considered.”

Chase took a step closer to her, and she took a step backward before squaring her shoulders and glaring at him. He reached out a hand and tugged on one of her curls. He let the piece of hair wrap around his finger before slowly palming the side of her head with his large hand. He smiled at her. “I’d never disrespect you by calling you something derogatory. Sparky is an endearment, and a compliment. You don’t take crap from people, and the passion I see burning inside matches the color of your hair. Both are beautiful, and I respect the hell out of you.”

“Oh.”

Not taking his hand from the side of her head, Chase leaned into Sadie, close enough he could smell the jasmine lotion she’d used that morning. “Anything else you need me to clarify?”

Her eyes were huge in her face as she stared up at him. She stood stock-still, as if afraid to move. “Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “You don’t even like me.”

“Not like you?” he asked incredulously. “Is that what you think?”

She nodded. “I heard you telling my uncle on the phone that I was impulsive, and not in a good way. You also said it was stupid of me to keep going to that school to assist Milena after I had my suspicions about what was happening there. You told him that he sure hadn’t taught me anything in the time I’d worked for McKay-Taggart, even if I was only the receptionist.”

“Yeah?” Chase asked, sounding unconcerned.

“Yeah. And you even told him that you thought I needed a ‘keeper.’”

When she didn’t continue, Chase asked, “You overhear anything else?”

Sadie shook her head slightly, her hair still caught in his fingers. “No. I left after that. I decided I’d heard plenty.”

“You didn’t eavesdrop long enough, Sadie. You didn’t hear me tell your uncle that, for someone who hadn’t been trained, you had a remarkable innate ability to know what to do in an emergency situation, and I was fucking impressed.”

Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him in shock.

“Or that, while you might have been irresponsible by continuing to go to work with Milena, I thought you were incredibly brave to have blown the whistle on the operation in the first place, and then continue to go there to protect her, even when you had a pretty good idea what was happening to the girls behind the walls of that hellhole.”

Sadie’s mouth closed with a snap.

“I like you, Sadie Jennings. I might not always like the things you do, but I do understand why you’re doing them. That it’s just who you are.”

“You like me?”

Chase wanted to grin, she was so fucking adorable, but he didn’t. “Yeah, Sparky. I like you. I like you enough that the thought of Jonathan getting his hands on you makes me physically ill. I’ve spent the last month getting the approval of my commanding officer to make you my official job. To make sure you’re safe. The weapons stockpile the Feds found in the secret tunnels of the school was enough to get that approval. RPGs aren’t the kind of weapon the average citizen should have at their disposal. So, while your uncle, his friends and brothers, and the FBI track down Jonathan and eliminate the threat hanging over you, I’m going to keep you safe. With help from Fletch, Ghost, and the others.”

“This is ridiculous, Chase. I’ll be fine up in Dallas. Uncle Sean will make sure I’m safe,” Sadie told him. “Watching over me twenty-four seven has to have gotten old.”

Chase tightened his hand in her hair. “It hasn’t.”

Sadie sighed in frustration. “I’m putting you out. I’m in the way. Let me go home, Chase.”