Page 8 of Forgiving Chase


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He took a deep breath. “I’m here to help you. Let me. Let's get you back to your room.”

She fought to regain her balance and realized it would be easier to tell him what he wanted to know than to continue fighting him.“I saw the truck that ran me off the road last night from my window. At least I think it was the same truck.”

“So, you were going to run out back and flag him down? You can barely stand. What are you thinking?”

Annoyed, she gritted her teeth and took a deep breath to steady her voice. “I’m thinking if I can get his license plate number, Josh can find out who he is.”

“You are in no condition to take that risk. Let's go.”He reached for her arm once again to lead her back up the stairwell.

She stood firm. “How would you know what kind of condition I'm in? How are you even here?”

Flashes of his mother in the ER came to her. She was a nurse. Her nurse. “Your mother shouldn't have told you anything about me. Isn't there such a thing as patient confidentiality?”

“You thought you saw me in your room last night after someone tried to overdose you. I can assure you, I wasn't there.”

“Overdose?”

Memoriesclickedinto place. Yes, she thought she'd seen him, but it wasn't him. One look at the stubble covering the lower half of his face confirmed that. No, it must have been Aiden. That must be why he was here.Toclean up Aiden's mess again.

His face softened and he fixed her with deep blue eyes. She remembered that look. Remembered how she’d prayed she'd see it again. She looked away.

“Are you all right?” The softness of his voice tickled her insides.

“Why do you care?” The words, spoken too harshly, hung between them.

Shocked, his eyeswidened, and he pulled back. “You think I wouldn't care if something happened to you?”

“After all these years of never hearing from you? No, I don’t.”

“Well, you’re wrong.” He stared at her for a long moment.

She took a deep, steadying breath. “Listen, I just want to go outside and try to get the license plate number off that truck. Please, move out of my way.”

“I’ll tell you what, you go back to bed and I'll go down to the parking lot and see if I can find this truck. Deal?”

As she looked into those stubborn eyes, she realized she had no choice. “Fine. It's an older model, and blue.”

“I’m on it. Do you need help back to your room?”

“No,” she said sharply and stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Obviously he knew nothing about her. Why should he? He left a long time ago and never looked back.

“If you need anything, ask the guard at the door. His name is RonnieDenkin.”

She wheeled around and stared at him. “Wait. You hired my guard?”

“Yes, I'm working this case. Josh said he was down a man and could use the help.”

Her jaw hardened and she bit her tongue. She was the reason he was down a man. Suddenly, she remembered why Guardian Security sounded so familiar. It was his company. Chase McKenzie, the man who acted like herodeinto her rescue, was the one man who provedhe couldn’t be counted on or trusted.

“I’m having a hard time believing Josh thought to call you for help.”

“He didn’t. I called him and offered once I heard what happened. We might not have seen each other in a while, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. Let me help you. It’s what I’m good at. It’s what I do.”

She shrugged. “Seems to me, I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter.” She turned using all her energy to hide the fact that she was ready to collapse. One thing was certain, she would never let that man know how much she might need him.

4

Chase rolled backon his heels as the shutters dropped over Jacquie's eyes. She didn't want him working the case. He didn't blame her; he didn’t exactly welcome the idea of working with her either, but he wouldn't let old feelingsinterfere with thejob. They'd been young, and what they had together had been a lifetime ago.

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