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He side-eyes me from his periphery. “And those would be?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I heard it’s probably something violent. And messy. And filled with loads of paperwork. Incidentally, what are you afraid of most in this world? Because that’s involved as well.”
“You have access to rattlesnakes?” Chase asks with a chuckle.
“Yes,” I reply with impressive seriousness. “It may not be common for most New Yorkers, but I’ve got a whole den of eastern diamondbacks shake, rattle, and rolling on my outside terrace.”
He glances away from the road long enough to look me up and down, goes back to the road, and then does it again before saying anything. I let him have his moment of observation, but the wait is absolutely terrifying. I’m sitting here in Benji’s dog costumes, for goodness’ sake. It’s not exactly the ideal getup for a situation like this.
“Brooke…you are…” He shakes his head and bites into the plump-y flesh of his lower lip. His lucky, lucky lip.
“Insane?”
“One of the funniest humans I’ve ever met in my life. I don’t know how you do it, but I’m pretty sure this smile is branded into my features at this point.”
I sit back into my seat and stare out the windshield with an audible howl of disbelief. “I think what’s happening here is that you’re slowly becoming delirious and your standards of humor are too low.”
“If that’s the case, I’ve known a lot of really unfunny people in my life. Like, startingly unfunny. Because you’re miles above them.”
“Okay, okay, cool it, Mr. Complimenter. All of this is going to go to my head, and my joke-writing skills are going to be locked up tighter than a sex-toy drawer in a nun’s room.”
“No way. I have a hard time believing Brooke Baker lives in any state other than perpetual hilarity. In fact, I refuse to believe it.”
I snort. “I spend a fair amount of time in the states of ‘pathetic’ and ‘wallowing’ too. Just ask Benji. He’ll confirm.”
Benji lifts his head from the couch and opens his eyes into the tiniest slits before falling back into the lulling coma only a house on wheels can provide.
“Okay,” I mutter to myself. “Maybe now isn’t the best time to ask him. But I’m telling you, it’s true.”
Chase opens his mouth to respond, but when his phone starts to ring, vibrating and shaking in the cupholder between our seats, his attention is redirected. He reaches for it, glances at the screen to identify the caller, and then groans aloud.
My eyebrows draw together at his sudden and obvious disdain while he tosses the phone back into the cupholder unanswered and replaces both hands on the wheel.
“Spam? The other, other meat? Calling about your car’s extended warranty, perhaps?” I ask playfully, and it’s the perfect shield for my unbridled and unhealthy curiosity.
He laments. “If only.”
“Wow,” I remark. “Worse than the car warranty people? Must be really bad.”
He runs a hand over his face and ruffles the top of his hair before letting out a big exhale. “Caroline. My ex-fiancée.”
My heart does a flip in my chest. Even just hearing him use the word fiancée is enough to send my completely unfounded and unearned jealousy nerve into a tailspin. “Oh, schnikes. That is bad.”
He chuckles dryly. “Yeah. It’s best if I just don’t answer.”
I nod. I can see the merit of that completely. Out of sight, out of mind.
But on the other hand, this is the second time he’s dealing with her on this little adventure alone, and we’ve barely even started, in the grand scheme of things. Maybe Caroline doesn’t need to be ignored. Maybe she needs the opposite.
And maybe it’s wrong and completely overzealous, but I pick up his phone from the cupholder and scroll into his recent calls with ease. The screen hasn’t even slept since he put it down, so I’m beyond needing a password.
I hover over her name and look to him for permission. “Do you mind?”
“Mind? I don’t… What are you going to do?”
I shrug. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. My heart is beating wildly, and my tongue has taken up residence in my throat. This behavior is completely outside of the bounds of what I’d consider normal for myself, and yet, I can’t stop.
I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know that Chase doesn’t need to be dealing with a woman who slept with his best friend repeatedly if he doesn’t want to be. Period.
“Call her back. That’s…kind of as far as I’ve thought it out.”
“Holy shit.”
“I know.” I cringe. “You can totally tell me no, and I’ll respect that. I have no idea how it’s going to go, and you didn’t exactly order a rogue agent to act on your behalf. Smacking me in the face is totally allowed, too—for this time, and this time only.”
