Page 111 of Lead Me On
Jane looked down at her coffee, distressed by the hurt in his voice. He’d looked so happy until she’d gotten worried about that little kiss. Crud.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Chase met her eyes over the edge of his coffee cup. Those eyes saw through her. They saw through her and he didn’t like what he was seeing. “Why’d you call, Jane? I thought maybe you were coming around. I guess I was wrong.”
“I…” She was afraid to say it. Afraid to say that she couldn’t stop thinking about him and she missed him and maybe she’d been wrong the whole time. “I… I called my mom last week!” she blurted out. “I invited her over for a drink and then yesterday I went to her house for pizza and a movie.”
Frowning, he set the cup down. “Why are you saying that like you’ve never done it before?”
“Because I’ve never done it before.”
“Wow.”
“I don’t want you to think my problems have anything to do with you.”
“I know it’s not about me, but that doesn’t make it easier to be treated like trash.”
“Oh. I’ve tried to tell you how I—”
“I get that, Jane. Why would I be here if I didn’t get it?”
“I’m sorry. I’m trying to change. I’m reaching out to my mom, but…” They fell into silence. Chase added another sugar to his coffee. He played with the empty paper packet.
When he cleared his throat, Jane jumped.
“Look,” he said. “I’m sorry I kept that arrest from you. You were right. I did it deliberately. I knew you wouldn’t like it, so I kept quiet. But I swear to you, it was a onetime screwup. My boss didn’t even fire me.”
She nodded. Of course she understood. She wasn’t that big a hypocrite. “You don’t have to apologize. I’ve been keeping so many secrets for years….”
While she was still trying to put her thoughts into words, the waitress rushed over, setting four plates in front of Chase. The lumberjack special with blueberry pancakes, plus a side of wheat toast and half a grapefruit.
Chase poured syrup on the pancakes. “So what was it like, hanging out with your mom?”
Relief tightened her throat. She didn’t want to argue. She just wanted totalkto him. “It was nice. It would’ve been nicer if Grandma Olive hadn’t been there.”
He smiled, and Jane’s skin flashed hot. For a moment she just watched him eat, aware of a creeping feeling of jealousy for the blueberry pancakes. He seemed to be enjoying them immensely. She wanted Chase to be enjoyingherlike that.
Chase pushed the plate toward her. “You can have the rest.”
“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.”
“Why are you drooling over my pancakes, then?”
Crud. Jane took the pancakes just to avoid saying “I’m starving foryou.” Still, she watched him while he ate. The muscles of his jaw shifted, drawing her eye to his temple and beyond to the last little tendrils of his tattoo.
Funny, this whole situation had started because she’d lost it over Greg’s chewing. Now she was getting turned on by Chase eating breakfast.
Unbelievable.
Chase cleared his throat. “So why did you call?”
Because I miss you so much I can’t stand it.She swallowed those revealing words. “I wanted to talk.”
He set down his fork. “About what?”
About anything.But he was watching her too closely and she couldn’t get any words out. “Go ahead and eat. I don’t want your food to get cold.”
He picked up his fork and started on the eggs.
