Wild at Heart (Healing Harts) Read online

  With Justin on the warpath, out for his blood, and Bailey pissed at him, how was he even supposed to bring up the subject of her staying?

  Justin wasn’t wrong about would likely happen if Bailey left. And, as much as he believed she deserved to know about her mother, it wasn’t his place to tell her. She’d be in for a culture shock and he was just as concerned as her family was about what dangers lurked for a single woman in LA, living with a group of men, but he didn’t have any right to voice his opinion. It wasn’t like she’d ever asked for it, and he couldn’t explain to her why he’d returned without telling her the truth about Lance and how he’d been to blame for his death. Right now, Bailey still saw him the way the rest of the town did, a returning hero. Justin was the only person who knew what happened, and Chase chose to keep it that way. The last thing he wanted was to lose her respect and admiration, especially since he wasn’t even sure she’d still consider him a friend if he continued to avoid discussing last night.

  What a freakin’ mess.

  “Is this mine?”

  Chase opened one eye and rolled his head to one side, looking back over his shoulder. Bailey emerged from the hall, the wet strands of her hair combed over her shoulder, her face dewy and youthfully pretty without any makeup. She looked sweet and innocent in flannel pants and a dark T-shirt. Desire curled its warm hands around his chest. How in the hell did she manage to make flannel look sexy?

  “Yeah. Two sugars and cream, right?”

  “You broke into my room while I was showering.” She tilted her head to one side. “Why? To prove you could?”

  He could have told her it was to make her realize that she needed to take better measures to protect herself, that being so trusting of the people around her wasn’t going to cut it once she moved. He could claim that he’d wanted her to see how easily someone could hurt her if she wasn’t careful. Instead, Chase looked away, disgusted with himself. In reality, it had been nothing more than a childish tantrum, exactly what she thought, making him no less overbearing than Justin.

  “Look, if you’re not going to tell me what happened last night, we don’t have anything to talk about. You know where the door is. Since you’re so adept at letting yourself in, I’m sure you can let yourself out.”

  He had one chance to salvage any friendship he had left with Justin and his relationship with Bailey. To do both, he needed to come clean. “Sit down, Bailey.”

  “Don’t you go getting all parental and bossy, too. I am not fourteen years old anymore.”

  His gaze met hers and he wondered if she could see the heat in them, the desire to take her down the hall and indulge every fantasy he’d had about her for the past year. “Trust me, I know that.” He rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. “I’ll tell you what happened, at least the part after I got here.”

  Chapter Twelve

  SHE WASN’T SURE she wanted to hear what he was about to say. Bailey already had her suspicions. Between her long-standing infatuation with Chase and far too much alcohol last night, thanks in part to Blake, the fact that she’d slept with Chase wouldn’t take any stretch to imagine. Hell, if Chase looked at her again the way he just had, like a starving man at the dessert table, she’d jump him right here on her couch without any regrets.

  Moving around to take a seat, Bailey kept her distance from Chase. Gracie sat up and moved between them, and Bailey was grateful for the distraction, even if it was only to run her hand over the silky fur of the shepherd. Slowly sipping her coffee, she tried to gather her courage to be able to face his apology and rejection, to prepare herself to hear him tell her she’d made yet another mistake. She really wasn’t looking forward to facing Justin tomorrow. She may have told him to butt out of her relationships but sleeping with one of his best friends was a bit too much to expect him to ignore and crossed the line, even for her.

  “I got here just as your date was leaving.”

  “Blake wasn’t my date.”

  She saw what looked like hope flicker in Chase’s eyes and wondered if it wasn’t her imagination. He nodded and leaned forward, bracing his arms against his thighs, and set his coffee on the table. “I came to check on you and you let me in. You were pretty wasted, so I helped you to your room.” Chase stared down at his empty hands. “I went to the kitchen to get you water and something for your head. When I came back to the room, you were already under the covers, asleep.” He looked at her through hooded eyes, his hand brushing over the unshaven jaw with a rasp that almost made her shiver. “I came out here and slept on the couch.”

  She couldn’t help the look of doubt she shot him. A lopsided grin pulled at the corner of his lips. “If you don’t believe me, ask Gracie. This couch is uncomfortable as hell.”

  Bailey didn’t take the bait to look at the dog. She wasn’t an idiot. He might be a trained police officer, accustomed to dealing with criminals, but even she could spot someone lying.

  “Funny, but none of that explains how I ended up in your shirt.”

  He refused to meet her eyes, staring down into his coffee, cupping his hands around the mug. “I woke up when I heard you getting sick in the bathroom, so I went in to check on you. You were naked so I gave you my shirt.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  She was tired of having to pry answers from him. “And I woke up with you in my bed. If you were sleeping on the couch, how did that happen?” She rose from her seat. “Either shoot straight, cowboy, or hit the road. I’m sick of the games.” She left him staring after her as she made her way into the kitchen to refill her cup.

  Bailey felt his presence at her back before his hands braced on the counter, trapping her between them. He didn’t touch her but every inch of her body reacted as if he had. Goose bumps broke out over her arms, and she felt her entire body heat from within. Butterflies took flight, feeling more like eagles’ wings beating in her stomach. She fought the urge to lean back into him, to melt against the solid wall of his chest. When he leaned forward, his breath was warm against her neck and she could smell that male scent that was all Chase—clean and musky and masculine.

  He could bottle it and be a millionaire.

  “You want to know the truth?” His voice was a husky growl in her ear, sending heat down her spine to pool in her belly, stilling the fluttering with a new shock of desire. “The truth is that I came so damn close to making love to you last night. Lord help me, I wanted to.” She didn’t dare breathe. Chase’s hands fell to her shoulders and turned her so she faced him. He tipped her chin toward him to look into her eyes. “But that would have been a mistake.”

  Bailey felt her heart crash to her toes and she tried to move out of his grasp.

  “Wait a second, you said you wanted the truth,” he reminded, gently holding her in place. “I care about you, Bailey, I always have, but Justin is my best friend and, as far as he’s concerned, you’re another sister.”

  She felt the stir of anger in her belly. Once again, it was about someone else having control over her decisions. “Are you really going to try to convince me this is about Justin, Chase?”

  He released her arms and turned away, running a hand over his short hair. “I . . . Yes, no . . . look, it’s a big part of it. I owe him, a lot more than you’ll ever realize. I can’t throw our friendship away to be your last fling before you leave.”

  Bailey felt like she’d been sucker punched. First, she’d been a “mistake” and now he thought she wanted a “fling”? She shook her head, letting the hurt take control of her emotions. At least that way she wouldn’t have to feel the sting of his words, she wouldn’t have to feel the weight of her own disgrace. Did he really have such a low opinion of her?

  She choked back the knot of painful rejection building in her chest. “By all means, please, don’t temper your honesty on my account. I mean, it’s not like I have feelings.”

  “I’m being honest with you, Bailey. That’s what you asked me to do.” His jaw clenched and she could see the muscle tic
king as he held back his anger.

  She brushed past him, heading back to her room. Before she could get out of the kitchen, he reached for her waist, pulling her against him, one hand slipping to her lower back and the other into her hair, his lips just a fraction of an inch from hers. “Would you give up your plans and stay? Here? With me? Would you forget about your singing and be happy here, in this town?”

  His green eyes sought answers from her, answers she wasn’t prepared to give. She wanted to tell him she’d give it all up for him, that she could forget singing and turn her back on her freedom. She wanted to pretend that she could change, convince people she was living up to her family name. But right now, she couldn’t speak. Hell, she could barely think with his hands on her, his thumb brushing over the curve of her spine sending shivers of yearning to warm places of her body begging to be touched by him.

  “Exactly what I thought.” He brought one hand up to trace the curve of her jaw. “I can’t ever go back, Bailey. My life is here. You’re so ready to get the hell out of here, you don’t even realize what you’re leaving behind.”

  “That’s not fair, Chase,” she whispered. “I have people who are counting on me. They’ve been waiting for me for almost a year.”

  He smiled down at her, but it was remorseful and filled with regret. “You’ve had people waiting for you here, too. You just didn’t know it.”

  Chase didn’t give her the opportunity to speak, nor did she want to. When his mouth covered hers, she wanted to lose herself in the taste of him, to forget yesterday, to not think about tomorrow. She only wanted to focus on this moment in time. Bailey needed to relish the fact that, for a little while, she could be his without worrying about what anyone else would think or where they would go from here. For this one kiss, the entire world simply revolved around them and she could pretend time had stopped. Her hands slid up his arms, her fingers digging into the firm muscles of his biceps as she tried to keep her balance, even as her world rocked on its axis. When his lips pressed against her jaw, she tried to catch her breath.

  “Two weeks.” Chase’s voice was a husky plea in her ear but she could hear the desperation in it. “Give me the next two weeks to change your mind.”

  His words brought her crashing back to the problem at hand. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t forgo this opportunity to leave, not even for Chase. If she stayed here much longer, she’d suffocate. She was tired of being surrounded with Hart reputation and being the one person outside the circle of perfection. She needed to prove she was more than just a poor Hart kid whose mother didn’t even care enough to stay. She needed to be somewhere where she was accepted, just the way she was, without being expected to change.

  “I can’t stay here. I have to do this.”

  “What if I can show you that you’d rather be here than singing in LA? Would you stay? If I proved it undeniably? Just give me two weeks,” he repeated, the corner of his mouth tipping up as he drew back to look at her. “I’m pretty confident in my powers of persuasion.”

  “There’s nothing that can happen in the next two weeks that will change anything.” It pained her to say it but she couldn’t lie to him.

  “Then what have you got to lose?” he dared.

  My heart.

  She knew he couldn’t change her mind. There was nothing in this town that would ever make her give up this opportunity. In the end, she’d care about him even more than she did now and leaving would carve the hurt that much deeper into her broken heart. She searched for any reason that might make him give up on this devil’s pact.

  “What if you can’t? You saw Justin when he left. A few minutes ago, you were too worried about losing his friendship for a fling.”

  “I’m that confident I can change your mind.” Chase’s eyes glinted emerald, warm and inviting. “If it means you’re staying, Justin will be less likely to beat my face in.” He paused and cocked his head to one side, thoughtfully. “I still don’t think I’d turn my back on him anytime soon, but you’d be saving me a trip to the doctor’s.” His hand cupped her cheek again and she wanted to lean into it, to melt into him.

  Bailey couldn’t think when she was this close to him. His touch was dangerous but exciting. She was so tempted to give in and, at least, allow him to try to convince her. But it would only end in heartache for the two of them and a destroyed friendship. She couldn’t do that. She pressed her hands against his chest, pushing him backward a step. “This can’t happen again.”

  “What this?” He arched a brow suspiciously.

  Bailey circled her finger between them. “This, whatever this is, needs to stay completely platonic.”

  “Platonic?”

  “As in just friends.”

  “I know what platonic means, Bailey. I’m just not as sure that you do.” His arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her against him. Bailey could feel the hot pulse rush through her veins as she melted against him. He bent his head low, his mouth only inches from her own. “Are you sure that’s really what you want?”

  It wasn’t. There was no sense in denying it. They both knew it would be a lie. The next few weeks would be torture, being close to him but trying to maintain a wall around her heart. At the same time, even that little taste was more than she’d hoped for. It would have to be enough. She couldn’t offer him anything else and still leave in the end.

  “This doesn’t qualify as platonic, Chase,” she whispered, barely able to breathe.

  He leaned close, his lips brushing against the side of her ear as he whispered, “Prove it.”

  “I can’t make you any promises, Chase,” she argued. “I can’t give you what you want.”

  “I’m only asking for two weeks. I’ll call you later, Bailey, but don’t make any plans.”

  He abruptly stood upright, releasing her, and headed for the front door. She hurried after him, watching him walk to his truck, leaving her aching and hungry. Bailey had no idea how in the world she was going to be able to put him off. There was no possible way for her to go through with this and then leave him behind. But she had to admit, even confused, she was more than a little curious about how he planned to change her mind.

  BAILEY FOCUSED ON the reflection in her mirror, unable to comprehend what had just transpired in the span of a few hours. How in the world had she gone from secretly worshiping Chase to waking up with him in her bed? And what was with this two-week deal she hadn’t agreed to? What could Chase possibly do over the next couple of weeks to change her mind about leaving?

  Everything was in order. She’d already booked the moving truck, and her band was expecting her on the first of the month. This wasn’t just something she wanted to do but something she had to do. Not just because she had people counting on her, but for her own peace of mind. Her family, as much as she adored them, was smothering her. This town was smothering her. And she couldn’t wait to get out of this hellhole.

  She needed to be where she could make mistakes without people trying to bail her out, and find success on her own. She wanted to be a small fish in a big pond and finally be able to make a name for herself, not have the bar already set for her. It was either sky-high because of her cousins or practically buried underground thanks to her mother. She needed to be more than Rebecca Hart’s poor, abandoned troublemaking daughter. It would be a novel thing to be able to earn her own reputation for a change and just go where no one knew her.

  Nope, she was moving to LA, and nothing Chase did over the next few weeks would change that. Except it almost sounded like he was offering her the one thing she’d always wanted—him. And not just a two-week sexcapade. If that was the case, she wasn’t as confident she could turn him down so easily, regardless of her desire to leave.

  She pressed the back of her fingers against her lips as her gaze sought the reflection of her eyes, not really seeing anything as her mind struggled to retrieve the vague memories of last night. She still wasn’t sure she believed his explanation of what happened and how he’d ended
up in her bed. She knew how she felt about him.

  Damn Blake for getting her drunk. She reached for her cell phone, determined to give him a piece of her mind. It rang several times before Blake’s pained voice picked up.

  “This better be an emergency, sweetheart.”

  “You’re on my shit list.”

  “Yeah, well, calling me this early after a late night of whiskey will put you on mine, too. You’re now enemy number one.”

  “You were the designated driver, Blake, so I know you can’t be that hung over.”

  His deep laugher rumbled in her ear and she could hear him walking through his place. “That would be true, if I’d stopped drinking after dropping you off. I finished off a bottle of Jack when I got home.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you needed to blow off steam? I’d have let you.” Bailey felt guilty for calling to unload her troubles on him when he’d obviously had a worse week than she had.

  “Because I’m a deep well of shit, Bailey, and I’m not about to poison you with it.” His voice was void of his usual humor, and she hurt for the pain she could hear him holding inside. It wasn’t the first time he’d made comments that hinted at his past, but this was the first time she’d seen him floundering for a foothold.

  “Blake, you know I’m here if you ever want to talk, right? Regardless of the shit we’d wade through. I grew up cleaning stalls and dog kennels. Shit is my specialty.”

  “Bailey, darling, I love you dearly, but we both know you’re far better at getting into shit than you are at getting out of it. So, let’s hear what has you up and feisty this morning,” he said, changing the subject.