Protecting His Assets (21 page)

“I don’t bat, I pitch.”

“Not anymore you don’t.”

It was a joke, he knew it was. He even started to laugh it off, but somewhere between his chest and his mouth, it got stuck.

“God, Chase, I’m sorry.” She slammed the door shut again and covered her mouth. “That was inexcusable.”

“No, it wasn’t.” He gave her a thin smile. “It’s the truth.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s not. You’re going to get better, if you stop messing around and man up enough to have the surgery—”

“I am having it.”

“When?”

He swallowed and flexed his left hand before pushing it into his back pocket. “Three weeks.”

“Oh my God, really?” For a second, she grinned at him so brightly that even the darkness couldn’t compete with her natural wattage. Then her shoulders sagged. “I can’t be there. I can’t come.”

He jerked a shoulder. “No biggie. It’s an outpatient thing. In and out practically. The time-intensive part is the rehab, but hey, like you said, it’s not like I’m pitching anyway. Might as well amuse myself somehow, right?” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Maybe I’ll get buff.”

“You’re already buff, you ass. I never should’ve said something so cruel. And I wouldn’t have if…”

“If what?” he prodded as she rubbed her forehead.

After a moment, she dropped her hand and stared directly into his eyes. “I’m leaving.”

“Okay.” He shrugged. “Your call. If you want to split, we can talk later.”

“No, Chase.” She reached out and grasped his good hand. It didn’t make sense that even that one felt numb in her grip. “I’ve signed with someone to manage my career and he’s really excited about the possibilities. I am too.” She sucked in a breath. “The week after next I’m going on my first tour, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

Chapter Ten

Chase sat in his usual booth at Slocum’s Diner and stared at the picture of Elvis near his shoulder. Even the King was smirking at him.

Somehow his life had turned into a joke. One big fucking ha-ha moment with accompanying laugh track. How else could he explain how he’d ended up in a stationary position for the foreseeable future while the woman he lo—had strong feelings for, traveled around the country like a wandering minstrel? Without him. That was the salient point. Even if he’d wanted to go too—if she’d even been inclined to allow him to, as her bodyguard or as that undefinable
other
—he couldn’t. Not right away. He had some pretty serious rehab time ahead of him, and if he was going through with this surgery, he wasn’t going to screw things up by not doing everything he could to improve.

He’d spent years on the road. Too many, truthfully. Sometimes he thought he might be ready to settle down in one place. And when he thought about where that one place might be, he saw Yardley with its picturesque streets and manicured lawns. Kids’ bikes littered the sidewalk, not dime bags. People kept their places tidy and locked doors never kept the neighbors out. Once up a time, his hometown had seemed cloying and intrusive. Now it just seemed like…home.

Summer was part of that. He was pretty sure she’d had a crush on him as a kid. Now the roles were reversed, except he didn’t have a crush. He had a boulder on his throat, cutting off his airflow. Chains around his heart. And he had a tattered show poster tacked up on his refrigerator, like a teenage boy’s shrine to the woman he’d never have.

By the time Jax arrived, Chase was working on a full head of steam. It all dissipated in a rush when Jax opened his mouth.

“Look, I know what this is about. You want me to go with her. It’s all taken care of.”

“I’m assuming we’re talking about Summer.” At Jax’s nod, Chase pushed aside his menu. He’d already dug into the sad looking banana and whole wheat toast on his plate, and he didn’t have the stomach for much else, though he’d planned to order a real breakfast when Jax arrived. “What do you mean it’s all taken care of? I thought you were taking some wonder job at the high school after winter break.”

“Wonder job’s not starting until next summer. Coach Collins decided he could tough it out until the end of the year.” Jax filched a piece of his toast and tore off a corner of the crust, popping it in his mouth. “And I have someone in mind to fill in for me at the agency. Assuming, you know, you ever get actual clients and stuff. Yardley’s not exactly a hotbed for people needing security, but if we expand our operations into—”

“I have clients, thank you very much.”

“Oh yeah? Who? Last I knew you had Summer and Ana. Summer doesn’t pay you. And Ana’s cuckoo.”

“She is not cuckoo.”

“Since when? You’re the one who described her as ‘the cray-cray rich broad’.”

Chase broke off the tip of his banana. Damn thing was mushy. “I forgot how you remember everything. It’s really fricking annoying.”

Jax grinned and ate more toast. “So do you want to hear about my replacement while I’m off with Summer?”

Off with Summer
sounded way too cozy for his liking. “Who says I need to replace you? We only have two clients. I don’t even need your obnoxious ass.”

“Then why’d you make me a partner?”

“I didn’t make you a partner yet. Not officially,” he muttered.

“Maybe not, but I snatched one of these from your mailbox.” Jax opened up his wallet and pushed a business card across the table. It was one of the set Chase had gotten printed last week. “
Deuces Wild
? Really? Kind of lame, don’t you think? Bodyguard agencies should have a badass name. Like Mad Dog Security or something.”

Chase choked out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s real badass, Mr. T.” He shook his head and thumbed the card back at Jax. “Dude, mail tampering is a federal crime. You’re lucky I don’t make you wear orange for the next five to ten.”

“Anything for you. You kinky bastard.” Jax batted his lashes. “Wanna go for a ride on my new Harley? I bought it last week just for you.”

“Jesus, I hate you.” But Chase was still laughing when their waitress, the same one who had waited on them during their initial agency meeting over a month ago, bustled up to the table and took their orders. She flirted with him and Jax—more with Jax, naturally—then left them with a wink and a smile that bordered on lascivious.

“You are a total tease. Thought you were on the pussy wagon?” Chase asked.

“I am. But it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on the prospects.” Jax grinned and propped his chin on his hand. “So, about Summer.”

“No, let’s go back to this replacement of yours. Who is he?”

“Name’s Sterling Vance. He’s actually got sec experience, unlike us. Used to work as the muscle for a minor boy band and also worked a few clubs in the city for a while. Actually, he’d probably be perfect for Summer.”

“Forget it. If anyone’s going with her, it’s you.”

Jax gave him a sly smile and stole more toast. Hell, Chase wasn’t eating it, so why not? “Thought you’d say that.”

“If he’s so almighty skilled, why does he need a job?”

“He made a mint from good investments early on and doesn’t have to work. Plus, you know, he’s a trust fund baby.” Jax raised an eyebrow at Chase’s quizzical look. “Vance Industries? The finance people?”

“Sorry, not my bag. So you want me to work with some spoiled rich pal of yours while you’re off guarding Summer?” Chase scowled at the table. “Assuming you actually, you know, manage to guard her this time and don’t go running off after some tail like you were last night.”

“What tail was I running after? And how the hell do you know?”

“The tail was my sister. And I know because I was there at the club. I saw you two arguing or love squabbling or whatever the hell it is you two are about these days.”

“Your sister is not, has not ever been and will never be, just tail. And you’re an asshole.” After that proclamation, Jax flashed his pearly whites at the waitress and accepted his coffee and scrambled eggs. Chase got more toast and a bowl of bacon. An actual
bowl
of it.

Worked for him.

“Regardless, your focus is lacking. So don’t screw around with Summer.”

“Or?” Jax sounded positively gleeful.

“Don’t test me, man. I’m not in the mood.”

“Aww, upset because your girl’s leaving?”

Chase pulled off the end of his banana and crammed it his mouth. Then he gulped half his coffee. “She’s not my girl.”

“But you want her to be.”

Chase lowered his cup a little too hard and the ketchup bottle pitched to its side. Neither of them righted it. “Irrelevant.”

“Ah, so you do.” Jax leaned forward and gestured with a forkful of egg. “You could try something revolutionary. You could tell her how you feel.”

“Uh huh. I’ll just do that. Too bad I don’t know what I feel, except that I sure as shit do not want to play ‘Therapist and Patient’.”

Jax let out a windy sigh and shoveled in eggs. “You know, you could join her in a couple months. Once you’ve gotten in some of your rehab, you can get out there and spend some time together on the road.”

“She could be married in a couple months, for fuck’s sake,” Chase snapped.

Jax’s smirk returned. “Oh yeah, you don’t know what you feel. You’re a blank slate, buddy. Either you need to up your fiber intake or you’ll all knotted up over the girl. And I’ll say this…”

“Please don’t. Stop talking. Forever.”

Jax ignored him. “She’s totally worth it. She didn’t have it easy as a kid, but she’s doing great for herself. After what she saw and lived through, it’s a miracle that she came through it all sane.”

Chase set down his half eaten strip of bacon. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, what happened with her dad.”

“Her dad’s dead. That’s all I know.” The memory of holding Summer while she cried in her sleep made him fist his hands. Which, naturally, led to his little finger starting to tingle from the nerve compression. “What happened?”

Jax frowned. “It’s really not my story to tell.” He exhaled. “Fine. I know you care about her too. From what Cass told me, her mom and dad were really in love. One of those fairy tale-type couples every one hears about and no one ever knows.”

Chase pushed away his plate. “Should I ask why Cass told you and not me?”

“Did you ever ask Cass about Summer’s background?”

“No.”

Jax pointed at him. “There ya go. I used to bug her about it.” He shrugged at Chase’s lifted brow. “She’s a good kid. I always thought of her like a little sister.”

“Summer? Or Cass?”

“Summer,” he answered a little too quickly for Chase’s liking. Not that he wanted Jax to think of Summer in anything other than a sisterly way, but what about Cass?

Before Chase could ask exactly that, Jax waved his fork. “You want to hear the rest or what?”

“Go on.”

“They lived in the city and Summer was their only kid. I guess they spoiled her, like most parents do with their lonely only’s. The three of them were really close. And I suppose they had to be, considering that they basically only had each other, at least on Summer’s mom’s side. Summer’s grandparents shunned Summer’s mom for marrying someone they didn’t approve of, so that made the three of them that much tighter. Cass said Summer’s dad got in some trouble in high school. Fighting, that sort of thing.”

“Couldn’t have been that much trouble since I’ve seen pictures of her dad in his military uniform. She looks like him. Her eyes. Not the color, the shape.”

“Sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time looking at them.” Jax’s lips twitched.

“Go on, fuckwit.”

“From what I know, Mr. Maitland had a dry cleaning shop in the Bronx. Small place, but he did the best he could with it. One day some guys broke in and they got into it pretty bad. He was military, as you said, and he wasn’t about to let anyone harm his business.” Jax rubbed his hand over the back of his head. “The cops got there in time, but instead of them only taking out the punks who wouldn’t put down their weapons, they took out Summer’s dad too. One bullet to the heart.”

“Christ.” Chase sat back and shut his eyes.

“It gets worse. She was there. In the back. From what Cass said, Summer saw it all.”

Chase said nothing. No words came to mind. All he could think about was the girl he’d held in the night. How many times had she suffered through those nightmares alone?

And now she was going on the road, with no one to hold her when she went to sleep. No one who would care about her even a fraction as much as he did. He’d been her friend and he’d been her lover, and God knows he wanted to be more. He didn’t know much—okay, anything—about being in a healthy relationship, but she’d help him figure it out. If she wanted the same thing.

Only one way to find out.

Chase cleared his throat. “Her mom moved her to Yardley after that.”

“Yeah. They could’ve gone anywhere, but I guess she wanted Summer to grow up in a place with a friendly small town feeling. Plus, Yardley’s not far from where Summer’s grandparents on her dad’s side live. Well, lived. I think they’re dead now.”

“Why do you say they could’ve gone anywhere?”

“Because of the money.” Jax sighed. “Forgot that part, didn’t I? Her mom sued the city for wrongful death and they got a lot of cash. Not sure how much, but Summer won’t ever be hurting financially, best as I can tell.” His mouth tipped up. “Yet she’s getting freebie security from you. Think you might be sweet on the girl, Deuce.”