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She heard a steady heartbeat. And no sooner than she heard it than her own heart changed its rhythm to follow.
She opened her eyes and saw Chase’s green gaze on her. Worry etched his expression. She felt his arms around her. Felt the coolness of his skin against the back of her legs, her bare back. Felt the muscle in his chest, where her cheek rested. Another fraction of a second ticked by before she became aware of him lowering himself. He sat on her bed.
Just like that she recalled talking to him, remembered him leaving. She had a slight recollection of stripping down to her bra and panties before crawling under the covers. But other than that, everything else in her mind felt blank. How did he … Why was he … Surely they weren’t …
“You okay?” he asked.
She blinked. Okay? She was practically naked and in his arms and didn’t have a clue how she got there. How could that be okay?
Slowly the confusion started to fade, a memory lurked close. A memory of something bad. Something … Her heart started to race.
“No! Not okay.” Her mind pushed at the cobwebs giving her only a glimpse of something terrifying.
Bolting out of Chase’s arms, and not very gracefully, she landed with a hard thump on her ass on the floor.
Chase stood up. Her gaze shifted up. Shirtless. He wore jeans, but they were unzipped and hung open. A dark trail of hair traveled down from his belly, disappearing under the elastic-band waist of what appeared to be a pair of dusty blue, Calvin Klein, tight-fitting boxers.
She heard his words from earlier. What? Were you curious if I was a boxers or briefs guy?
She shook her head, thinking this might be a crazy dream. She looked at the clock: It was almost four in the afternoon. If this wasn’t a dream, she’d slept for a good two hours. She closed her eyes and willed herself to wake up.
When she opened her eyes, he stood there watching her, a tight frown on his lips. Then, remembering her lack of clothes, she shot up and snagged the pillow and held it over herself.
Only then did she remember the vision. Or visions? The ugliness of it rained down on her like pitchforks. The air in her throat hung. She’d seen Chester, Mrs. Chi’s cat, Mr. Chi, and she’d seen … her aunt.
Her knees gave and she dropped back down on the bed.
Chase sat down beside her. “It’s okay. Breathe.”
She looked up and recalled the shadowy figure she’d seen in the light. Recalled someone calling her name. Had he been here while she’d had the vision? Or … had he been … there? There in the vision?
“Were you…? Did you see…?”
He nodded. “It was different than what happened in the vision of Liam and Natasha. It was like a movie going in my head. But it wasn’t your aunt, or the older lady, it was you. When I woke, I got here as fast as I could.”
Tears filled her eyes, recalling bits and parts of the vision. Her heart ached for Mrs. Chi, and then she remembered … Not Feng! See the freckle. There, beside his right brow. That’s not Feng.
She glanced up at Chase. Had he heard that too? Just like that, she knew he had. “My dad didn’t do it. She’s just confused. Holiday says it happens all the time.”
She glanced up at Chase’s green eyes. Was that doubt in his gaze? “He’s not a bad man, Chase. He was the dad all my friends wished their dads were more like. Any kind of late-night event, my dad would be our driver. He’d pick up all my friends and drive us to and from wherever we wanted to go. Some nights, after a football game, he would take me and my friends out and buy everyone dinner and desserts.”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “He never missed a father-daughter dance or one of my events. He was my champion. I’ve always known my mom loved me, but my dad … he adored me. If I had a problem, he was my go-to person. And there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for me. Once, when I was barely a teen, my mom was out of town, I ran out of tampons. I was too embarrassed to go to the store and buy them. He did it for me. And when I had my tonsils out, he wouldn’t leave the hospital. He’s not a killer, Chase. He’s my daddy. And I’m his little girl.”
Chase wrapped his arms around her. Pulled her against him. She was just too damn weak to fight him. “Douglas Stone did it.” He pressed his face into her hair and kissed the top of her head. The gentleness of that kiss had her breath catching.
She looked up, swiping away at her tears. “Do you believe that or are you just saying it to make me feel better?”
“I believe it.” He passed his thumb under her eye as if to catch a get-away tear. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.
Not everyone ends up together. You still have a choice. His words from earlier vibrated in her head and heart.
Then he leaned in—or did she?—either way, their lips touched. Somehow her pillow slipped to the floor.
The kiss was soft and slow, as if he were afraid she’d regret it. She probably would, but considering what she’d just been through she needed a distraction. That was what this was, she decided, nothing more than a distraction. A kiss didn’t mean a lifetime. It was just … a kiss.
He slipped his tongue into her mouth. In the background, she heard footsteps in her cabin. But before she could wrap her head around anything other than Chase’s lips, the door to her bedroom swung open.
Miranda stormed in. “Did you hear that Perry is—” The witch came to a screeching halt. Seriously, her tennis shoes probably left skid marks. Her hazel eyes grew wide; her mouth dropped open. “Oh, I’m sorry, I … you two just … uh, continue on.”
