Chapter Thirteen
One more day.
One more night.
Chloe had twenty-four hours left to be with Chase in this fairy tale. She wanted each of those hours, those precious minutes, to last forever, knew that she would be counting them down until the buzzer rang and she left.
She needed to leave. Because, as she'd told him last night, she needed to do this on her own.
Didn't she?
Al day, as she'd worked with everyone, as she'd gone to check on Alice and found her much improved in her hotel room, Chloe had gone around and around with it in her head.
At first, it had been easy to tel herself she needed to keep her distance from Chase because men were al evil.
Which had turned out to be completely laughable. Because while her ex was certainly unhinged, Chase didn't have an evil bone in his body. In a mil ion years, she'd never have thought she'd find a guy like him on the side of the road in the middle of a hailstorm, on what she'd thought was the worst night of her life.
She shouldn't believe he could have fal en in love with her. Not in only three days.
She shouldn't be replaying that moment when he'd said, "I love you. Always. Forever," over and over.
Lost in her troubled thoughts, her hands stil ed on the lace of the corset she was tying for Amanda.
"Do you need me to suck in tighter?"
Chloe frowned. Suck in tighter? What could Amanda possibly have to suck in? "No. You're perfect just like that."
Amanda looked down at herself. "I'm getting fat."
"No!" In the back of her mind she knew she needed to back off, calm down. But she'd spent too many years listening to Dean say that to her. She couldn't stand to hear Amanda say it about herself.
"You're beautiful, Amanda."
But although she could see that the girl enjoyed the compliment, she didn't truly believe it.
As the model walked away, Chloe wanted so badly for her to believe in her own beauty. In her own worth. She wanted to save her from years of self-hatred. From bad relationships. From men who weren't worthy of even a minute of her time...let alone years.
She felt her lover's eyes on her and his pul was so strong that she couldn't stop herself from staring back and suddenly wondering, yet again, was that what she was to him? Was she simply a woman he was desperate to save because he was a protector to his core?
No. She knew better than to think that. Especial y when he'd never done one single thing to try and take her power away.
Instead, hadn't he given her the tools to empower herself? Hadn't he asked her to use her talents, her skil s, to create beauty? To grow stronger?
And then, like a ton of bricks raining down from the perfectly blue sky, the real truth of the matter hit her: It wasn't Chase that thought he needed to save her, to coddle her so that she never had to face danger again.
She'd been doing that al by herself.
Hiding out here at the winery, not picking up the damn phone and cal ing the police, not forcing herself to face the fact that she was going to have to find a way to protect herself from Dean once she was out on her own again.
It was just what she'd done in her marriage. She'd hidden from the truth of how bad it was because it had seemed so much more painful to deal with the truth.
Standing in the middle of the vineyard with Chase's eyes stil on her, she knew he didn't deserve to be dragged into her mess. And until she could be worthy of him by knowing how to stand on her own two feet, she couldn't be with him.
Just then, Beyonce's "Single Ladies" started blaring from the portable MP3 player and Amanda dragged her over to the group, who had al started dancing in their beautiful silk dresses.
Chloe had always loved to dance, loved to feel her limbs, her muscles, grow loose and warm.
The sun was stil in the sky, pouring down over them, and when the rubber band around her hair fel out she let it go, shaking her hair to let it move around her face.
As she danced, as Sara grabbed her h*ps and shimmied into her, Chloe could almost pretend again that the past ten years had never happened.
Yes, she'd been hiding out from reality, but getting to be with Chase and the models and his crew these past few days had done so much to strip away the layers she'd never wanted to be there in the first place.
Yes, she knew this feeling of freedom, of joy, was only temporary, knew that trouble was waiting for her outside of the fantasy of this vine-covered world, but she stil had a few more hours of joy left, didn't she?
"She real y is pretty." Chase turned to see El en standing beside him. He'd been utterly enraptured watching Chloe dance with the models.
But it was more than beauty that made it impossible for him to take his eyes off her.
Day by day, minute by minute, she was transforming. She'd already been a butterfly, even standing on the side of the road, dripping wet with that horrible bruise marring her soft skin. So it wasn't that she was emerging from her cocoon.
Rather, the colors on her wings were growing brighter, more magnificent, as the burdens, the fears she'd been carrying, fel away piece by piece.
"Inside and out," he agreed.
El en remained by his side, both of them watching the dancing. Surprisingly, this was the first time he'd run into her during the shoot. Almost as if she'd made sure to stay out of his way.
Feeling bad about the way he'd stood her up that first night, he said, "I real y am sorry about - "
She put her hand on his arm and her touch felt strange. Wrong. The song ended and when Chloe looked over and saw them standing together, her expression tightened, narrowed. El en quickly dropped her hand and waved. "Hi, Chloe!"
Chase watched Chloe's mouth turn up into a smile that wasn't entirely real as she moved toward them.
"Hmm," El en said, "she looks mighty possessive of you."
Chase didn't have time to tel her it was mutual before Chloe was there with them.
"Hel o, El en."
El en smiled at her. "Wow, you have real y gorgeous hair."
Chloe blinked, clearly surprised by the compliment. "Thanks."
The late afternoon breeze whipped up, blowing a strand across her face. Chase reached out, slid his fingers through the silken strand as he tucked it behind her ear.
He felt her breath catch more than heard it as their eyes locked. He'd waited al day to touch her again, for the chance to fil up his senses with her softness, her sweet scent, her innate sensual responses. Her hand came up to cover his, holding his palm against her cheek in an instinctive reaction to his touch.
Until El en broke the spel by asking, "How have the two of you enjoyed being here this week?"
Chloe dropped his hand like he had the plague and a faint blush stained her already flushed cheeks. Clearly, she'd only just realized she and Chase had been holding on to each other in front of El en.
"It's been like living inside a fairy tale," she said softly. She gestured out across the gently rol ing mountains, covered in even green rows. "It must be marvelous coming to work here every day."
El en nodded. "It's pretty great. Except for when we get a bridezil a in, demanding to know why the grapes aren't in ful er bloom for her big day. But real y, that's the only time it kind of sucks."
Chase was glad to hear Chloe chuckle, her discomfort at seeing El en again - and accidental y touching him in front of the other woman - receding.
He liked seeing that possessive glint in her eyes. Loved it, actual y. He doubted she even realized it was there - and that she'd continual y been moving closer and closer to him, unconsciously staking her claim in front of a possible rival.
She might have repeatedly told him she couldn't be with him, but that was her head talking. Her heart seemed to know better.
He knew better, too.
"Marcus wanted to be here to say goodbye to everyone, but he was cal ed into the city suddenly," El en told them. "He sends his apologies."
Chase had a bad feeling about his brother's frequent trips to the city. He'd always tried to keep an open mind about Marcus's girlfriend, Jil . But Chase had never been al that crazy about her. None of the Sul ivans were. Yes, she was beautiful, but her beauty wore thin beneath the layer of ice she walked around in. The stick up her ass didn't help much either.
Chloe's face fel . "Oh no. I real y wanted to see him again before I left, to thank him properly for giving me a place to stay this week."
She pul ed the plump, soft flesh of her lower lip in between her teeth. Chase couldn't keep his eyes from landing there, didn't have a prayer of keeping the rest of his body from responding in kind.
He'd never wanted a woman like this. Not just with his body. Not just with his brain. Not just with his heart.
But with his entire soul.
El en looked more than a little confused. "You'l see him again, won't you, Chloe?"
Just then, Sara yel ed, "Chloe, I can't get out of this stupid thing! It's starting to freak me out.
Can you help me?"
Relief sweeping across her lovely face, Chloe said, "I've got to go help the girls out of their clothes. It was very nice to see you again, El en." She held out her hand and the two women shook goodbye, at which point she turned and fled any more questions.
"Wait a minute," El en said, stil confused. "Why won't she see Marcus again? Aren't you and Chloe together?"
Chase ran a hand through his hair. The frustration he'd had a hel of a time keeping at bay during the day's shoot was eating straight through his gut. "It's complicated."
El en looked back at Chloe, who was unbuckling one of the models' bondage-inspired evening dresses. "Doesn't real y look al that complicated from where I'm standing. Heck, I practical y got singed when you guys touched."
He knew El en was right. There shouldn't be anything complicated about a guy fal ing in love with a girl. Funny, in al the years of women fal ing for him, he'd never thought it would end up like this - with him losing his heart to a woman who was so afraid to lose hers.
And now, al he had was one final night to try and talk her around from couldn't to forever.
He felt El en's hand on his arm again. "A few nights ago, I was real y disappointed that things didn't happen between us, but honestly..." She flicked another glance at Chloe. "I real y hope this works out for you. She's very sweet. You make a beautiful couple." She smiled widely at him. "How about I block out a weekend for you next year, just in case?"
Chase immediately saw a breathtaking vision of Chloe in a long white dress waiting for him surrounded by vines.
"Good luck, Chase."
Holy hel , he thought as El en walked away and he turned back to watch Chloe careful y wrapping up one of the dresses they'd used that afternoon, he'd never relied much on luck before, never liked counting on something so elusive, so unpredictable. He'd always figured on talent and hard work to get him where he wanted to be.
But this time, Chase was afraid luck was exactly what he needed.