3. Chase

THREE

chase

I'm going to kill Nate.

He's just the messenger, but that's his bad luck.

I don't want to be staring at Eden Mitchell right now. It fucks with my head whenever I see her.

Just when I finally feel like I'm starting to put my life back together and find my little bit of peace here in Cape Sands, Eden Mitchell shows up.

How the hell did she find me anyway?

"Hello, Chase."

Her voice is controlled, cultured in a way it wasn't a few years ago. It's sexy as hell and rubs me the wrong way.

She's changed her hair since I last saw her. It's longer, brushing past her shoulders. Where it once reminded me of dark, smooth caramel, now it reminds me of honey.

And her eyes?

Fuck, those eyes have always been my undoing. All the greens and blues that swirl in them. Depending on her mood, some colors are more prominent than others.

Right now, they're a dark blue and wary .

Shake it off, Hanover. You sound like a damn pussy waxing poetic over her eyes and comparing her hair to food.

"What do you want, Eden?"

"I want to talk to you."

"What could we possibly have to talk about?" I narrow my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. "Did Liz send you out here?"

For the last few weeks, my agent has been trying to get me on the phone for more than five minutes.

And while she's the best agent in the business, I'm going to fire her ass as soon as possible if she helped Eden find me.

It would be just like her to do that as a way to get me to call her.

"No. But I do have some business I'd like to discuss with you."

"Business, huh?" The muscle in my cheek tics, and my jaw clenches. If I don't let up, I'll break a tooth.

Nate clears his throat and starts to back away. "You know what? I'm starving. I think I'll head back to see…yeah…"

I don't respond, unsure of what will spew out of my mouth that I'll be sorry for later.

Nate drives off a few moments later, and there's nothing but sounds of the wind and seagulls between us.

"I don't care what business you want to discuss, Eden. I can't help you. There's your answer. Now get the hell off my property."

"I'm not leaving, Chase. Not until you hear me out." She straightens her spine and drops her hands to her hips. "You owe me at least that much."

My gaze flits down to her chest where her blouse stretches across her breasts that move up and down with her breaths. Breasts that I…

No, damn it !

I focus on her words and let the angry part of me lead the way.

My eyes snap back to hers. "Owe you? I don't owe anyone anything, Eden. You'd do best to remember that."

That isn't entirely true.

We've done our fair share of hurting each other, and my actions are no small part of that.

I should try to hear her out, but I know what will happen if she's around me for too long.

She's my fucking kryptonite, and I'm no superhero.

Her eyes flash green fire, and the defiant look in them makes the blood rush to my dick.

Fucking A.

"I'd do best to remember that? Who the fuck do you think you're talking to, Hanover? I'm not some minion on your team or one of your little groupies."

My palms itch to touch her.

I scoff. "I remember once upon a time when you loved being my personal groupie, Sunshine."

Silence hangs heavy between us.

It's a shitty thing to say, no matter how I feel about her now. And I don't mean it in the way it came out.

I hate how the nickname I'd given her in college slips off my tongue, and I want to take that back too.

Nicknames like that signal affection, and I don't have the capacity to give any woman—but especially this one—that sort of thing.

I put my hands on my hips and look down for a moment. After a couple of deep breaths, I lift my head to meet her angry gaze. "Eden, level with me. What do you want?"

She continues to stare at me for a moment before clearing her throat. "My company was hired by a group to plan and coordinate a charity ball. Big names, high rollers. But my A-list keynote speaker is now…indisposed."

"And you want me to be your keynote speaker."

"Yes."

"No."

I walk toward the ladder and bend down to gather my tools.

She's hot on my heels. "What do you mean, no?"

I raise up and look her in the eye. "As in the opposite of yes."

"But you barely listened to me."

I place the drill in the tool bag and hoist it up.

Pain radiates down my arm, but I keep the wince off my face. I'd overdone it today and my shoulder is protesting.

Loudly.

"Sure I did. You lost your keynote speaker and you want me to take his place. Bail you out. I said no." I raise a brow and smirk. "I think it's pretty simple. But then, you always were the queen of complicated."

Damn, she really can bring out the asshole in me. But I need to push her away, send her back to New York. Get her the fuck off my island.

Four years isn't long enough to get her out of my system since I can't continue to look at her and not want to touch her.

She's my own personal heaven and hell all rolled into one.

Why the hell does she want me to be her speaker anyway? I'm a bad bet and we both know it.

I walk past her toward my truck, pushing away the stab in my chest when hurt flashes through her eyes just before anger settles back in.

And fuck, if she doesn't smell the same as she always had, a heady mix of vanilla and amber. Rich with just a touch of sweetness.

I don't even want to think about if she tastes the same .

"Chase." Eden follows me to the back of the truck, where I lift the tool bag over the side and drop it in with a loud clatter.

"What?" I ask, turning back to her. I roll my shoulders in an effort to keep the pain in my right one from taking me out.

"The least you could do is hear me out. Let me tell you the whole story." The sun shines onto her hair, lighting up the blonde-colored strands. "I don't like mixing business and personal?—"

"Then don't."

She sighs heavily and looks away for a moment, before bringing her gaze back to mine. "I'd owe you big. Please. Just listen to what I have to say?"

"What more could you have to say? You asked; I said no."

She rubs her forehead, and that vertical line between her eyes tells me she's mentally counting to ten.

"Let me just give you all the details before you totally shut me down. I promise I won't take much of your time."

I search her eyes for anything that signals she's putting me on. But all I find is determination with a side helping of desperation.

Shit.

I never could say no to this woman, not since the day I met her. That's part of my problem when it comes to her.

I twirl my keys on my index finger, looking away. There's no way in hell I'm ever going back to the city that's ground zero to the demise of my career and personal life.

But listening to why she's here seems to be the only way to get her back over the bridge and out of my life.

"If I listen, will that get you on a plane back to New York any faster?"

Quiet for a moment, she finally says with a nod, "Yes."

"Okay, fine." I jerk open the driver's side door and slide in. "Meet me at my house at three. I'll hear you out, but my answer won't change."

I slam the door to put some steel between us.

She moves closer to the open window. The breeze catches at that moment, and her unique scent tickles my senses.

"Thank you, Chase." When I start the engine and drop it into gear, her eyes widen. "Wait, where's your house?"

I smirk. "You have a way of finding out things, Eden. I'm sure you'll figure it out. I gotta go."

With my chin, I nod in the direction of her SUV. "You might want to go ahead and move that monstrosity of a vehicle off the curb. I don't want to have to help you out if you get stuck in the sand."

She rolls her eyes and makes a noise that resembles a growl but walks away without another word.

In the side mirror, I watch her stalk back to her vehicle.

My gaze stays on her ass and legs that look a million miles long in those sexy-as-fuck heels. I lean my head back and close my eyes.

I'm in so much fucking trouble.

Again.