“CHASE. YOU REALLY CAME.” Nichole exhaled, trying with difficulty to raise the volume of her voice. Now if she could just get out the words: Can you help me close this deal? She drew a breath and then choked on it as energy—the nervous, fluttery kind—streamed through her. But this was Chase.
“I had to.” Chase tipped his head. “It’s the first time ever you asked for my help.” One side of his mouth eased up into his cheek—part smirk, part grin and all parts appealing.
And just like that, the distance of a decade apart dwindled to simple seconds. She recognized that grin. The one that suggested there were wagers to be placed. Apologies to be accepted. Bad decisions to be overlooked. He’d won over high school teachers, college professors, countless reporters and now the public too with that one particular look.
He ordered a soda and sat on the barstool beside her as if he was taking his usual seat at the kitchen table to work on American Lit. Only their knees collided and remained connected. The simple contact both distracting and reassuring. This was worse than her clumsiness.
Can you help me? “I just wanted to catch up with an old friend. It’s been a while.”
He’d been her only true friend in high school. He’d once called her fearless and she’d believed him. She’d also believed in true love and happily-ever-afters. How she missed the naive strength and foolish wonder they’d once possessed together.
“We could’ve played the catch-up game online or over text.” He shrugged, only one shoulder and one corner of his mouth lifted. His usual misleading smile eased back into place. “But you told me to come here. In person.”
“You’ve improved at following orders.” She smiled.
His grin widened. The wealthy, successful bachelor humoring his brainy, bookish friend. And she completely lost her nerve.
“What is it you need?” he asked.
That deep timbre of a voice always on the verge of releasing a contagious laugh flowed over Nichole. Familiar, though different. “I...this was a mistake. I’ve read about you.” About his philanthropy. His multimillion-dollar contracts. His dates with models and his endless adventures.
He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. Twice. “You’ve been following me then. That’s nice to know.”
His green eyes, sharper and more intense than she remembered, scattered her inner calm. “I follow stock market trends, weather forecasts and the classified ads too.” She had to get rid of him, end this awkward walk down memory lane, then step into her dinner meeting and her future.
“But you read about me first,” he teased and bumped his shoulder into hers. “Admit it.”
“If I say yes, will you join me for dinner tonight?” No. Wrong question. Nichole’s words hung between them, unretractable.
“This is starting to feel like a date.” Chase lowered his soda glass and stared at her like he used to when he’d wanted to distract her from their studies. He’d guess her mood by naming the different shades of brown in her hazel eyes. Now his gaze hinted at more than a silly game.
“This is the favor owed.” Nichole grabbed her glass and drank the water fast. The cold water was like splashing ice on a sunburn. Temporary and fleeting. She was aware of Chase like a full body sunburn, uncomfortable and distressing. “Besides, I don’t date. I’m a single mom with a son.”
“Single parent.” Chase nodded. “You have all my respect.”
His mom had raised him and his two sisters alone. In interviews, he never missed the opportunity to thank his mom or express his love for her. He understood Nichole’s struggle the same as he’d understood her reserve in high school. He knew her secrets and had never judged her for them. “Wesley is eleven and everything a preteen boy is—energetic, funny and messy. Thankfully he inherited his father’s one redeeming quality—his physical grace.”
“I could get him into the Pioneers’ Spring Break camp next week, if you want.” He sounded relaxed and pleased to make the offer. “It usually fills up fast, but I know some people. I can make a couple of calls.”
“You’d do that?” Would you also help me close my deal? Nichole pictured her son: gangly arms and legs on a skinny frame. Too many freckles to count and a laugh that took over his whole body. Her love for Wesley was limitless. Surely her sudden awareness of Chase had to be fleeting. A simple glitch from their time apart. “You don’t even know him.”
“But I know you.” The boy she’d once considered her best friend, now a man, scooted closer. Gone was the attention-stealing, misdirecting full grin. In its place, a soft smile. A strong shoulder to rest her head on and a warm, compassionate gaze that centered on her.
She leaned toward Chase as if they’d seen each other yesterday and the day before that. As if he’d asked what was really on her mind like he’d done so many times in the past and had genuinely wanted to know. She whispered, “I pray every day I’m enough for Wesley. That the void of a missing parent never consumes him.”
Her words fell into that familiar space between them. That space she’d never quite found with anyone else.
“You’re more than enough.” He set his hand on top of hers, steady and secure.
The warmth from his hand spread through her. But the simple touch confirmed their connection had endured despite the time and the distance. “How are you always so sure?”
“I had this tutor once who had refused to let me fail.” The affection in his gaze was true. “She made me believe.”
“She sounds like an amazing woman.” She picked up her water glass and toasted him.
“Well, Nonna always liked you the best.” He tapped his soda against her water glass.
“I’m sure that’s not true.” Although she had adored his entire family. The Jacobs clan had welcomed Nichole into their home and accepted her from the very first introductions. The Jacobs house had been the only place outside her grandparents’ farm where Nichole had been comfortable.
“You were my only girlfriend who cleared her plate for every meal at my family’s house.” Chase chuckled. “Of course, Nonna liked you the best.”
The word girlfriend thudded inside Nichole’s chest, displacing her ribs and her common sense. She focused on the facts. “I was the only girl you allowed your family to meet in high school.”
“It wasn’t only high school.” Chase rolled his glass between his hands and looked away.
Before she could challenge Chase, two businessmen approached the bar entrance. The only two that Nichole had seen arrive in the past half hour. Only five minutes until the reservation for her meeting. The one that could change her family’s lives. So much to gain. So much to lose. Heat enveloped her, followed by a cold, encompassing shiver.
“I do need your help.” But only this once. Then she’d go back to relying on her own shoulders. After all, she was Nichole Moore, always practical, predictable and levelheaded. Chase was fearless, reckless and completely wrong for her. She glanced at Chase. “I need you to help me believe now. To help me fight for my vision and my dream.”
He shifted and looked at the two guys who’d just arrived. “I’m going to assume your dinner invitation wasn’t for a date.”
Nichole stood, swung her tote bag over her shoulder. She swayed and curled her toes inside her new heels to find her balance. “It’s a business dinner. A really important one.”
He rose and adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “What kind of business dinner?”
“The kind that could make or break me.” Her bag slid off her shoulder toward her elbow, knocking against her knee. Josie had recommended a simple clutch. Brooke had suggested a small sleek briefcase. Nichole hadn’t listened. Now her oversize tote and tangled thoughts about Chase knocked her off-balance again.
“What do you need me to do?” He pulled his wallet out, paid for the soda.
“Stand beside me.” He’d stood in her line of sight during her campaign speech for class treasurer in high school. She’d lost that popularity contest. She couldn’t lose tonight. “I just really need a familiar face.”
“I can do that.” Chase held out his arm and waited for her to set her arm around his. “Lead the way.”
Thankfully, Chase never pressed her for more information. Most likely she couldn’t have answered appropriately anyway. She was too busy concentrating on not leaning into his side. Not giving in to the relief snaking through her with Chase beside her. Not letting herself weave her fingers around his and hold on as if he was suddenly her anchor. That was all kinds of foolishness for someone as levelheaded as her.
Nichole greeted the hostess for the restaurant and followed the woman toward a private dining room. Two men wearing black suits and ties rose and stepped around a square table. Floor-to-ceiling wine shelves encased in glass made up two walls. The other two were lined in cork for an intimate setting. A setting for business deals, tough negotiations or romantic interludes. Nichole’s four-inch heels failed to stiffen her spine.
“You look really good, by the way.” Chase’s voice whispered across her neck. “Powerful and in charge.”
Nichole offered a quick nod. His hand dropped onto her lower back and propelled her forward. When had she stopped walking? She inhaled a deep breath of Chase’s spicy cologne, which scattered her already short-circuiting focus.
The executives she only knew by name after several emails and two phone calls came forward. Neither one bothered to hide their excitement that an all-pro football player stood before them. She had to make this happen. It was now or never for her business deal.
Nichole stepped slightly in front of Chase and blurted, “Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to my husband, Chase Jacobs.”