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"Oh, I heard about it but I didn't have time for such claims. I was too busy coming up
with those tasty dishes to worry about two old men with nothing better to do than argue
over something unimportant."
Jessica exhaled a breath. Although it was killing her, she was determined to continue
questioning the man with polite professionalism. Although she definitely wanted to tell
him where he could shove his arrogant attitude. "And just where did you get the recipes,
Mr. Henry?"
His frown deepened. "Not that I have to answer that, but to clear your mind about any
wrongdoing on my part, those recipes have been in my family for years. I told
Westmoreland that, but he refused to believe me."
Before giving her a chance to respond or to ask him anything else, he said, "Look, Miss
Claiborne, I really don't have time to stand here and discuss something that
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happened almost eighteen years ago. Evidently it's important to you but it's not to me.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."
"Hey, boss, we're about to leave," Donna said to Chase. "You plan to stay late tonight?"
Chase pushed away from his desk. "Not too late. I just have a little bit of paperwork I
need to do."
Donna nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning."
Once alone, Chase leaned back in his chair and glanced around. His office looked
normal, nothing like it had the night before. But still that didn't stop the memories from
flooding his insides with a heated rush.
He stood for a moment, stretching his legs. As he walked around the room every step he
took reminded him of Jessica being here with him last night. He remembered all the times
he had kissed her, brushed his lips across her skin, touched her with his fingers, and
devoured her greedily with his mouth. He was getting hard just thinking about it.
Damn. He was spending way too much time lusting after Jessica. After all, that's all it
was. There was no other explanation for it. That bout of jealousy earlier today had
stemmed from possessiveness, nothing more. Hell, he'd had a right to feel possessive
after what the two of them had shared. She had been a virgin, for heaven's sakes. He
couldn't help but smile. Even she had been surprised by that.
He stretched his shoulders and looked down at his watch. It was close to eleven o'clock.
He wondered what Jessica was doing. Was her brother still there?
128 THE CHASE IS ON
What if he wasn't? He sighed deeply. Damn, but he wanted to see her.
He shook his head. After last night, if he were to show up now, this late, she'd think he
was making a booty call. Hmm, although the thought of that sounded nice, he knew,
whether he wanted to admit it or not, that he thought of Jessica as more than a convenient
body he could use. There was something about her that reached him on all levels, not just
the physical one. He wished he had the strength to keep her at arm's length but knew he
could not. Even when she wasn't there with him he could feel her presence. Thoughts of
her were always embedded deep in his head.
Knowing he had to get out of his office he grabbed his jacket off the rack. Moments later
he was locking the door behind him. He tried not to glance over at Jessica's place. But he
just couldn't help it.
Fighting temptation with a vengeance, he walked to his car. He was determined not to see
Jessica again today. But as he pulled out of the parking lot, intent on going home, he
knew that tomorrow was only a few hours away.
Nine
Jfley, Chase, you got somewhere to go tonight?"
Chase glanced up from looking at his cards and met Dare's stare. He and his brothers
were over at Storm's place playing a friendly game of cards. At least it always started off
friendly. Hopefully tonight they wouldn't have to worry about Storm's loud complaining
when he started losing. With newborn twins in the house he figured his brother's
boisterous foul mouth would be kept at a minimum.
"What makes you think I have someplace to go?" he asked.
Dare smiled. "Because you seem anxious about something, and you keep looking at your
watch,"
Thorn chuckled and glanced over at Chase. "And that's a sure sign a woman is involved."
130 THE CHASE IS ON
Chase had no intentions of telling them if there was or if there wasn't. It had been hard
going all day without seeing Jessica. Twice he had started over to her place before
quickly changing his mind. They would be seeing each other tomorrow when she went
with him to Chattanooga and he was satisfied that was soon enough.
Chase threw down his cards. There wasn't a damn satisfying thing about it. He glanced
around the table at his brothers, who were staring at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Look,
I'm out of here," he said standing on his feet.
Stone lifted a dark brow. "But for once you're winning."
Chase inhaled. No, he wasn't winning. He was losing every minute he was sitting here
with them when he could be with Jessica, in her arms, in her bed.
This had turned out to be a good batch of chocolate, Jessica thought as she pulled off her
cooking mitt and licked her lips. She had made more than she needed, but she figured the
extra would be perfect for moulding into candy for Chase's Crusaders.
Removing the hairnet from her head, she pushed a wayward strand of hair from her face
and thought about her disappointing meeting with Theodore Henry last evening. The man
was arrogant. And regardless of what he'd said, she believed he had gotten those recipes
from somewhere.
Today had been a very busy day and she was glad Mrs. Stewart had felt well enough to
return. But the steady stream of customers hadn't stopped her from glancing over at the
door every once in a while hoping to see Chase walk in. She knew Fridays were one of
the
BRENDA JACKSON
131
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