SWNOVELS Chance: Chapter 5
Heat blossomedin her chest and spread through her limbs when he said he was staying the night. Rory shook her head even though her heart danced at the idea.
“No, you can’t stay. There’s no need.”
“Not up for debate, Rory. It’s me, or I’m calling Theo and he’ll come stay with you.” He dragged his phone from his jeans pocket. “Which is it?”
She stared at him, willing her mouth to tell him to fuck off. But the words wouldn’t come. Because she was scared. Because she didn’t like the idea that some asshole had been creeping around her house in the dark. What had he been doing anyway?
It made all the fear from when Kyle Hollis had kidnapped her come rolling back to life like a wave heading to shore.
She could let Chance call Theo. Her brother would insist on going with her and staying overnight.
But the last time Theo had tried to save her, he’d nearly gotten himself killed. She believed with all her heart that her brother was capable of protecting her, but what if somebody got the jump on him the way Hollis had? He hadn’t seen it coming because he wasn’t trained for it.
Theo was a gentle soul who loved those he loved, and who liked tinkering in the kitchen and cooking up heaps of delicious food. He wasn’t a warrior.
Chance was. Not that she knew she would need a warrior with her tonight, but she’d rather inconvenience Chance—and herself since this heat simmering in her blood was anything but hate—than drag Theo into another situation where he might be in over his head.
“You’re staying in the guest room.”
“No can do, honey. Your bedroom is on the first floor and the rest are on the second. I’ll take the couch.”
Rory glared. “Why don’t you just check everything out and head home again? I’ll lock the door. I always do now. And don’t call me honey.”
His militant expression softened by degrees and she knew he was thinking of why she locked the door when she never used to. “It’s one night, Rory. Locking the door is good, but it’s not everything. You’re ten minutes from town, and twenty from me. I’ll be there in case someone comes back instead of trying to race over if they do.”
Her heart thrummed a rapid beat as she swallowed. Was it because he’d be in her house, steps from her bedroom door, or because her fear was spiking at the idea of the trespasser returning? It couldn’t be Hollis. He was dead. So who else would want to break into her home?
“Fine, but this isn’t an invitation to start another fling. Just so you know.”
“Never said I wanted to.”
His words stung more than they should. “Didn’t say you did. Putting it out there in case there was any question in your mind.”
“There isn’t.”
“Good.” She gestured over her shoulder to her truck. “I’m going to drive home now. I’ll stay in the truck until you tell me it’s safe to come out.”
He nodded. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Rory walked over to the old truck, which she’d affectionally named Clyde, and unlocked the door before swinging up into the cabin.
Dear God, how was she going to drive a baby around in this thing? The seat belts were almost an afterthought, there were no airbags, and where the hell would she buckle in a car seat? Did the truck even have crumple zones?
She slid the key into the ignition and Clyde turned over as smooth as a baby’s bottom. She loved this old thing because Gramps had loved it. He’d taught her how to take care of it, how to work on it and keep it running, and she’d been doing that alone for the past several years now. Theo tried, but he was hopeless with mechanical things.
She was not.
She’d gotten rid of her Kia a long time ago and she didn’t miss it. But she was going to have to find something that had a backseat and safety features. She would never get rid of Clyde, but she wouldn’t get to drive it as often once the baby came.
A chill ran through her as she reversed the truck and headed for the street. Her life was going to change drastically over the next few months. Was she really prepared for it? Or was it going to be another disaster in a long line of disasters over the years?
Not that she wasn’t happy with her life. She loved Sutton’s Creek, loved running the Dawg with Theo, and loved living in her grandparents’ farmhouse with the rolling fields and peaceful woods. She’d grown up there after her parents died, and she wanted her kid to grow up there too. She just hadn’t imagined doing it alone.
She’d wanted to live there with Mark. He’d agreed it would be a wonderful place to bring up kids and she’d blissfully planned an entire future for them.
Then he ran off with Tammy and that dream had died.
When she turned off the road and headed up the drive toward the house, her heart squeezed in her chest. The lights were on in every room, because she had a hard time with the dark these days. They were on a timer so they came on about half an hour before she got home. Maybe she should light the place up like the Fourth of July every night at sunset. That way nobody would think she wasn’t home.
“Who are you kidding,” she muttered. Everyone in Sutton’s Creek knew that Aurora Harper would be at the Dawg six days a week, standing behind the bar and slinging drinks like she had at her college job. Back then, bartending had been a way to pay for school. Who knew it’d turn into a way of life?
She liked it, though. She was an extrovert and she loved talking to people. Sure, the majority of her clientele hailed from Sutton’s Creek and she’d known them forever, but they were getting more and more outsiders moving in. And more tourists passing through the quaint town that Southern Living Magazine had named one of its hidden gems in an article a couple of years ago.
Her headlights shined across the driveway. The grooves were still cut into the gravel, two deep marks that went all the way down to Alabama clay. Rory drove past and pulled to a stop beside the house, beneath the tree where Gramps had always parked his truck, and waited for Chance to do his thing. He parked beside her, then got out and walked around the front of his black truck. It was a RAM, but she wouldn’t hold that against him.
She rolled the window the rest of the way down as he walked up beside her. It was a little sticky so it took a moment. Chance’s expression held no softness as he looked at her. He gripped a pistol at his side and looked menacing in a way she hadn’t seen since that night when he’d pulled her from the tent where Kyle Hollis had held her and Emma Grace hostage.
“I need your house key. I’ll check inside first so you can go in. Then I’ll scout the barn and outbuildings.”
Until she’d been kidnapped she’d kept a key on the porch, tucked away beneath the doormat. Chance had told her she couldn’t do that anymore. She hated that he was right, but he was. The world wasn’t the same as when Gramps and Granny had lived here.
Or maybe it wasn’t the world that had changed but simply that it was getting closer to Sutton’s Creek all the time. Too many developments going up nearby. Too many people moving to the area. Not that most people were bad, but the more of them you had, the more likely there’d be some bad ones in the mix.
Rory took her keys from the ignition, found the house key, and twisted it off the ring before handing it to him. His fist closed over it and he nodded.
“I’ll be back soon. Roll the window up, Rory. Be ready to drive away if anything happens. Call the police when you get somewhere safe.”
Her heart thumped. “You’re scaring me, Chance. It was just a guy prowling around, not a fucking invasion from a foreign army.”
“I never assume, sweetheart.”
He was gone before she could tell him not to call her sweetheart. She grasped the handle and rolled for all she was worth until the window went up and she couldn’t roll it any further. Rory took her phone from where she’d put it on the seat beside her and checked messages.
There was one from Emma Grace.
Sorry I told the guys, but I had to. I’d expect Chance to say something about it at some point soon.
Rory sighed and tapped a reply. It was late, but her friend would see it in the morning.
Already has. Now I’m dealing with him playing protector.
Emma Grace:
What? Aren’t you home yet? OMG, is he with you?
First, so much for Emma Grace being asleep. Second, she’d said too much. How was she going to explain Chance’s presence without mentioning the man on the camera?
She wasn’t. She had to tell her friend because she didn’t know when Chance would tell Blaze. If Emma Grace learned it from her man instead of her bestie, she’d be even more upset.
I’m home and Chance is here. He was waiting for me outside the Dawg. Don’t flip out, but there was a man on the security camera at my house. Chance came with me to check it out.
Emma Grace:
WHAT?! I’m waking Blaze up. We’ll be there in a few minutes.
Rory:
NO! It’s fine. Chance is here, he’s got a gun, and he’s doing that whole superhero thing where he makes sure nobody’s still around. Hell, for all we know, people always snuck out here before Chance put the cameras in. Gramps has a lot of stuff in the barns. Could be somebody looking for tools or scrap. It’s not a big deal.
Emma Grace:
Have you ever noticed anything missing?
Rory:
Did I mention there’s a lot of stuff? It’s a picker’s paradise in some of those buildings. Other than the tools I use to work on the truck or repair things around here, I’m not 100% sure about everything. Gramps collected a LOT of stuff.
Stuff that her granny hadn’t gotten rid of when he died. There were metal signs, scrap metal, old tools, a couple of old cars, and a bunch of other stuff in those buildings. Yet another reason Rory hadn’t wanted to sell. What if Gramps had something truly valuable in there? Even if he didn’t, he’d spent years collecting it all. It was almost like he was still with her if she went out there and opened one of those doors.
Emma Grace:
You need to report it to Chief Vance. Maybe they can send a patrol car by once in a while.
Rory:
I love you, girl, but you know that’s not going to happen. I’m not wasting the chief’s time with a trespasser. Unless Chance finds a body or something, then all bets are off. What would they arrest someone for anyway? Making off with a rusted sign or an old gas pump?
Emma Grace:
It’s still your stuff. And nobody has a right to steal it.
Rory:
We don’t know that’s what happened. Now cuddle up to your man and stop worrying. Chance is here and he won’t leave tonight. Trust me, I tried. But he won’t budge. I’m safe.
Emma Grace:
I’ll try. Tell me all about it at lunch.
Rory:
I will. G’nite.
“Hey.”
Rory jumped and screamed. Chance stood next to her door, frowning. She pushed it open and glared.
“What the hell, Chance? Can’t you warn a girl?”
Her heart raced and she might have peed herself a little.
“I walked out the front door and down the steps. Thought you saw me.”
Rory had a hand to her heart. “Well I did not. Jesus. Announce yourself the next time.”
“Short of singing the Star-Spangled Banner while clanging a cymbal, I don’t know how I could have been any clearer in my approach.”
“I was texting with Emma Grace.”
“Did you tell her about the man?”
“I did. I didn’t want her to hear it from Blaze if you told him before I told her. She wanted to race over here, but I put a stop to that. Unless you want Blaze’s help?”
“I don’t need any help,” he growled. “Inside is clear. You can go in and wait for me. I’m gonna check out the barn and buildings.”
Her heart thumped extra hard. “Be careful, Chance.”
He grinned at her, the first time he’d smiled at her all night. She didn’t like the way it made her pulse thrum or her blood heat. “Careful is my middle name.”
“No, it’s not. It’s Henry.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said darkly. “You getting inside or what?”
Rory pushed the door all the way open, snagged her backpack, and jumped down. “Hold your horses, stud. I’m getting there.”
He waited for her to press the lock and shut the door. She’d never locked the truck until Kyle Hollis happened. Who wanted an old truck anyway? But now she locked everything.
“You first,” Chance said, waving an arm for her to go ahead.
She walked up the wide front steps to the wraparound porch, feeling anxious and annoyed at the same time. Anxious because how dare someone creep around her house in the dark and annoyed for the same reason. Because it affected her life and increased her fear. Because she was grateful Chance was there instead of in his own bed far away.
But he was too tempting, and he made her nervous. Not only because her body insisted on reacting at the sight of him, but also because she had a secret that involved him.
She was no closer to figuring out how to tell him than she’d been hours ago when she’d first looked at those pink lines.
Rory opened the storm door Gramps had installed when Granny wanted to see the view outside. Chance had left the wood door open inside the storm door and light poured from her living room onto the porch outside. She turned to look at Chance, the light picking out the planes of his face and illuminating him like he was on a Hollywood set.
Really, was it fair to be so attractive without doing a damn thing to make it so? He had to work out with a body like that, but he didn’t wear makeup. Probably a good thing, but still unfair considering she spent time in front of the mirror putting hers on every day before heading to the Dawg.
“Shut the door and lock it. I’ll call you when I’m ready to come inside.”
“Okay.” She dragged her lower lip between her teeth. “Thanks, Chance. For coming out here and making sure everything’s good.”
“You’re welcome.” He cocked his head as if something was dawning on him. “That sounded like a goodbye. You better open this door when I call or I’ll be forced to pick the lock.”
She hadn’t considered locking him out, but now her ire was rising that he could be so bossy about it. “And if I arm the system? You’d have to explain to the police why you picked my lock and forced your way inside.”
Chance frowned. “You do that to me and I’ll tell everyone in town that you screamed Hotty Toddy for me when I made you come.”
Her jaw dropped just a little. “You wouldn’t dare. Not only that, but nobody would believe you. I’m a Roll Tide girl all the way and everyone knows it. I would never utter the Ole Miss cry, not even for an orgasm.”
“You’re welcome to test the theory. Lock me out, set the alarm, and find out. Or let me in like a reasonable woman and nobody will be the wiser.”
She couldn’t speak for a full ten seconds. “Now you’re fucking with me, Chance Henry Hughes. It never happened. It never will. So don’t go acting like it’s a fact and you’re being a gentleman by not mentioning it.”
His grin was unexpected. “About time you realized I play dirty when I want something. Lock the door like a good girl and I’ll be back.”
Rory took great delight in shutting the door in his face. Even if it was what he’d basically ordered her to do.