Page 39 of The Last Chance
“Mr Chance,” she called, turning to face him.
“Yes?” He stepped away from his bedchamber door, dragging a hand through his raven-black hair. There was an undeniable magnetism about him, a raw masculinity she found irresistible.
“Would you answer a question before you retire?” She moved towards him when he made no reply, something other than excitement coiling low in her belly. “It’s a simple one. I merely wish to understand your logic.”
He waved for her to continue, though did not move an inch.
“I proved I am loyal to our cause tonight. I have been nothing but honest with you, and I know you will be honest with me.”
“I never skirt around the truth.”
She couldn’t ask the question burning her tongue.
She couldn’t betray Eloise’s trust.
“Delphine’s room is the coldest in the house. A logical man would care more about my physical comfort than my desire to sleep in a pretty place.” Slowly, she closed the gap between them until she stood outside his bedchamber, too. “It would only make sense to put me far from the gaming tables if the club was still open.”
He arched a brow. “I hear your observations, but not this simple question you’re dying to ask.”
Joanna raised her chin by way of a challenge. “What logical reason could you have for giving me the coldest room when the weather is bitter?”
The amused glint in his eyes said her argument impressed him. “Perhaps I want you to leave.”
“Then you would tell me so in your usual blunt manner. You could have forced me to go with Gabriel tonight.”
“Stop using his given name like you’re more than friends.” His sharp tone matched the flash of irritation.
“If we were more than friends, I would be at his home, not yours,” she countered, letting him see she was equally vexed. “You’re avoiding my question. I deserve an honest answer when I have trusted you with my greatest secret.” Joanna had him cornered and refused to let him escape. “Are you afraid to tellme? Do you want me to suffer? Is it a way of punishing me for adding to your burdens?”
She saw panic in his eyes before his temper surfaced like a titan bursting from the sea. “You’re the last person I would punish. Nothing scares me but breaking my vow. If a man shows weakness, his demons will devour him.”
Beneath his anger, she could sense a civil war.
“What has your vow got to do with me staying in the coldest room in the house? Answer my question, and I shall leave you in peace.”
He exhaled deeply, but his lips remained pursed.
“Fine,” she said, about to turn on her heel. “Never question my friendship with Gabriel again. He doesn’t keep secrets. He knows I would rather hear the truth than have him spare my feelings.”
She moved to walk away, but Mr Chance clasped her wrist and drew her back to face him. “A man finds it harder to conjure amorous thoughts of a woman when she is sleeping in his sister’s chamber. That’s why you’re in Delphine’s room.”
Euphoria flooded her veins, but she kept an intrigued expression. “And you don’t want to have amorous thoughts about me? Is that it?”
“Our relationship must remain purely platonic.”
Yet I’m deeply attracted to you, she said silently.
He was still holding her wrist, perhaps unaware his thumb moved in light circles. His eyes were softer now, the faint amber flecks making them appear nowhere near as dark and dangerous.
“Yet you touched me in the darkness.” She had not imagined the feather-like stroke of his fingers over hers or the hitch in his breath. “The air is electric when we’re alone like that. I know you feel it, too.”
“I would need to be in the grave not to feel it.” He sounded annoyed and solemn in equal measure. “It’s not the first time I’ve experienced the unwelcome intrusion. Were we notembroiled in a murder investigation, I would insist you return home.”
If Eloise had not disclosed his secret, she might have felt the sting of rejection. Indeed, she was keen to see how he would react if he thought his remarks had hurt her.
“I understand. You don’t need anyone, and certainly not a woman like me. A failing club owner who brings nothing but problems to your door.”
“It’s not you,” he snapped, pulling her a little closer, the smell of his cologne so good she could spend forever breathing him in. “I’m not made like other men. I cannot be gentle. A beast lives inside me. You’ve felt the mild whip of its tongue but never seen the sheer brutality of its actions.”
