Page 24 of Love Undercover
It made her nervous to even try, so she moved around the island to a small side window in a little nook behind the couch, pulling back some gauzy curtains.
She jumped back when she caught movement and dropped the curtain over the glass before her mind registered that Chase wasn’t jumping out at her. She held herself out of view and pulled the curtain just enough to peer out without being seen.
He was full-out sprinting to the tree line. When he got there, he spun quickly and flew back up toward the house. Without stopping, he ran through a series of obstacles. Sweat had already begun to slick his t-shirt to his torso, so it was probably gettinghot out. No surprise this far into July. But he was also running the obstacle like a madman, and she swallowed at the kind of intensity infused into the process.
How a man as big and muscular as he was moved with such fluid energy, she had no idea, but he was a sight to behold.
8
Unsettled
The shadow of unease loomed over Chase, threatening like a rising wave. He rarely functioned without a plan—even one he constructed while on the move. But so much more hinged on him now. Namely, someone else’s life. Protocols that normally didn’t apply to him put a pressure on his mind.
Gibson had been clear about his instructions to lie low, but Chase felt like a sitting duck when he didn’t know what steps his enemies were taking out of sight. He could try to guess because Santiago was not exactly prolific in his methods, but he still had seen no sign of him and had heard nothing from Zimmerman.
Because of the relationship Chase had cultivated with Zimmerman, he would’ve thought the crime boss liable to give him a call before making a move. A courtesy, really, given all the things Chase had been entrusted with in the business.
Had Santiago fed him a story that led to him getting cut off? For all Chase knew, they were gearing up to eliminate him. Or they were waiting to see how the whole thing played out.
He didn’t trust Santiago, and, given their history of barely tolerating each other, he didn’t put it past the man to feed Zim some story that was likely to get Chase—and Sadie—killed.
And Sadie. . . just having her in the same room electrified his nerves in a way that was so shocking and foreign, so pleasant and soverybad.
It felt like it had come out of nowhere, even though he eventually figured out they had a past. He remembered her from high school—her name and face, mostly. She’d been one of those flash-in-the-pan events—the coveted new girl—for a bit. Every guy had been half in love with her for the first few weeks. But she’d fallen out of grace pretty quickly. That tended to happen with fragile teenage male egos when a pretty girl turned them down.
Chase had been too entrenched in the drama his life had turned into by that point, so he’d put his head down and focused on what he could control—his basketball career and getting the hell out of dodge to a college as far away as he could get.
The window in his bedroom made its telltale groan of protest when Sadie tried to open it, alerting him that she was still testing this new situation—and his honesty. Which was expected, but it still made his gut twist.
And then his mind wandered to the possibilities of what she might be doing in there to “freshen up,” and he suddenly needed something to redirect his thoughts.
Nothing emptied his mind like a brain-melting workout, and he bolted out the door, skipping the five steps from the porch to the ground entirely, and started on a full sprint around the side of the house. He took a straight shot from there down to the treeline and back.
The absolute misery that came with the oppressive, sticky heat that enveloped him drove thoughts of Sadie and this whole mess from his mind as his singular focus became pulling oxygen in and out of his lungs in a practiced rhythm.
He hit the rows of tires behind his house at full speed, practically slamming his knees into his chest as he lifted them in quick succession. Back and forth he went, pushing himself harder and faster until his lungs threatened to rip from his chest and his legs wanted to give out.
It wasn’t until he went back inside, after almost an hour, soaked in his own sweat, that he came back to himself, half-startled to find Sadie curled up on the couch. He stiffened just inside the door as her eyes shifted up to his face.
Her arms were wrapped around the legs she’d pulled in close to her body, making her look young and small.
“Want a snack or something to drink?” he asked breathlessly as he walked to the fridge for some water. “I know I don’t have much that’s free-range or organic.”
She watched him as he chugged a glass of water and poured himself another.
He fought the urge to let his expression mirror the twist he felt in his gut. “Tell you what: I’ll go take a quick shower. You at least come look and see what you might like for lunch.”
She gave a slow nod, her eyes tracking him to the bedroom, and he was grateful for the door he shut between them.
Even though the separation did his nerves good, it didn’t settle his mind. She could take the opportunity to run, though she wouldn’t get far. He doubted she’d think to erase her tracks, so he’d catch up pretty quickly.
Still, he hurried through his shower and getting dressed just in case she decided to use the time to her advantage.
She wasn’t in sight when he came back out, and his heart shoved itself up into his throat. It didn’t take long before hefound her on the porch, leaning against the railing. Her fingers fluttered endlessly along the worn wood.
Even though he knew they were mostly safe here, it was still possible that Santiago and Travers would figure out where they were. He’d worked hard to lose them, but there were no guarantees. He fought the urge to order her inside, reminding himself that his knowledge was not hers, and he was just extra on edge when he had no way of knowing what was going on out there.
And because everything felt so out of control, especially when it came to what was happening between them.
