The Look of Love
Page 20

“What do they do? Lori looks really athletic.”
“She’s a dancer and choreographer. She started out working with cheerleaders and now she does a lot of the stuff you see on TV.” Damn, he loved those girls. “Sophie is a librarian at a university. She’s smart as a freaking whip.”
“Wow. Very impressive. No wonder you’re proud of them.”
He was proud of all his siblings. They didn’t always see eye to eye, fists were sometimes raised and landed in the heat of anger, but he’d give up his left arm—hell, both of his arms—for any one of them.
“I already know about Smith. He’s a little older than you, right?”
“Thirty-four.”
“Wow, your parents were busy,” she said, before pointing at another of his brothers. “And he is?”
“Zach. Twenty-nine. Owns half the auto shops in California.”
“Hey, those Sullivan Auto ads I hear all the time on the radio are his, aren’t they?”
“He’s a business mastermind who’d rather spend his life with his head under a hood.”
Or between a woman’s legs. But Chloe didn’t need to know that. Especially given that Zach was a good-looking bastard. Quite possibly the best looking of them all. Including Smith, whose looks were integral to his profession.
“Marcus is the old man of the group at thirty-six.”
“So, there are eight of you between the ages of twenty-four and thirty-six.” She raised an eyebrow. “And none of you are married yet?” Her surprise was evident.
He shrugged. “Nope. Bets were placed a long time ago on who would be shackled with the ball and chain first. We’re all expecting Marcus and his girlfriend to do the deed soon.”
She laughed out loud at that. “See, now you’re talking like a normal guy. Using the words shackled and ball and chain in reference to getting married.”
Funny, he thought as he enjoyed her laughter, up until yesterday he’d been right in with the rest of his siblings on thinking marriage was a long way off. But now, he wasn’t so sure. The crazy thing was, he didn’t mind being led straight to the edge of the cliff. As long as Chloe was standing there, too.
And they were falling together.
Turning back to the picture, she said, “Your mother is beautiful.”
“She’s great.”
“She looks so happy to be with all of you.” Chloe’s eyes were big and full of concern as she asked, “What happened to your father?” She bit her beautiful lower lip. “That was really rude. I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer.”
“You can ask me anything,” he told her.
Her gaze flew to his and he held it steadily. “We just met last night. We don’t know each other that well,” she protested.
“I was ten when he died. He went to work that morning and he had an aneurysm. One of his employees found him in his office on the floor.”
“Oh, Chase, I’m sorry.” She put her hand on his arm and it was crazy, but even though he thought he’d been over his father’s death for two decades, her touch gave him comfort. “I can’t imagine how your mom managed without him.”
Beyond glad that she hadn’t shied away from what she wanted to know, either, he said, “It wasn’t easy. Especially not at first. We all helped out. At least, the big kids did.” He gave her a small smile. “I make a mean mac and cheese.”
“Yum,” she said in a soft, not altogether convincing voice.
“Want to hear my secret?”
“Uh…okay.”
He leaned in a little closer, close enough that he could breathe in her sweet scent. “You’ve got to watch the pot carefully and know just when to stir.”
Attraction flared between them again at his teasing words, both of them knowing that what he was really saying was that he was gauging her reaction to him, too.
Because he wanted her.
And he knew she wanted him.
* * *
Marcus found them in his study and glanced down at the family photo in her hands. “Whatever he’s saying, Chloe, it’s all lies.”
Chase watched her grin up at his brother. “Oh,” she said with a teasing frown. “So I guess that means you’re not a superhero, after all?”
Marcus laughed, clearly pleased with her comeback. “Everyone left to go dancing in town. How about I open up a bottle of the good stuff for the three of us?”
“The wine you’ve served so far tonight has been amazing. You have better stuff?” Chloe asked, clearly incredulous.
“Prepare to have your mind blown,” Marcus replied.
Despite the fact that his brother was clearly enjoying being around Chloe, Chase couldn’t shake the sense that something wasn’t right with Marcus. As the oldest Sullivan, he’d always carried more of the burden of making sure everyone in the family was okay. But tonight he seemed edgier than normal. Wound too tight.
Before meeting his girlfriend, Jill, Marcus had been just as much a dog as the rest of the Sullivan boys. But in the past two years, he’d straightened up to the point where Chase almost didn’t recognize him. He missed getting up to no-good with the oldest of the Sullivan clan, but he’d assumed his brother was preparing to marry Jill and settle down with a bunch of kids.
They followed Marcus into the living room, which looked out over the moonlit vines and pool patio. As he uncorked a dusty bottle that still smelled of the caves, Chloe said, “I really shouldn’t have any more, but how can I resist?”
The three of them sat down and Chase loved how easy she was with his brother. Just knowing Chloe was near, just being able to see her smile, to hear her laugh, made everything so much better. And his life had been pretty damn good before she came into it, so that was really saying something.
“Everyone was saying what a great help you were at the magazine shoot today,” Marcus told her.
She looked pleased by his compliment. “I had fun.”
“She completely saved the day, actually.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “That is so not true.” She took a sip from her glass. “Oh. My. God. This wine is so good it should be illegal.”
Marcus smiled. “Glad you like it.”
She took another sip. On a near-moan, she said, “This isn’t even close to like. It’s love all the way.”
In an instant, Chase went rock hard in his pants. All it took was hearing her moan…and say one little four-letter word.