“I know. I just feel stupid for not dealing with his behavior sooner.”
“This isn’t on you, Serena. What he did tonight, and what he’s been doing since the breakup to get you back, is not OK. And that’s all on him.”
“I still don’t get why he said I got him fired though,” I reply. “You’re the only person I told about everything that’s been happening. After his threat to take my job away last week, I was planning to talk to Gina in HR this week, but that doesn’t explain how it’s my fault he lost his job.”
Chase’s hand moves back to the wheel, his voice hard.“He deserved to be fired.”
There’s something in his voice. I glance at him in the darkness of the cab, and that’s when I see the tight line of his jaw, the muscle twitching in his cheek like he’s holding something back.
“Chase.”
His grip tightens on the wheel.
“Chase, did you speak to someone at the Stormhawks about Ryan?”
Chase frowns. “He shouldn’t have threatened your job like that, Serena. It’s your dream. Your life. And he knew that, and he used it to try and get you back into his bed. He couldn’t get away with it.”
I shake my head, stomach knotting as I realize what Chase has done. “He wasn’t going to get away with it. I told you I would talk to HR. I told you I was going to handle this. But I wanted to do it on my terms to minimize any fallout, like… I don’t know”—I throw my hands out—“Ryan getting drunk and trying to knock my door down.”
Chase is quiet for another moment. “I know. I’m sorry. I just… I wanted to protect you.”
“When did you speak to HR about my life and my career and not bother to tell me?” My voice is hard.
There’s a pause, and then: “Friday.”
Three days ago. Reality hits like a blow. “Are you seriously telling me that when we met at the fair, you’d already spoken to HR and didn’t think to mention it? You didn’t think to check with me first?”
Chase’s reply is strangled. “I was waiting for the right moment. I wasn’t sure what they were going to do.”
“You had no right,” I hiss. “What you’ve done is almost as bad as Ryan’s threat. You interfered in my career. You get that, right?”
Finally, his eyes dart to me, sharp and surprised, before he’s staring straight ahead again. “It’s not the same. I was protecting you.”
“You can’t go behind my back and against my wishes and call it protection,” I say, voice a quiet fury.
The air crackles with anger and tension. The betrayal sits heavy in my chest. It’s not because I don’t appreciate that he wants to protect me, but because he made a decision for me. Because he took my voice out of the equation, believing he knew what was best.
We don’t say another word as Chase pulls off the highway, and we hit the dirt track that leads to Oakwood Ranch. He takes a left where the new track forks to his house by the lake and, a few minutes later, we’re inside. Even without pictures on the walls, blankets, pillows, and any real sign this place is lived in, the peace and warmth of Oakwood Ranch is still here, in thishouse, and it’s almost enough to soothe the anger pounding through me.
“Serena,” Chase says as he closes the door. “I’m sorry.”
I spin around to face him, pulse quickening. “Sorry for going behind my back and thinking you knew what was best, or sorry it blew up in my face and made Ryan come looking for a fight?”
Chase moves a step closer, tension radiating off him like heat from a flame. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But I’m not sorry that Ryan finally got what was coming to him.” His jaw clenches.
I hold my ground, even as my breath hitches. “You don’t suddenly get to flick a switch and start acting like my boyfriend because we’ve been fake dating for a month.”
Another step closer from Chase. We’re inches apart now. My senses fill with the woody vanilla scent of his aftershave. Heat seems to crackle in the air like the final moments before a storm hits.
“There’s nothing fake about me wanting to protect you, Serena. I’ve always had your back. And I always will.”
“Whether I like it or not, right?”
“Of course not.” His voice dips, softer now, regret threading through it. He rubs the back of his neck, eyes searching mine in a way that makes me feel vulnerable and undone. How can one man be so infuriating and so magnetic, so possessive and so thoughtful all at once? “I went about it the wrong way?—”
“You had no right to go about it in any way.” My voice trembles with the effort to stay strong, even as every inch of space between us disappears. Fire burns through my body, but it’s no longer anger I feel, it’s want. I swear I can feel it shimmering in the air too.
“I know,” he says, almost a whisper.