Reluctantly, I drag my eyes away from his gaze and ignore the fluttering in my chest. Maybe staying here wasn’t such a good idea after all. But I feel that we’re close to solving what he wants to base his book on. When we do, I’ll leave, and I can start work on the contract when I’m back in London.
“Err,” I say, trying to swallow around my dry throat and remember the last thing he said. “That wish to help people was an incentive for you. We can work with that.” I nod emphatically, trying to gather my scrambled thoughts.
I’d listened carefully to Chase’s story. It drew me in, and I have no doubt people would be interested in hearing it. But there’s a lot he hasn’t told me, and that speaks volumes about what he wants, or rather, more specifically what he doesn’t want his autobiography to be about. It won’t be an exposé on his upbringing, no memoir, and I get that.
“I think that’s very noble of you, keeping your grandfather’s legacy alive.”
“I don’t feel it. The words noble and venture capitalist don’t really go well together.” He scoffs slightly.
“And yet you called your company Knight-In,” I reply, proving my point.
He looks at me like I’ve just discovered his secret, one he was barely aware of himself. But I know he was really, deep down. I stand and start pacing in front of the large library fireplace. Sometimes walking helps me process my thoughts, and I think we might be onto something important here.
“I bet you’re a real hero to the companies you help. Sure you make money, but the more successful they are, the more youmake. How many companies wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t given them a chance?”
I mean it as a rhetorical question, to get him thinking about the importance of what he does.
“Twenty-three,” he says calmly, almost quietly. I swivel towards him. He’s leaning forward, his forearms resting on his knees and his hands clasped loosely together.
“That you care enough to know that number exactly makes you a hero, Chase.”
He looks up at me with his eyes shining like I’d handed him the moon. It’s intense and the fluttering in my chest is back. I can’t concentrate when he looks at me like that. I can’t think of anything except how his lips would taste and how his large warm hands would feel on my body. I take a deep breath and resume my pacing, purposefully looking at the floor while I recapture my train of thought.
“It also makes you successful. It’s that secret ingredient that makes Knight-In the company it is. I think you should do something along those lines. Not give away all your secrets of course, but share some of your wisdom instead of your life.”
I stop and risk a glance at him. He’s looking at his hands, and I can see he’s processing what I’ve just said.
“Like a self-help book?” he asks eventually.
“Kind of. Not like a manual or anything, but more how to be successful based on your personal experiences.”
He starts nodding slightly, getting on board with the idea. Excitement that we could be getting close to a breakthrough rises and I pace a bit quicker.
“I’m sure you’ve got scores of anecdotes you can tell, so it will be partly autobiographical. Good ones and bad. People lovehearing personal stories, which is why autobiographies regularly top the bestseller lists. But they can be business based, you don’t have to share anything you’re not comfortable with. How you made your first million would be interesting. Have you got any regrets? What would you do differently? That sort of thing.”
“Yes, this could work. This would really work.” He stands too, and I see the same look come over him as when he was giving me the tour yesterday. I think he’s finally finding his passion for this book. “I do have some thoughts on that, and one or two stories. Not everything was a success, you know.”
“You should put those in, it would make you more human. We learn by our mistakes.”
“You think I’m not human?” he barks a laugh.
“No. I mean yes! Well, you know, people like you, and Harrison, and Gab. They’re far above us mere mortals. Knowing you’d made a few mistakes along the way, it would make the help you’re providing more, you know, credible. I mean, what would happen if you lost all your money? How would you start again?”
I stop because he’s staring at me open-mouthed.
“What?” I ask, confused.
“That’s it, that’s the angle. What would I do if I woke up tomorrow and I’d lost all my money? How would I start from scratch again?” He laughs, a big joyful laugh, and grabs my forearms and spins us around.
“God, you’re so smart,” he whispers and mashes his lips to mine with the force of a freight train. I don’t have time to stop him. Nor do I want to. In this moment I want Chase to kiss me. I want to kiss him back. I’ll worry about what comesnext later. He pulls me closer until I’m crushed against him, and his hand tangles into my curls. I tip my head back for a better angle and melt into him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Chase
I pull back justto take a breath, just to ground myself enough to make sure I kiss every brain cell out of Noah’s head, but he has other ideas.
This time he doesn’t flinch away, though. No. He takes a full step back, and with his eyes closed behind his slightly smudged glasses and his lips swollen, holds both palms up to me as he too tries to get his breath back.