Zoey 101: An Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 5

Evidently, she was a huge masochist. Maybe pathetic, too, because she was willing to beg if that’s what it came down to. This man had broken her heart, and yet…yet, she would hand it right back to him if he asked. Truth was, there was no one she wanted more than Chase Matthews. God knows she’d tried exorcising him from her heart, she really had. In the past two years she’d gone out on dates, even had a year-long relationship with an artist she’d met at one of her openings.

But none of those men had compared to Chase, not even Marco her artist. Her entire life she’d longed for a relationship like her parents had—a combination of love and passion, a best friend and a lover. Comfortable warmth and searing heat.

She’d had that with Chase. In the six months he’d been in her life, she’d had a glimpse of what true love actually was.

She’d always wondered, if she saw him again, would she still feel the same? Well, she had her answer now. She still loved him. And maybe if she convinced him to spend just a little bit of time with her, she could make him see that loving her back wouldn’t be so bad.

Masochistic and pathetic…that was her, all right.

"I can’t be your bodyguard," Chase finally said, his voice coming out gruff.

Zoey raised one eyebrow. "Why not?"

"I’m working on another case."

"I thought you said the FBI was called. With all the manpower those guys bring with them, Chief Trainer isn’t going to need every detective on the force to work the case."

His mouth creased in a frown. God, she’d always loved that mouth, the sensual curve of his bottom lip, the lopsided tilt of his grin. She could’ve stared at that mouth for hours, and she had, during all those long talks they’d had when she was twenty one

"Why me?" Chase said with a sigh. "The guard I arranged for can do the job as well as I can."

She met his gaze. "I want someone I can trust."

"You can trust Nathan—"

"But you know Kuyper," she cut in. "And I know you want to see him caught as much as I do. Which means you’ll work harder to keep me safe. You once told me that the only thing that matters to you is keeping me safe."

Something in his green eyes softened. "And I meant it. That’s all I ever wanted for you, Zoey. To make sure nobody could ever hurt you." To her shock, his voice suddenly cracked as he added, "Including myself."

Her breath caught in her throat. For the first time since he’d shown up here at the studio, there was genuine emotion in his tone. A chord of sorrow. A note of tenderness. And she couldn’t be certain, but had that been a flicker of longing in his eyes?

Swallowing, she murmured, "You could never hurt me, Chase."

"But I did. I hurt you when I left," he said flatly. Rather than averting his eyes, he stared at her pointedly, as if daring her to contradict him.

"Yes, it hurt," she admitted, instinctively squaring her shoulders, a combative gesture she always made when she was forced to admit vulnerability.

He flinched. "I’m sorry."

"Apology accepted. So now make it up to me. Protect me from Kuyper, Chase."

A heavy silence fell over the studio. Chase dropped his hands from his pockets. He glanced around the studio for a moment, as if the canvases strewn across the room would help him make up his mind. And then his gaze landed on her current piece, the black-and-red sword/knife in the middle of the canvas.

Finally he looked back at her and said, "All right."

A balloon of hope rose in her chest. "You’ll do it?"

He let out a ragged breath. "Do I really have any other choice?"