NYC Angels: Flirting with Danger (14 page)

“M
OM, HOW ARE YOU
?”

Chloe opened the door to the apartment and gave her mother a hug. Her mother was earlier than she’d expected. Thank heavens Brad had already left for work and she was up and dressed. First Jason and now her mother. But at least her mother had called last night to make sure it was okay to drive over. No rushing around to cover up her and Brad’s nocturnal activities.

“I know you said you were fine, but I wanted to come by and see for myself.” She cupped her daughter’s face and studied her. “You look good. Happy.”

“I am. I feel like I’ve been given a new lease of life.” She tugged her mother inside. “I have some coffee made if you want some. Can you stay? Oh, I have so much I want to tell you.”

Her mom laughed. “There’s a new-fangled device called the telephone, you know.” Her smile faded. “I kept hoping you’d call. Jason said you were doing okay, but I was worried.”

Chloe led the way into the kitchen and pulled down two tea cups. Brad’s mother’s china pattern. The woman he was supposed to take care of. “I’m doing better than I expected. I really like working at the hospital.”

“And how’s Brad?”

“Fine.” She concentrated on pouring the hot liquid into the cups, hoping her cheeks weren’t steaming as much as the coffee. “He wants me to stay in the city.” She clarified, in case her mom got the wrong idea. “At the hospital.”

“And what do you want to do?”

Chloe desperately wanted to believe in happy endings. Wanted to stay here. With Brad. And be a part of his world. But she didn’t know if it was possible. He hadn’t spoken about feelings per se or hinted that he wanted to deepen their relationship. “I think I need some time to figure things out.”

“That makes sense.” Her mom spooned some sugar into her cup and stirred. “It was good of him to let you stay.”

“Yes.” She poured milk into her own cup. “Let’s go into the living room.”

Chloe put a tray on the center ottoman and set her cup and saucer down. “How’s Daddy?”

“He’s helping put a new roof on the community center.”

“In this heat?”

Her mom took a sip of her coffee. “You know him. Thinks he’s still in his thirties.”

“Yes, he does.” How could one father be in the prime of his life at fifty and another father be dying? It didn’t make sense. She couldn’t imagine losing one of her parents … would be devastated when it happened.

But not Brad. Or maybe he’d just buried his feelings so deep no one could get to them. Not even the man himself.

Could she blame him? After the way his childhood had been?

But it wasn’t just his parents he seemed to be apathetic
about. He’d had dozens of women over the years, probably more. And yet none of them had made a dent in that armor he wrapped around himself. He’d never mentioned Katrina again. It was as if the woman had never existed.

As much as Brad disliked locks, that hadn’t stopped him from boarding up his heart and padlocking it shut. Who knew if the right key even existed? Or if it did, if she could find it. She had no idea where to start looking.

Her mom was saying something, looking at her quizzically.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked how you like the city so far.”

That was an easy question. “I love it.”

“I was kind of hoping you might want to come home. We miss you.”

Chloe wrapped her hands around the delicate china cup, the expensive porcelain feeling brittle all of a sudden beneath her palms. “I miss you too. I just don’t think I can go back right now.”

“Maybe after the divorce goes through?”

“Maybe.”

“Do you need me to stop by the house and pick up your clothes? Or I could ask Travis to send them.”

The thought made her cringe. “No, I don’t want anything that’s there.” Clothes and shoes were replaceable, and she’d rather not have any reminders of that time.

Her mom was silent for a moment or two. “What happened, Chloe?”

Lord, she didn’t want to go through any of the sordid tale. “He hurt me.”

“Physically?”

“He didn’t hit me, no.” She was going to leave it at that. No need to tell her family that what had started out
as verbal ridicule had escalated into a form of abuse. Layla’s words had convinced her it really had been. How far would he have gone if she hadn’t found out about his affairs? Maybe he’d even wanted her to discover the truth just to hurt her more.

“I’m sorry, honey. Why didn’t you come to your father or me?”

“I just couldn’t.” Maybe for the same reasons Brad had never told anyone about his own abuse.

“Chloe, look at me.”

Her eyes came up and found blue eyes so like her own probing, trying to find a way to help, just like she always had. Tears pricked and she blinked to keep them at bay.

Her mom took the cup from her hands and placed it on the tray, then she pulled Chloe close and wrapped her arms around her. Chloe rested her head on her shoulder, just like she had when she’d been a little girl, and let her mom’s love wash over her. “Don’t let anyone do that to you again.” Another pause. “Not even Brad.”

She tensed. Had her mom figured out what they were doing? Had she realized the depth of Chloe’s feelings for him? Maybe. She was a smart woman. “I won’t, Mom. I promise.”

He missed her.

The thought kept pricking at him all day long at work, like a splinter he felt constantly but couldn’t find and pull out. She was off duty, spending time with her mother. He didn’t like the way her absence left a hole in him, but wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Ever since he’d left his father’s house he’d been feeling more and more uneasy about the way things were headed. Sooner or later the whole situation would start closing in on him,
just like it always did. And by delaying the inevitable, they were both going to pay the price. Soon.

He might not be the smartest guy in the world, but he knew deep down he couldn’t give her what she wanted—what she deserved—any more than Travis had. Maybe he could in the bedroom but not emotionally. He might love her, but he was smart enough to know he didn’t do those kinds of feelings well. Chloe, on the other hand, embraced those soul-searing emotions, maybe a little too well. It’s why she’d been so damaged at Travis’s hand after their marriage. She’d trusted him and he’d betrayed that trust—in more ways than one.

Wasn’t she leaving herself open to more hurt by getting involved with him? He dragged a hand through his hair as the splinter inside him pushed deeper, poking at places he’d rather not examine.

He and Chloe might be able to come together for a period of time, but there was no way it could last long term. He didn’t do relationships like the one Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins had. One that seemed to flourish for decades. Chloe’s family had had room not only for their own children but for a lost soul who’d appeared on their doorstep beside Jason.

How did someone open their hearts like that? He had never been able to get to that point. He was really good at superficial relationships that didn’t require anything more than a couple of nights a week. But every day? For the rest of his life? He didn’t think he had it in him.

He suddenly understood the shaky panic that had closed in on Chloe as she’d knelt in the shower stall that day. The one that had caused her to wheel away and run. Because that’s exactly what he wanted to do right now: run.

Chloe had claimed their time together would help prepare her for the future. Teach her how things worked in the bedroom. How men and women flirted and interacted in normal relationships.

Normal.

As if he could teach her anything about that.
Damn it!

He should have left her to Coleman. No doubt the surgeon would do a hell of a lot better job than he could. Maybe he could even give her the kind of future she was looking for. Had this all been some kind of ego trip for himself? Some weird control thing … not wanting Chloe to be attracted to anyone but him?

The thought made his stomach turn over. Maybe he
was
as much of a destroyer as Travis had been.

Was it time to start backing off?

Maybe. Before things got too messy. Before Chloe got in over her head.

Like he was.

Chloe deserved the best that life could give her. And if she had to choose between him and Cade Coleman, using the eeny, meeny, miny, mo method, Brad was
not
it.

“C
LARA
S
ERRANO’S TWINS
are still hanging in there.” Happiness bubbled through Chloe as she caught at Brad’s hand in the empty elevator.

She’d stepped into it at the last second after she’d seen him round the corner and press the button. She hadn’t seen him since that morning, and she wanted to talk to him. To see if that kernel of hope had any soil to cling to.

“I heard.” He answered her statement by crossing his arms over his chest in a way that forced her to let go of his hand. He stared straight ahead.

She frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” His voice was calm, but even so …

Was he going back to the whole not mixing personal and professional stuff? She’d thought they’d already worked through that. “There’s no one else in the elevator.”

Brad nodded at the small camera mounted in the corner.

So he was worried. It wasn’t like that image was broadcast to the whole hospital or anything.

They reached the ground floor, and the elevator doors opened. Brad waited for her to get out then followed
her. “I’m going to be working late for the next several nights, so don’t wait up.”

The words sent a warning through her head that she chose to ignore. “Anything I can help with?”

“No, I just have to catch up on some things.”

She blinked. Not much of an explanation. Something came to her. “Is it your father?”

“No. Just hospital business.” He glanced to the left as if impatient to get away.

Chloe swallowed, trying not to see things that weren’t there. Brad was not Travis. Working late did not mean the same thing it had in her marriage.

Except she and Brad weren’t married. They’d never made any vows, hadn’t promised to be faithful to each other for ever. Only for as long as their time together lasted. Maybe he was ready for it to be over and was hoping she could take a hint.

“I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes. Can you make it back to the apartment on your own?”

Her lungs burned as she tried to draw a slow, careful breath. “Yes. I’ll be fine.”

As he nodded and walked quickly down the nearest corridor, Chloe wondered if she really would be.

Over the next several days a troubling pattern emerged. Brad came home late at night and left before she got up in the mornings. She suspected he might even be sleeping on the sofa in his office and coming home just to shower and change clothes. She saw him in passing on the fourth floor, but he always seemed to be headed in the opposite direction.

A chill went through her, and it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out he was avoiding her. She was back to sleeping in the guest room, and this time there was never a knock on the door. Never a hint that he wanted
that to change. Thinking back to the last time they’d made love, despite the urgency she’d sensed in him, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d planned on that being their last time together. Her treatment had run its course, and he was ready to move on to the next patient.

Shuffling some papers at the nurses’ station, she jumped when Ginny’s voice came from her left. “You okay, honey? You’re looking a little pale today.”

The nurse sat in the seat next to hers. Chloe wasn’t sure what to say. Talking to her about Brad was out of the question. But she was going to have to make a decision because she couldn’t go on like this.

“I’m fine.” Chloe closed her eyes for a second or two. “No, I’m not, actually. I need to get some fresh air. Can you cover for a few minutes?”

Ginny glanced at her watch. “You’re only a half-hour away from finishing your shift. Why don’t you go on home?”

“Thanks. I think I will.” Impulsively, she leaned over and gave the other woman a hug. “You’ve been incredibly nice to me. Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s not like you’re going away for ever. Are you working tomorrow?”

“No, it’s my day off.” Her mind tried not to look more deeply at Ginny’s words.
It’s not like you’re going away for ever
.

“Go home and get some rest, then. I’ll let Brad know.”

As if he’d care. She should probably hunt him down and demand to know what was wrong, but deep in her heart she already knew. Asking for verification—or, worse, begging him to change his mind—would just make her seem needy and desperate. Just like she’d been when she’d gone to Travis’s hotel room.

She rode the elevator to the ground floor and made her way into the heat of the afternoon. The park across the street beckoned to her and she headed for it, glancing at the bench where she’d drunk coffee several times. The air was warm and muggy but she needed to think before getting on that subway and riding home to Brad’s empty apartment.

As she wandered down the nearest path, trying to figure out what was going on with her … and with Brad, her mother’s words came back to her, whispering a plea that she couldn’t ignore.
“Don’t let anyone do that to you again. Not even Brad.”

That wasn’t what forced her to a decision, though, it was her response to her mother’s statement that did. “I won’t. I promise.”

If she stayed here one more day, she’d be breaking that promise.

Her eyes filled with tears but she stood up straighter and pulled in a long deep breath. She may have been like an ostrich for the last few days, but she’d just lifted her head and taken a good look around. She was finally ready to take the hint. And as much as she didn’t want to go back to Connecticut, that’s where her family was. Not here in New York.

She’d allowed one man to pummel her heart into the ground. That was not a mistake she was going to repeat with anyone else.

Not even Brad
.

Sitting on a nearby bench, she rummaged around in her purse for a pen and a piece of paper. Then with a sick heart and dry eyes she began to write.

Brad dropped into his office chair and scrubbed an exhausted hand across his face. He couldn’t go on like this
for ever without it eventually affecting his patients. He was going to have to face the music and do the deed. He’d broken things off with women before and, though it was never fun, it was always followed by a sense of relief. Certainty that he’d done the right thing.

So why couldn’t he dredge up that certainty now?

Because he’d never loved any of the other women he’d dated.

Dragging in a breath, he decided to go home early. Chloe could stay with him until she found another place to live. He had some contacts in the city … so why hadn’t he used them before now?

Because deep down he didn’t want her to leave. But he knew that was what was best for both of them.

Reaching for his phone, he stopped short when he spied an envelope lying in the center of his desk … ad-dressed to him. It was a hospital billing envelope so it wouldn’t ordinarily raise an alarm, except for the neat, dainty letters printed in blue ink on the front of it. A stream of foreboding slid up his spine.

He planted his hand on the offending object and dragged it towards him.

Don’t open it
.

Ignoring his subconscious, he turned the envelope over and started to reach for his letter opener before he saw there was no need. The flap wasn’t sealed. It was loose, allowing a peek at the sheet of paper inside. Pink. Feminine.

The foreboding grew.

Katrina had left an envelope very much like this one. But all he’d felt then had been irritation that she’d left him in the lurch.

The urge to pick up his phone and get hold of his doorman was strong—he could ask him to make sure
Chloe didn’t leave the building before he got home. But he didn’t. Instead, he sat there for several moments, staring at that sheet of paper, the slight ticking of his black office clock keeping time with his thudding heart.

Well, hell. Sitting here wasn’t going to change anything. He slid the paper from the envelope and opened it. When he’d finished reading, his hand slowly turned into a fist, crushing the paper, along with all his hopes and dreams.

She’d beaten him to the punch. He should be glad she’d let him off the hook. No hard talks. No trying to let her down easily.

But way down inside him was a deep-seated emptiness that no one would ever be able to fill again.

Because Chloe was gone.