She stopped short in the living roo

She stopped short in the living room, causing him to bump into her. His heat seared her and she jumped away.

“What’s all this?”

A clothing rack, just like the ones the models’ outfits had been hanging on at the shoot, was standing in the middle of the room. It was packed full of clothes that looked like they would fit her, rather than size zero, six foot, nineteen-year-old girls.

“I had a few things delivered for you.”

“How did you even do this? You were working the whole time, harder than anyone else.”

She couldn’t remember ever seeing him take a break, beyond having lunch with her. Even when the rest of the crew was relaxing between shots, he was busy setting things up or reviewing the day’s work.

“You look great in your jeans,” he told her, “really great, but I know you weren’t crazy about heading over to Marcus’s tonight wearing them. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s get nice clothes delivered fast.”

He was so sweet. And modest. But…

“I don’t have the money to pay you back for these clothes, Chase. It was a lovely thought, but I can’t wear them tonight.”

“Let me do this for you,” he said softly.

“I can’t.”

But, oh, how she wanted to. Even in her previous life when she’d had money, she’d never worn clothes this gorgeous.

“You can.” He didn’t move closer, but the warmth of his words moved over her skin like a caress as he said, “I’m not going to come back later and demand anything from you.”

Instinctively, she knew he was telling her the truth. He would never hold anything over her. So then why did that almost scare her more?

Chase was great. Beyond great. She should stop acting like a nervous cat already, claws popping out at the slightest noise.

Feeling like an ungrateful jerk over the clothes, she asked, “Can we start over and pretend we just walked in?”

“Sure.” He walked to the door and held it open for her.

Following his lead, she walked outside on the porch and let him open the door for her again.

“Wow, Chase. These are such pretty clothes. Thanks so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chloe had to force herself to step away from him, rather than move closer. Yet again, she wanted to put her arms around him and kiss him. She’d never been like this before, vacillating from one extreme to the other…from wanting to run away one second, then wanting to run straight into his arms the next.

Chase walked over to the rack of clothes. “This one.”

He was holding up an amazing dress with a long flowing skirt and a fitted bodice. It was midnight blue—her favorite color—and she already knew it would fit like a glove.

“I guess I’ll go shower and get dressed,” she said softly, taking it from him as she walked past.

She felt his eyes on her back all the way down the hall until she closed the bedroom door behind her.

The shower felt like heaven, but she knew Chase was waiting for her so she didn’t linger. The tub had beckoned, of course, but she wasn’t sure she could face Chase again if she accidentally set off the jets and he heard them go on.

She dried off, then opened the toiletry and makeup bag he’d had set out for her as well. She was most grateful for the makeup, because it meant she could cover up her bruise a little better. True, everyone had already seen it, but that didn’t mean she liked looking at it every time she looked in the mirror.

Chase had thought of everything. How on earth was a girl supposed to not fall for a guy like this?

Forget his looks. He was awesome on the inside, too.

Then again, hadn’t she thought her ex was awesome at first?

Forcing down the icky thought, she finished blowing her hair dry, then slipped into the beautiful dress and picked a pair of incredibly pretty heels out of the half-dozen pairs of shoes that had been placed in her bedroom while she showered.

A shiver ran through her at the knowledge that Chase had been just beyond the bathroom door while she was naked. Had he been tempted to break in again?

And what would she have done this time? Would she have acted like she didn’t want him in there?

Or would she have opened up the shower door and invited him in?

She tried as hard as she could to put herself back in her mindset from earlier in the day, when she’d first seen the models and had been able to convince herself that there was no way Chase would be interested in her with them around.

But after a full day with them, she knew without even the slightest doubt that there was nothing going on between Chase and any of those young women. Nor would there ever be. They looked at him with stars in their eyes. He looked at them like they were his younger sisters.

Chloe knew he didn’t look at her like that, however.

He looked at her like a man looked at a woman he desired.

No, she found herself thinking before she could stop herself from going there, there was more behind his gaze than just desire.

Her heart fluttering wildly, she stepped out of the bedroom. Chase was silent for a long moment, which only made her heart beat faster.

Finally, he said, “You’re lovely.”

Lovely.

Did he know the effect that one word had on her? Did he know how special he made her feel, again and again?

Desperate to cut the sensual—and emotional—tension between them, she tried to joke,

“Whoever picked out this dress has a great eye.”

“It’s not the dress. It’s you.”

She worked not to deflect his compliment again. Once upon a time she’d known how to say thank you. “You look nice, too,” she said, taking in his dark jeans and the white button-down shirt that he’d rolled up a couple of times at the sleeves.

“I thought we’d walk over to Marcus’s house.” He looked down at her shoes. “Will that work?”

“Are you kidding? I used to practically live in heels.”

He gave her a questioning look and she silently cursed herself. Fortunately, though, he didn’t push her on her statement or as her any questions about her past.

But she knew that if she stayed much longer, he would ask.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Dia berhenti sejenak di ruang tamu, menyebabkan dia untuk bertemu dengannya. Panas nya menyengat dia dan dia melompat jauh."Apakah semua ini?"Rak pakaian, seperti pakaian model yang telah bertahan pada di menembak, berdiri di tengah ruangan. Itu adalah dikemas penuh dengan pakaian yang tampak seperti mereka akan cocok dengan dia, agak daripada ukuran nol, enam kaki, gadis-gadis berusia sembilan belas tahun."Aku punya beberapa hal yang dikirim untuk Anda.""Bagaimana Apakah Anda bahkan melakukan ini? Anda bekerja sepanjang waktu, lebih keras daripada orang lain."Dia tidak ingat pernah melihat dia mengambil istirahat, melampaui makan siang bersamanya. Bahkan ketika seluruh kru adalah santai antara tembakan, dia sedang sibuk menyiapkan hal atau meninjau hari kerja."Kau tampak hebat di jeans Anda," ia berkata kepadanya, "benar-benar hebat, tetapi saya tahu Anda tidak tergila-gila dengan Marcus's malam memakai mereka mengunjungi. Jika ada satu hal yang dapat saya lakukan, itu adalah mendapatkan pakaian bagus disampaikan cepat."Ia adalah begitu manis. Dan sederhana. Tapi..."Aku tidak punya uang untuk membayar Anda kembali untuk pakaian ini, Chase. Itu yang indah yang berpikir, tapi saya tidak memakainya malam ini.""Biarkan aku melakukan ini untuk Anda," katanya lembut."Aku tidak bisa."Tapi, oh, bagaimana dia ingin. Bahkan dalam hidupnya sebelumnya ketika ia punya uang, dia telah pernah dipakai pakaian cantik ini."Anda bisa." Ia tidak bergerak lebih dekat, tapi kehangatan dari kata-katanya pindah kulitnya seperti belaian ketika ia berkata, "Aku tidak akan kembali lagi nanti dan meminta apa-apa dari Anda."Secara naluriah, dia tahu dia menceritakan kebenaran. Ia tidak pernah memegang sesuatu atas dirinya. Jadi mengapa Apakah yang hampir menakut-nakuti lebih?Chase adalah besar. Luar besar. Dia harus berhenti bertindak seperti kucing gugup sudah, cakar bermunculan di sedikit kebisingan.Merasa seperti brengsek yang tidak tahu berterima kasih atas pakaian, dia bertanya, "Dapat kita mulai atas dan berpura-pura kita hanya berjalan di?""Pasti." Dia berjalan ke pintu dan diselenggarakan terbuka untuknya.Mengikuti teladannya, dia berjalan di luar di teras dan membiarkan dia membuka pintu untuknya lagi."Wow, Chase. Ini adalah seperti pakaian yang cantik. Terima kasih banyak.""Kau Selamat datang."Chloe harus memaksa dirinya untuk melangkah menjauh dari dia, daripada bergerak lebih dekat. Sekali lagi, dia ingin meletakkan tangannya di sekelilingnya dan menciumnya. Dia telah pernah seperti ini sebelumnya, terombang-ambing dari satu ekstrem ke yang lain... dari keinginan untuk melarikan diri satu detik, kemudian lama berjalan langsung ke tangannya berikutnya.Chase berjalan ke rak pakaian. "Ini satu."Dia memegang gaun yang menakjubkan dengan mengalir panjang rok dan korset dilengkapi. Itu midnight blue — warna favorit — dan ia sudah tahu itu akan cocok seperti sarung tangan."Kurasa aku akan pergi shower dan berpakaian," Dia berkata lembut, mengambil darinya seperti yang ia berjalan melewati.Dia merasa mata pada punggungnya sepanjang jalan menyusuri lorong sampai dia menutup pintu kamar tidur di belakangnya.Mandi merasa seperti surga, tapi dia tahu Chase sedang menunggu untuk dirinya sehingga ia tidak berlama-lama. Bak mandi telah memanggil, tentu saja, tapi dia tidak yakin dia bisa menghadapi Chase lagi jika dia sengaja berangkat jet dan ia mendengar mereka pergi.Dia kering, kemudian membuka tas perlengkapan mandi dan makeup ia berangkat untuk dia juga. Dia adalah sangat berterima kasih untuk makeup, karena itu berarti ia bisa menutupi memar nya sedikit lebih baik. Benar, semua orang sudah melihatnya, tapi itu tidak berarti dia suka melihat setiap kali dia melihat di cermin.Chase telah memikirkan segalanya. Bagaimana seorang gadis seharusnya tidak jatuh untuk seorang pria seperti ini?Lupa penampilannya. Dia adalah mengagumkan di dalam, terlalu.Kemudian lagi, dia tidak memikirkan mantan pacarnya itu awesome pada awalnya?Memaksa turun pikiran menjijikkan, dia selesai meniup kering rambut nya, kemudian menyelinap ke baju yang indah dan mengambil sepasang tumit sangat cantik dari lusin pasang sepatu yang telah ditempatkan di kamar tidur sementara dia showered.Gemetar berlari melalui dirinya pada pengetahuan bahwa Chase telah hanya di luar pintu kamar mandi sementara ia telanjang. Telah ia tergoda untuk istirahat di lagi?Dan apa yang akan ia lakukan saat ini? Akan dia telah bertindak seperti dia tidak ingin dia di sana?Atau akan ia membuka pintu kamar mandi dan mengundangnya dalam?Dia berusaha sekeras mungkin untuk menempatkan dirinya kembali pada pola-pikir dia dari di awal hari, ketika ia pertama kali melihat model dan telah mampu meyakinkan diri bahwa ada tidak ada cara Chase akan tertarik dalam dirinya dengan mereka di sekitar.Tapi setelah seharian penuh dengan mereka, dia tahu tanpa bahkan sedikit pun keraguan bahwa tidak ada yang terjadi antara Chase dan salah satu wanita-wanita muda. Tidak akan pernah ada. Mereka memandangnya dengan bintang-bintang di mata mereka. Dia memandangnya seperti mereka adik nya.Chloe tahu dia tidak melihat dia seperti itu, namun.Dia memandang seperti seorang laki-laki memandang wanita yang dia inginkan.Tidak, dia menemukan dirinya berpikir sebelum dia bisa menghentikan dirinya dari pergi ke sana, ada lebih di belakang dengan tatapan dari hanya keinginan.Hatinya beterbangan liar, ia melangkah keluar dari kamar tidur. Chase telah diam selama saat ini, yang hanya membuat hatinya berdegup.Akhirnya, dia berkata, "kau indah."Indah.Apakah ia tahu efek yang satu kata telah di? Apakah dia tahu betapa istimewanya ia membuatnya merasa, lagi dan lagi?Putus asa untuk memotong sensual — dan emosional-ketegangan antara mereka, dia mencoba bercanda,"Siapa pun memilih gaun ini memiliki mata besar.""Hal ini tidak gaun. It's you."Dia bekerja tidak untuk menangkis pujian nya lagi. Sekali waktu dia telah dikenal cara untuk mengucapkan terima kasih. "Anda terlihat bagus, terlalu," katanya, sambil jeans-nya yang gelap dan kaos Button-down shirt putih yang dia telah digulung beberapa kali di lengan."Saya pikir kita akan berjalan ke rumah Marcus's." Dia menatap sepatu. "Yang akan berhasil?""Apakah Anda bercanda? Aku digunakan untuk praktis tinggal di tumit."Dia memberikan pandangan yang mempertanyakan dan dia diam-diam mengutuk dirinya. Untungnya, meskipun, dia tidak mendorong dia pernyataannya atau sebagai pertanyaan tentang masa lalunya.But she knew that if she stayed much longer, he would ask.