One more night.Chloe had twenty-fou

One more night.

Chloe had twenty-four hours left to be with Chase in this fairy tale. She wanted each of those hours, those precious minutes, to last forever, knew that she would be counting them down until the buzzer rang and she left.

She needed to leave. Because, as she’d told him last night, she needed to do this on her own.

Didn’t she?

All day, as she’d worked with everyone, as she’d gone to check on Alice and found her much improved in her hotel room, Chloe had gone around and around with it in her head.

At first, it had been easy to tell herself she needed to keep her distance from Chase because men were all evil.

Which had turned out to be completely laughable. Because while her ex was certainly unhinged, Chase didn’t have an evil bone in his body. In a million years, she’d never have thought she’d find a guy like him on the side of the road in the middle of a hailstorm, on what she’d thought was the worst night of her life.

She shouldn’t believe he could have fallen in love with her. Not in only three days.

She shouldn’t be replaying that moment when he’d said, “I love you. Always. Forever,” over and over.

Lost in her troubled thoughts, her hands stilled on the lace of the corset she was tying for Amanda.

“Do you need me to suck in tighter?”

Chloe frowned. Suck in tighter? What could Amanda possibly have to suck in? “No. You’re perfect just like that.”

Amanda looked down at herself. “I’m getting fat.”

“No!” In the back of her mind she knew she needed to back off, calm down. But she’d spent too many years listening to Dean say that to her. She couldn’t stand to hear Amanda say it about herself.

“You’re beautiful, Amanda.”

But although she could see that the girl enjoyed the compliment, she didn’t truly believe it.

As the model walked away, Chloe wanted so badly for her to believe in her own beauty. In her own worth. She wanted to save her from years of self-hatred. From bad relationships. From men who weren’t worthy of even a minute of her time...let alone years.

She felt her lover’s eyes on her and his pull was so strong that she couldn’t stop herself from staring back and suddenly wondering, yet again, was that what she was to him? Was she simply a woman he was desperate to save because he was a protector to his core?

No. She knew better than to think that. Especially when he’d never done one single thing to try and take her power away.

Instead, hadn’t he given her the tools to empower herself? Hadn’t he asked her to use her talents, her skills, to create beauty? To grow stronger?

And then, like a ton of bricks raining down from the perfectly blue sky, the real truth of the matter hit her: It wasn’t Chase that thought he needed to save her, to coddle her so that she never had to face danger again.

She’d been doing that all by herself.

Hiding out here at the winery, not picking up the damn phone and calling the police, not forcing herself to face the fact that she was going to have to find a way to protect herself from Dean once she was out on her own again.

It was just what she’d done in her marriage. She’d hidden from the truth of how bad it was because it had seemed so much more painful to deal with the truth.

Standing in the middle of the vineyard with Chase’s eyes still on her, she knew he didn’t deserve to be dragged into her mess. And until she could be worthy of him by knowing how to stand on her own two feet, she couldn’t be with him.

Just then, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” started blaring from the portable MP3 player and Amanda dragged her over to the group, who had all started dancing in their beautiful silk dresses.

Chloe had always loved to dance, loved to feel her limbs, her muscles, grow loose and warm.

The sun was still in the sky, pouring down over them, and when the rubber band around her hair fell out she let it go, shaking her hair to let it move around her face.

As she danced, as Sara grabbed her hips and shimmied into her, Chloe could almost pretend again that the past ten years had never happened. Yes, she’d been hiding out from reality, but getting to be with Chase and the models and his crew these past few days had done so much to strip away the layers she’d never wanted to be there in the first place.

Yes, she knew this feeling of freedom, of joy, was only temporary, knew that trouble was waiting for her outside of the fantasy of this vine-covered world, but she still had a few more hours of joy left, didn’t she?

* * *

“She really is pretty.”

Chase turned to see Ellen standing beside him. He’d been utterly enraptured watching Chloe dance with the models.

But it was more than beauty that made it impossible for him to take his eyes off her.

Day by day, minute by minute, she was transforming. She’d already been a butterfly, even standing on the side of the road, dripping wet with that horrible bruise marring her soft skin. So it wasn’t that she was emerging from her cocoon.

Rather, the colors on her wings were growing brighter, more magnificent, as the burdens, the fears she’d been carrying, fell away piece by piece.

“Inside and out,” he agreed.

Ellen remained by his side, both of them watching the dancing. Surprisingly, this was the first time he’d run into her during the shoot. Almost as if she’d made sure to stay out of his way.

Feeling bad about the way he’d stood her up that first night, he said, “I really am sorry about—”

She put her hand on his arm and her touch felt strange. Wrong. The song ended and when Chloe looked over and saw them standing together, her expression tightened, narrowed. Ellen quickly dropped her hand and waved. “Hi, Chloe!”

Chase watched Chloe’s mouth turn up into a smile that wasn’t entirely real as she moved toward them.

“Hmm,” Ellen said, “she looks mighty possessive of you.”

Chase didn’t have time to tell her it was mutual before Chloe was there with them.

“Hello, Ellen.”

Ellen smiled at her. “Wow, you have really gorgeous hair.”

Chloe blinked, clearly surprised by the compliment. “Thanks.”

The late afternoon breeze whipped up, blowing a strand across her face. Chase reached out, slid his fingers through the silken strand as he tucked it behind her ear.

He felt her breath catch more than heard it as their eyes locked. He’d waited all day to touch her again, for the chance to fill up his senses with her softness, her sweet scent, her innate sensual responses. Her hand came up to cover his, holding his palm against her cheek in an instinctive reaction to his touch.

Until Ellen broke the spell by asking, “How have the two of you enjoyed being here this week?”

Chloe dropped his hand like he had the plague and a faint blush stained her already flushed cheeks. Clearly, she’d only just realized she and Chase had been holding on to each other in front of Ellen.

“It’s been like living inside a fairy tale,” she said softly. She gestured out across the gently rolling mountains, covered in even green rows. “It must be marvelous coming to work here every day.”

Ellen nodded. “It’s pretty great. Except for when we get a bridezilla in, demanding to know why the grapes aren’t in fuller bloom for her big day. But really, that’s the only time it kind of sucks.”

Chase was glad to hear Chloe chuckle, her discomfort at seeing Ellen again—and accidentally touching him in front of the other woman—receding.

He liked seeing that possessive glint in her eyes. Loved it, actually. He doubted she even realized it was there—and that she’d continually been moving closer and closer to him, unconsciously staking her claim in front of a possible rival.

She might have repeatedly told him she couldn’t be with him, but that was her head talking. Her heart seemed to know better.

He knew better, too.

“Marcus wanted to be here to say goodbye to everyone, but he was called into the city suddenly,” Ellen told them. “He sends his apologies.”

Chase had a bad feeling about his brother’s frequent trips to the city. He’d always tried to keep an open mind about Marcus’s girlfriend, Jill. But Chase had never been all that crazy about her. None of the Sullivans were. Yes, she was beautiful, but her beauty wore thin beneath the layer of ice she walked around in. The stick up her ass didn’t help much either.

Chloe’s face fell. “Oh no. I really wanted to see him again before I left, to thank him properly for giving me a place to stay this week.”

She pulled the plump, soft flesh of her lower lip in between her teeth. Chase couldn’t keep his eyes from landing there, didn’t have a prayer of keeping the rest of his body from responding in kind.

He’d never wanted a woman like this. Not just with his body. Not just with his brain. Not just with his heart.

But with his entire soul.

Ellen looked more than a little confused. “You’ll see him again, won’t you, Chloe?”

Just then, Sara yelled, “Chloe, I can’t get out of this stupid thing! It’s starting to freak me out.

Can you help me?”

Relief sweeping across her lovely face, Chloe said, “I’ve got to go help the girls out of their clothes. It was very nice to see you again, Ellen.” She held out her hand and the two women shook goodbye, at which point she turned and fled any more questions.

“Wait a minute,” Ellen said, still confused. “Why won’t she see Marcus again? Aren’t you and Chloe together?”

Chase ran a hand through his hair. The frustration he’d had a hell of a time keeping at bay during the day’s shoot was eating straight through his gut. “It’s complicated.”

Ellen looked back at Chloe, who was unbuckling one of the models’ bondage-inspired evening dresses. “Doesn’t really look all that complicated from where I’m standing. Heck, I practically got singed when you guys touched.”

He knew Ellen was right. There shouldn’t be anything complicated about a guy falling in love with a girl.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Satu malam yang lain.Chloe memiliki dua puluh empat jam tersisa untuk bersama Chase dalam dongeng ini. Dia ingin masing-masing dari mereka jam, menit yang berharga, terakhir selamanya, tahu bahwa dia akan dapat menghitung mereka turun sampai bel berdering dan ia meninggalkan.Ia harus meninggalkan. Karena, seperti yang dia telah mengatakan kepadanya tadi malam, ia harus melakukannya sendiri.Tidak dia?Sepanjang hari, seperti dia telah bekerja dengan semua orang, seperti yang ia pergi untuk memeriksa Alice dan menemukan dia jauh meningkat dalam kamar hotelnya, Chloe telah pergi di sekitar dan di sekitar dengan itu di kepalanya.Pada awalnya, itu sudah mudah untuk mengatakan dirinya ia harus menjaga jarak dari Chase karena pria segala kejahatan.Yang telah berubah menjadi benar-benar menggelikan. Karena sementara mantan pacarnya pasti tertekuk, Chase tidak memiliki tulang yang jahat di dalam tubuhnya. Dalam sejuta tahun, dia tidak akan pernah berpikir dia akan menemukan seorang pria seperti dia di sisi jalan di tengah es, pada apa yang telah dia pikir adalah malam terburuk dalam hidupnya.Dia tidak percaya dia bisa telah jatuh cinta dengannya. Tidak hanya dalam tiga hari.Dia tidak boleh memutar saat itu ketika ia mengatakan, "Aku mencintaimu. Selalu. Selamanya,"berulang -ulang.Hilang dalam pikirannya bermasalah, tangannya ditenangkan oleh pada tali korset dia mengikat untuk Amanda."Apakah Anda perlu saya untuk menyedot ketat?"Chloe mengerutkan kening. Mengisap di ketat? Apa bisa Amanda mungkin harus menyedot? "No. Anda sempurna hanya seperti itu."Amanda melihat ke bawah pada dirinya sendiri. "Saya mendapatkan lemak.""Tidak!" Di belakang pikirannya ia tahu ia harus kembali turun, tenang. Tapi dia telah menghabiskan terlalu banyak tahun mendengarkan Dean mengatakan itu padanya. Dia tidak bisa berdiri untuk mendengar Amanda mengatakan itu tentang dirinya sendiri."Kau indah, Amanda."Tapi meskipun dia bisa melihat bahwa gadis menikmati pujian, dia benar-benar tidak percaya.Sebagai model berjalan pergi, Chloe ingin begitu buruk baginya untuk percaya kecantikannya sendiri. Di worth sendiri. Dia ingin menyelamatkan dia dari tahun kebencian diri. Dari hubungan yang buruk. Dari orang-orang yang tidak layak bahkan menit dia waktu..., apalagi tahun.Dia merasa kekasih mata pada dirinya dan tarik nya begitu kuat bahwa dia tidak bisa menahan diri dari menatap kembali dan tiba-tiba bertanya-tanya, sekali lagi, adalah apa yang ia adalah kepadanya? Apakah dia hanya seorang wanita yang dia putus asa untuk menyelamatkan karena ia pelindung inti nya?Wakakak Dia tahu lebih baik daripada untuk berpikir bahwa. Terutama ketika ia tidak akan pernah dilakukan satu hal untuk mencoba dan mengambil kekuasaan.Sebaliknya, ia tidak diberikan padanya alat untuk memberdayakan dirinya? Tidak dia memintanya untuk menggunakan bakat, keterampilan, untuk membuat Salon Kecantikan? Tumbuh lebih kuat?Dan kemudian, seperti satu ton batu bata hujan dari langit biru sempurna, kebenaran sejati dari masalah memukul dia: itu tidak mengejar yang berpikir dia diperlukan untuk menyelamatkan dia, untuk memanjakan dia sehingga dia tidak pernah menghadapi bahaya lagi.Dia telah melakukan itu semua sendiri.Bersembunyi di sini di kilang anggur, tidak mengangkat telepon sialan dan memanggil polisi, tidak memaksa dirinya untuk menghadapi kenyataan bahwa ia harus menemukan cara untuk melindungi dirinya dari Dean setelah ia keluar sendiri lagi.Itu hanya apa yang telah dia lakukan dalam pernikahannya. Dia telah tersembunyi dari kebenaran dari seberapa buruk itu karena tampaknya telah jauh lebih menyakitkan untuk berurusan dengan kebenaran.Berdiri di tengah kebun anggur dengan Chase mata masih pada dirinya, dia tahu dia tidak pantas untuk diseret ke dalam kekacauan nya. Dan sampai dia bisa layak nya dengan mengetahui bagaimana untuk berdiri di atas kakinya dua, dia tidak bisa bersamanya.Hanya kemudian, Beyonce's "Single Ladies" mulai menggelegar dari MP3 player portabel dan Amanda menyeretnya atas ke grup, yang telah semua mulai menari di gaun sutra indah mereka.Chloe telah selalu mencintai menari, senang merasa nya tungkai, ototnya, tumbuh longgar dan hangat.Matahari masih di langit, mencurahkan atas mereka, dan ketika karet gelang di rambutnya jatuh keluar dia membiarkan itu pergi, gemetar rambutnya untuk membiarkannya bergerak di sekitar wajahnya.Saat dia menari-nari, karena Sara menyambar pinggul dan shimmied ke dalam dirinya, Chloe bisa hampir berpura-pura lagi yang sepuluh tahun telah pernah terjadi. Ya, dia telah bersembunyi dari kenyataan, tetapi semakin menjadi dengan Chase dan model dan krunya beberapa hari terakhir ini telah melakukan begitu banyak untuk strip menghilangkan lapisan yang dia tidak pernah ingin berada di sana di tempat pertama.Ya, dia tahu perasaan kebebasan, sukacita, hanyalah sementara, tahu bahwa masalah sedang menunggu dia di luar fantasi dunia Veerse ini, tapi dia masih memiliki beberapa jam sukacita yang dibiarkan, tidak dia?* * *"Dia benar-benar cantik."Chase berpaling untuk melihat Ellen berdiri di sampingnya. Dia telah benar-benar terpesona menonton tari Chloe dengan model.Tapi itu lebih dari keindahan yang membuat mustahil bagi dia untuk mengambil pandangan dari padanya.Hari demi hari, menit demi menit, dia adalah mentransformasi. Dia sudah kupu-kupu, bahkan berdiri di sisi jalan, menetes basah dengan ternyata lebam mengerikan yang kawin kulitnya lembut. Jadi bukan bahwa dia adalah pada muncul dari kepompong nya.Sebaliknya, warna pada sayapnya yang tumbuh lebih cerah, lebih megah, seperti beban, ketakutan yang dia telah membawa, terjatuh sepotong demi sepotong."Di dalam dan luar," dia setuju.Ellen tetap sisinya, keduanya menonton menari. Mengherankan, ini adalah pertama kalinya ia akan lari ke dalam dirinya selama menembak. Hampir seolah-olah dia telah membuat yakin untuk tetap keluar dari jalan.Merasa buruk tentang cara dia telah berdiri dia malam pertama itu, dia berkata, "saya benar-benar minta maaf tentang —"Dia meletakkan tangannya di lengannya dan sentuhan nya merasa aneh. Salah. Lagu berakhir dan ketika Chloe memandang dan melihat mereka berdiri bersama-sama, ekspresinya diperketat, mempersempit. Ellen cepat turun tangannya dan melambaikan tangan. "Hai, Chloe!"Chase menyaksikan Chloe's mulut menjadi senyum yang tidak sepenuhnya nyata ketika ia bergerak ke arah mereka."Hmm," Ellen berkata, "Dia tampak Perkasa posesif Anda."Chase tidak punya waktu untuk menceritakan itu saling sebelum Chloe berada di sana dengan mereka."Halo, Ellen."Ellen tersenyum padanya. "Wow, Anda memiliki rambut benar-benar cantik."Chloe berkedip, jelas terkejut dengan pujian. "Terima kasih."Akhir sore angin melecut, meniup seuntai di seluruh wajahnya. Chase mengulurkan, meluncur melalui alur silken jari-jarinya karena ia terselip di balik telinganya.Dia merasa dia menangkap napas lebih mendengarnya sebagai mata mereka terkunci. Dia telah menunggu sepanjang hari untuk menyentuh lagi, kesempatan untuk mengisi indera dengan kelembutan Nya, aroma manis, tanggapan sensual nya bawaan. Tangannya datang untuk menutupi, memegang telapak tangannya terhadap Nya pipi reaksi naluriah terhadap sentuhan-nya.Sampai Ellen memecahkan mantra dengan bertanya, "bagaimana Anda berdua menikmati berada di sini minggu ini?"Chloe turun tangannya seperti ia wabah dan blush samar yang bernoda dia sudah memerah pipi. Jelas, ia hanya baru menyadari dia dan Chase telah memegang satu sama lain di depan Ellen."Itu telah menjadi seperti hidup dalam dongeng," katanya lembut. Dia memberi isyarat keluar melintasi pegunungan lembut bergulir, tercakup dalam baris bahkan hijau. "Itu harus luar biasa datang bekerja di sini setiap hari."Ellen mengangguk. "Hal ini cukup besar. Kecuali ketika kita mendapatkan bridezilla di, menuntut untuk tahu mengapa anggur tidak mekar penuh untuk hari besar. Tapi sungguh, itu satu-satunya waktu itu agak menyebalkan."Chase was glad to hear Chloe chuckle, her discomfort at seeing Ellen again—and accidentally touching him in front of the other woman—receding.He liked seeing that possessive glint in her eyes. Loved it, actually. He doubted she even realized it was there—and that she’d continually been moving closer and closer to him, unconsciously staking her claim in front of a possible rival.She might have repeatedly told him she couldn’t be with him, but that was her head talking. Her heart seemed to know better.He knew better, too.“Marcus wanted to be here to say goodbye to everyone, but he was called into the city suddenly,” Ellen told them. “He sends his apologies.”Chase had a bad feeling about his brother’s frequent trips to the city. He’d always tried to keep an open mind about Marcus’s girlfriend, Jill. But Chase had never been all that crazy about her. None of the Sullivans were. Yes, she was beautiful, but her beauty wore thin beneath the layer of ice she walked around in. The stick up her ass didn’t help much either.Chloe’s face fell. “Oh no. I really wanted to see him again before I left, to thank him properly for giving me a place to stay this week.”She pulled the plump, soft flesh of her lower lip in between her teeth. Chase couldn’t keep his eyes from landing there, didn’t have a prayer of keeping the rest of his body from responding in kind.He’d never wanted a woman like this. Not just with his body. Not just with his brain. Not just with his heart.But with his entire soul.Ellen looked more than a little confused. “You’ll see him again, won’t you, Chloe?”Just then, Sara yelled, “Chloe, I can’t get out of this stupid thing! It’s starting to freak me out.Can you help me?”Relief sweeping across her lovely face, Chloe said, “I’ve got to go help the girls out of their clothes. It was very nice to see you again, Ellen.” She held out her hand and the two women shook goodbye, at which point she turned and fled any more questions.“Wait a minute,” Ellen said, still confused. “Why won’t she see Marcus again? Aren’t you and Chloe together?”Chase ran a hand through his hair. The frustration he’d had a hell of a time keeping at bay during the day’s shoot was eating straight through his gut. “It’s complicated.”Ellen looked back at Chloe, who was unbuckling one of the models’ bondage-inspired evening dresses. “Doesn’t really look all that complicated from where I’m standing. Heck, I practically got singed when you guys touched.”He knew Ellen was right. There shouldn’t be anything complicated about a guy falling in love with a girl.