“Kyle can suck it,” she said. “We’re going out.”
“That’s my girl. And damn, honey, you look amazing.”
She’d totally forgotten he hadn’t seen her hair and her in a dress. She found a shy smile. “Do you like it?”
“I love all of it, especially you.” Leave it to Chase to make everything seem better.
She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He hugged her back immediately and kissed the side of her head. “It’s going to be all right.”
She needed to hear that right now. And in his arms, she felt that way, too. “I know. I just wish he’d leave me alone. I want to have the life we talked about without him in any part of it.”
“And we will, because we choose to leave him out of it. If we have to do it legally, we will.”
“Or I’ll take one of the jobs out of state and leave with her. He’ll never find us.”
Chase held her at arm’s length. “What are you talking about?”
“Before you came back from rehab and he started spying on me and Eliza, I thought the only way to get rid of him was to leave, so I sent out résumés to several places out of state. I got job offers from all of them.”
“Is that really what you want to do? What about us?” Fear and hurt filled his eyes.
She wasn’t thinking straight and quickly reassured him. “I’m not taking any of the offers because of us.” She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and the headache starting just behind her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m upset and...” She threw her hands up and let them drop. “I just want him to go away. We can’t let him get visitation rights. That’s not happening. Ever.”
“Agreed. But if he won’t go away, are we making plans together, or do I have to chase you wherever you run?” He had a right to be angry that she’d done things without clueing him in.
She went up on tiptoe and kissed him softly. “I love you. I want our life together.” She dropped to her flat feet.
He pulled her back up and into a scorching kiss. “From now on, it’s you and me. We do things together. Agreed?”
She readily nodded. “That sounds so good to me.”
“Then I’ll talk to Hunt tomorrow. We’ll get a lawyer and find out our rights and what his shouldn’t be.”
She liked the way he put that, because Kyle had forfeited any right to be a father or grandfather when he raped her mother.
“Now, how about we start our night together.” Chase leaned over, grabbed the flowers from the table, and held them out to her. “For my beautiful girlfriend.”
She loved that he called her that. “Thank you. They’re lovely.” She buried her nose in the blooms and inhaled the sweet scents of the lilies, roses, alstroemeria, and peonies. The pink, white, and red blooms were filled out with greenery in a huge bundle that barely fit in her hand. “They’re the same flowers you sent when Eliza was born. I love them.”
“You seemed really happy with them the last time, so I thought, why not remind you of happy things.” He picked up the small wrapped box and held it out to her. “For you.”
“Chase, you really didn’t need to buy me a gift.”
“Yes, I did. It’s your birthday. That requires something special. Open it.”
She couldn’t wait to see what it was and passed the flowers back to him so she could use both hands to pull off the ribbon and tear the paper free. She opened the box and found a velvet jewelry box inside. She pulled that out, flipped the lid open, and stared at the gorgeous diamond earrings. “Chase, this is too much.”
“Do you like them?”
“They’re amazing. Nicer than anything else I own.” All the other pairs ofniceearrings she had were dainty little things. These were the size of chocolate chips. Not big and ostentatious, just right. “They’re really beautiful.”
“Classic. Like you.”
Cyn had said the same thing about her. She liked it.
Chase’s steady presence, the wonderful gifts, his support all helped to dissipate the fury her father stirred in her. She wanted to share this night with Chase without bringing along her baggage.