He shoved a hand through his low-cut hair and let out a ragged breath, filled with frustration. So deep, it overshadowed her own.
“I don’t know. I swear to God, I don’t know. I mean when I first saw you, I didn’t recognize you at first. It was basically you, this girl standing there, that I couldn’t take my eyes off.” He squeezed his eyes as if it pained him to tell her these things. “I didn’t want to look at you, okay. You understand that. The things I was thinking, none of that should’ve been inside my head. When I realized who you were––heard your name and connected the dots. I don’t know… I just knew I wasn’t gonna leave until I talked to you. Had no idea what the hell I was gonna say, but I couldn’t let you leave like that, even if I was wondering if you belonged to that guy.”
“First I don’t belong to anyone and never will. Second…” Second, she didn’t really know. There were too many questions. Most important, was Chase trying to say he was attracted to her? Needed her help, somehow? Larke drew in a deep breath, choosing to use her words carefully.
“Second, did you follow me here?”
“I did.”
Okay. Larke pursed her lips, surprised she wasn’t freaking out. “Do you also know where I live?”
He said nothing, giving a single nod as confirmation. His gaze held hers. Gauging her reaction.
They stood in silence. Perhaps he was studying her, the same way she did him. Drawing his own conclusions, similar to the ones forming inside her mind right now. Whatever Chase was, she didn’t believe him to be a liar. And chances were, he truly meant no harm. If he had, wouldn’t he have taken his chance when they were alone?
Before she could change her mind, Larke turned to him and said, “Let’s go somewhere else.” People were beginning to stare. She reached for the blanket but Chase beat her to it. “I got it,” he said, picking up the cloth and folding it.
“So, is this your workplace? Where you come to write?”
“Kind of.” She fell into step beside him. “I use to come here while waiting for my shift at O’Malley General Hospital to start. I’d get some pretty good writing in, enough that I was able to write a book that wasn’t bad.” She pinned him with a sardonic smile, recalling his annoyance when she’d asked to tell him a story. “And apparently other people seemed to like it because now I get paid to write.”
Chase shrugged, although she caught the faintest hint of a smile on his firm lips. “What do you do at the hospital?”
“Used to,” she said, rounding a corner with him beside her. “I got my two-year RN degree after high school and worked at the hospital like my mother did. I started working part-time at the end of last year and was able to quit a couple of months ago. If I budget right, I can do fine with the royalties I get from my books.”
Wow. She had given Chase a mouthful. Larke immediately regretted telling him so much about herself. Had to be because of how little she went out with the opposite sex. Something she would definitely remedyif it prevented her from running her mouth to a white supremacist. One, who also assumed he was entitled to her respect for the simple fact of being who he was.
“I guess your mom must be real proud, huh?”
Her heart felt heavy. “She was,” Larke told him, unable to keep out the sadness. “She died over a year ago.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Thanks,” she said, glancing over at him carrying the picnic blanket. “My mom was ill for a while.” Larke lifted a shoulder. “Life has to go on, right?”
He nodded. “That’s true. My grandfather died a year ago too. But like you said–have to keep it moving.”
She said nothing to that, only cringing inwardly at exactly what she assumed he had to keep moving. Once they arrived near a large pond, away from the walking trail, Larke stopped and place her laptop bag on a bench. Although the area was empty save for her and Chase, it didn’t bother her. Her skin no longer prickled with fear at the thought of being alone with him. In the place of her unease from earlier, was uncertain curiosity.
“Aren’t you concerned someone you know might see us out here at some point?” she asked, sitting beside him on the bench.
He shook his head. “No. As for the people I know, most of them wouldn’t come around these parts. Too many…” His voice trailed. He averted his gaze as if he’d caught himself before saying something he knew would start an argument. “It’s too diverse for the people I know. Not everyone can handle going out in a world that isn’t the way we’d like it to be.”
Larke stiffened. “How exactly would you like it to be?”
He refused to answer. Issuing her a pointed stare, he grated,“I didn’t drive all the way out here to talk race with you, Larke.”
Okay. Now they were getting somewhere. “Then whydidyou come? Please tell me. Why did you drive all the way out here from your Aryan homeland to see me, when all we have in common is that we were two kids stuck in a bad situation together? We’re nothing to each other. We weren’t even friends.”Although I gave you my necklace to keep and remember me by.
“I wanted to see you.”
Those were his only words. Larke waited for him to elaborate, say something else. Nothing. His blue eyes pleaded with her to understand. His gaze, so intense, stroked her face, leaving no misunderstanding. Chase wanted her, despite everything he believed in. She wrapped her arms around her middle. Her entire body shivered with emotions that excited and terrified her.
Complete madness.
Trapped beneath his stare, Larke forced herself to look away. Not for the first time since meeting Chase, she felt the urge to run. To get as far away from him as she could, without a glance backward. But what good would it do? The last time she ran from him, she’d found herself in a different sort of danger. Now, as a grown woman, in spite of everything Chase stood for, there was a faint stirring of butterflies awakening inside her stomach whenever their gazes met. Larke groaned silently. Lord help her, she wasn’t even sure shewantedto run.
“How can you want to see me when we both know this isn’t right?” She tapped a finger to her chest. “I’mnot supposed to be right. Not enough for you to have an interest in; apart from wishing me gone.” Larke narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She might not want to run from him, but she could still put an end to this insanity. “Whatever this is, I can’t. I honestly can’t.”
