Angel Baby (23 page)

Protected her. Soothed her. Aroused her.

It was love. Not the same love, a very different one. But
love all the same.

Claudia allowed herself to be warm with the feel of her love
for him for a few moments. Then she forced the feelings aside and thought about
her child. Loving Chase was a wonder, but it would never work. She'd known from
the day Joe died that she would be alone, at least until Sarah grew up. She'd
made a vow to her husband, to her child, and to herself. The longer she allowed
herself to love Chase, the more it would hurt later when it had, inevitably, to
end.

Chase didn't sleep at all. Throughout the night, he lay in
bed thinking of Claudia and the swift changes in their relationship. It hadn't
really been that swift, he realized, considering he'd been deeply emotionally
involved with her for a year. Exactly one year next week. Sarah's first birthday
was less than seven days away. 

He kept seeing Claudia's face as she admitted, almost
embarrassed, that she'd never had a
meaningless
affair. He didn't like
hearing that expression on her lips. Didn't like that she could even say it in
context with what they had together. But then, he hadn't given her much
alternative, had he?

He hadn’t ever revealed how he felt, either to her, or to
himself.

But he was beginning to suspect.

He was falling in love with her. Claudia had worked her way
into his heart, prying open the tightly closed chambers, filling him with hope
and wonder. Her child had done the same thing, and right now, he knew there
wasn’t anything on this earth he wouldn’t do to protect both of them.

Those thoughts were still on his mind the next morning, when
he swung by Claudia's house to pick her up. She rushed down the outside steps,
carrying Sarah, and got into the car immediately. Their ride to Melanie's was
silent, thick with their unspoken thoughts. Chase didn't know what to say to
her. He'd never in his life told a woman he loved her. The last thing he wanted
was to tell her and have her think he was saying only what she wanted to hear.
So he remained silent.

"Thank you again," Claudia said as they reached
the office after dropping Sarah off. "Hopefully whatever's wrong with my
car won't take too long to fix, and I can stop being such a nuisance."

He grabbed her hand before she got out of the car and
squeezed it tightly. “You weren’t a nuisance when you gave birth in my
bedroom,” he said with a gentle smile. “So I think I can handle giving you a
ride to work.”  

She smiled back, some of the brightness returning to her
eyes. Which made the day a little sunnier.

When they walked inside, Annie greeted them both, then said,
“Willie called about your car, Claude. He says he thinks the transmission might
be gone, and wants you to call him.”

Claudia saw Annie’s frown, and Chase’s, and asked, “Is that
as bad as it sounds?”

 “Several hundred dollars’ worth of bad,” he replied.

She sighed deeply, mentally calculating how much money she
had left in her savings account and trying to remember whether payday was this
Friday or next. Though she made a good salary, she hadn’t been working for
Chase long enough to really build up her nest egg. She'd been hoping to avoid
any major expenditures for at least a couple of months. Still, considering the
car was a twelve year old heap, she knew she couldn’t complain.

“Don’t worry about it, Claude,” Chase insisted. “I’ll call
Willie; he’s a genius tinkerer. I’ll bet he can work something out, find used
parts or something.”

Chase must have been right, because later that afternoon,
the mechanic called back and told he’d been wrong about the problem. He said it
was only some bad wiring which wouldn’t cost more than fifty bucks. The tow, he
told her, he’d throw in for free since, as he said, he’d been, “Down to the
Duck Bill Café for a BLT and some home fries for dinner anyways."

Claudia could barely contain her relief, and sought Chase
out to thank him that afternoon. Sylvia had already left for the day. Claudia
waited in the outer office until she heard him finish a phone call, then she
knocked lightly and entered when he called.

“I just talked to ole’ Willie. What a character,” Claudia
said with a laugh. “Anyway, my car’s ready. It wasn’t nearly as serious as he
first thought. Thank goodness.”

“Good,” Chase said, not quite meeting her eye.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you driving me
around." Claudia said. “You’ve been just wonderful."

Chase seemed uncomfortable with her thanks, shrugging as he
said, “Forget it. I have to run to the bank in a little while. I'll drop you
off at Willie's shop on the way, and you can get your car."

Awkwardly thanking him again, Claudia left his office.

Late that afternoon, Chase drove her to Willie's shop only
to find her car wasn't ready. Claudia's annoyance quickly disappeared under the
humorous explanations of the mechanic, but she apologized to Chase for the
wasted trip.

"It's all right," he said as they drove out of the
mechanic's lot. "It was right on the way to the bank anyway. Listen, I
have no problem taking you and Sarah home, but I have to go back to the office
for a few minutes first. Do you mind?

"No, not at all," she quickly relied.
"Without my car, I'm obviously not going to be able to go on my birthday
shopping expedition, anyway."

"I haven't forgotten," Chase said.

Arriving at the deserted office, they entered the quiet
building. Claudia considered waiting in the car, but didn't want Chase to feel
he had to hurry back out. She followed him inside.

"I'll just be a few minutes," Chase said when they
entered the lobby. "Want to wait in my office?"

Claudia shrugged and followed him, conscious of the loud
click of her heels on the floors in the eerie silence of the building. Without
the hum of the fax machine, the constant ringing of the phone or the incessant
chatter of Annie, the place seemed quiet as a tomb.

"So," Chase said as they entered his office.
"Have you planned anything special for Miss Sarah's big day?"

"Just a small family party," Claudia said softly.
"I'd planned to invite Melanie and Ryan, and Dorien. And you, Chase. I
hope you'll come."

Chase nodded and cleared his throat as he walked to his desk
and began sorting through papers. Claudia felt her heart clench a little for
him as he tried to maintain the friendly distance she'd asked for. Right now,
she wished she'd never said a word, for all she could picture was the way
they'd lain on top of that very desk just twenty-four hours before. And how
she'd cried out his name in ecstasy.

Catching his eye, Claudia quickly looked at the floor.

"What about your real family?" Chase asked.

Chase watched the sadness creep over Claudia’s face. Her
shoulders, usually so straight and set, slumped the tiniest bit. Her chin
dropped forward. Her eyes stared at a patch on the carpeted floor, somewhere
between the her desk and a file cabinet in the corner. 

“You need to let it go, you know," he told her. She
frowned at him, but he ignored it and continued. “You need to let go of the
pain and the resentment you’re still carrying around from your childhood. No
matter what happened then, now your life is what you make of it, and you’re
doing a damn good job.”

She caught his eye, and he stared right at her, proud that
she stood straighter and lifted her chin.

“I’m not carrying anything around," she retorted.

He paused for one moment. “Then call your mother.” Though
she gasped, and even flinched a little, he didn’t back down. “You say you don’t
know where she is, but have you ever really looked?”

“She knows how to find me.”

“You don't know that, Claudia,” he said softly as he walked
around his desk and approached her.  

“Sure I do,” she said, trying to stay calm and cool about
this. Not easy to do when Chase was poking into some uncomfortable places,
picking at scabs she’d hoped had been long healed.

“As far as you know, she could have tried to reach you in Philadelphia.”

Claudia didn’t want to listen to what Chase was saying. For
the past several months, well, she had to admit, for the past several years,
she had managed to use the old adage "out of sight, out of mind" on
the rare occasions she thought of her family. She’d written the obligatory
Christmas cards, sent gifts to her younger half-sister and brother on their
birthdays, suffered through the perfunctory calls on Thanksgiving. Losing touch
altogether hadn’t seemed that major a step, considering she hadn’t laid eyes on
any of her family in nearly eight years.

“Stay out of it, Chase," she said as she stood and turned
her back on him.

He didn’t acknowledge her angry comment, instead moving
around to face her until the tips of his black leather dress shoes nearly met
the pointy ends of her navy pumps.

“You are too open, too caring a woman to carry a lifetime’s
worth of emotional baggage and resentment around in your heart, Claude. Dump
it. Move on. Make your peace and forget about it.”

Claudia lifted her chin and said, "I could say the same
for you. How much baggage are you carrying around because of your mother? Isn't
she the reason you act so utterly devoid of emotion?” Her words hung heavily in
the air, and she regretted them the moment they left her mouth. "I'm
sorry," she whispered. "That was unfair."

"No, don't apologize. You're right," he conceded.
"I'm sure a lot of the choices I've made in my life are a direct result of
what happened to her. But Claudia, I'm trying to change. You of all people
should see that I'm changing."

Claudia saw in his eyes the depth of emotion he'd never
spoken out loud. Suddenly, her doubts and fears of the night before didn't seem
as important as the feelings she believed this man had for her. Reaching her
hand up, she cupped his face and tilted her mouth toward his. He didn't
hesitate and met her in a kiss as warm and deep as eternity. Claudia felt tears
falling from her eyes, wetting their lips, and his fingers reached up to brush
them away.

"I love you, Claudia," he said as he moved his
mouth to her hair.

She sighed deeply, letting his words flow over her as his
fingers did the same.

"I love you, too, Chase," she admitted, knowing
that no matter what happened between them, she couldn't go another moment
without telling him.

Claudia wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head
on his chest. He remained silent, just holding her, tracing a pattern lightly
on her back with the tips of his fingers. Sensitive as always to his touch,
Claudia quivered as desire for him rushed through her body. Pulling away
slightly, she reached for the top button of his shirt and smiled up at him as
she unfastened it. Chase watched her silently, then reached up to pull her hair
free of its fastener. He ran his fingers through its length, then drew her head
forward to kiss her. Claudia returned his kiss hungrily.

"That desk was a little hard last night," he
muttered as he pulled her toward a leather chair.

Claudia followed him willingly, but stopped suddenly when
she heard a noise from outside the office.

Instantly alert, Chase took a small step back and said,
"Someone must still be here."

Claudia nodded, raised a hand to her hair to straighten it,
and gave him a shaky smile.

"Maybe if we're quiet they'll go away."

He laughed softly. "I think I'll go see who it is, just
to be sure."

Claudia followed him out of the office. Faint rustling
noises came from upstairs, and Claudia could see that a light was turned on.
Chase walked quietly through the dark outer office to the front staircase.
Suddenly feeling a little nervous, Claudia reached out her hand and stopped
him.

"Want to turn a light on or something?" she
whispered.

He held a finger to his lips, asking her to be quiet, and
she shrugged. For some reason, he didn't want the person upstairs to know they
were coming.

The top floor of the building was comprised of three
offices, one for purchasing, one for accounting, and a third used as a storage
area. It was the storage room, with its file cabinets and documentation, toward
which Chase walked.

Surprised that anyone would be bothering with files this
late in the day, Claudia followed him into the room, then saw who’d been
sneaking around.

"Andrew," she gasped.

They watched as Andrew Worthington immediately dropped the
file he'd been reading and stared at them in disbelief. Even though he'd warned
her about the other man’s true personality, Chase appeared a little surprised
that Worthington would be so bold.

"Find everything you were looking for?" Chase
asked quietly, his voice a deadly calm whisper which Claudia had never heard.

Claudia wondered what excuse Andrew would possibly offer for
his obvious break-in, and could not believe it when the man straightened and
smiled broadly.

"Well, Paxton, can't blame a guy for trying, can you? I
mean, come on, where's the harm? It's not like I'm stealing anything
here."

Claudia saw Chase's fingers curl into fists at his sides.
Knowing he was about to leap on the other man, she grabbed his arm and said,
"No, Chase, let's just call the police."

Andrew seemed to notice her presence for the first time.
Claudia saw his eyes narrow as he glanced toward her mussed hair and her
partially unbuttoned blouse. His mouth tensed in anger for a moment, then a sly
expression settled on his face. He smiled intimately at her.

"Guess the jig is up, Claude. I thought you said you
could keep him distracted this evening."

Claudia gasped and immediately released Chase's sleeve.

"You lying bastard," Chase said as he strode
across the room and grabbed Andrew by the collar of his perfectly tailored suit
jacket.