Holding Her Breath (Indigo) (14 page)

“Is that your dress?” Whitney grabbed a garment bag from Erika.

“How was your trip? Yeah, that’s it.”

Whitney slid a slinky maroon dress out of the garment bag. “Fine. Oh, this dress is gorgeous. A.J.’s really not coming?”

Erika looked down and shook her head. “He doesn’t feel like going out.”

“Erika…”

“Hey. Show me your dress. You’ve been talking about this dress for weeks. I haven’t seen it since it came back from the tailor’s.” Erika grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the bedroom.

Erika could do so much better, but she wouldn’t listen to Whitney or Rob or anybody. She said that she was in love with A.J. and no matter what anyone said, they were made for each other. If that was love, Whitney wanted none of it.

But if Chace was love, she wanted all of it.

She couldn’t let herself start thinking that way. The next thing she knew, she would be distracted from what was important in life, Chace would be over his rebound slump, and everything would be wrecked.

* * *

Whitney and Erika went to Rob’s place after they were done getting ready for their night out. Voices echoed around the vast, high-ceilinged apartment. Ulrich and Abbott stood on one side of the living room, laughing about something. Delaney was trying to get Rob to stand still so that she could straighten his bowtie.

Erika wore her maroon dress, and Whitney wore a slinky black dress that hit perfectly at her ankles. It fit as if it’d been made for every curve of her body. She couldn’t stop herself from hoping Chace liked it.

Erika walked over to Ulrich and Abbott. Whitney started to follow her, but then Chace walked into the living room. If she thought he’d looked good before, then she didn’t know what to say about him that night. Where had he found a tux so quickly?

For a moment they just stood there staring at each other. She wanted to run her hands over his broad, black clad shoulders. The crisp white at his throat contrasted sharply with the black bowtie. He looked a lot different from the way he had in his fuzzy sweaters and threadbare T-shirts. Not that he hadn’t looked good in those. Especially the T-shirts, leaving so little to the imagination, so closely molded to his pecks.

“You look amazing,” Chace said, breaking her out of her lecherous reverie.

A grin spread across her face. “Thanks. You, too. Where’d you find a tux?” She moved her shawl from her shoulders to her elbows.

“Apparently, Delaney’s brother and I are just about the same size. He doesn’t like to rent them, so he had this one lying around.” His gaze dropped from her face to the plunging neckline of her dress.

Whitney nodded, her eyes once again roaming over the fabric of the tux. Suddenly she was aware that there was no talking going on in the room. And she felt eyes all over her. She turned away from Chace and turned to her friends. They were all watching her and Chace with intent stares.

“What?” Whitney said.

They all mumbled responses and pretended they’d been looking in different directions. Whitney stepped away from Chace, very much aware of his eyes still on her back. She went over to Rob and Delaney. Apparently, Delaney had finally gotten the bowtie to do what she wanted it to do because she’d stopped readjusting it.

Rob put his arm around Whitney. “So. Did you convince our friend to come to her senses while you two were taking forever to get dressed and do whatever else it is you do that takes you so long to get ready to go anywhere?”

“You know the answer to that,” Whitney said.

“Ah. Unfortunately, I do,” he said. They laughed.

A tight smile twisted Delaney’s thin lips. She slipped a skinny arm around Rob’s waist. Delaney was jealous of Whitney for some reason. Rob had told her so. But he’d also told Delaney that friends came first and there was no way he’d stop being friends with Whitney for anyone. So Delaney tried to get over herself. Most of the time.

Delaney really had nothing to worry about, though. Whitney had known Rob long before Delaney had, and there’d been plenty of time for something to develop if it was going to. But it wasn’t going to. Rob was the best guy friend she’d ever had and the idea of him being something else was just unfathomable—whether that be not in her life at all or in it as a boyfriend.

“Yeah. Mine was great until Delaney here dragged me through two states and the district, looking for what, I couldn’t tell you,” Rob said. “I was just counting down to the end of the horror.” They all laughed except for Delaney, whose ears turned pink. Whitney would have never put her with Rob, but apparently they had something going she just couldn’t see. They’d only been together a few months, but Rob was crazy about her.

“Well, I didn’t mean to bore you,” Delaney said, looking put out.

He squeezed her shoulders. “I was kidding. You really can’t take a joke, huh?”

“Speaking of countdowns, shouldn’t we get going soon?” Abbott, who’d wandered over to them, looked down at her watch. Ulrich followed her.

“Yeah. I didn’t get all dressed up just to waste it on you people,” Ulrich said, grinning.

“Okay, people, let’s hustle,” Rob said. “Since loser Chace there doesn’t have a ticket, we have to get there early so we can be sure to get him in.” He laughed and ducked as Chace took a lazy swipe at his head. The two of them walked out of the apartment together behind Whitney and Delaney, talking about decorating the apartment. From hearing them talk, it was hard to think they’d only met a few hours ago. And that they’d only been roommates for that length of time as well.

* * *

When they arrived Rob went to the front of the line to ask to speak to the promoter. Whitney pulled her shawl tight around her. Her black heels clicked against the sidewalk as she paced back and forth for warmth. The muffled sound of the bass from the music inside the club mixed with the chatter of people waiting in line. She made sure to keep at least one person between herself and Chace at all times. She didn’t trust herself any closer to him than that.

Ulrich pulled Whitney aside. “What’s the deal with you and this Chace?”

“Nothing. Why?” Whitney shrugged and tried to laugh off his words.

“No reason. Besides the fact that he moved to D.C. today from your town, right?” Ulrich glanced over his shoulder. He lowered his voice. “And you stare a hole into his head any time you think no one’s looking.”

“No, I don’t.” Did she?

“Whitney, you’ve never been the impulsive type. It seems a little suspect to me is all.” Ulrich’s brown eyes swept over her. “I’m just trying to look out for you.” His handsome dark face clouded with suspicion.

“Okay.” She looked at her hands, which were still wrapped in the ends of her shawl.

“Is he the reason you didn’t check in with the office while you were gone?”

“I was on vacation. That’s the reason. I don’t have to check in with Kim every minute of my life. Gibson and Grey does not own me.” Whitney suddenly felt defensive because Chace had been part of the reason. When she was with him, she just lost track of time. She lost track of—everything.

Ulrich laughed. “Oh, yes they do. They own both of us, at least until we make partner. You know Kim is looking for reasons to throw you under the bus. Don’t make it easy for her.”

Ulrich knew about Kim’s animosity toward Whitney. She was surprised that no one else had picked up on it. She said, “I guess that means that you’re checking in. Did she say anything about me?”

Ulrich shrugged and frowned—his trademark evasive move. “She grumbled a little. She’s always grumbling, though. I think she’s really antsy about this new case. Apparently it’s the kind of thing that could make her look really good to the senior partners. I think she’s going to be worse than usual on this one.”

“Worse than usual? Is that even possible?”

He grinned. “I guess we’ll find out Wednesday.”

Whitney groaned. She didn’t want to think about Wednesday.

He laughed. “It won’t be so bad. We’ll get through it together.”

“We always have.” She bumped her shoulder against his arm. “I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t in my class.”

“The
Kim face
would have probably killed you by now.”

Whitney laughed. The
Kim face
was the look Kim gave them whenever she was pissed. The face was usually sighted several times a day by various people in the IP, or intellectual property, group. “Probably.”

“So you’re not going to tell me anything, huh?”

“About?”

“Your new friend over there.” He nodded in Chace’s direction.

“He’s just a guy I know. Like you’re a guy I know. And Rob. And many of our co-workers. Should I go on?”

“All I know is…those clowns you go out on a few dates with before you give up on them. I’ve never seen you act around any of them like I’ve seen you act tonight.” Ulrich thoughtfully tapped his chin near the cleft in it. “I find that suspect. That’s all.”

Whitney shrugged. She didn’t want to get into all of that with him. In fact, she didn’t even want to think about it herself. She already felt like she was getting in too far too fast without Ulrich pointing out the painfully obvious.

* * *

She caught Chace’s eye across the room and gave him a shy half smile. He flashed her a dangerously sexy grin in return. The poor girl trying to keep his attention finally gave up and moved away to her next victim. Walking across the room, he held her gaze prisoner with his.

When he reached her, he put his hand low on her waist and whispered to her. “I’m going to ask this again. And I want a better answer this time. Will you dance with me?”

She could only nod and then allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor. He pressed his body in close. The intimacy and the lack of space between them caused heat to rise in rolling waves inside of her. His hand on her bare shoulder, skin to skin, made her want to do more than dance with him.

“I’ve had my eyes on you all night. You know that?” His low, sexy voice was enough to seduce all on its own.

“Kind of hard not to notice.” She swallowed hard against her mostly dry throat.

“I can’t get enough of you. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

Whitney could only stare at him, her tongue working against a dry mouth. Her palms, pressed against his back, began to sweat.

He said, “So. You and Ulrich…”

“We’re friends and co-workers. That’s it.”

“Good.”

He leaned in close, so close that his hair brushed the side of her face as he spoke. “I think about you all the time. Can’t get you out of my head. Not a problem for me, though. I want you there.”

She still couldn’t speak. She was trying to wrap her mind around what his words really meant. He shouldn’t have been saying those things. They’d known each other for a week. He’d only been single for a week. Most importantly, she shouldn’t have been feeling those same things he was talking about.

“You’re so beautiful, but you’ve known I think that since the first time I met you.”

She laughed a loud, nervous laugh as she remembered “Beautiful Whitney.”

“But you’re also sexy. So smart and together. That makes you even sexier. I’m so glad you’re in my life now. The only thing I’d like to change is making you more in it.” His fingers found the nape of her neck, and she felt a guilty pleasure from his touch.

“Chace, I…” She forgot what she was going to say with him so close. His hands rested low on her hips. His nose grazed the tender skin under her earlobe.

“What would you say if I told you I want more of you?” His ice blue eyes scanned her face. “If I don’t want to just be your friend?”

She finally found her voice. Just in time. “That you just got out of a two-year relationship a week ago.”

He chuckled softly and pressed his cheek to hers. “I thought you’d probably say something like that. That’s why I was trying to keep it to myself. I held out pretty good until tonight. You and that dress caused me to come all undone.”

Held out pretty good? Meaning he’d had those feelings for how long? If he kept the conversation going in that direction, she was leaving him alone on the dance floor.

Instead, he changed the subject completely. “Hey, I’m good at that, huh? Killing the convo between us? Let’s talk about something that doesn’t make you cringe.”

She didn’t know how to follow that statement, so she said nothing.

“I’ve told you about my friend Ethan, right?” Chace said.

She nodded. “The daredevil, right?”

He laughed. “Something like that. He’s in New Zealand right now. He told me last night that he almost got himself killed yet again.”

She grinned. “What did he do?”

Good. She could handle talking about Ethan. She could handle almost anything except for what he’d almost done.

Whitney went to the table her friends had staked out and sat across from Erika. Erika drummed each of the manicured nails of her left hand on the table, one after the other, slowly and repeatedly. Her right hand was in a fist under her chin.