Surrender to Temptation (21 page)

“I wish I had gotten her out, too,” Chase added. “I should have been faster or—”

“You blame yourself for what happened to Dee… Deanna?”

“I should have gone back inside.” He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and stared ahead with a bleak expression.

Nikki rubbed his back and laid her cheek on his shoulder. “There’s no way you could have helped Deanna. One of the most important fire safety rules is never ever re-enter a burning building after you exit it.” She’d memorized fire safety rules after Dee’s accident. “Besides, you had cuts to your face and were bleeding.”

“I still think I could have done more. The doctors think she’ll be okay, but it’s going take her a long time to recover.”

“Don’t blame yourself, please. You didn’t start—” Then what he’d said registered. “You’ve talked to her doctors?”

“Of course. I get reports every week. She was a valued employee, and I want to know if she’s going to be okay. It’s the least I can do. I have an appointment with my doctor in a few days and I’ll probably swing by San Diego and check on her.”

The tears she’d been holding threatened to fall. He was the most amazing guy she’d ever met, and it would be so easy to fall in love with him. She was already halfway there. Nikki kissed him, pouring her gratitude and growing feelings into the kiss.

Chase leaned back and frowned. “Are you crying, Nikki Savoy?”

“Of course not. I don’t cry, cowboy. And definitely not over a guy who survived blindness and cares about his employee enough to check on her when…” She shielded her eyes, tilted her head upwards, and blinked rapidly until her emotions were under control.

“When what?”

When she might be the one who’d started the fire, Nikki wanted to say. “When he’s lost so much, too.”

“Actually, I didn’t. I’m alive and fully recovered.”

Winston stuck his head in the room. “
She’s eating and just had a regular bowel movement. Just a mild case of colic.”

Their conversation was forgotten as they peered at Philly through the Plexiglas windows in the stall. Nikki didn’t bring up the conversation until later that night while they were in bed.

“What happened to Keira?” Nikki asked, gently stroking his chest.

“She came to see me at the hospital, mumbled something about her career, and left. I haven’t seen or heard from her since.”

She probably ditched him because he was blind. “The bitch. You saved her and she couldn’t stick around and make sure you were okay.”

Chase laughed, his muscles flexing under her. “Don’t be angry.”

“Why not? Women like her annoy the hell out of me. Around when they can get something and gone when the going gets tough.”

“I didn’t blame her for leaving and still don’t. Who wants to hang around a fumbling blind man?”

Nikki would have stayed for him. She kissed his chest and jaw. The urge to tell him who she was washed over her, but she clamped on it as he continued talking about moving to the ranch, finding the doctor, and agreeing to participate in an experimental procedure.

By the time he finished telling her about learning how to ride while legally blind, using sounds and the wind to find his way to his canyon, and the way everyone on the ranch rallied and helped him, Nikki knew she wasn’t just halfway in love with this man. She was completely, irrevocably in love with him. Knowing nothing would ever come from it twisted her insides.

Tell him who you are,
an inner voice urged Nikki. She could just imagine his reaction. He was so noble and a straight shooter, while she was a fraud with secrets a mile long. He’d probably throw her out of his bed and out of his farm. They only had a few days left, and she refused to spoil them with her confession. Maybe he’d forgive her if she helped him rediscover his passion for cooking.

Not completely happy with her decision but seeing no other way, Nikki lifted her head and studied his face in the soft glow of light from the bedside lamp. Once again, the thought of leaving him made her chest hurt. Was there a rehab for withdrawal from Chase? Getting over him was going to be impossible.

“That’s an amazing story,” she whispered, her breath catching when he nipped her shoulder. “How did you interview your workers or choose your mares while blind?”

He chuckled and ran his knuckles down her back and along her hip. “I bought the mares before my accident. No one can pick a good horse while blind.” He pulled her leg across his hip and groaned when her knee brushed his erection. “There are many things we look for before buying a horse.”

“The legs, joints, teeth, the overall body structure and posture, and of course their pedigree,” she said.

He chuckled and rolled them until he pinned her to the bed, his erection pressing between her legs. She squirmed.

“Enough about horses.” He kissed her and thoughts about horses and leaving him became secondary.

CHAPTER 15

“Uh, boss?” Winston said from the doorway of the tack room.

Chase dragged his eyes away from the screen and cocked an eyebrow at his foreman. “Yes?”

“About dinner tonight,” Winston said slowly. “I would, uh, like to help Ms. Nikki cook.”

Chase frowned, his eyes back on his mare. The closed circuit TV monitor in the foaling stall was working perfectly. Dobbs, the young vet his uncle had recommended, was giving Philly a checkup. “Why?”

“She’s been working hard, but she could really use some help.”

Chase turned and studied his foreman. Winston looked uncomfortable, but he met Chase’s eyes squarely. Tucker and Mac stopped whatever they were doing and moved closer. Nikki was a terrible cook, and Chase had wondered when his men would boycott her food.

“What are you trying to say, Winston?” Chase asked.

“We don’t want to hurt her feelings, boss, but her food…” Winston shook his head. “It is terrible.”

“The chili was tasty,” Chase said in her defense.

“Yes, boss,” Winston said quickly. “It was. But I’m not exactly sure what we ate yesterday for lunch or dinner.”

“Stir-fry,” he said. Although it had looked like a mash of overcooked pasta with lumps of meat and undercooked vegetables. It had tasted awful. The split pea side dish had tasted much better. It was a good thing he wasn’t in love with her because of her cooking. Chase grinned. He had no doubt about his feelings for her. He loved Nikki Savoy.

“And today’s soup—” Winston continued.

“Tasted like salted water,” Mac blurted out then blushed, his cheeks matching his hair.

Chase had noticed his men added sauces just to make her food palatable. He had tried to spare her feelings and ploughed through the soup. He glanced at Tucker, who wore a tiny smile. “What do you think, Tucker? Should we fire our temporary cook?”

“I don’t think so, sir,” Tucker drawled. “Where I come from we eat whatever our women put in front of us and drown it with beer. Then we head to the nearest steak house.”

Chase chuckled. It wasn’t a bad idea. The problem was Dillon was too far. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“She asked me how to fire up the grill. I think she plans on making steak tonight,” Winston said.

Chase shuddered. “And burn my house down.” He didn’t realize he’d spoken until the others chuckled. Without making another comment, he left the barn.

The grill was in the middle of the porch instead of its usual place at the far end of the back porch. Beside it were a can of lighter fluid, a sack of charcoal, and a lighter.

Shaking his head, he entered the kitchen. It was empty. “Nikki?”

No response. Her phone went off in the pantry, but she wasn’t there. The caller ID said “Mom”. He grabbed it and headed to the den. She wasn’t there or at the front of the house cutting flowers.

Starting to worry, he headed upstairs. Her bedroom was empty, and her bed was neatly made. Not that he’d expected her there. She’d been sleeping in his bedroom since the night they made love. His room was empty, too.

Back downstairs, he walked past the kitchen to the hallway leading to Mrs. B’s quarters and the laundry room. He knocked on her door.

“Come in,” Mrs. B called out.

Chase opened her door and stepped inside. A flushed Mrs. B was lying on the couch. He wasn’t sure what she had, but he was raised with girls and knew when not to ask for details. Especially after Nikki had told him Mrs. B had a woman’s health problem.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Better.” She tried to sit up.

“No, don’t get up. Have you seen Nikki?”

Mrs. B shook her head. “She was here a few minutes ago. She wanted to know the best temperature to cook potato wedges.”

Chase sighed. “She’s going to poison my men.”

“Oh dear,” Mrs. B murmured. “If you want me to get up and cook—”

“No, rest.” He started to close the door, paused, and added, “Get better soon. We miss your cooking.”

A weird expression crossed her face. She opened her mouth as though to say something, closed it, and gave him a wobbly smile. She probably felt bad for being sick.

“In the meantime, don’t even think of getting out of bed,” Chase warned, cocked his brow, and waited until she nodded before closing the door.

In the kitchen, he eyed the potatoes. The trick to cooking wedges was making sure they were evenly cut. Nikki’s were either cut into halves or uneven quarters. They were also beginning to change color due to oxidation.

He placed Nikki’s phone on the counter and got busy cutting the rest of the potatoes into quarters. He soaked them in a large bowl of cold water and was assembling spices when Nikki’s cell phone went off. It was her mother again. He ignored it as he combined the spices and oil. The phone stopped ringing.

Where the hell was that woman? He checked outside where Trinity grazed. The mare was in the paddock, but not Nikki. Since she’d overcome her aversion to horses, she often helped with the other horses. Chase called the tack room.

“Tell Mac to find Nikki,” he told Winston. “She might be with the other horses. Tell her she has a phone call from her mother.”

Her phone started ringing again. Okay, this was ridiculous. It could be an emergency. He went for it—picked it up, pressed the green phone button, and brought it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Oh. Is this Nikki’s cell phone?” a woman said. The smooth southern accent reminded him of Nikki’s.

“Yes, ma’am. I have sent someone to find her, but since she is still not here I answered her phone in case there was an emergency.” He heard the woman talk to someone in the background, calling him a nice young man.

“How very thoughtful of you. I’m her mother, Anna Lee. And you are?”

He’d stopped giving out his last name after a reporter got a hold of his cell phone and tried to interview him, but this was Nikki’s mother. “Chase Fitzgerald, ma’am.”

There was silence on the line. Chase waited and frowned when the silence continued.

“Ma’am?”

“I’m here, dear. Your name sounded familiar, and I was trying to place it. Are you the same Fitzgerald from Los Angeles?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Are you a guest there, too?”

Chase chuckled. “No, ma’am. I own the ranch.”

“Ranch. Oh. Of course. How wonderful. You and your wife run your ranch?”

Chase smothered a chuckle. “No, ma’am. I’m not married.”
 

“Well, that’s nice. Okay, dear. Could you tell Nikki to call home as soon as possible? We are on our way to the hospital and won’t be able to talk once we are inside.”

“I will tell her, ma’am. I hope your other daughter is doing better now,” Chase said just as the door opened and Nikki burst into the kitchen.

She wore shorts with her cowboy boots, a red tank top, and an unbuttoned checkered shirt. She looked good. But then again, she always looked good no matter what she wore. She stuck her hand out, wordlessly asking for the phone.

“Your daughter is here, Mrs. Savoy. It was nice talking to you.”

“You too, dear. I hope Nikki is having a fun vacation at your ranch.”

“I hope so too, ma’am. She overcame her fear of horses and can now ride like a professional.” A weird expression crossed Nikki’s face. “Here she is.” He gave her the phone and shrugged apologetically. “It kept ringing. I wasn’t sure whether it was an emergency or not.”

“That’s okay. Thanks.” She started out of the kitchen, the phone on her ear. “Just a second, Mama.”

***

Taking two steps at a time, Nikki disappeared into her room and closed the door. She blew out a breath and braced herself for a lecture. “Hey, Mama.”

“Isn’t Chase Fitzgerald the man Dee was working for, the one who almost died in the fire? He also mentioned his ranch, where you’ve been staying when we thought you were vacationing at a resort.”

Nikki cringed. “Let me explain, Mama.”

“Yes, do. Your daddy wants to hear this, too.”

Nikki sat on the bed and sighed. “I had to do something to help Dee, Mama. You know that the food critic, Ms. Higgins, is the key witness and she already told the Fire Marshal that Dee started the fire. I know we haven’t discussed the fire or what is going to happen to Dee after she recovers, but I don’t want her to go to jail for something she didn’t do. I don’t believe she started that fire. So I tracked Mr. Fitzgerald down to talk to him and hear what he remembered.”

There was silence on the line.

“Oh, sweetheart,” her mother muttered. She sounded teary.

“Listen, pumpkin,” her dad said. “I understand why you are doing this, but you shouldn’t take these matters into your own hands. Let the police or the fire department do their job. I’m sure the Fire Marshal—”

“Is doing nothing to uncover the truth, Daddy,” Nikki said firmly. “They stopped their investigation because they have Ms. Higgins, and she swears Dee started the fire. Why would Dee do that when she’d just gotten promoted? Some things just don’t add up.”

“You are not the only person who thinks so, Nikki,” her father said.

“I know, Daddy. You two said the same thing when we spoke months ago.”

“What kind of a person is this man Fitzgerald?” he asked.

Several images of Chase zipped through Nikki’s head, and she smiled. “He’s an honorable man. He almost lost his eyesight in the fire and had lacerations on his face, but he is not bitter or angry with Dee. It hasn’t been easy for him to open up about what happened, so I’m not pushing him for answers. But he’s slowly opening up,” she added quickly in case her parents thought her trip had been a waste of time.

More silence followed by mumbled words, then her father came back on the line. “Does he know who you are?”

Nikki had been dreading that question. She squeezed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed. “No.”

“Oh, Nikki,” her mother whispered.

“Then how did you find him?” her father asked at the same time. “I’m sure he will be very angry once he realizes the truth.”

Guilt ate at Nikki. She hated keeping secrets, and this one was very likely to destroy her relationship with Chase. “The only thing he doesn’t know about me is that I am Dee’s sister. I didn’t come here under an assumed name or false pretenses. I was hired to design a website for his horse-breeding ranch. His uncle’s law firm interviewed me several times before we signed the contract. I’m sorry I told you guys I was going to a resort, but I knew you wouldn’t approve.”

“You got that right,” her mild-mannered father snapped, and Nikki winced. “We know you want to help your sister, but there’s no need to get into trouble doing it. If Dee started the fire, which we highly doubt, then we’ll support her and help her in any way we can. If she didn’t, we will fight this in court. Justice always prevails. I don’t like you out there trying to pump this man for information, pumpkin. Leave it alone.”

“I agree with your father, dear,” her mother said. “When are you going to be done with his website?”

“In a couple days, then I’m coming home.”

“Good.” There was some mumbling in the background, and then her mother said, “When your father said you aren’t the only one who thinks Dee is innocent, he didn’t mean us. A couple of detectives approached us yesterday and told us the same thing. They work for a private firm in Los Angeles. Uh, just a minute.” It wasn’t long before her mother came back. “LASEC is the name of their firm. They are security consultants.”

“Private Dicks,” her father’s voice filtered through.

“No one uses that term anymore, dear,” her mother reprimanded him gently.

Nikki sat up. “What did they say?”

“The young couple said they’d been hired by a client to investigate the fire in Los Angeles. They believe someone else started it and plan to prove it.”

Nikki’s stomach dipped. “How?”

“They think a man started the fire. They showed us a video of a man at the hospital in Los Angeles. He had burns on his arm. They wanted to know if we’d ever seen him with Dee.”

“He was at Dee’s hospital?”

“No, this is what’s interesting. They said the man visited the other woman, the one who wants to sue Dee.”

“Keira Higgins?” Nikki asked.

“Yes. They are trying to eliminate Dee as a suspect, Nikki. This is why we want you to come home. They want to talk to you.”

This was wonderful, but she couldn’t just pack up and leave. She didn’t want to leave Chase yet. They had two more days. It wasn’t much, but… “Can’t I talk to them over the phone?”

“Sure. They left their number.” Her mother recited the ten digits. “Come home, Nikki. The doctor changed the day he’ll be pulling Dee out of a coma, and we need you here.”

“I know. It’s Friday morning. I’ll try and take an earlier flight.”

“No, Dr. Parker has an emergency surgery on Friday, so he’ll do it on Monday morning. But if you can change your flight, do so and come home.”

“Okay, Mama.”

Within seconds, Nikki had finished talking to her parents and was dialing the Los Angeles number her mother had given her. Her heart pounded, and her mouth tasted like sandpaper. If she could help these people find the person who’d started the fire, she could save Dee and give Chase the closure he needed. It bothered her that he blamed himself for not rescuing her sister.