Chapter 3: Let's Not Call It A Date

CHASE'S POV

Ordinarily, Chase loved her job as a partner in the firm of Garland, Baxter and Krandall.

But today she felt unusually distracted and ready to go. After Ruben left last night, she hadn't fallen asleep until well after three o'clock. Her insomnia kept her awake most nights and she could never seem to settle her thoughts. When she finally fell sleep, nightmares encroached on her like enemies on the battlefield. She'd rather have stayed awake forever than face her enemies again.

The morning had been filled with meetings and depositions, sorting through legal briefs and endless piles of paperwork. She and her legal assistant, Jocelyn Wu, worked straight through lunch on a case involving a wrongful death suit at a construction site. When Chase finally glanced at her watch, it was nearly two-thirty.

"Joss, go to lunch," Chase ordered.

Jocelyn stood from the leather couch, straightening her black pencil skirt. "What about you? Do you want me to bring you something back?"

She waved a hand. "No. I'll grab something downstairs. Thanks."

"Okay, see you in an hour," Jocelyn said, grabbing her purse.

"Make it an hour and a half. You've been working your butt off today."

Jocelyn grinned. "Thanks, boss."

When Chase had finished organizing her files, she grabbed her wallet and rode the elevator down to the first-floor deli. Fortunately, she'd missed the lunch crowd and walked right up to the counter and ordered a salad. While she waited for it to be freshly prepared, a sudden, shrill laugh caught her attention. She glanced over and recognized Grey Devlin sitting by the windows with a stunning woman. The woman leaned over the table, revealing a generous bosom peeking over her low-cut V-necked dress. Grey's eyes lowered to her chest and then up to her face. He made a comment to her and the couple rose from their seats.

Chase averted her attention quickly back to the counter and became grossly absorbed in the deli's sandwich selection. She could see Grey's reflection in the glass display case as he approached her.

"Miss Krandall," he greeted cordially.

'How does he know my name,' she wondered absently. She would've remembered if she'd told him. She turned and looked up, unwillingly admiring his dark suit and red tie. He was even more striking than she realized last night. His gray eyes once again penetrated her green ones, making her breath catch in her throat.

"Mr. Devlin," she replied back.

Grey Devlin gave a polite nod and left the deli with the woman's hand in the crook of his arm.

Chase took her salad back to her office and sat down at her desk. She'd been around a lot of handsome men in her time, but Grey Devlin belonged in a league all his own. She could only describe him as darkly attractive -- he gave nothing away. He was the kind of man you stayed away from if you were smart and the type that made it impossible to do so.

Curiously, Chase typed his name in her computer's search engine. Immediately, hundreds of photos of him attending various events, with an equal amount of various women, popped onscreen. Some of the women were Victoria's Secret models, Chase noted, including the one she'd just seen him with in the deli. And all of them were gorgeous and smiling, hanging off his arm like an expensive piece of jewelry. The woman she'd just seen him with was Chelsea Scott and she photographed beautifully. Her red dress popped against her glowing, caramel skin and showcased mile-long legs. For the first time in her life, Chase felt self-conscious about her own looks.

She snapped her laptop closed. Why did she care who Grey Devlin had been photographed with? She knew a playboy when she saw one and she had no time or interest in him.

She opened her salmon salad and began to eat. She swiveled her office chair around to face the windowed wall, enjoying a beautiful blue sky and Washington's impressive and historical backdrop.

"Are you busy?" a voice asked from her office door.

Chase spun her chair back around and nearly choked on a crouton. Grey Devlin stood casually leaning against her door frame. Even from a distance, his stare made her mouth dry.

"Can I help you?" she asked, willing her heartbeat to slow down.

He strolled in, his stride long and graceful. "May I?" he asked, motioning to a chair in front of her desk.

She gestured nonchalantly and he sat, crossing his legs as he did. "Have dinner with me."

Chase didn't blink. She noted he hadn't actually 'asked' her to dinner, but more like demanded she do so. She didn't like being ordered around. And more importantly, she didn't know him.

"No, thank you," she said simply.

Grey's lips curled into a half smile. "I had a feeling you would say that."

"Then why did you ask?"

"I didn't ask. Is it because you're seeing someone?"

"That's none of your business."

"So, no."

She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at his insolence. "Is there anything else?"

He leaned forward, placing his arms across her desk. She could smell his aftershave and her stomach clinched at the masculine scent.

"I can't stop thinking about you," he admitted matter-of-factly.

She felt the quick rise of apprehension even as color rushed to her cheeks. She'd been flirted with before, but never with the intensity Grey exuded. "You met me once. You don’t even know me."

"That's what makes this whole situation so foreign to me. I don't ask women out. And I certainly would never admit that I can't stop thinking about them."

"No doubt women flock to you. You probably don't have to ask them out. They do the work for you," she quipped.

"Is that what you think?"

"I haven't thought about it at all. But I bet it's a good guess."

He leaned further across the desk. "You're not as hard as you want me to think you are."

"I'm harder. And I have a lot of work to do, so if there's nothing else..."

He laughed out loud. "I'm going to enjoy getting to know you, Chase."

Her shoulders tensed at the familiarity. "How do you know my name?"

"I own the building you live in. And as I discovered today, I also own the building you work in."

She breathed heavily in exasperation. "What do you really want?"

"Dinner. If you don't want to go to dinner, how about you accompany me to my brother's birthday party this Saturday?"

She narrowed her eyes. Images of him and slinky models crowded her brain. "I'm sure you can find a date to your brother's party. Maybe the woman I just saw you with downstairs? Where's she? She's beautiful," she asked with more agitation in her voice than she intended. She silently chided herself for not being able to control her tone.

Grey smiled to himself. He'd just found a chink in Chase's armor. Jealousy or insecurity, he didn't know which. How this goddess could be jealous or insecure baffled him. Didn't she know how stunning she was?

"She's very beautiful. She's also my brother's wife. He was supposed to meet us for lunch today but he had to cancel. And now she's on her way to the airport for a photo shoot in New York. And yes, I have no problem finding a date. However, I'd like to take you. I promise you'll have a good time."

Irritation boiled over inside her at the relief she felt that the sexy Victoria's Secret model was his sister-in-law and not his girlfriend. And if she were being perfectly honest, she would also concede she wanted to see him again. She was becoming increasingly annoyed with herself.

"You don't even know me," she said again.

"There's no better way to get to know you than to take you out. What do you say?"

Chase mulled over his question even though she already knew her answer.

"Just so we're clear, I don't date. So I'm accompanying you strictly as an observer and a participant in the festivities."

He smiled lazily and Chase's heart nearly pounded out of her chest. God, she couldn't deny his beauty if she tried.

"Noted. I don't date either, so we should have no problem. We won't call it anything."

She grinned at his sardonic comment and this time Grey felt his pulse quicken. He found her magnificent and had already made definitive plans to win her over. He rose to his feet to leave.

"I'll be in touch. Enjoy your lunch, Chase."

"Good day, Devlin," she remarked coolly.

He turned when he reached the doorway. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

She chuckled softly. "Not on your life. You seem like a man who enjoys a good chase."

He laughed. "Indeed I do. See you Saturday."