Only, after meeting Chloe, Chase was about as un-psyched by Ellen’s naked presence in the house as he could be.

Before he could think fast and get her the hell out of there, Chloe stepped out from behind him. He waited for her to gasp in outrage, for her to do the inevitable—grab her bag from him and run back out into the rain.

But all that came was laughter.

“Maybe,” she said through her undisguised mirth, “there’s another bedroom I could take?” She chuckled again. “Out of hearing distance, if at all possible, please.”

He shot her a look that said she was crazy. Chloe couldn’t seriously think he was going to bone Ellen while she was in the house, did she?

But then, he lost hold of the question entirely as her ongoing laughter wrapped itself around his senses.

God, he loved the sound of it. So easy. Straight from her soul. And her smile was beautiful.

Lovely.

Ellen was still stark naked on the bed, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe. He’d wanted to kiss her practically from the moment he’d met her. Now he wanted to kiss her senseless and make her smile, hear her sweet laughter, just as much.

“Chase? Who’s she?”

Ellen hadn’t yet made a move to cover up and he noticed she wasn’t really his type after all. He much preferred Chloe’s curves to Ellen’s taut muscles. And dyed blond curls had nothing on light brown hair that picked up the light as it shifted across her shoulders and back every time Chloe moved.

She looked far too cheerful for the situation as she replied for him. “I’m Chloe.” Another grin. “Chase picked me up tonight.” She nodded in his direction and added, “You know the story, girl in trouble on the side of the road meets guy in a BMW.”

Ellen looked more confused than angry. She looked at Chase and seemed to make up her mind about something before saying, “With you being a photographer and running with all those fast crowds, I should have figured you were into this sort of thing.”

Feeling as if he’d stepped into some kind of surreal scene being shot for a movie, Chase had to ask, “What kind of stuff do you think I’m into?”

“You know, ménages and stuff,” Ellen said as she sat up cross-legged on the bed, giving both him and Chloe a straight shot of her privates. Her totally bare, waxed privates.

Jesus, he thought with a grimace, she needed to cover up. He yanked open the closet and pulled a robe out, throwing it to her from across the room.

“I haven’t been with another girl in a little while,” Ellen was saying, “but I’m sure I haven’t forgotten what to do.” She turned her attention from Chase to Chloe. “Nice to meet you, Chloe, even if this is a teensy bit unexpected. I’m Ellen, by the way.” She barely paused to take a breath. “You’re very pretty. I don’t think this will be at all difficult to get into.”

Chloe looked utterly bemused by the way Ellen was looking at her, clearly sizing up her future performance in bed. “Thanks, I guess,” she said, “but I don’t think I’m up for any threesomes tonight.”

The easy way she said it had Chase’s brain spinning off in all sorts of crazy directions. Had she done a ménage before?

Just the thought of a guy and girl both touching her together had him seeing red. He couldn’t let himself think about two guys or he’d split a vein.

He’d never gone looking for serious, had been perfectly happy with one-night stands for the past thirty-two years. On the road as much as he was, keeping things clean and simple fit his life best. He’d never envied his colleagues who had a wife and kids at home waiting for them.

But from the first moment he’d seen Chloe, he’d wanted to protect her…and more.

“Oh my God,” Ellen said suddenly when she finally saw Chloe’s nasty bruise. “What happened to your face?”

Chase hated to see every bit of laughter leave Chloe’s face.

“I’ll find another bedroom myself. Good night.”

He wanted to go after her, but he had to deal with Ellen first.

“Is she okay?” Ellen asked after Chloe had closed the door behind her.

He ran a hand through his wet hair. “She’ll be okay.” He’d make sure of it. “Look, tonight’s not going to happen anymore.”

“Because of her?”

Chase nodded. “Because of her.”

Fortunately, although Ellen looked disappointed, she simply shrugged rather than throwing a tantrum. “She really is very pretty.” She smiled up at him in a hopeful way. “I was serious about the three-way if you want to try to convince her.”

“No.” He didn’t want to be an ass, but he didn’t want to lead Ellen on, either. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Maybe another time, then,” she said as she walked naked across the room to her clothes, which he now saw were draped over a sofa chair in the corner.

Like hell. He was never, ever going to share Chloe with anyone. Not a woman and definitely not a man.

Once he convinced her to give him a chance, that is.

Problem was, he thought as he turned his back to let Ellen put on her clothes, he had a feeling convincing Chloe to trust him enough to give him a chance with her wasn’t going to be an easy task in the least.

Chapter Three

Chloe wanted nothing more than to drop her bag on the bedroom floor, throw herself on the bed, and curl up into a tight ball. But the wood floor looked really expensive and she’d already dripped on it enough.

Heading for the bathroom, she put her bag down on the tiled floor, then stripped off her wet, dirty clothes and put them in the sink. She would have loved to throw them away, but she didn’t have much with her and knew that she’d need them again in the near future. The best she could do for the time being was to wash them out and hang them up to dry. Of course, she knew the house must have a washer and dryer, but spending the night in a stranger’s house—not even the stranger who’d brought her here, but a brother she’d never met—was more than enough charity.

When she was finally naked, she moved to the shower and was reaching in to turn on the water when she noticed the huge whirlpool tub. She almost moaned aloud at the thought of lying in the warm water with jets massaging her legs and spine and feet.

Chloe looked back almost guiltily at the bathroom door before realizing she was being silly. It was locked and she was finally alone. Since Chase was insisting she stay here tonight, what was wrong with availing herself of the facilities? At least those attached to her bedroom.