swiped it open before typing something in while she stood there, berating herself for not leaving the first time that she realized that this wasn’t going to work. Now she was
“When you have to listen to two children begging for their mother as they lay dying in your arms, then you can talk to me about screwing up,” Chase snapped as he tossed the iPad on her suitcase and left while she stood there, staring down at the picture of Chase in a fireman’s uniform beneath a headline that had her stomach turning.
Chapter 15
“Son of a bitch!” Chase snapped, clenching his hands into fists as he dropped his head forward and closed his eyes as he struggled to get that look on Sloane’s face out of his head only to find himself frowning when he felt a cold bottle pressed into his hand.
“So, a fireman, huh? That’s pretty hot,” Sloane said casually as she dropped down into his wheelchair with a heavy sigh, making his lips twitch as he sat back and took a sip of water.
“I never had a complaint,” he said, watching as her lips twitched while she ran her eyes over at him.
“I bet you didn’t,” she murmured with a wink, making him chuckle until she added, “You didn’t screw up.”
“Yes, I did,” Chase said quietly as he took a sip of water, wondering why he’d said anything to her.
“How do you figure?” Sloane asked, sounding curious as she lounged back in his wheelchair.
“Because it should have been me,” Chase said as he dropped his head forward, getting his hair wet before he sat back.
“No,” Sloane said, reaching over and plucked the bottle of water out of his hand, “it shouldn’t have,” as she took a sip before handing it back to him.
“How do you figure?” he asked, watching her as she climbed out of his wheelchair and grabbed his shampoo off the shelf.
“Why do you think it should have been you?” Sloane countered with a curious look as she squeezed some shampoo in her hand.
“Because they were just kids,” Chase said, taking another sip as she reached over and ran her hands through his hair.
“That doesn’t mean that you deserved to take their place,” Sloane said as he found himself closing his eyes as he savored the feel of her fingers running through his hair.
“It means that it was my job to protect them,” he said, deciding that they’d talked enough about this. “Are you going to stay?”
“I’m thinking about it,” she said, rinsing her hands off before she helped herself to his bottle of water.
“Fair enough,” Chase said, nodding as he leaned forward and rinsed his hair off.
“Are you going to hold up your end of the deal?” Sloane asked as he sat up, stealing his water back in the process.
“I’m thinking about it,” he said, watching as her eyes narrowed on him.
“You’re thinking about it?” Sloane asked with a mock glare as he finished off the water.
“Mmmhmmm, I’m thinking about it,” Chase said, handing her the empty bottle so that he could finish his shower.
I see,” Sloane murmured thoughtfully as she got up and placed the empty bottle in the small trash can by the bathroom sink.
“It depends,” he said, turning the shower off.
“On what exactly?” Sloane asked as she grabbed a towel off the shelf and handed it to him.
“On whether or not you can stop beating yourself up over what happened. It was a mistake and I’m not expecting it to happen again, but I can’t deal with you acting like it’s the end of the world,” Chase said, drying off.
“Fair enough,” Sloane murmured in agreement as she placed a towel on the seat of his wheelchair for him.
Nodding, he dropped the towel across his lap, reached over and grabbed hold of his wheelchair and transferred himself over. “Then I guess we have a deal.”
*-*-*-*
He was going to kill her, Sloane thought as she sat there, staring down at the iPad in her hands as she debated hitting “Send.”
“Are you planning on giving me back my wheelchair anytime soon, Pookie?” Chase asked as Sloane relaxed in the wheelchair that was surprisingly comfortable.
“Probably not,” she mumbled absently even as she glanced up to find Chase chuckling as he grabbed a twenty-five-pound weight and held it against his chest as he continued doing crunches.
For a moment, Sloane watched Chase as she sat there telling herself that she was crossing another line, but
She honestly didn’t care anymore.
He needed help and she was going to make