that he loved her. There was no doubt that he wanted her, but…
She couldn’t marry a man that didn’t love her.
“Are you sure?” he said, throwing her a questioning look as he reached for his door.
“I’m afraid so,” Sloane said with a sad shake of her head.
Sighing, he murmured, “I understand,” as he opened his door and–
“How about now?”
“Still no,” Sloane said, feeling her lips twitch when she saw the hopeful look on his face as she opened her door and climbed out. For a moment, she considered asking him to take her home instead so that she could curl up in bed and pretend that the last twenty-four hours didn’t happen, but Chase needed to swing by the fire station to see what the chief wanted and she needed to go see if that job offer was still good.
Sighing, Chase closed the car door and met her in front of the truck he’d traded the minivan in for as soon as the doctor cleared him to drive again. With a pitiful sigh, he leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead. “You’re driving me crazy, Pookie.”
“The chief’s waiting,” Sloane pointed out as she leaned up and kissed his chin.
Sighing heavily, Chase leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “This isn’t over,” he promised her as he placed his hand over her belly.
“Go,” Sloane said, giving him a gentle push.
Sending her a mock glare, Chase said, “I’ll have a ring on that finger by the end of the week, guaranteed,” as he reluctantly headed back to the driver’s side door.
“Go,” Sloane said with a rueful shake of her head and a chuckle as she adjusted her bag over her shoulder and forced herself to head to the front door.
She was tempted, more than a little tempted to say yes, but …
“God, I’m an idiot,” she told herself, sighing heavily as she pressed the call button and waited to be buzzed in.
She should just tell him yes, because that’s what any sane woman would do when the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with asked her to marry him, but apparently, Sloane was an idiot. The sound of the door unlocking drew Sloane’s attention back to reality. Slowly exhaling, she opened the front door and–
“Did you see the kids outside?” Kim asked as soon as Sloane stepped inside, making her frown as she glanced over her shoulder and took in the large parking lot.
Shaking her head, Sloane said, “No. What’s going on?”
“I think they overhead my conversation with their social worker. My daughter just had a baby and as much as I would love to stay for the kids, I can’t,” Kim rushed to explain, only to take a deep breath before continuing, “I can’t find them anywhere.”
“Where are they sending them?” Sloane asked, moving to check the play area to see if the kids were hiding in the playhouse or behind one of the large tubs of toys.
“Their grandmother,” Kim sighed, not sounding any happier about it than Sloane was because there was no way in hell that they were going back to that house. She didn’t have to ask if Grey or Hunter knew about it because if they had, they’d already be doing something to stop it.
Their grandmother had neglected them, leaving them locked in their room for days at a time and letting her asshole son, who’d lost his rights and wasn’t supposed to come near the kids again, stay at her house. When he’d decided to beat the shit out of Teddy because the poor kid spilled milk on the floor, the grandmother had left his battered little body on the kitchen floor and locked Deb in a closet where she’d screamed until her throat bled, thinking that her brother was dead. When social services showed up to make a surprise visit, they’d found Teddy on the floor struggling to breathe and his father passed out on the living room couch.
No, they weren’t going back there, Sloane decided because she wasn’t going to let it happen. She loved those kids more than anything and would never let anything happen to them. If Kim couldn’t take care of them anymore, then Sloane would. She’d take the job that Grey offered her, go back to school and get her certification, and do whatever it took to keep those kids safe. And Chase…
She had no idea what she was going to do about Chase. They were going to have to figure everything