Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Chloe hurried to the front door, deadbolting it behind Davin and praying he wouldn’t get hurt or killed. What was he thinking, chasing off after some unknown prowler? The person could be armed and dangerous, for crying out loud.
Her pulse raced almost as fast as when Davin had touched her neck, or when he’d aligned their mouths and their lips had met.
Chloe watched in shock as the person stepped into the light and toward Davin instead of running away. The woman’s face looked unconcerned and happy to see him, not as if she’d done anything wrong.
Her stomach twisted. “Not Robinette,” she muttered, then added to heaven above, “What am I doing wrong in my life?”
“911, what’s your emergency?” a female voice asked on the line. It sounded like Mrs. Harrison who led the church choir.
“Oh. Um … I’m not sure there is an emergency,” Chloe stammered, watching with disbelief as Robinette, dolled out in a button down pink shirt, too tight and generously unbuttoned, a fitted pencil skirt, and five inch spike heels, threw herself at Davin, leaning heavily into him.
Her hands trailed into his hair, mussing it.
If it hadn’t been Robinette, who she could hardly tolerate, Chloe would think she was watching a beautiful Hallmark movie. Davin held Robinette up and the gorgeous redhead gazed at him as if he were her personal hero.
“Ma’am?” the operator questioned.
Davin eased a step away, holding Robinette back, his hands on her forearms, his eyes locked on her beautiful face. Chloe was grateful Robinette wasn’t clinging to him any longer, but it still felt far too intimate for her unsettled state of mind and the nausea climbing her throat.
“Are you in danger?” the lady asked on the phone.
Interesting question. She supposed she was in danger—someone had knocked her out and drugged her, after all—but Robinette wasn’t a danger. Not physically. Emotionally and romantically, however, she was a wrecking ball.
Robinette and Davin were still talking in earnest.
Chloe couldn’t watch any longer. Turning from the door, she slunk back into the living room and admitted, “Forgive me for calling. It was a false alarm.”
“Ma’am, can you please expound so I’m certain we don’t need to dispatch emergency personnel?”
She sighed heavily. “We thought it was an intruder, but it was only the real estate agent who’s … working with my friend.”
“Robinette Valentine?” the lady asked. Chloe was ninety percent it was Mrs. Harrison. “She’s the only realtor on the island.”
“Yes,” Chloe confirmed. “She’s helping my friend look for houses on Shadow Cove.”
“Ah, Robinette is a gorgeous sweetheart, isn’t she? And so good at what she does.”
Only a small island dispatcher would be so informal, and only someone as kind as Mrs. Harrison could think Robinette was a sweetheart.
Sadly, Davin and most of the men on the island probably agreed.
Robinette could share a sweet smile with a man while making a rude gesture behind her back to a female competitor.
“I suppose she is good at her job.” Chloe’s voice was stiff and laced with jealousy. She didn’t even know that she qualified as competition to Robinette. The woman had her beat before Chloe even showed up. “I bought my home for sale by owner.”
“Ah, I see. Now I need your name, please.”
“Chloe Vance.”
“Chloe! Ah, darling, I’ve been worrying and praying for you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Harrison,” she said. She loved the older ladies at church. They were like a bunch of extra grandmothers, especially since her mom’s parents had both passed a few years ago and her dad’s parents had moved to Florida.
“I’ll inform Sheriff Bradley that you called in and have Officer Campbell drive by to make certain you’re safe.”
“All right, thank you,” she managed.
“Sheriff explained to me that you and our resident author are staying together for your protection, but I can’t tell a soul.
Of course I know that. I’ve been praying for you, dear, and oh, what a delightful opportunity to be with that devastatingly handsome Davin Ambrose.
I devour his novels, and he’s so good-looking.
Makes me swoon every time he looks at me with those gray-blue eyes and especially when he speaks in that lyrical voice.
” She paused. “But oh, dear me, I thought he was dating Robinette. I’ve seen them all over town together. Did he replace Robinette with you?”
Chloe’s stomach twisted and acid climbed her throat.
Davin and Robinette were dating; Chloe was the interloper.
She’d been bitter with Robinette about stealing everybody’s men over the years.
She didn’t want to be in that role, even more than she didn’t want to have it confirmed yet again that Robinette and Davin were dating.
The front door opened and Davin walked in, thankfully alone. He looked discouraged.
“Well, thank you for the help, Mrs. Harrison. I’ll see you at church on Sunday.”
“Of course, dear.” Her voice was thick with disappointment at Chloe not clarifying hers and Davin’s relationship. “I’ll see you then, sweet girl.”
Chloe slid the phone into her pocket and studied him.
“It was Robinette,” Davin muttered.
As if she didn’t know.
She nodded. “So I guess … not the intruder we were looking for.”
Robinette felt like the worst kind of interloper to Chloe.
“No, not at all.” He brushed at his mussed hair, and her stomach twisted. She’d mussed that hair and so had Robinette.
“What was she doing here?” Her voice came out too demanding.
“She …” He looked away, studying the kitchen. “She needed me.”
Chloe felt like he’d punched her in the gut.
She’d watched Robinette throw herself at him.
She needed him? Ugh. The woman had been leaning against him.
Her hand had been entangled in his hair just as Chloe’s had been earlier.
She was going to be sick. She didn’t want to compete with Robinette for any man.
Robinette would win, and it just made her feel dirty and unimportant to Davin.
“Hmm,” she managed. “Well, goodnight.”
Davin’s eyes were more gray than blue. His gaze begged her not to leave, to step into his arms again, to ‘act’ out romance for his book.
She’d believed that he wanted her, but now she realized the entire exchange had only been for the book, for his ‘research’ that he was so thorough with and proud of.
No way would she step into his arms and hold him close with him smelling of Robinette’s sickeningly sweet and overpowering perfume.
Gross.
Robinette had effectively killed any hope of a future with Davin.
Chloe was conceding the fight. She had to convince her mind and heart not to want Davin Ambrose any longer.
It would be excruciating to eradicate him from her thoughts and dreams, especially as she was staying in his house for the undetermined future, but she would do it. She had to.
Turning, she rushed across the living area and tripped up the stairs.
“Chloe,” Davin exclaimed, rushing forward and helping her to her feet. He held her close for a beat, his hands on her waist and arm.
He smelled like Robinette’s overpowering and sickeningly sweet ‘Killian Love Don’t Be Shy’ perfume. Robinette had bragged about the scent in high school that ‘drove men to beg her to love them’. Chloe hated the scent and had smelled it on other boys and men and Robinette herself.
Yanking away from Davin’s touch and the yearning in his gaze, she pounded up the stairs, into the bedroom she’d insisted she stay in, turning down Davin’s gracious offer to give up the master suite for her, and slammed the door.
Hot tears stung her eyes. She dashed them away and rushed for the en suite bathroom. Maybe soaking in the tub and reading a book would help.
Unfortunately, the tub in this bathroom was small and she couldn’t immerse her entire body. Even worse, she only had Davin’s novels on hand.
Ugh. At least they didn’t have romance in them.