He needed to make a choice soon.
After the two-hour flight, he walked into his empty house, and his suitcase fell from his hand. The emptiness of the six-thousand-square-foot home pressed in on him. There was no one waiting for him. No light. No laughter. No one trying to boss him around. His life was complete crap. As bad as when he’d hit that patch of black ice and totaled everything. And just like that patch of invisible ice, his feelings for Chelsea had been surprising and painful.
The doorbell rang, and he didn’t realize he’d half expected it to be Chelsea until he opened the door and stared into the face of a middle-aged woman with short, black hair and a pear-shaped behind. Within the space of three seconds, his heart sped up and came to a sudden halt.
“I’m Patty Egan. I’m your new home health care worker.”
“Where’s Chelsea?”
“Who? I don’t know a Chelsea. The Chinooks’ aftercare program contracted me through Life Force.”
Life Force? “I don’t need a nurse.”
“I’m more than just a nurse.” She handed him a stack of his mail.
Chelsea had been more than just an assistant. She’d been his lover. Somehow he didn’t think he’d have the same problem with Patty, but he still wasn’t about to have a nurse in his house and underfoot.
There had been a time in his life when he would have slammed the door in Patty’s face and not really thought anything of it. Chelsea had called him a selfish dickhead. He’d like to think he wasn’t selfish anymore. “Thanks, but no thanks,” he said, and grabbed his mail. “I don’t need you.” He started›221 to shut the door and added for good measure, “You have a nice day, though.”
The doorbell rang again but he ignored it. He walked into his office and called Connie Backus. Someone must have found out about his relationship with Chelsea and fired her.
“Why is there a new home health care worker on my porch?”
“Sorry it took so long to get someone out there. But Chelsea Ross quitting on such short notice kind of left us in a bind.”
The mail in his hand hit the desk. “Chelsea quit?”
“Last week. Tuesday I believe.”
The day after she’d walked out of his life. “Did she give a reason?”
“She said something about moving back to L.A.”
Chelsea stood with an icing bag in one hand, piping hearts on three dozen cupcakes. Some of the icing kind of squirted off one side and onto the table. Her luck had been going that way lately. One thing after another. A few days ago, she’d had a flat tire, and yesterday she’d lost her cell phone. The last time she remembered seeing it had been right before she’d jumped in the shower yesterday.
She’d worked for Georgeanne Kowalsky for three days now, and she could honestly say it wasn’t bad. She’d certainly done worse. Holding the hair of a certain celebutard while she puked in an ice bucket came to mind.
She’d also applied for waitressing jobs at several different restaurants and bars. No sports pubs though. Nothing with televisions hanging on the walls.
Georgeanne stuck her head through one of the doors to the big kitchen. “Chelsea, there’s someone here to see you.”
“Who?”
“Me,” Mark answered, and walked into the kitchen.
Chelsea’s heart knocked against her ribs and she forgot to breathe.
“Are you going to be okay with him here?” Georgeanne asked.
No. Chelsea nodded and her boss left the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”
“Searching for you?”
He was as tall and handsome as she remembered. Her chest caved in at the sight of him. She took a deep breath past all the pain and said, “We don’t have anything to say to each other, Mark.”
“I have a lot to say. All you have to do is listen.”
“You can’t order me around anymore.”
He smiled a little as he moved past an industrial-sized mixer toward her. “Sweetheart, you were never good at taking orders. I’m asking you to listen.”
“How did you find me?”
“Jules.”
Jules knew the whole sordid story. “Jules told you?” The jerk. He had to know how much seeing Mark would hurt her. She›d h was going to hurt him when she saw him tonight.
“I threatened to beat the living shit out of him if he didn’t. For some reason he found that very funny.”
Jules was kind of perverse that way. That’s probably why he loved Bo.
He moved around the table toward her. “Why did you quit your job?”
She looked away. Away from the intensity in his brown eyes. She didn’t have to ask what job. She shrugged. “I couldn’t keep it. Not after everything.”
He didn’t say a word for several long moments. “I’ve put an offer on that house in the Queen Anne district. The one you liked.”
“Oh.” Had he driven all the way here just to tell her that?
“I accepted the assistant coach position.”
“I know.” She loved him, but seeing him was so bittersweet, her shredded heart felt like it was shredding all over again. “I have to go back to work now,” she said, and turned toward the cupcakes.
“I lied to you.”
She looked over her shoulder. “You didn’t take the job with the Chinooks?”
“No. Yes.” He shook his head. “I lied before that.”
“About the house?”
“I lied when I told you that you mean nothing to me. I lied when I said I didn’t love you.”
“What?” She turned toward him. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Because I was stupid. Because I loved you and I was afraid you were just acting. Playing me for a fool, and I was mad because I didn’t want to go back to my life before you showed up on my porch with your two-toned hair and orange jacket. I lied because I didn’t think you could love me.”
Of course she could love him. She couldn’t help herself.
He took the icing bag from her hand and set it on the table. “The Chinooks sent another health care worker to my door this morning.”
“Did you call her retarded?”
“No. I was very nice to her because of you.” Somehow Chelsea doubted he’d been very nice. “I’m a better person since you came into my life,” he continued. “I want to be better for you.”
Just like Jerry Maguire, only Mark was hotter than Tom Cruise. Taller too.
“I love you and I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said you love me.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out her missing cell phone.
“Where did you get that?”
“Jules stole it for me.” He handed it to her, then pulled out his own cell and dialed. “I heard this song on the oldies radio station the other day and I can’t get it out of my head.” His cheeks turned a little pink as if he was embarrassed. “It’s cheesy, but every t›sy,ime I call, you’ll know how I feel about you.” The face on her BlackBerry lit, then Glen Campbell sang about needing and wanting for all time.
She looked up as her heart swelled and tears blurred her vision. “Jules downloaded this for you?”
“I did it. I had to buy the CD and record it on your phone. It took me a while.”
She smiled at the thought of him trying to get all the lyrics just right. “I didn’t know you could do this.”
“I can do a lot of things, Chelsea.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. “I can love you and make you happy, if you’ll let me.” He pulled out a ring. A big diamond ring.
She gasped. “Is that real?”
“Do you think I’d buy you a fake ring?”
She didn’t know what to think. He was here. He loved her. He was shoving a four-carat diamond ring on her finger. This was all so unreal.
“You once said that it would be hard to say no to a big ring.” He put the tips of his fingers beneath her chin and
