Nichole tried for upbeat. “You’re a brilliant getaway driver, Dan.”
“I had to be.” Dan’s easy laughter flowed around the truck. “I was afraid you’d take back your invite for us to crash your Tahoe ski-moon.”
“Dan hasn’t stopped talking about spending an entire weekend with Chase Jacobs,” Brooke said.
Dan grinned. “This is like bucket wish–list big.”
Never had Chase appeared on any of Nichole’s wish lists. Until now. Chase and she had to remain friends. Friends were rarely replaced and forgotten. Not like love. Love was temporary, easily set aside and too often one-sided.
“But this ski trip might be an even bigger deal for Ben and Wesley,” Brooke said.
Wesley. Nichole needed caution tape to mark off all the boundaries she couldn’t risk being crossed. Wesley required his own set of boundaries. The ski-moon was simply a getaway with friends. It could not become something more. Something meaningful that involved more than a business partnership. Nichole pressed her palms against her eyes, trying to hold on to her conviction.
Ten minutes later, Dan parked his truck at the back of the grocery store parking lot beside Chase’s truck. He jumped out, left his door open and hurried to shake Chase’s hand.
Brooke opened her door and peered back at Nichole, laughter in her gaze. “I got everything on your shopping list and added something extra, in case you want to celebrate tonight.”
Nichole wanted to turn back the clock. Reverse time and start over before she’d called Chase her husband. Before boundaries got blurred.
Chase walked over, brushed his fingers across her shoulder. His touch and his gaze gentle. “You’re still covered in flour.”
And Nichole’s heart tumbled right back into the game.
The iced-down cooler with the perishables and the shopping bags loaded with snacks and fruit stashed behind their seats, Nichole climbed into the passenger seat of Chase’s truck. She waved goodbye to her friends, wrapped that caution tape around her heart and committed to keeping her distance to business appropriate.
“Any problems with the press?” Chase buckled his seat belt and started his truck.
“As far as I know, no one saw me enter or leave my house.” Nichole slipped on her sunglasses, adding another barrier between her and Chase.
“Travis will issue a statement requesting our privacy.”
“Will that work?”
“Not for the more aggressive reporters.” Chase frowned.
“But you’re used to this.” How many interviews had she read about Chase? How many news reports had she watched featuring Chase?
“Doesn’t mean I like it.” Chase adjusted his sunglasses. “Usually it’s just me I have to worry about.”
“That’s what you prefer, isn’t it?” To be alone. One more reason Nichole must keep Chase in the friend zone. He only looked out for himself.
He nodded. Tension tightened his jaw, his stiff shoulders and his grip on the steering wheel as if he guarded himself from her and any more probing questions.
Nichole preferred to be alone too. Yet Chase’s loneliness drew her in and became impossible to overlook. Not my business.
“Sorry about Nonna’s ambush today.” Chase rested his right hand on his thigh, his fingers curled into a weak fist. The edges of his grin tensed. “I really had no idea.”
“I had fun.” That was a suitable answer. Coworkers were allowed to have fun together.
“Me too.” He glanced at her, surprise on his face.
“We need to go over our stories about the wedding.” And she needed to pretend she never noticed his wince of pain with every shift of position. Not my business. She had to focus her concern on the practical things.
“I told Elliot and my agent we got married in Vegas,” Chase said.
“I told Brooke and Josie we went to Reno,” she said. “It’s closer to drive.”
“I figured we’d taken a private plane.”
Nichole latched on to their differences like a scientist gathering evidence to prove a theory. Clearly Chase and she were too opposite to attract. “I also told them we got married in a chapel and I had a rose bouquet.”
“Really?” He glanced at her. “But lilies are your favorite flower.”
“You remembered that?” No big deal. She remembered minor details about him too. They were even. That her heart flipped over in one of those forbidden cartwheels was not relevant.
“I also remember that you had questionable music taste in high school,” he teased.
“I was in a soundtrack phase.” Nichole shifted in her seat, opting to keep the conversation in the easygoing lane. “And Broadway musicals would’ve definitely been playing in the Hearts Forever Chapel in Reno.”
“What music would you play at your real wedding reception?” Curiosity lightened his tone. His fist relaxed, his fingers flattened against his leg.
Had she distracted him from his pain? Nichole leaned into the back seat and rummaged through a shopping bag. “Jazz band. What about you?”
“Live cover band.” His eyebrows arched above his sunglasses. “Is that red licorice?”
The hope in his tone reminded her of a younger Chase. The one who’d started every tutoring session with the same impractical question: Don’t suppose we can skip today and have fun instead? Nichole had quickly discovered food represented fun for Chase. She opened the bag of licorice and pulled out a candy rope. “Is it still your favorite?”
“Haven’t had it in too long.” Chase reached across the console, wiggling his fingers. For the moment, his face masked in happiness. “But yeah. It is.”
“Good thing I bought several packages.” Fact: food still distracted Chase. Fact: she hadn’t forgotten his favorite things. Fact: he kept his guard up and she wasn’t interested in breaching his defenses. She knew all she needed to about Chase: he was a bachelor and wanted to remain one.
He waved the licorice at her. “Destination wedding. Where do you go?”
“Vineyard in Napa.” She settled back into the seat and prepared to tally more differences to prove they didn’t belong together. “You?”
“Island.” He smiled and bit into his licorice. “Add in a private yacht equipped with all the toys—Jet Skis, speedboat for waterskiing and
