If there was even a small chance that Chase wanted what I wanted…

  My phone started ringing.

  I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. “It’s my producer,” I told Torie. “I better take it.”

  Torie rose and snatched another cookie. “I have to get going anyway. Cooper will be home soon. He’s bringing Chinese for dinner. Call me and let me know how it goes.”

  “I didn’t say I was definitely going to do it,” I called after her.

  Torie didn’t answer as she sailed out the door.

  I sighed as I pressed the button to take the phone call.

  Chase

  I heard Vanna crying the second I opened the door, and it scared the shit out of me.

  Savannah Anderson wasn’t the type of woman to cry over small events.

  My heart was already racing by the time I got to the kitchen.

  One look at her tearstained face nearly gutted me.

  “Vanna?” I questioned as I kneeled in front of her. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  Her eyes locked onto mine and she slowly shook her head. “I just got canned, Chase. I was just let go from Deadline America.”

  “I don’t understand,” I answered as I took her hand. “How and why in the hell did that happen?”

  Were they completely insane? There really was no Deadline America without Savannah Anderson. She was the face of the show.

  She pointed her finger at her face. “They think my scars will be distracting, and they’re not sure they can always stay covered with the makeup. They’re probably right. I don’t work in the studio where I’m in a controlled environment. In some climates, it might be difficult to make sure they’re completely unnoticeable. But I didn’t really think it would matter. I guess it does matter to the higher ups. They’re assholes who think appearance is everything. My producer and director went to bat for me, but the corporates were adamant that they needed a new face for Deadline America.”

  “Christ!” I cursed. “They’re completely out of touch then. People who watch that show don’t give a damn about your face, Vanna. They watch it for the way you present the issues.”

  She sniffled. “Corporate has never really understood what their watchers want. They’re only worried about the image they present.”

  “Which is probably why they’re still a fairly small cable channel,” I grumbled. “Your show was the most popular on the network.”

  She swiped a tear from her cheek. “I can’t really complain. They’re paying out my contract for the rest of the year. I think they just want to get rid of me because I’m damaged in their eyes.”

  “Bastards!” I snarled, unable to control my anger. “You made that fucking program. I hope they enjoy watching their ratings crash and burn. Deadline America was popular because you made people want to give a shit about issues that they didn’t even know existed before they watched it. They’ll regret it.”

  She shrugged. “Well, right now they think it needs an overhaul, and that means a show without a woman with scars on her face.”

  My blood was boiling with every tear that trickled down Vanna’s cheek.

  “They’re hardly noticeable,” I said gruffly. “And they sure as hell don’t affect your talent for storytelling.”

  She looked at me with sad, liquid eyes as she replied, “I want to believe that, but I see the scars in the mirror every single day when I get out of bed, Chase. They aren’t invisible, and in television, looks matter sometimes. They’re ugly.”

  My temper boiled over, and that was something that rarely happened, but I was royally pissed that anyone had made Vanna feel like she was less valuable just because of a few fucking scars.

  “They are not ugly, and they don’t have a goddamn clue,” I growled as I stood up, grabbed my tie and ripped it off. I then took off my suit jacket and dropped it into the chair next to Vanna’s. “Those are not scars, sweetheart. They’re tiny little marks that are barely there.”

  I started to unbutton my dress shirt.

  She swiped the tears off her face again as she asked, “What are you doing?”

  “Showing you what scars actually look like,” I answered as I pulled my shirt out of my pants and finished unbuttoning it.

  I didn’t care what it took anymore to make her realize that nothing about the scars on her face were unattractive.

  Hell, I knew what repulsive really looked like.

  I saw it every time I took off my shirt, and I’d seen it reflected in a woman’s eyes when she saw them.

  But that didn’t matter anymore.

  I was trying to prove a goddamn point that might make Vanna feel better about her gorgeous face.

  All that really concerned me at this point was…Vanna.

  “I was doing one last operation before I was due to be discharged from the Army four years ago,” I said stoically. “My crew and I were going over last-minute details near the hangar out on the airfield when we came under heavy RPG fire. It came out of fucking nowhere and it took us all by surprise. I don’t remember much of anything that happened after that. I nearly bled to death from shrapnel wounds by the time I was carried to safety. One of them nicked a blood vessel in my leg. My co-pilot was also injured. Unfortunately, my crew chief didn’t make it. My face was spared, but that’s about the only part of me that didn’t get littered with shrapnel.”

  I pulled open my shirt and shrugged it off, fueled only by the need to make Vanna understand that her scars weren’t ugly at all.

  I heard her swift intake of breath as her eyes settled on my torso, but I still didn’t stop. I was too fucking angry to stop.

  “Oh, my God, Chase!” she said in a strangled, distressed voice.

  My chest ached at the dismay and shock in her tone, but I wasn’t about to cease just because she was repelled by the way that I looked.

  Most women would be.

  My body wasn’t exactly a pretty sight.

  I unbuckled my belt and let my pants drop to the floor.

  I picked them up, tossed them beside my shirt and then held my arms out. “Now these are scars, Vanna. Take a good look. And don’t ever tell me that your scars are ugly again. You’re fucking beautiful. If anyone tells you anything different, they’re completely full of shit.”

  I turned around slowly, covered only by a pair of boxer briefs, the rage that had consumed me a few minutes ago starting to slowly cool.

  I knew where every piece of skin was missing, and just how deep some of those wounds had been.

  Yeah, over time, some of the scars had faded, but not a single one of those ugly bastards were ever going to disappear.

  Maybe they didn’t show in my everyday life because I made a deliberate effort to cover them, but I knew they were there, and I’d seen a woman flip out when she saw them.

  That’s why I’d never bothered to inflict them on another female.

  I didn’t look at Vanna as I gathered up my clothes. “I think you probably get my point,” I said in a graveled voice. “Let me take a shower and we’ll talk about what happened today. I think those shortsighted, superficial assholes probably did you a favor, Vanna. You can take your exceptional talent somewhere else where it’s appreciated.”

  Without another word, I exited the kitchen and sprinted up the stairs.

  My rage level had lowered to a simmer as I pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

  Hell, in hindsight, I probably should have prepared Vanna for that strip show, but I’d been livid at the thought of her agonizing over something so unimportant and so out of her control.

  I wanted to tear the heads off every asshole at the network for hurting her feelings.

  I couldn’t handle seeing her cry for any goddamn reason.

  My heart sank as I tossed my clothes into the hamper and strolled into the master bathroom.

  So much for revealing the way I felt about her to Vanna.

  There probably wasn’t a woman on Earth who’d want to go to bed with a guy who looked like me when he was naked.

  I’d known that since the very beginning.

  But it hadn’t stopped me from wanting Vanna anyway—every single fucking moment of every day.

  I’d told myself that I could live without a woman in my life.

  Until her.

  Until the moment I’d realized in Vegas that the woman I’d always hoped to find had been staring me in the face for years now.

  In some ways, it probably should have been a relief when she’d ran away in Vegas after I’d given into a compulsive instinct to ask her out.

  Unfortunately, even though I’d been at peace with swearing off relationships before I’d seen her again, Vanna’s rejection had eaten my guts out.

  “Fuck!” I growled as I slammed my fist against the wall. What in the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I just accept that Savannah Anderson was never going to be mine?

  She hadn’t said another word after her initial shock of seeing my torn-up body, but her horrified reaction and then her silence had spoken pretty loud and clear.

  I yanked open the shower door and turned on the water.

  “Tell her how I feel, my ass,” I rumbled out loud as I shucked my briefs. “There isn’t a woman on the planet who wants to go to bed with this body every night.”

  I tensed as I heard a voice behind me as she said, “Oh, there are probably dozens of them, but I’d fight them all off to have that chance myself.”

  I turned to see Vanna leaning against the doorjamb, tears pouring down her face as she said, “I think I’d do just about anything to get into your bed, Chase. I’ve fantasized about it for a very, very long time. I just wasn’t convinced you wanted the same thing. Do you?”

  Jesus! My heart started to pound so hard that I could hardly think.

  I locked eyes with her because I couldn’t help myself.

  There wasn’t even an iota of revulsion or disgust in her gaze.

  It was bold and…hungry.

  “You have no fucking idea how much,” I answered, my voice rough and disbelieving.

  She folded her arms across her chest. “Was that whole strip show thing you did just for me?”

  “Yes,” I said, my jaw clenched.

  “Good. Because it was pretty hot, and I’d prefer you didn’t do it with anyone else but me. You’re a beautiful man, Chase. You work out like a fiend, and it definitely shows,” she said softly. “But do you know what turns me on the most?”

  I gritted my teeth. Fuck knew I definitely wanted to know. “No.”

  “The fact that you cared about me enough to do it in the first place. God, do you have any idea how much that means to me? You wanted to make me stop crying. You wanted to please me. I’d really like to know what it would be like to be with a man who cares whether or not I’m satisfied.”

  “Then I’m your man,” I informed her tightly.

  “Yes,” she purred. “I believe you are. Either you come here or I’m coming to get you. Choose. Or I’ll choose for you.”

  I knew she was using some of my own words lightheartedly about her choosing a wine for us that first night, but I couldn’t otherwise wrap my head around what was happening. “You. I’m not quite sure if this is even real.”

  “Okay,” she said amiably. “But fair warning…once I touch you, I may not stop for hours. I’ve wanted you naked like this for a very, very long time.”

  My dick had been hard from the second she’d said that she actually wanted me. She hadn’t even said a word about my scars. What the fuck?

  “Vanna,” I warned her hoarsely. “Don’t start something you don’t want to finish. You have no idea what kind of monster you’re messing with right now.”

  I hadn’t gotten laid in years, and I’d never wanted a woman the way I wanted Vanna. Not even close.

  Christ! If she checked me out one more time with that fuck-me look in her eyes, she was going to end up getting more than she bargained for in about two seconds flat.

  She didn’t seem to be even a little bit daunted as she batted those gorgeous eyes of hers and asked in a sultry tone, “Are you getting into the shower?”

  I swallowed hard and nodded.

  She sauntered her beautiful ass over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Kiss me first,” she demanded.

  Jesus! I couldn’t resist. I didn’t even have the will to try.

  Savannah Anderson had been my favorite fucking fantasy for way too long.

  I fisted her silky hair and wrapped an arm around her waist before I lowered my head.

  I hoped she knew what she was doing, because the monster wasn’t going back into his cage anytime soon.

  Savannah

  I moaned as Chase’s mouth finally connected with mine because his kiss was even better than anything I had ever conjured up in my imagination.

  He was a man who took complete control and kissed a woman with very clear intentions.

  I opened to him as I speared my hands into his hair, feeling freer than I’d ever felt in my entire life.

  I could taste his desire, and it was the headiest thing I’d ever experienced.

  Chase wanted me. That need pulsated in the air around us as he devoured my mouth like it was the only morsel of nourishment that he needed to survive.

  I savored his fierceness as he nipped my bottom lip and then stroked over it with his tongue.

  “Chase,” I whimpered as we came up for air.

  “Is this really what you want, Vanna?” he said huskily beside my ear.

  “Yes,” I whispered breathlessly. “It’s what I’ve wanted for a long time.”

  I moved back from him to pull my lightweight shirt over my head and dropped it to the floor, nearly panting with the need to get closer to him.

  “My scars—”

  I held up a hand before I unzipped my jeans and shoved them, panties and all, down my legs. “Don’t,” I cautioned him. “It upset me when I saw them, but only because I hate to think about how painful they must have been for you, but you still have the hottest damn body I’ve ever seen. They’re part of you, Chase. Part of your history. Part of the sacrifice you made to serve this country. If you think that makes you less attractive, you’re out of your mind.”

  Yes, the scars were deep and some of them were long and jagged. I’d cringed thinking about how close he’d probably come to losing his life because of them. But there was nothing about those marks that made Chase less appealing. The fact that he’d been willing to bear them for me so I’d feel more normal had made me want to sob like a child.

  The fact that he’d done something so totally selfless just to make me feel more normal had just made me adore him even more.

  I hadn’t been able to stop myself from coming after him. Nothing would have kept me from racing up the stairs to talk to him.

  However, once I’d seen him naked, my plans had changed to something considerably more…carnal.

  When he’d muttered that comment about no woman wanting his body, I’d known that it was time to take a chance.

  After all, he’d done the same with me, leaving himself completely and utterly vulnerable in the process.

  I unclipped my bra and let it fall to the floor as I eyed his muscular body, my gaze finally dropping to the largest, hardest cock I’d ever seen.

  My core clenched hard with a need I’d never experienced before.

  I looked up, and my heart skipped a beat when I recognized the look of pure, primal lust in his gorgeous gray eyes.

  “I never thought I’d ever see you look at me like this,” I said, stunned by the way it made me feel.

  “Were you serious when you said that you’ve always been with guys who didn’t care if you were satisfied?” he asked gruffly.

  “Completely serious,” I said honestly.

  “I care,” he told me roughly.

  I shuddered in anticipation. “I know,” I answered simply.

  The muscles in his neck contracted and relaxed. He appeared to be fighting for control as he rumbled, “Vanna, I haven’t been with anyone for years, but I want you so much that it’s killing me.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck. I nearly purred as my nude body slid against his bare, fiery skin. “I’m pretty sure you’ll remember exactly what to do,” I teased softly. “I want you, too, Chase Durand. So badly I can hardly think. Take a shower with me?”

  “I think you already know you’re going to get a hell of a lot more than just a shower, sweetheart,” he rasped as he put his hands on my ass and lifted my body.

  I wrapped my legs and arms around him as he stepped into the shower and pulled the door closed.

  The enclosure was enormous, but it was already full of steam as Chase pressed me against the wall and buried his face in my neck.

  I let my head drop back as I savored the feel of his mouth against my skin.

  “I got my results back today on all my screenings,” I panted. “They were all negative.”

  “You protected?” he asked, his baritone muffled against my skin. “I know I’m clean, too.”

  “Implant,” I said breathlessly. “Now fuck me.”

  He chuckled as he ran his hands down to my hips. “Not so fast, beautiful. I’m not eager to sprint across the finish line. Not after wanting you for so damn long. And I never want you to be able to say you weren’t completely satisfied. Not with me.”

  Holy crap! I was fairly certain I wasn’t ever going to be able to say that about Chase.

  He kissed me as he released his grip and let my feet touch the ground.

  I then watched in fascination as he swept a strong arm across the long bench seat and sent all of the bottles of shampoo and bodywash flying through the air. They landed across the enclosure, but I didn’t really care where they went.

  He picked me up and dropped me gently onto the now empty space as he said huskily, “I’m going to get to know every inch of this gorgeous body, sweetheart.”

  “Chase!” I squeaked as he moved his large body between my open thighs.

  He nudged my legs wider as he ran his hands slowly down my entire body. “Christ! You’re so fucking beautiful, Vanna. I don’t know how any guy could not want to see you come over and over again.”