Taking Chloe (2 page)

He closed his eyes again and slid his palm across the bed, expecting to encounter the soft, supple skin of his wife. Nothing. He opened his eyes and turned his head. He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
Chloe’s up?
She never got up before him.

Merrick left the bed and washed up in the adjoining bathroom, then went searching for his wife.

He checked the office first, figuring maybe she’d decided to get an early start, but there was no sign of her. He rubbed his stomach and made his way to the kitchen. With any luck, she was already getting the coffee started, but it was empty, too. His gaze snagged on a piece of paper in front of the coffee pot. He strode across the room and picked it up.

Merrick
,

I’m sorry to leave with no warning, but you gave me no choice. I’ve tried so many times to talk to
you, but you’re always too busy with work. I appreciate your need to make a success of yourself,
but it’s killing me to watch our marriage go down the drain. I didn’t come by this decision easily.

I love you, I always will, but I think we need some time apart.

I’m staying at a hotel in town. Call my cell when you get this, we’ll talk.

Love always,

Chloe

Merrick read the note three times. “What the hell?” he grumbled as he reached for the cordless.

He dialed, but it took him two tries to get the number right, his hands shook too damn bad.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” he demanded.

“Merrick?”

He rolled his eyes. “Who else would be calling at six in the morning?”

“The connection is bad. I’ll call you back on the hotel phone.”

“Fine,” he gritted out. He ended the call and waited. A hotel room? Was there another man with her? Merrick’s rage boiled over at the images rolling through his mind. As the phone rang, he snatched it up. “Where the hell are you?”

“Don’t yell at me, Merrick.”

He knew that stubborn tone. He’d get nowhere if he came at her like an angry steer. “Tell me what’s going on, babe.”

“I tried to tell you last night, but you were too tired, as usual. Did you even notice that my bags were packed?”

“I was damned exhausted, Chloe,” he snarled. “I didn’t take an inventory of the house.”

“Yeah, I noticed. How about my car? Didn’t you wonder why it was in the driveway instead of the garage the way it usually is?”

Merrick hadn’t even seen her car. He’d driven home by rote. He even suspected he’d closed his eyes for a few seconds too long during the drive. None of that mattered now. All that mattered was getting Chloe home, where she damn well belonged. “Come home so we can talk about this,” he urged.

“No. If I come home we won’t talk. Besides, you need to get ready for work. By the way, I’m taking the day off.”

“Damn it, Chloe. What’s going on?”

“We’ll meet for lunch.”

It was better than chatting on the damn phone like strangers. “Fine. Where?”

“Sal’s.”

Chloe’s favorite Italian restaurant. “I’ll be there at noon,” he agreed.

“Okay, and Merrick?”

“Yeah?”

“This isn’t about another man. I…I just wanted you to know that.” Merrick let out a sigh of relief. “Whatever it is, babe, we can deal with it together.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t.”

Merrick hated hearing the defeat in his wife’s voice. “I love you, Chloe. That’ll never change.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

They ended the call and he stood in the center of the kitchen, chilled to the bone. How had everything gone to hell without him even realizing it? Why hadn’t he seen it coming?

His mind rebelled at the notion that she might not come back. He refused to believe that. He’d envisioned her pregnant with his baby some day. There would be no other, not for him. Chloe was the only woman he ever loved. She
would
be back in his arms. In his bed.

He looked at the clock on the wall. Any other day he’d be in his car on his way to work by now.

His mind would be on the meetings scheduled throughout the day and the clients he needed to finesse. Today, all his thoughts centered on the sadness in Chloe’s voice. Had he brought that on? His gut tightened as he read the note again. The words
busy with work
jumped out at him. He had been working a lot lately, more so than usual. But having a wife and contemplating a baby had made him think of the future. Specifically, providing for his family and making it so they would want for nothing. He’d had an overwhelming need to give them a life of comfort. Chloe deserved the best and he couldn’t give her that unless he made Vaughn’s Business Solutions a success.

A little voice inside him mocked him for a liar. The business was already a success. He worked himself to death
why
? He studiously ignored the annoying question and started working on the current problem. He’d meet Chloe at noon and, no matter what, he’d bring his wife home.

Merrick grabbed the phone and dialed information, then called the florist and ordered eighteen long stem roses. Once that was finished, he called his office.

“Vaughn’s Business Solutions, Candice speaking, may I help you?”

“Candice, it’s Merrick. I’m taking the day off. I need you to cancel all my appointments for the day.”

He heard Candice giggle. “Chloe just called in sick, too. You two playing hooky?” Merrick felt a muscle in his jaw jump in frustration. “No, nothing like that. We just need a day off.”

“You’ve been working around the clock. You deserve a break. I’ll take care of everything. Have fun.”

Fun? When was the last time he’d had fun? “Thanks, sweetheart.” As they were about to hang up, he thought of something else. “Hey, have you talked to Blade today?”

“Yeah, he’s at home. He’s working on a bid for that big strip mall.”

“Thanks, talk to you later.”

“Merrick, if you see Blade, tell him to call me. I need him to pick up some things from the store.”

Merrick laughed. His brother Blade and Candice had started dating about the same time he’d married Chloe. Now they were happily married themselves and talking about kids. “My brother grocery shopping? That’s so messed up.”

Candice’s laughter filled his ear. “I aim to domesticate that Neanderthal if it’s the last thing I do.”

Merrick snorted. “Good luck with that.”

“Are you saying he’s beyond help?”

“I’m saying I know my brother. You’ll never housebreak him, but watching you try has been damned interesting.”

Candice made a tsking sound. “You should have more faith in him. He’s done very well since we tied the knot. He even cooks dinner a few nights a week.” That shocked him. “Really?”

“Well,” she hedged, “I admit it’s only macaroni and cheese and frozen dinners, but it’s a start.”

“Candice, if anyone can bring that man a measure of civility it’s you.”

“Thanks.”

“No, on behalf of the Vaughn family, thank
you
for bringing Blade into the twenty-first century.” They said their goodbyes and ended the call. Merrick went to the bedroom and pulled a pair of jeans out of the dresser drawer, then grabbed the black t-shirt he’d flung over the back of a chair the day before. While he dressed, he started making a mental list. Get advice from Blade. Pick up flowers. Coax his wife into giving him a second chance. Jesus, he was pathetic. For a man with a master’s degree in business and a million-dollar company, he sure didn’t have much of an imagination. He needed to figure out why Chloe felt their relationship was beyond repair. He’d need to convince her that working things out would be the best route. The only problem with that plan? Chloe’s stubbornness. Once she made a decision, there’d be no changing her mind. He loved her decisiveness and goal-oriented attitude, but at times that trait could prove annoying as hell.

As he slipped into his work boots and grabbed his keys, he glanced around the living room. His chest ached. There were signs of Chloe everywhere, in the mauve couches she’d picked out and the matching wall hangings. The fluffy rug in front of the fireplace had been her idea, too. She’d claimed it would prove romantic. As he stared at it, he realized he couldn’t remember the last time they’d spent time together on it. He’d been burning the candle at both ends; as a result, his marriage had suffered. What a joke. He’d worked to give them a better life, but he’d been too damn busy to enjoy the life he already had.

Merrick closed the door and locked it, determination settling into every fiber of his being. The next time he looked at the damn fireplace, it’d be from the floor, with Chloe naked and riding his cock and taking them both to heaven.



“You and Chloe separated?”

“Temporarily,” he reiterated for the third time. “It’s not a permanent situation.”

“Yeah,” Blade said as he went to the fridge. “Want a beer?” Merrick frowned. “I thought Candice didn’t like alcohol in the house.” Blade shrugged and grabbed two light beers, then handed one to him. “Candy knows I’m not a big drinker, so she doesn’t mind.”

Four years ago, a man she worked with had raped Candice. The bastard had slipped something into her drink. Since then she never touched alcohol. After she’d met Blade, everything changed, for the better. It thrilled Merrick to see her so happy. The difference in her attitude and appearance had been nothing short of miraculous.

Merrick twisted off the cap and took a long swig, then sat at the kitchen table. “I don’t know what the hell happened. One minute I’m a happily married man, the next I’m waking up to an empty house. How is that even possible?”

“You want the truth?”

“Yes,” Merrick answered as he squared his shoulders for the assault that would surely come.

Blade was all about confronting an issue head on.

“She got tired of being a widow.”

Merrick slammed his beer down on the table. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you spend more time at that office than you do with her. You work nearly twenty-four hours a day and you never take weekends off. That wears on a woman, Merrick.”

“I’ve been trying to make things better for her. I’d like to have kids someday and I think Chloe would like to be a stay-at-home mom. She’s talked about it more than once. But, that won’t happen if I can’t get the business where it needs to be.”

“Bullshit.”

Merrick rolled his eyes. “Why not tell me how you really feel, Blade?”

“That business of yours isn’t exactly paltry, and you know it. What’s really holding you back?” Merrick clenched his fist around the bottle. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Are you afraid?”

“Damn it, Blade!”

Blade held up a hand. “Just hear me out.” He paused, and Merrick nodded. “If you ask me, I think you’re afraid of not measuring up. Not being the husband Chloe needs, not being the father you imagine. I think it scares the shit out of you every time you think about the future.” Merrick didn’t know what to say. He’d never let himself think too hard about his insecurities.

Men just weren’t wired that way. Having Blade throw it in his face made it real. He had been afraid. Terrified, actually. “Chloe is my whole world. I keep thinking she’s going to wake up and wonder why she married my dumb ass.”

Blade smiled. “Yeah, we all think that way. But burying your head in the sand isn’t the answer.”

“Gee, you think?”

“Smartass,” Blade grumbled.

“Dickhead,” Merrick shot right back.

They both took a swig of their beers. Blade stood and tossed the bottle in the trash. He crossed his arms over his chest and said, “So, what are you going to do about it? Sit on your ass and bitch like a little girl, or get your woman back?”

Merrick stood and pinned Blade with a hard glare. “Get my woman back.”

“Good answer. Now, it seems to me you need to get her away. Take her some place where it’s just the two of you. No job, no interruptions.”

Merrick thought of the last time he’d taken Chloe away. “Hawaii,” he uttered.

“A second honeymoon? Yep, that should do the trick.”

Blade was so sure, but he hadn’t heard the stubbornness in Chloe’s voice that morning. “What if it doesn’t? What if she still wants a divorce?”

“Then you tie her cute ass to the bed and keep her there.” Merrick laughed and shook his head. “Oh, yeah, you’re all reformed.” Blade frowned. “Huh?”

“Never mind,” he said as he made his way to the door. “Just tell Candice that I said she’s got a lot more work to do.”

As Merrick left the house, got into his car and started the engine, a plan began to form. Hawaii.

Yeah, he’d take her to Hawaii, but it wouldn’t be like their honeymoon. Back then he’d been content to let things flow. He’d been hopelessly in love, not a care in the world. This time around, he’d be fighting for his life, his future.

Chloe sat at their usual table in the back of Sal’s restaurant. Sal, the owner, came over and took her hand in his. “You’re as beautiful as ever, darling.” She winked and said, “And you’re a shameless flirt, Sal, as always.”

“Where’s that man of yours?”

“He’s on his way. He should be here any minute.” A voice in the back of her mind taunted her with the notion that he may not show at all. That he’d gotten lost in his work. Again.

“His loss is my gain, pretty Chloe,” Sal murmured, then kissed the back of her hand.

Chloe laughed. “Do you treat all your lady customers this way?” He took a step backward and said, “Of course!”

“I think maybe you shouldn’t be hitting on my woman.”

The gruff male voice had Chloe sitting up straighter and clutching her purse in her lap. Merrick.

And he wasn’t wearing a suit. Hadn’t he gone to work? She let her gaze travel over him, taking in the tight, faded jeans and black t-shirt. His dark tousled hair looked as if he hadn’t even bothered to run a comb through it. Still he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

“I’d never dream of it, boy. Just keeping her company until you got here.” Merrick’s eyebrow shot up. “You’re a bad liar, Sal.”

Sal smacked Merrick on the back. “You’re just jealous because she likes me better.” Chloe wanted to laugh, but held back. Sal was in his mid-sixties. Not only had he been happily married for forty years, but he also had six kids and thirteen grandkids.