The Chase

“He didn’t know.”

The woman relaxed again. “Because you didn’t tell him. Am I right?”

“It wasn’t his problem.”

“Uh-huh. I’ll bet that didn’t go over well.”

Heavenly winced. “Not so much.”

“You do understand he wants the responsibility of taking care of you, right?”

“Why? He’s already done so much for me.”

Gloria cocked her head. “Let me ask you a question. What if, before your dad died, he’d needed help? Would you have wanted him to suffer or ask you for a hand?”

“That’s different.”

“No, it’s not. Would you have helped him?”

“Of course. My dad was sick for years, and I took care of him. I would have happily done it for the rest of my life.”

“Did you ever consider him a burden?”

The idea horrified her. “Never.”

“Ken feels exactly the same. He’d do anything for you, honey. Anything.” Gloria squeezed her hand. “He loves you.”

“That’s not possible. He… No.” She shook her head in a stunned daze. “We’ve only had three dates over the last three months, so he can’t—”

“He does. He all but admitted that last December, before any of those dates.”

Heavenly sat back in her seat, shocked. “He’s never said that to me.”

“Would you believe him if he had?”

She shook her head. “I know he cares…but he’s been so kind that I thought he was helping a friend.”

“Kind?” She snorted. “We’re talking about the same man, right? Honey, I’ve known Ken a long damn time. He doesn’t help anyone except his patients and the people he loves. So unless you’ve got a vascular issue…”

“I don’t.”

“Then he loves you.” Gloria sent her a pointed stare. “So…you were saying that he and Seth found out you tried to give away your V-card. Oh, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. What then?”

Heavenly flushed. “Long story short, they saved me from my lecherous landlord, helped me get my dad into a different hospital…and then found out I’d been working at Bazookas since before Christmas.”

Gloria’s eyes flared. “Oh, shit. Ken didn’t take that well, either, did he?”

“Not even a little bit. Neither did Seth. I thought they were going to punch my assistant manager into next week. But after we got everything out in the open—or so I thought—one thing led to another and…”

“The clothes came off and the banging was on.” The woman grinned. “Were the orgasms good?”

Beck’s wife wanted to hear how much she’d enjoyed pleasure from her husband? “Um…”

“Since you’re blushing from head to toe, I’ll take that as a yes. Keep going. Your dad fell ill, you found out that Beck and I were getting divorced, and…what? You thought I needed to know that my husband was a cheating prick?”

“Something like that.”

“Oh, lord… What did you tell him before you left?”