Michele Dunaway - Bachelor CEO

“Any smart woman would.”

“And you’re a smart woman?” He refrained from adding that if she was, she’d have checked her trunk for a tire. Luckily, she had one, and it was inflated.

“I like to think so.”

Chase chuckled, unscrewing the bolt that held her tire jack and spare in place. “So where’d you go to school?”

“Northwestern University.”

“Good old Evanston,” he said, placing the bolt in his pants pocket. He didn’t want to lose that.

She took his words the wrong way. “Do you have a problem with Northwestern?”

“Nope. Not if you don’t care that I went to the University of Iowa,” he replied. He removed the car’s jack and handed it to her. His fingers brushed hers for a second as she took it from him.

After placing the spare on the ground, he shed his suit coat and rolled up his sleeves. He’d never been afraid of dirt or hard work, and he could shower when he reached Lone Pine Lake.

He’d be about a half hour late, but his grandfather would understand. Leroy was all about chivalry, especially on the parking lot of the company he owned and loved.

Chase loosened the lug nuts and he placed the jack under the frame of the car. He inserted the handle and began to turn it, raising the car up slowly until the tire was free of the ground.

Then he removed the lug nuts and the bad tire, ignoring that his hands had turned black from the brake dust and the road grime. He slid the spare on, reversed the process, and soon had her car ready to go.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” He put the flat in the trunk and set everything on top. “If I were you, I’d take this down to Bay’s Tire and have them look at it. Bay’s is right there on the main drag. You can’t miss it. Looks like an old gas station without the pumps. Tell them Chase sent you.”

“Okay.” She crossed her arms over her chest and studied him.

“So, where are you heading after this? Going inside?” he asked.

She shook her head, her short locks swishing. “No. I’m finished. I’m actually starting work here Tuesday. I filled out my tax forms today.”

“Oh.” He frowned. Come Tuesday she’d be an employee. Chase had been well schooled in sexual harassment law. McDaniel Manufacturing prided itself on its employee satisfaction, stellar work environment and safety record.

Still, she wasn’t quite on the job yet, and something about her intrigued him. Curious to learn more, he said, “I was wondering if you’d like to reward me for my valor by letting me take you to an early lunch.”

Instead of saying yes, she arched a dark eyebrow and her pixie mouth formed a slight pucker. “That’s sweet, and I really appreciate your offer, but you’ve already helped me out enough. I should have joined an auto club or something. As it is, I’ve got to get going. The moving van is on its way, if it’s not already waiting at my apartment.”

“They’re always late,” he replied, delaying her inevitable departure. Of course, he really had no clue about moving companies. He’d only moved once, from his grandfather’s estate to his own place, ten years ago.

However, she was already edging away, to the driver’s side of the car. He stood there feeling like a fool. “It was nice meeting you,” he said.

“Thank you again,” she replied.

“You’re welcome.” Chase remained frozen in place until she drove off. Then he retrieved the suit coat he’d set on the ground. His dry cleaners would kill him, but the bill would be well worth it.

Chenille had never seen anything like her.

If it had, Chase would have found her long ago. Goodness knows he’d gone through enough women looking for the right one. Sex was never an issue. The problem was finding someone who could keep his mind and heart interested, as well. Someone he could love forever. Call him a closet romantic, but he believed in true love and wouldn’t settle until he found it.

He held up his dirty hands and grimaced. Even though he’d brought his suitcase with him, it might be best if he went home to shower before leaving for Minnesota. He should be able to do so and still be in plenty of time. His grandfather had specifically asked him to arrive earlier than the rest of his siblings. Every Memorial Day weekend the entire family gathered at the house on Lone Pine Lake, starting Friday night, to kick off the summer and celebrate Leroy’s birthday.

His grandfather would be eighty tomorrow, and Chase was certain Leroy was finally ready to announce his retirement. He’d been hinting for a while about passing the torch. Chase had been groomed his whole life to become CEO of the family business, a role and legacy that had passed to him when his parents died in a single-engine-plane crash.

Once he’d had dreams of leaving Chenille and making his way in some big city, but he’d long ago left those fantasies to his siblings.

His sister Cecilia had made her home in New York as a professional ballerina. Now thirty and at the end of her dancing career, she’d started teaching ballet, gotten married and had a child on the way. Chase’s younger brother, Chris, was also married, and worked in Davenport as a minister. The youngest of the McDaniel clan, twenty-seven-year old Chandy, was doing her pediatric residency in Saint Louis.

Chase drove the short distance to his home, an atrium ranch sitting on five acres. He’d hoped to share it with a wife and kids, but he refused to get married until he knew he’d found his soul mate. Everyone in his family had happy marriages, and Chase wanted the same.

For a second, he thought of the woman he’d met. McDaniel currently had several management openings, two in human resources. Maybe she’d filled one of those.

He washed his hands and resisted the urge to call the office, especially since it was a holiday weekend and he’d told his secretary to take the rest of the day off. Tuesday morning would arrive soon enough. Surely he could find out who the mystery woman was then.

MIRANDA CRAIG FOUND Bay Tire easily, and within a few minutes was sitting inside the store, watching while a cat yawned his assessment and sauntered off.

Her tire couldn’t be plugged, so she nodded in approval of the new one they wanted to install.

This wasn’t one of those chain establishments, but rather a mom-and-pop operation. “So Chase sent you?” the wife asked, flipping through a magazine while her husband changed the tire. Both seemed to be in their early fifties.

“He did,” Miranda replied.

“His whole family buys their tires here. Have for years. You his girlfriend?” Mrs. Bay set her magazine down for a minute.

Miranda shook her head. “No. I’m a new employee.”

The woman gave her a once-over, and Miranda squirmed. “Probably for the best. He does seem to go through women like water.”

“Uh-huh.” Miranda was grateful when Mrs. Bay began reading an article. It was easy to understand why women would be attracted to Chase. Miranda had felt that initial quiver of interest herself, before she’d realized exactly who the tall blond guy approaching her was. Chase McDaniel wasn’t quite the boy next door.

He was a lot hotter and a lot sexier than he looked in the photos she’d seen on the Internet. His pictures had done him justice, but came nowhere close to capturing the man in the flesh.

His hair was sandy-blond, like something you might find on a California surfer. His ocean-blue eyes had sparkled, and his mouth…To be kissed by those full sensuous lips could only be heavenly.

His dress shirt hadn’t hidden the fact that he was fit and toned, and the thought of touching his six-pack abs sent chills down her spine.

He hadn’t bothered to conceal his interest. His attentions had flattered her, as had his willingness to get his hands dirty. He wasn’t such a pretty boy that he was afraid of grease and grime. She’d found him highly attractive and extremely tempting.