She Was Never Just the Billionaire’s Wife (Natasha and Chase) novel Chapter 152

(Natasha)

It’s been four days since I received Chase’s message.

I still haven’t answered and he hasn’t sent another one.

It shouldn’t matter this much but it keeps scraping my nerves.

I’m on the living room rug, stacking wooden blocks for Lily to immediately knock over, when the doorbell rings.

I open the door without checking the peephole.

Chase is standing on the porch.

He’s wearing dark jeans and a navy henley with the sleeves pushed up to his forearms.

I have to drag my gaze away from his arms and violently suppress the urge to reach out and squeeze them.

"I know I should have called," he says.

His voice is rough.

"I know you told me to leave you alone."

"Chase."

"I miss her, Natasha."

He doesn't look angry.

"I don’t want to keep doing this. I can't sit in an empty house and pretend this is a sustainable way to live."

My grip tightens on the edge of the door.

I have a dozen perfectly valid reasons to slam the door in his face.

But the exhaustion in his eyes mirrors my own, and the truth is, Lily has been looking for him all week.

I step back.

"Come in."

He walks past me, bringing the scent of cold morning air and cedar into the hallway, and my nervous system immediately short-circuits.

It’s infuriating how my body simply ignores my brain around him.

Lily spots him from the living room rug.

She drops a wooden block and lets out a high, vibrating squeal of absolute delight.

Chase drops to his knees on the rug in front of her.

He catches her under the arms and scoops her up, burying his face in the curve of her neck.

He squeezes his eyes shut.

Lily grabs a fistful of his dark hair and babbles happily against his ear.

I stand in the doorway and watch his large hand spread wide across her small back.

The tightness in my chest is a weight I’m doing my best to ignore.

Eventually, he sits back on his heels.

Lily settles into his lap. Chase looks up at me.

"How are you feeling?" he asks.

He tracks my face, looking for the pale exhaustion that dropped me on the courthouse steps.

"I’m drinking water," I say, taking the armchair opposite him. "I’m sleeping. Mason has banned me from the office."

"Good."

"How are you holding up?" I ask carefully. "Without the company."

Chase looks down at Lily's hands.

A muscle twitches in his jaw.

"It's awful. My days don't have any structure. I've been staring at the walls of my father's study trying to figure out what I’m actually supposed to be doing."

He looks back up.

"But my grandfather was right. It’s what I need right now."

We look at each other.

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