“What?” she said as she strolled over. “Are all you Beaumonts color challenged? Gray and purple. Purple and gray.”
“My SUV is black.” He opened the door of the car and waited for her to get in.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
“Get in, Chloe.” He paused. “Although I’ll make a bet that isn’t the name that goes with your Social Security number, is it?”
It wasn’t that hard to mask her fear. She’d spent most of her life masking her fear. With a mere shrug, she got into the car. The inside was like a cockpit upholstered in purple leather. There were cutting-edge dials and gadgets galore. But she paid little attention to them as she shoved her duffel bag in the small space behind the seats. She expected Grayson to start interrogating her as soon as he slipped into the driver’s seat. Instead he buckled his seat belt and pushed a button on the dash. The engine growled, then quickly settled into a low purr.
“Where are you taking me?”
He pulled away from the curb. “Put on your seat belt.”
It was good advice. Grayson drove faster than her cousin Gavin when he’d first gotten his license. His hands and feet worked in perfect harmony on the gearshift and pedals as they flew through the streets. On one steep hill, the car seemed to take flight, but the landing was so smooth that she might’ve imagined it.
“You drive like a maniac.” Chloe reached for her seat belt and buckled it. “What happened to the cautious guy who drove me to Grover Beach and never once went over the speed limit?”
He downshifted around a corner. “Maybe he got bored with going slow.”
“Well, it’s better to be boring than dead,” she said, even though she couldn’t deny that there was something exhilarating about speeding through the city in the sleek sports car while most people slept safely in their beds. As the speedometer inched higher, so did the beat of her heart, and when they finally hit the Bay Bridge and he opened the car up full throttle, she couldn’t help her quick intake of breath. She glanced over to see if Grayson had noticed and found those piercing eyes on her.
“Admit it,” he said, “you like going fast.”
She rolled down the window and let the cool air whip over her flushed face. “Maybe,” she said above the wind and the pounding of her heart. “But I liked Zac too and look where that got me.”
There was a long pause before he spoke. “Is that why you’re leaving? Are you afraid of Zac getting out of jail?”
Her gaze collided with his. “Who told you I’m leaving?” Only a second later, she answered the question herself. “Madison.”
He passed a huge semitruck, the red lights on the side of the trailer reflecting in his eyes. “You should know that Maddie has never been able to keep a secret. Not only has she told me, but she also told Eden. Now Eden wants to come home from her honeymoon to talk you out of it. And I’m not going to let you ruin my brother’s honeymoon because you’re running scared.”
“I’m not running scared,” she lied. “I’m just done with San Francisco. That’s all.”
“Right. Which is why you hid from all those people taking pictures.” He glanced over at her. “So who are you?”
It wasn’t an easy question to answer, so she didn’t. And much to her relief Grayson didn’t push it.
His shoulder lifted in a slight shrug. “It doesn’t matter to me. In fact, I don’t even care if you leave. You’ve been a pain in my ass ever since I’ve met you. But I refuse to let you throw a wrench in Eden’s honeymoon like you did her wedding.”
She turned to him. “How did I throw a wrench in her wedding?”
“You refused to be her bridesmaid and didn’t even have the common courtesy to show up.”
It was hard not to be flooded with guilt, but she refused to give in to it. “Eden is better off without me as a friend.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second. Unfortunately, for some reason, Eden doesn’t feel the same way. She’s convinced that you need her help, and she’s not going to let you leave town without a fight.”
It sounded like Eden. She was a goal-setting overachiever who refused to give up on people. Even a grumpy pain in the butt like Chloe. Unfortunately, Chloe didn’t have a choice. She had to leave.
“No one can talk me out of it,” she said.
Grayson released a tired sigh. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” He took the next exit and turned around. When he was back on the freeway heading to San Francisco, Chloe tried to alleviate his fears.
“Look, I’ll call Eden tonight and talk her out of coming home. Believe it or not, I didn’t want to ruin her wedding, and I certainly don’t want to ruin her honeymoon. I like Eden. And that’s why I tried to cut things off between us. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m bad luck.”
Grayson snorted. “Oh, I’ve noticed.”
It was one thing for her to say it and another for him to agree. “Now wait a minute. You’re not trying to blame your inability to paint on me, are you? Because I had nothing to do with that. Whatever happened to your creative mojo must’ve happened in Paris because it was only after you came back that you started acting so weird.” She glanced over at him. “So was it a girl? Come on. You can tell me. Unlike Maddie, I know how to keep a secret. Did you fall in love with a sweet little mademoiselle and she didn’t return your love?”
He continued to stare at the road, although, even in the shadows, she could see his jaw tighten. “There’s no sweet little mademoiselle.”
“Don’t tell me it’s a monsieur,” she teased.
He shot her a mean look. “Don’t push it, Chloe—or whatever your name is.”
“It’s Chloe,” she said. “At least, it is now. And if it’s not a woman that screwed up your mojo, then what do you think caused it?” When he didn’t answer, she crossed her arms and slumped down in the seat. “Fine, but if you want to paint again, you need to figure out what the problem is and face it.”
He glanced at her. “Sort of like you face your problems?”
She looked away. “Point taken.”
After that they didn’t talk. Grayson drove like a bat out of hell, and Chloe just sat there and stared out the windshield. When they got back to San Francisco, she asked him to drop her off at Madison’s. But instead of heading for Madison’s high-rise, he took her in the opposite direction.
“Hey, where are you going?” she asked. “I thought you knew where Madison lives.”
“I know where she lives,” he said. “But I need to stop by my house for a second and check on Jonathan.”
“What or who is Jonathan? Is that another Beaumont or a dog?”
“It’s a bird.”
She looked at him. “I didn’t picture you as a bird kind of guy. Rottweiler, yes. Bird, no.”
Five minutes later he turned into the driveway of a pretty three-story row house. He pressed the remote clipped to his visor, and the garage door opened before he pulled in right next to the black Range Rover he’d used to drive her to Eden’s parents’ house. Eden’s parents had offered her their home as a safe house until Zac was arrested, and the reminder made Chloe feel even more guilty about skipping Eden’s wedding.