Free Can't Buy Me Love by Elizabeth Powers

that?”
    “More
than OK. Fund-raising is not my strong suit. I’ll take any ideas and any help I
can get in that department. Just let me know what you need. I’ll tell Amelia to
give you any files that you ask for. Thanks, Chase.”
    “My
pleasure. See you next weekend.”
     
     
    The
following Saturday, Chase pulled up in front of Lena’s parents’ home at 7:00
sharp. When he rang the doorbell, he was surprised when Lena herself answered
the door.
    “You’re
ready?” he asked in astonishment.
    Lena
laughed. “No traffic tonight, and I wasn’t rushing around this afternoon, so I
made it here early. I even had time to give myself a pedicure.”
    Chase
glanced down at the perfect peach-colored toenails peeking out from the
open-toed sandals Lena was wearing, then allowed his eyes to follow the line of
her evening dress as he took in her appearance. Her gown was a chocolate brown
with thin straps holding up the bodice, and a long draped skirt that fell to
her ankles. She had pulled her hair up into a knot at the back of her neck, and
thin gold earrings hung from her ears, a matching gold chain around her slender
neck. But it was the peach toes that did him in. With a force that shocked him,
need slammed through him with unexpected intensity. Closing his eyes briefly to
gather his self-control, he opened them again and trapped her gaze with a quiet
strength. He caught the quick shiver that ran through her before she lowered
her eyes.
    This
was a different look than he’d ever given her, she thought. And Lena was stunned
by the power of her own reaction.
    “You
look beautiful, Lena,” Chase said quietly, his voice huskier than she’d ever
heard it before. He reached out his hand to gently brush a tendril of hair back
off her face.
    She
blinked. Uh oh , she thought. Counting slowly to ten, she stepped back as
casually as she could, and forced herself to regain her composure. When she
knew she could respond evenly, she said quietly, “Thank you. You look really
nice yourself. I honestly like you best in jeans, but this is a close second,”
she added, striving for a teasing tone to mask her sudden reaction to this man.
    “I’m
glad I wear jeans around you often then,” he said, a smile on his face, but his
voice still gravelly.
    Lena
cleared her throat and forced a big smile. “Me too.”
    Chase
smiled and held out his arm, bracing himself for her touch. “Shall we go?” he
asked.
    Lena
took his arm, her every nerve ending tingling as her hand closed around his
tuxedo-clad elbow. Wow , she thought. Where did this come from? It
was clear that Chase was feeling something too – she could see the tension in
his jaw as he strove to keep hold of his emotions.
    He
opened his car door for her and helped her in, taking deep gulps of air as he
moved around to the driver’s side of the car and hesitated. His attraction to
this woman had taken him by surprise. And while it was obvious that she’d felt
the same attraction to him, he still needed to fight this. The time wasn’t
right to take this relationship any further. Not until they could get past the personality
fronts that they had each put forward over the past six months.
    He
kept the conversation light as they drove the few miles to the hotel that was
hosting the dinner that evening. Pulling into the circular drive in front of
the venue, Chase helped Lena from the car, and then handed his keys to the
valet. As he again gave Lena his arm to escort her into the event, he felt the
same jolt that he’d felt earlier. There was something about this woman tonight
that was calling to him. He would explore that, he thought. Just not yet.
     
     
    The
dinner was very good, and well attended, though Lena loyally thought that Kat’s
catering would have upped the caliber of the food by a few notches. Still, she
ate well, and quietly sipped the red wine that had been poured into her glass
at the start of the meal.
    Chase
was an attentive dinner companion. It had been a