Free Thrill of the Chase (Dangerous Love) by Elle Keating Page A

Chase, well…he never left your side.” He stood up and walked to the door. But before he left, the good doctor said, “What I find intriguing is that I have never in thirty years seen him so shaken.” Dr. Marshall winked at her and left before she could respond. Erin could hear the two men exchanging words in the hallway and then the opening and closing of an elevator.
    Chase walked into the bedroom a few moments later with a tray in his hand. “Hungry?”
    Erin didn’t think it was possible to consume food after her productive date with the toilet this morning, but her stomach had a mind of its own. It rumbled on cue, and Chase smiled. “We’ll start you off with something safe: dry toast and tea,” he said.
    He laid the tray over her lap like she was some hospital patient. Erin reached for a piece of toast and took a bite. She could feel him staring at her, as if she were going to combust at any moment. And as much as Erin wanted to tell him to stop treating her like an invalid, she was grateful that he had gotten her out of that club and sought medical attention. Erin kept her smart-ass comments to herself and simply said, “Thank you.”
    She scarfed down the toast in record time and took a sip of tea. Erin figured that she might as well get it over with and ask Chase how she ended up at his penthouse. “I don’t remember seeing you at the club last night. When did you get there?”
    Erin’s mind must have been compromised all morning, because only then did she notice how incredibly sexy Chase looked. Barefoot, he sported dark jeans with a simple white t-shirt. The subtle scent of his cologne mixed with pure, virile male made Erin all too aware of her own sad and disgusting appearance. Erin pulled the covers closer to her body. “I arrived around nine, minutes before I found you in the hallway at the back of the club. You could barely stand at that point, so I carried you out of that place and brought you here, though I had every intention of taking you to the hospital.”
    The mention of a hospital made Erin grow pale. The last time she had been to a hospital was the night of the rape, when she had agreed to a rape kit and answered the police’s embarrassing questions. “What made you bring me here instead?”
    Chase ran his fingers through his hair, and even in the state she was in, Erin could imagine those fingers running their way over her body. Suddenly, a vision of her straddling Chase in the backseat of a car flashed in her mind, and she wondered if that actually had happened or if it was just a replay of one of many fantasies she had about Chase. “You were adamant about not going to the hospital.” He paused for a moment and then asked the question she had hoped he wouldn’t. “Why?”
    Tread lightly. Make it believable.
    “Hospitals just creep me out. Always have.” Keep it simple. A lot of people hate the sights and smells of a hospital.
    Chase stared at her, as if analyzing Erin’s every move, dissecting the tone and possible double meaning of her words. “You begged me not to take you to the hospital.”
    Nope, he didn’t buy it. Shit.
    “And when you began to cry, I just couldn’t get you home fast enough.” Erin wanted to melt right there. He was being so sweet, so attentive.
    “I find it hard to believe your excuse that hospitals repel you. You were going to be a doctor, remember?”
    Sweetness gone.
    Erin shook her head, but kept her eyes down. She was a shitty liar. So it was best that she keep her mouth shut. Erin pushed the covers back and got out of bed. Again, the room started to spin. “Can I use your shower?”
    Erin could see his jaw clench. Obviously the conversation was not over in his mind, but he remained a gentleman and helped her to the bathroom. “Are you steady enough to stand in the shower, or will you need my assistance?”
    His question forced her to look him in the eye. There was a hint of a smile, but she knew that he wasn’t taking advantage of the