The Millionaire Claims His Wife by Sandra Marton Page B

things, remembered things, he didn’t want to feel or remember. Until he’d opened his mouth and jammed his own big foot right into it. And now here he was, heading for Seattle, listening to Annie go on and on about what he’d done, and he had another couple of hours of listening ahead of him before their plane landed and he got her on a flight headed in the other direction.
    â€œ...could at least show some concern!”
    Chase looked at his ex. Annie was staring straight ahead, her face flushed, her arms crossed over her middle.
    â€œListen,” he said, “what would you like me to do? Get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness?”
    She made a humphing sound and lifted her chin a notch.
    â€œMaybe you want me to stand up and tell all these people what a chump I am.”
    Annie humphed again.
    â€œJust tell me, all right? Say, ‘Chase, here’s what you’ve got to do if you want me to shut up.’ And I’ll do it, Annie, so help me, I’ll do it, because I am tired unto death of listening to you bitch and moan!”
    That got her attention. She swung toward him, her blue eyes flashing.
    â€œBitch and moan? Me?”
    â€œYes, you. Complain and nag, complain and nag, and all because I made one mistake.”
    â€œI am not complaining or nagging. I am merely stat ing the obvious. Yes, you made one mistake. A biggie. And now here we are, off on a trip to Portland—” “Seattle.”
    â€œDammit, what’s the difference?”
    â€œPortland’s in Oregon. Seattle’s in Washington. There’s a big difference.”
    â€œWell, excuse me. I suppose I’d know the difference, if I had a college degree, but forgive me, I don’t.”
    â€œAre you going completely nuts? What’s a college degree got to do with this?”
    What, indeed? Annie bit her lip. “Nothing.”
    â€œYou’re damn right,” Chase said. “Now why don’t you do us both a favor? Put back your seat, shut your eyes and try to get some rest.”
    â€œOh, yes, that’s easy for you to say but then, everything’s easy for you to say! Otherwise, you’d never have gotten us into such a mess in the first place. How could you? How could you have told Dawn—”
    â€œThat’s it,” Chase said grimly, and he hauled Annie into his arms and kissed her. She was too surprised to fight him, and he took advantage of it, making the kiss long and deep. “Now,” he said, drawing back just far enough so he could look straight into her eyes, “are you going to keep quiet? Because if you start babbling again, so help me, I’ll kiss you until you shut up.”
    Annie’s cheeks flooded with color.
    â€œI hate you, Chase Cooper,” she hissed.
    Chase let her go. “What else is new,” he said tiredly, and then he shut his eyes, told himself not to think about how good it had felt to kiss her because then he’d start remembering what making love had been like, before they’d turned away from each other, how it had been powerful and tender, wild and serene, and so much more than he’d ever imagined a basically simple physical act could be.
    Stop it, he told himself angrily, and he tumbled into a deep, troubled sleep.
    * * *
    Annie watched with disgust as Chase slept beside her.
    He was snoring softly, and from the look on his face she could tell that he was sleeping the sleep of the innocent.
    Well, why be surprised? That was how he’d dealt with any kind of problem, before their divorce.
    â€œBy sleeping,” she muttered, and scrunched down lower in her seat.
    There’d been times, as soon as she’d realized their marriage was in trouble, when she’d spent half the day just thinking about what was going wrong, trying to put a name to it, to come up with an explanation and maybe a solution. Then she’d wait for Chase to come home, so they could talk.
    What a slow learner