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didn’t think he’d gotten the hint. But then he took Shirley’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I hope to see you at Veterans’ Aid soon, Shirley.”
    “Like I said, I’m feeling better already.” She smiled up at him.
    Katie rolled her eyes. This was going to take forever.
    “Yes, yes, we are all charmed, I’m sure.” Katie pointed down the hall toward the door. “We can all be charmed next Friday.”
    He finally started toward the hallway, but instead of walking past her, he picked up her hand too and lightly brushed his lips across the back. “Don’t be jealous.” He winked, and Katie knew he was teasing her.
    Heat rushed to her face, and his gaze sent an electric current through her body.
    “Well, I’m sure Duchess will be happy to know that chivalry isn’t dead, Mr. Chase.” Her voice came out in a squeak as she pulled her hand out of his grasp.
    He walked closer, and Katie gulped as he leaned in.
    “You can call me Chase.” His husky voice struck a chord inside. Who was she kidding? He was conducting a whole orchestra with her senses.
    She cleared her throat. “Um, yes. It was nice to meet you, Chase.”
    “It was nice to meet you, Katie. I’ll show myself out.”
    With that, he was gone. Katie let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. What had just happened? How could a person be such a jerk one second and leave her breathless the next?
    “He’s a looker.”
    Katie jumped. Her mother had walked up behind her.
    “He’s all right,” Katie lied.
    “Uh-huh.”
    Katie refused to look at her mom. She knew she would see that smug look again.
    “Oh, and Mom? You may want to keep your flirting to a minimum. He might think you’re a cougar.”
    “A cougar?”
    Only her mother could live in L.A. and not know what that meant.
    “A …” She was going to say “older,” but changed her mind. “A mature woman who likes younger men. Like twenty-five-year-olds.”
    “That’s ridiculous! Besides, Carter is twenty-eight. I already asked him.”
    “I’m just saying.” Katie paused for a moment. “And that’s another thing. Why does he let you call him Carter and not Chase?”
    “Oh, he tried to get me to call him by his last name when we first met. They all do at the center, but I refuse to call them by anything but their first names. I want to remind them that they weren’t always soldiers, that once, someone loved them enough to give them a first name.”
    Katie knew her mother was thinking of David and quickly changed the subject.
    “Come on, Mom. Let’s go get some dinner.”
    Her mother swiped away the tears gathering in her eyes and put a smile on her face. “As long as it’s not fish ’n chips.”
     

Chapter Six
     
    Chase walked up the long, winding driveway to Duchess’s mansion. His first meeting with Katie had left him confused. On one hand, he really didn’t want to plan a benefit concert—especially with Duchess as the main act. But he found himself intrigued by her manager. Remembering how her skin had felt against his lips as he’d kissed the back of her hand caused his pulse to race.
    He wondered if part of his attraction to her had to do with the fact that she didn’t know about his leg. Their interaction had been the first time in a while that someone had actually looked at him with contempt and not pity. He smiled at how frustrated she’d been with him. The cracks in her professional demeanor gave him a glimpse into a personality she probably hid from most of the world. The question was, why did she hide? There was more to Katie Murphy than met the eye, and for some reason, he wanted to uncover the truth.
    Ringing the doorbell, he wondered how this meeting would go. Katie answered the door. She looked quite different than she had at their first meeting. Instead of a professional business skirt, shirt, and a bun, she wore snug jeans and a bright blue blouse with flowing sleeves. Her hair was curled in big waves around her face, softening her