Falling for You Read Online Free Page A

he found comfortable, with her pale blond hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. The diamond studs that sparkled at her ears complemented her silvery blue slip of a dress. Her dainty body had always made him feel masculine, even back in the days when he was a scrawny adolescent. Although now that he towered over her a full foot, he idly wondered how well they’d fit together in bed.
    He pushed the image aside, feeling somewhat guilty for trying to picture the act of sex with Paige. For as long as he’d known her, Paige Baxter had possessed a pristine quality that discouraged base thoughts in her presence. He supposed, if they were going to be married, he needed to get over that.
    The sliding glass door opened, and Chance turned as their parents joined them.
    “Ellen, your dinner was superb as always,” Marcy Baxter said to his mother as the ladies made their way to the grouping of outdoor furniture amid the potted palms. The striped awning that shaded the deck during the day had been retracted so they could enjoy the stars. “I don’t suppose I could get the recipe for that praline flan?”
    “I’m afraid even I can’t get it,” his mother laughed as she settled onto a cushioned settee. The long Oriental silk top she wore with wide-legged pants shimmered softly as she made herself comfortable. Even staring the age of sixty in the face, with threads of silver weaving through her brown hair, Ellen Chancellor was a handsome woman. “I made the dinner but Carmen made dessert and you know she never shares her recipes with anyone.”
    “Well, you should make her give it to you,” Marcy said as she perched on a chair, tucking her short skirt about her legs. “She does work for you, after all.”
    While Ellen accepted the advancing years with grace, her lifelong friend was fighting them every step of the way with dyed blond hair to hide the gray and the latest trends from Neiman Marcus.
    “How about a cigar?” Chance’s father, Norman, asked Harry Baxter as the men headed for the outdoor bar beneath an overhang at the other end of the deck.
    “I’d love one,” the land developer answered in his deep, booming voice. His short, powerful body provided a sharp contrast to Norman Chancellor’s tall, masculine grace.
    “Harry,” Marcy warned her husband with a pointed look. “You know what the doctor said about your blood pressure.”
    “Bah, one cigar every now and then isn’t going to kill me.” Harry selected a fat Cuban from the box Norman presented. Chance caught his father’s look of longing as Harry puffed the cigar to life. Since his heart attack two years ago, Norman had to settle for smoking by proxy.
    “So”—Harry leaned back in the high-legged bar chair allowing his full stomach to relax—“what’s this rumor I hear about your bank foreclosing on Pearl Island?”
    The tension snapped back into Chance’s shoulders.
    “Hmm, what’s that?” Norm asked, distracted by a plume of aromatic smoke.
    Chance closed his eyes as he waited for Harry to answer. He’d hoped he could tell his father about the foreclosure personally—and in private.
    “One of the real estate agents I work with was out boating today,” Harry said. “Told me he saw a foreclosure sign in front of the house on Pearl Island.”
    A heartbeat of silence followed in which Chance could almost hear the thoughts spinning through his father’s mind. The confidentiality of a bank customer was sacred to Norman Chancellor. He would never publicly humiliate anyone by putting up a foreclosure sign. But then, Norman Chancellor didn’t own the bank anymore. While the new owners had kept him on as bank president, they operated behind his back all too often, expecting Norman and his old-fashioned ways to be little more than window dressing to keep the Old Money accounts happy.
    “Foreclosure? That’s nonsense.” Norm flashed a look in Chance’s direction, a look that demanded an explanation. Helpless, Chance gave his head an