by Lane, Soraya
He leaned over, a devilish smile kicking his dimple into life. “Can I at least get a cab for you?”
“No,” she said, “because you’ll only end up in it and I need to get home. Alone.”
Chase held his hands up in the air but she wasn’t going to fall for his smooth words, not now that she’d extracted herself.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said, checking she wasn’t about to get run over by a car moving out of the lot as she called out to Chase. “We’ll have our results in a couple of days and we can talk plans going forward.”
Her head was starting to spin from all the tequila, not used to so much alcohol after so long not indulging.
“You know where to find me if you need me before then.”
She gave Chase a final wave and laughed, shaking her head as she tried her hardest to walk in a straight line on her super high heels back toward the bar. Oh, she needed him all right, but the sensible part of her brain had taken over and she wasn’t going to give in to any of her feelings again. Chase was a gorgeous man; he was sexy, strong, and confident. But her life was already complicated enough without diving headfirst into her past and getting tangled up with the one man she’d vowed never to end up in bed with again. The past year had shattered her dreams, put an end to the future she’d dreamed about since she was a girl. But just because she’d lost her family ranch didn’t mean she was defeated, and she wasn’t going to let it define her. It was the very reason she’d left everything behind, to prove to herself and the world that she was someone in her own right.
* * *
Chase let himself into the apartment that Nate kept in town, kicking the door shut behind him and dropping his keys onto the hallstand. He groaned and shook his head. What an idiot. Since when did he make out with a woman in the backseat of his car?
In college, that’s when. He strode down the short hallway and into the kitchen, yanking open the fridge and staring in. Chase reached in for a carton of orange juice, checked the best before date and guzzled some down. This was why he didn’t date moms—or at least it was why he wasn’t going to date moms in the future. Interruptions didn’t sit well with him.
A noise made him jump. Chase spluttered the OJ, spinning around as he choked and finding his big brother holding a handgun. “Fuck, Nate, I thought you were a burglar.”
“Sorry.”
“Dammit, Nate! Stop pointing that thing at me.” He gestured at the gun now hanging causally from his brother’s right hand. “What the hell are you doing here anyway?”
“This is my apartment.” Nate shrugged. “I ended up stuck in meetings all day. I’m wheels up in the morning now.”
Chase grunted and put the juice back in the fridge. “You frightened the damn life out of me.” Nate kept the place because it was close to the King offices, and because he never liked to bring women back to the ranch, but they all had keys and if they drank too much he and Ryder used the place too.
“Where’ve you been?” Nate asked.
“Out with a friend?”
“You grab a few beers?”
“Dinner.”
Chase undid a few buttons on his shirt and crossed the room, flopping down onto one of the two sofas. Nate was only wearing boxer briefs, clearly disturbed from bed, but he claimed the other one and kicked back, too.
“Hold up, you just came home from a date on your own? Man, you’re losing your touch, little brother.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to bring her back.” Or maybe he wished he’d been a bit more forceful about them coming here instead of settling for the back of his SUV.
Nate chuckled. “Did you meet her online? Was she not up to her profile picture?”
“Fuck off.”
“Oh, I get it. This wasn’t just a fun night out, this was…” Nate sat up, arms resting on his knees as he stared straight at him, eyes narrowed before he howled with laughter. “You’ve been hiding someone from us, haven’t you? Someone so goddamn special you haven’t even spent the night with her yet. Oh, this is good.”
Chase glared back at Nate, not about to let his brother get the wrong idea and tease him mercilessly.
“This is why I don’t tell you shit.”
“No, this is exactly why you should tell me shit,” Nate countered. “Now come on, spill. I can’t believe you’ve been living in my house all this time and you haven’t said a word.”
“We had the AI specialist come around today,” Chase said, wondering why the hell he was even talking to Nate about Hope. He still couldn’t figure it out in his own head, which meant he should probably be keeping it to himself. They’d had fun tonight and he wanted her, damn did he want her, but she was still different. Things between them were way more complicated than they should be.
“I don’t want to talk about getting our heifers pregnant, I want to know about the girl,” Nate replied with a chuckle, getting up and going over to the fridge. He returned with a bottle opener and a couple of beers. “We can talk shop in the morning before I go.”
Chase frowned, taking the opened beer from his brother and swallowing it down. “That’s the problem. I was out with the AI specialist tonight.”
Now it was Nate frowning. “You know we don’t mix business with pleasure.”
Chase scowled. “I know the rule, you don’t need to remind me. But this was different.” Their granddad hadn’t been strict about a lot of things, but he never made exceptions to the few rules he did have. No screwing anyone who worked with you or for you; never raise a fist to a woman; always remember those who’ve helped you, and never forget those who’ve spurned you.
“Different how?” Nate asked.
“It was Hope. I had no idea it was her until she arrived, and we went out for dinner to catch up. I haven’t seen her since we graduated from A&M.”
Nate stared at him, beer bottle in his hands as he leaned forward. “So let me get this straight,” Nate said, his brows drawn together. “You’re talking about Hope, aka hot Hope, who you spent like four years lusting after in college? She was the specialist vet who turned up today?”
“We were just friends,” Chase corrected, worrying his thumb across the label of his beer bottle. “And I wasn’t lusting after her through all of college.”
“Bullshit,” his brother muttered. “You might have played friends but you wanted her the whole time. You’d have been crazy not to have wanted her in your bed.”
“Yeah, well, look where that got me.” Chase took a pull of beer and then changed his mind. He wanted a whiskey instead. He needed something stronger to try to get the image of Hope flushed and rumpled in the back of his car tonight out of his head. “We were good as friends.” He stood and collected two glasses and the whiskey bottle.
“That still what you think?” Nate asked, nodding when Chase offered him a glass. “You going to try telling me that you’d like to be buddies with her instead of something more?”
“Hell no.” Chase grimaced as he swallowed the liquor down. “But we already screwed our friendship up. And besides, I know what she looks like naked now.” The mental image of her body was like a red-hot poker burned into his memory banks. He’d never forgotten, but after tonight? He wanted her skin beneath his hands again, his mouth tasting her, all of her.
He scowled as Nate sat back and chuckled. Chase hadn’t thought about Hope in a long time, but now that he’d seen her she was all he could think about. Naked that night five years ago in the motel room. Starting to get naked in the backseat of his car tonight. He doubted he’d be able to shut his damn eyes without imagining her, which meant he needed to get good and drunk before he even thought about calling it a night.
“So you did sleep with her?”
Chase grunted. He hadn’t talked about Hope to his brothers back then because the whole thing had seemed so futile, that something had finally happened and then everything had fallen apart, and he wasn’t exactly going to brag about it. She’d been his best mate, and he’d ruined their friendship because he hadn
’t been able to keep it in his pants.
“So what you gonna do about it?” Nate asked.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t be an idiot. You want her, go get her.”
Chase groaned. “She’s different now.” Besides, did he want more? Did he want to go there again? He balled his fist. Of course he wanted her, he just didn’t want to admit it. Or maybe he didn’t want to admit that he felt bad thinking about her as just fun—he didn’t want anything more than a good time, but he also didn’t want to hurt her. And that’s why they’d kept to just friends at college, because he didn’t want serious and she wasn’t the kind of girl out screwing around for fun. She was a take-home-to-your-mom kind of woman.
“Different how?”
“She’s a mom, for starters,” Chase told him. “It makes things more complicated.”
Nate howled with laughter. “You’re scared of her because she’s a mom? No one’s asking you to be stepdad of the year. You know that, right? And FYI, moms can have a sex life if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Chase glared at his brother. He wasn’t going to go into details about what had happened and how it had complicated things between them tonight. “She’s not just some woman, Nate. She’s…”
“The one who got away, I know.”
“Just leave it.” He knocked back the rest of his whiskey and reached for the bottle, then changed his mind and stood up. “I should never have said anything. Forget it.”
“You’re a douchebag,” Nate said, finishing his drink and stretching. He poured himself another, then raised an eyebrow at Chase before filling his glass. “This is the only time I’ve ever seen you all het up over a woman. You want her, do something about it or shut the hell up.”
Chase stalked across the room, ready to slam his fist into something to get rid of his frustration. He stared out into the darkness then marched back and snatched the glass, drinking the lot in one gulp. “It’s damn easy to say and damn hard to do.” He’d tried—tonight had been fun and they’d ended up almost naked—but the way she’d left told him that they weren’t necessarily going to have a repeat performance.
“There’s your answer right there.”
Chase set his glass back down and leaned on the table, palms open against the timber top. “I’m not following.”
“She’s under your skin, brother.” Nate grinned, leaning back on the sofa and resting his boots on the table. “If she was easy we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Chase grunted and turned around to go. He needed sleep and he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about Hope any longer. Maybe lying in bed thinking about her wouldn’t be such a bad thing. “Night,” he called out.
“Sweet dreams.” Nate was laughing as he said the words.
More like wet dreams. Chase trudged up the stairs and tried to think of anything but Hope. Trouble was, their night together was still like a fresh memory—her long hair curled around his fist as she’d sat astride him, the fullness of her breasts, the curve of her bottom when he’d cupped it with both hands. Goddamn it! Making out with her hadn’t taken the edge off at all. It had only made him want her all the more.
What he needed was to get Hope out of his system, find someone or something else to distract him. Because until he did he doubted he’d ever get a decent night’s sleep again. Only problem was he didn’t want anyone else. He wanted Hope and he wanted her real bad, mom or not.
He contemplated calling some of his friends to see if they were out, but changed his mind. Drinking more wasn’t going to help him any, especially when he had a herd of cattle to move in the morning and he’d already consumed a whole lot more than he should have. Which meant he had a date with his pillow, whether sleep found him or not.
Chapter 5
Hope stretched out in bed, keeping her eyes shut tight as sun bathed her body. She loved having an upstairs bedroom and not having to worry about pulling the blinds, letting the sun wake her every morning. Although after being up so late the night before… Hope groaned and opened her eyes, staring at the white ceiling. Chase.
She dragged her body up, head foggy and starting to pound, but nothing changed the memories playing through her mind on fast-forward. Why had she kissed him? What had possessed her to jump in the back of his car and… Oh my God. Letting him touch her bare skin, touching him like she was an over-excited teenager.
Hope rose, dropping her feet over the side of the bed and wiggling her toes into the thick carpet before stretching her arms out again and padding quietly down the hall to peek into her son’s room. She nudged the door a little and saw him lying sprawled across the covers, one of his legs hanging off the side. She stood awhile, just staring at her little man. He deserved to have a father in his life, to have the kind of idyllic childhood she’d had. She was the one who’d made the decisions, yet it was he who’d suffered, even if he didn’t realize that yet. He’d liked his stepdad, but it wasn’t the same as having his biological father in his life.
Hope walked quietly back to her room and stripped down, jumping in the adjoining shower. She rinsed her hair and washed it, then lathered her body and washed all the suds off. She ran one hand across her breasts, caressing them, her nipples hard nubs, the water warm and inviting against her skin. When Chase had touched her there… Enough! Hope flung her hand out and turned the faucet off, water dripping off her as she stood blinking droplets from her lashes. What she’d done with Chase was as much a mistake last night as it had been five years ago, and the last thing she needed was to start fantasizing about him in the shower.
She dried herself, dressed in jeans and a tank, and applied some makeup, leaving her long hair wet and twisting it up into a knot. She’d dry it after breakfast—if she was lucky she might get to have a coffee and read the news on her iPad before Harrison even woke up. Usually he was snuggled in her bed already, but he’d obviously stayed up late having fun with the sitter and instead of calling out to her at two a.m. had kept on snoozing.
Hope flicked her coffee machine on and opened the pantry, frowning when she realized it was virtually empty. Harrison would eat his Froot Loops like usual, but… She leaned back, listening. She was sure she’d heard something.
Knock, knock, knock. It sounded out again. She headed into the hall, pleased that she had a peephole that she could peer through before opening her door. No one ever just swung past her place for the hell of it, because she’d only just moved here, and definitely not at this time of the morning.
She stood on tiptoe and peered through, expecting to find a salesman or a pesky neighbor. But it wasn’t a neighbor. It was Chase.
Hope ran her hands down over her jeans, palms instantly sweaty. What the hell was he doing on her doorstep?
“Chase?” she said as she swung open the door.
He raised two paper bags and gave her his butter-wouldn’t-melt smile. “You’re either going to kill me for knocking on your door this early, or thank me for bringing breakfast.”
Hope leaned against the door, finding it impossible not to return Chase’s infectious grin. “It just so happens I’ve been staring into the pantry, willing some food to materialize. So you’re in luck.”
He chuckled and took a step forward. “So does that mean I can come in?”
She leaned back and waved her hand down the hall. “So long as you don’t mind the mess.”
Hope shut the door behind Chase and watched as he sauntered slowly into the kitchen. He was wearing the same jeans he’d had on the night before, a dark pair that made it more than obvious how good his butt was, paired with scuffed boots and a fresh T-shirt. Damn him for looking so good so early.
“So what are you still doing in town?”
“I stayed at Nate’s apartment,” he said, setting the bags down on the counter and turning slowly, checking the place out. “Then I woke up early and felt like an asshole for what went down last night, so I thought I’d come here before heading home.”
“So you came bearing g
ifts?” she asked, reaching for one of the bags to see what it had inside.
“Yeah, something like that,” he said. “I just…” Chase spread his palms out on the counter and leveled his gaze on her, his dark eyes like a storm cloud drawing her closer to danger. Everything about him was so impossible to pull away from, his eyes as magnetic as the rest of his damn body.
“Mmmm, cream cheese and jam. My favorite,” Hope announced, ripping open the bag and taking a bite. She swallowed as Chase watched her, dabbing the corner of her mouth and feeling more than a touch guilty. “Oh my God, please tell me this one was mine?”
He laughed. “I still remember what you like,” he said. “Jam and extra cream cheese for you, bacon and cream cheese for me, and one with just jam in case your son wants something, too. I didn’t know whether kids liked cream cheese or not.”
Hope stared back at him, her bagel still in one hand, a napkin in the other. Suddenly it was like she was attempting to swallow a small rock when she tried to chew and digest another bite.
“I guess we did eat breakfast together a lot,” she managed, avoiding the fact he’d brought something for Harrison.
“Are you kidding?” he said, ripping his bag open at the same time as he made himself comfortable on a barstool. “Half the time we were eating breakfast before we’d even been to bed after a big night.”
She chuckled, the feeling of nostalgia passing as she remembered their early years at college. “You’re referring to the nights when you hadn’t taken some gorgeous leggy blonde back to your dorm, right?”
He frowned, eyebrows drawing together. “Hey, I didn’t discriminate. There’s nothing wrong with a beautiful brunette.”
“Seriously though, you definitely had a thing for blondes.”
His frown faded, his expression more serious. “Maybe I was trying to compensate for not being able to have the brunette I wanted.”
If she’d been trying to swallow stones before, now she was trying to swallow rocks. “Coffee,” she muttered, realizing her machine was still on. Just her luck she’d have burned the motor out leaving it on so long with not enough water in it, and these days it wasn’t like she could just go out and buy another one. “You still take it black with sugar?”
