by LK Collins
Just slow down, Chase.
“Good, you?”
“Very good.”
As we walk back to my place and take seats on the front porch, I feel so stupid for thinking she bailed. Then, before I can take a sip of coffee, she says the last thing I want to hear.
“I got a job offer in New York City.” The look on her face tells me she’s leaving.
Chapter 9
Hope
Chase is fast asleep, and I don’t want to wake him, but I need coffee. My muscles are deliciously sore from all the fucking we did last night. It was the best first sex—ever. The thought alone makes my stomach flip. Being with him was unreal. I can still feel the leather seat of his Porsche beneath my fingertips.
Getting quietly out of bed, I slip on my white dress and go in search of my much-needed caffeine fix, only to be thwarted by an overly complicated espresso machine. Knowing there is no way I can make it work, I go back to his room, gather my undergarments, and slip on my shoes before quietly walking over to my place. The trip is so short that I don’t even get the smallest hint of having to do a walk of shame. Even though what we did was so naughty I should have felt exactly that. But that’s what Chase does to me—he makes me feel worthy.
Going inside, I set my stuff down and start a fresh pot of coffee. While it brews, I check my email.
To: Hope Allanis
From: Better Gardens and Homes
Dear Ms. Allanis,
Thank you for reaching out to us regarding writing another article. After reviewing your impressive resume and discussing the feedback we’ve received from your last few pieces with my colleagues and human resources, I would like to offer you a full-time journalist position in our New York City office. Please be advised this is contingent upon a salary agreement, but we feel strongly that can be resolved quickly and to your satisfaction.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Sal Ramirez, Head of Marketing
Better Gardens and Homes
My stomach is in my throat. Never in a million years did I imagine this would happen. I’ve known Sal for years and have worked on many projects with him, but a job offer out of the blue is completely mind-boggling. And to say he reviewed my resume. God, I sent it to him years ago, it has to be so outdated. But still, my mind keeps going back to the one sentence.
We’d like to offer you a full-time journalist position in our New York City office.
Maybe that is where I’m meant to be, and all this traveling and odds-and-ends work with them has paid off. It is like a long-running interview, or something has finally ended.
A yawn escapes me, and I’m reminded why I came back here in the first place: caffeine.
I pour two cups of coffee, figuring Chase would like one too and try not to feel so torn about what I should do. I’d be crazy to turn the job down.
For so long, I’ve been going city to city, never planning to stay in any one for very long. St. Helena is the first place I’ve been to that has made me feel as if I’d found what I’d been looking for. Or maybe it’s just that Chase makes me feel too much . . . everything. Now, with this job offer, I’m conflicted.
With a coffee in each hand, I leave and find Chase standing shirtless and for some reason barefoot, watching me. His brow is furrowed as if he’s worried.
“Morning,” I holler over, and his expression seems to relax.
“You want help with that?” he asks, coming closer.
“Sure, I made this for you.”
“Thanks.” He takes the coffee from me, all the while, his sexy eyes are eating me alive.
“I couldn’t figure out how to work the machine in your place.”
“Oh, yeah, it is dumb. My mom got it for me. I normally get my coffee from the inn. How’d you sleep?”
“Good, you?”
“Very good.”
Together we walk back to his place and sit on the front porch. Being around Chase makes me feel so good, so right. It’s what I’ve been searching for. So, the second we sit, I blurt out, “I got a job offer in New York City.”
The look on his face is hard to read. Maybe I shouldn’t even have brought this up, not yet anyway. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do, and we aren’t dating.
That doesn’t stop me from caring about what he thinks and wanting his input and advice.
“Who is it with?” he asks.
“Better Gardens and Homes,” I respond, and the second the words leave my lips, his head hangs low, his eyes focusing in on the cup of warm coffee between his hands.
“Are you gonna take it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should, that’s a huge magazine.”
“You don’t even know what I’d be doing.”
“A place that’s smart enough to hire you will put you in the right job.”
I wish it were that easy.
As I sit back in my chair, I take in the sprawling hills of St. Helena that span out in front of me and sip my coffee. For just a brief moment, I forget about the job offer and enjoy this time . . . here . . . with Chase.
Chapter 10
Chase
My heart is breaking for a woman I just met, a woman whom I encouraged to leave me. But I can only be mad at myself. If I’m not gonna fight for her, then I don’t deserve her.
Maybe I’m meant to live this life alone.
“You okay?” Hope asks from across the room.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
Since we slept together about a week ago, we’ve been inseparable, which I know is wrong. It’ll only fuck me up more in the end. I can’t bring myself to care, though. It’s worth it, and I’m going to take advantage of what little time I have to be with her.
“You done packing?” I ask, and she nods.
I can’t believe she’s really leaving. The thought of never seeing her again makes me sick. She is everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman and all the things I never thought to ask for. It’s why I can’t be selfish and keep her here with me. I see the way her eyes light up when she talks about the job or when she’s talking to them on the phone. This is what she’s meant to do. New York is where she’s meant to be, and I can’t change that.
“I’m going to miss you,” she says, closing the distance between us and then sliding onto my lap, so she’s straddling me.
I place my hands on her hips, loving how right she feels pressed against me. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
It hurts to look at her. Because I know this is the last time I’ll see her. My body and mind are fighting with each other, both screaming two very different things.
She cups my face, and I kiss her palm the same way she kissed mine the first night we were together.
“You know you can tell me what you’re thinking,” she says.
I shake my head because I can’t.
She takes me by my cheeks, forcing me to lock eyes with her. “Yes, you can.”
“I—” I can’t even get the words out. “You should go. You want to hit the road as soon as possible.
Firmly, she presses her lips together, trying to get a gauge on me, and I do my best to smile, but my smile almost makes me break.
Fuck, I’m a pussy.
With her hands still on the sides of my face, she says, “Please let me in, Chase. I need to know what you’re thinking.”
Something inside me gives. All the reasons I had for not telling her shatter, and the words leave my lips of their own accord. “I’m in love with you, Hope.”
She blinks, once and then twice. I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but I can’t keep this from her anymore. I can’t pretend that I’m okay letting her go without telling her how I feel.
“You are?”
“Yes, I mean . . . I have been since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“Why haven’t you told me?” She looks angry, and I just shake my head.
“I wanted to, but I didn’t want to scare you or hold you back from
something you really wanted because that wouldn’t be loving you fully.” Her hands slide from my cheeks to the front of my chest, settling over the frantic thumping of my heart. But without another word, she leans in and kisses me. Our passion in this moment is more powerful than even that first night. More desperate. More raw. Her tongue caresses mine, causing my cock to grow, and even though I shouldn’t, I give in . . . just one last time.
Moving my hands to the hem of her shirt, I lift it, only breaking the kiss long enough for the fabric to pass between us. Her tits strain the fabric of her white bra, and I reach behind her to unclasp it. As the straps slide down her arms, I lean in and take hold of both her boobs, squeezing tight around them in a way I know she likes before I suck on her nipples.
My mouth forms around one, and she knots her fingers into the back of my hair, moaning so sexily. Her hips grind against me, and as much as I want to take my cock out and fuck her, I don’t.
I want to cherish this time, our last time. I work between her breasts, her hands holding my head where she wants it. Then she stands and unbuttons her pants before pushing them and her panties off. She’s standing before me stark naked, and I gesture her to me with one finger.
She presents her pussy to me, which I reach for. Her heat burns my insides as she gives me a coy smirk. My dick is rock solid, straining my jeans so awkwardly that it hurts.
She’s wet for me—she always is—and I separate her pussy lips so I can rub her clit. Her hand finds my cock, and I have to let it free. Once it is, she moans, gripping my shaft at the base and stroking me perfectly before suddenly hopping on. My body blends into hers, and I want to tell her, no, to slow down, to stop. I know the moment we are done fucking is the moment she will leave.
With her naked body straddling mine and her hands knotted in my hair, she moves, and I just let her be, ignoring what’s to come.
I focus not only on the pleasure but also on her, Hope, the woman I just professed my love to.
She makes the most delicious noises ever, and as I get lost in this moment, I contemplate going with her. Leaving the inn, my parents, and my brother all behind. I know it sounds crazy, but maybe I should do it. ‘Cause God knows I can’t live without this woman.
Her body tenses, her movements falter, and I can tell she’s close. Her eyes are fixed on mine as she fights to move, her orgasm stopping her. Reaching down, I flick her clit, helping her along, and it makes her wild. She screams the way I love to hear and slams so hard on me, I blow. My orgasm is strong. It’s so fucking amazing what she can do to me. Energy radiates through my balls, and I grunt, slamming into her pussy. Her body rattles forever, and I enjoy every second I get to watch her in bliss.
Finally, she relaxes, looking down at me with those eyes. Those eyes that are the key to my soul—my existence.
“I’m coming with you,” I tell her, and she smiles—the biggest I’ve seen yet.
“No. No, you aren’t.”
“Oh, yes I am. I’m going to support you on this,” I declare, my hands still gripping her body, my body. Holding her in place with my shaft still balls deep inside of her, I hold her gaze. I told her from the start that if we did this, she was mine, and damn it, I meant it.
“No, you aren’t because I’m not going anywhere. Chase, I love you, too. And as crazy as it might seem to turn down the job in New York City, St. Helena and you are my home now. As painful as the journey has been, my entire past makes sense. All of it has led to this moment, to me being with you, and I wouldn’t change a second of it. Because if I did, I wouldn’t end up here, with you, and I wouldn’t be the luckiest girl in the entire world.”
I’m not sure how to top what she just said, and my mind doesn’t seem to believe her, so I murmur, “Say it again.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Again.”
“I’m staying here with you, Chase, forever.”
“Fuck, I love you, baby.” I stand, my cock still inside her as I carry her to the bedroom, gently laying her back on the messy sheets from our restless night.
“I love you,” she whispers in my ear and with those words and her body beneath mine, I move, stroking my cock in and out, in and out, growing harder than I ever knew was possible.
I’m not sure how today went from being the worst day of my life to the best, but it did, and I’m not going to try to make sense of it. I’m going to cherish my time with my girl for as long as she’ll have me.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I have to thank Marina Adair for allowing me to join her Kindle World and write such an awesome story for Chase and Hope. And that wouldn’t even be possible without my number one whore, Lara Ross Peterson. Thank you for getting LK Collins into this Kindle World. We owe you a gazillion times.
As always, these stories are only possible because of the vision of my sexy husband and the other half of LK, AKA Mr. Prezident. Thank you for all you do, I love you, baby.
To my grammar team: Ashley, my wonderful editor, you are hands down amazing. Leticia and Janice, I love you both more than words can say and am so grateful for your help and all that you do.
I must give special thanks to my remarkable PA, Crystal Burnette. I love you, girl. And to all the ladies at The Wit and Wonder Agency, thank you for putting up with my procrastination and still loving me.
Last, but absolutely not least, I must thank the readers, early reviewers, bloggers, and all the other authors who helped me along the way. I love you all to pieces.
For Our Readers
If you loved the St. Helena Getaway, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon. My husband AKA “The Prezident” and I read every single review. It’s the best way to give back to the author.
Finally, if you loved Hope and Chase and would like to take a ride with Colt in his own book, please add the St. Helena Rendezvous to your Goodreads TBR list.
