Chasing Chelsea (NSFW Book 4)

by C. C. Wood

  “I fell asleep.”

  He nodded, a huge smile on his face. “You’re grouchy when you wake up.”

  “If this were a romance novel, you would have carried me to the car and driven me home without waking me up,” I groused.

  He threw his head back and laughed again. “The only way I could have done that would have been to wrap you in the blanket and flung you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.”

  “Some alpha male you are,” I complained, looking around us. The sun was no longer as high in the sky and I guessed we’d slept for a little over an hour.

  Landen was still chuckling beneath his breath as he straightened and helped me sit up. “I hated to wake you, but your face is getting pink. I was worried you’d get a sunburn.”

  I blinked at him and realized my sunglasses had fallen off my face at some point. I looked around until I found them and slipped them on. “I’m wearing sunscreen, but this is the curse of fair skin.” My brain was slowly waking up. “Did you sleep?”

  He nodded. “For a little while. Then I woke up when this octopus started wriggling around next to me.”

  Though he couldn’t see me, I squinted at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Landen laughed again and shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s get out of here. I’m hungry again.”

  My belly was still full, but I also wasn’t a six-foot-tall man with muscles to feed. “Okay.”

  I helped him fold the blanket and gather up the rest of our things. Once again, he took my hand as we walked from the park area to his SUV. I leaned partially against him as we walked, the blanket clutched to my chest. I was still sleepy from my nap, though the fog of fatigue was starting to clear from my brain. We put everything in the back of the SUV and Landen guided me around to the passenger door.

  After we were both settled inside the car and on our way, he glanced at me. “How do you feel about ice cream?” he asked.

  “Ice cream is a food group,” I retorted, covering a huge yawn with my hand.

  His mouth curved as he watched me for a second before returning his attention to the road. “Wanna grab a sundae?”

  “Definitely,” I replied, blinking a few times.

  This is why I hated napping. It always took me forever to wake up.

  Leaning my head back on the headrest, I turned to watch Landen drive. He wasn’t bulky, but his lean arms were muscled. Especially his forearms. My eyes landed on the shifting muscles that ran from his wrist to elbow and I licked my lips.

  Then I blinked again. I needed to snap out of it. Maybe if he talked to me I wouldn’t be so lethargic. Or inclined to ogle him.

  “I had a lot of fun today,” I said.

  He glanced at me again, his eyes bright. “Good. What are you doing tomorrow?”

  “I’m going to brunch with some friends and doing laundry.” I made a face when I mentioned the laundry. It wasn’t my favorite chore. Which was why I always waited until nearly all my clothes were dirty before I did it. Sometimes I even bought a new outfit instead of washing the dirty ones. That’s how much I hated it.

  “Want some company?”

  I smirked at him. “For brunch or so you can help fold my underwear?”

  He loosed a bark of laughter. “Either. Or both.”

  I sighed. “The brunch is girls only. We don’t get to see each other often and it’s the only time we can gossip about men and our love lives. But I wouldn’t be opposed to help with the laundry. Especially if there’s wine involved.”

  “So, I’m bringing wine?” he asked, still smiling.

  “Only if you want to see my panties.”

  Our flirty banter continued while we ate our sundaes and the entire drive home. Landen was usually so intense when he came to the office. Today, I felt as though I were seeing a completely different side of him. A side that most people would never see. He laughed openly and often, something I’d never seen him do with Chris. They usually resembled peas in a pod. They both seemed so stoic and wielded dry, biting wit like a weapon.

  The Landen I was seeing today was…different. This man would be able to get beneath my armor and burrow under my skin. He would be able to become a part of me.

  And I feared I would never want him to leave.

  Chapter Ten

  I loved meeting my friends for brunch. I looked forward to it all month long.

  When Lucy quit working for Chris, she still came around for lunch at the building from time to time, but it wasn’t the same. With Yancy working from home two days a week and Tanya cutting back on her hours now that she was pregnant, the five of us rarely made it to lunch during the week anymore.

  So, we decided to meet at least one Sunday per month and have brunch. No men allowed. Now that Lucy and Tanya were married, and Yancy engaged, it was rare that we got to see them without their partners. Which was fine since I liked Charles, Yancy’s fiancé, and Jordan, Tanya’s husband. I saw Chris all the time, so it was a little awkward to see him away from the office, but I was getting used to it.

  Still, it was almost like the old days when we met for Sunday brunch. We would get together, drink a mimosa or two, or even a Bloody Mary, and talk like we used to. I loved seeing how happy my friends were.

  This Sunday we’d decided to meet at Maggiano’s in Plano. It was one of our favorite places to eat. I loved so many things on the menu, including the crème brûlée French toast, and all the different types of Eggs Benedict. It was difficult for me to choose just one. Actually, all of us had that issue, so what usually happened is we would each order something different and then share.

  Well, at least until Tanya got pregnant. Since then, it was safer not to ask her to share. She was a little scary about her food now. However, the rest of us still shared with each other and even Tanya if she asked, but we no longer expected her to reciprocate.

  I walked into Maggiano’s, surprised to find that I was the first one there. I requested a table for five and explained that my friends would be there shortly. I sat at the bar while I waited and ordered a mimosa. Since we only met once per month, I splurged on an Uber so I could enjoy a boozy brunch and not worry about how I would get home. Tanya probably would have picked me up since she was our official designated driver now that she couldn’t drink, but I didn’t want to inconvenience her. She needed more rest now that she’d hit her second trimester.

  A few minutes later, Grier, Lucy, and Yancy came in together and we greeted each other with smiles and hugs. The hostess came over and offered to seat us since most of our party was here.

  Not long after we settled in chairs that surrounded a round table, Tanya arrived, looking fresh and aglow. Pregnancy definitely agreed with her. She hadn’t even had morning sickness.

  We all jumped to our feet and there were more hugs and laughter. When the waiter came over and introduced himself as Adam, we all chorused, “Hi, Adam.”

  He blinked at us in surprise for a moment before smiling gamely. “And what would y’all like to drink today?”

  We kept it simple, ordering water and coffee…and a pitcher of mimosas. Once he left, Lucy’s eyes came to me and held. I knew before she even opened her mouth what she wanted to talk about.

  “So, I hear you’re dating someone, Chels.”

  Every head at the table swiveled toward me. Even Grier, who was usually the most laid back, seemed shocked.

  I glared at Lucy. “Seriously? How did you find out?”

  “Sexual favors,” she answered smugly.

  I threw up my hands. “I don’t even know how he knew. Landen and I just went on our second date yesterday. And that was after he ghosted me for ten days!”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Yancy said, lifting her hand in a “stop” motion. “Landen? As in Landen Weber? As in Jackwad?”

  I sighed and looked around for Adam. I was gonna need something stronger than a mimosa to have this discussion. Fortunately, he arrived with a tray of coffee and mimosas a few seconds later. Once he set everything on the table,
I tapped his arm gently.

  “Bring me a Bloody Mary stat, please,” I murmured.

  His brown eyes gleamed as he smiled. “Vodka or whiskey?”

  “I don’t care as long as it’s strong. I’m gonna need it to deal with these four.”

  He chuckled before he straightened.

  “Hey! I heard that,” Lucy said.

  I shrugged. “I don’t care if you did. I can’t believe you brought this up now.”

  Adam cleared his throat. “Do you want me to come back in a few minutes?”

  “Yes, with my Bloody Mary,” I said with a nod.

  He grinned at me. “Yes, ma’am”

  I groaned as he left and looked around the table. “I’m not even thirty yet and I’m already a ma’am.”

  “Quit whining about how old you are and give us the dirty details. Because the date I heard about definitely wasn’t with Landen,” Lucy demanded. “In fact, I heard Landen came into the office not long after you left with a face like thunder and an attitude to match.”

  I winced. How in the heck had I completely forgotten about my date with Phillip? I glanced at Tanya. “Do you know Phillip from your office?” I asked.

  She nodded as she sipped her water. “Yes. He’s a nice guy until you go up against him on a case. Why do you ask?”

  “He asked me out last week. We had drinks and tapas. He is nice but we just didn’t…click, you know? I like him but there wasn’t much of a spark there.”

  It was Lucy who spoke next. “So how did you go from a date with Phillip the lawyer to Landen Weber? And when?”

  I sighed. “It’s complicated.” And I really, truly didn’t want to get into it with her at the moment.

  “Well, we’ll be here for a while, so get started,” Lucy demanded.

  “Lucy…”

  “I tell you everything,” she pointed out.

  I scoffed. “I know and I repeatedly ask you not to since Chris is now my boss and I do not need to know the intimate details of his sex life.”

  She scowled at me. “You were my friend before you were his employee. I’m allowed to talk about my love life with one of my best friends. But quit trying to change the subject. How in the hell did you end up going out on a date with Landen Weber?”

  I took a sizeable sip of my mimosa and wondered where in the heck Adam was with my Bloody Mary. Finally, I decided to get it over with. I would have to talk about it at some point and now was as good a time as any. “He kissed me at your wedding a few weeks ago. I thought it was a drunken fluke, but he tracked me down while you and Chris were on your honeymoon and asked me to dinner.”

  “Tracked you down?” Yancy asked, disbelief ripe in her voice. “Were you avoiding him?”

  I was saved from answering by Adam’s arrival with my erstwhile Bloody Mary. I thanked him profusely and lifted the glass to my lips.

  “Are you going to answer me?” Yancy prodded.

  I shrugged and drank more of the Bloody Mary. “Yes. I wasn’t sure what to say to him and I wanted to have my thoughts together before we spoke again.”

  “How was the dinner?” Lucy asked.

  “Good.” I stopped and cleared my throat. “Actually, it was excellent. It was one of the best first dates I’ve been on.”

  Lucy’s brows rose. “Why didn’t you mention it?”

  Yancy, who was sitting next to me, poured me a mimosa and handed me the glass with a sympathetic glance. I knew she wasn’t doing it just to be helpful though. The sneaky wench was going to try to get me drunk so I would spill.

  Taking a sip, I sighed and put the glass down next to my plate. “Because he ghosted me.”

  So I told them the story. How he’d vanished for over a week only to reappear just in time to see me leave the office for my date with Phillip. How he called me later that night to apologize and begged me for another chance. Okay, so I exaggerated that part and it was clear by Lucy’s knowing glance that she didn’t believe me.

  Before I could continue, Tanya interrupted. “I can’t believe he did that and you still gave him the time of day. That’s not like you.”

  It wasn’t like me. Normally, I would have written a man off after that, but I couldn’t tell them why. Though Landen hadn’t asked me for secrecy, I felt discretion was the best option.

  “He explained what happened,” I said carefully. “And he apologized. I didn’t let him off easy. At all.”

  “He actually apologized?” Lucy asked.

  I nodded. “He did. Twice.”

  Her brows raised. She’d dealt with Landen while she worked for Chris, so she knew what a big deal that was. The man was not big on apologizing. “Wow.”

  “Yeah, it surprised me too,” I stated. “But he took me for a picnic yesterday and he even bought me a kite.” A kite that was hanging on the wall in my bedroom almost like a piece of art. I’d spent an inordinate amount of time staring at it last night before I fell asleep, thinking about how much fun I’d had with him that day.

  “A kite?” Yancy repeated, looking confused.

  “Yes, a kite that looks like a Monarch butterfly on steroids,” I explained.

  Every woman at the table smiled in unison.

  “Seriously?” Yancy asked.

  I nodded. “We should take Carolena to the park sometime and we’ll fly it. She would love it.”

  Yancy laughed. “Yes, she would. I can’t believe he bought you a kite that looks like a butterfly.”

  “It sounds exactly like something you would have bought yourself,” Grier piped up.

  “It was. That’s why it surprised me so much.”

  Lucy’s chin tilted to the side as she studied me. “Why?”

  “Because I didn’t think Landen paid enough attention to me to notice stuff like that.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, that’s hilarious,” she said as she continued to giggle. “You didn’t think he paid enough attention to you?” Then she continued to laugh until she snorted, which set Yancy off as well.

  “Why is that so funny?” I asked, feeling a mite peeved that she was laughing at me.

  She answered my question with one of her own. “Why do you think I paired him with you in the wedding party?”

  I frowned at her. “I thought it was because you had to.”

  Lucy shook her head. The other ladies were watching us closely, with worried expressions on their faces. Lucy and I were the extroverts of the group and we sometimes got into loud…discussions during our outings.

  “No way. I saw the way he watched you when he came into the office. And the way you watched him when he wasn’t looking. And I noticed that he liked to get a rise out of you whenever he could. He wanted your attention because you had so much of his.”

  I blinked at her. “And when, pray tell, would you have noticed this? You don’t even work there anymore!”

  She grinned at me. “When I was training you and when I’m there to see Chris. It was obvious to both of us.”

  “Both of you?” I groaned, dropping my face into my hands. Then I remembered the way Chris looked when he told me that I was playing with fire the day I’d stolen Landen’s coffee. I lifted my head and narrowed my eyes at her. “You’re not the one who noticed first,” I stated. “It was Chris, wasn’t it?”

  She scowled at me. “I noticed.”

  I shook my head. “No, you didn’t. Chris did and mentioned it to you, didn’t he?”

  Lucy sighed. “Yes,” she grumbled. “But once he brought it up, I saw it immediately too.”

  Great, my boss had been playing matchmaker. Just swell.

  “He said he’d never seen Landen so interested in a woman before,” Lucy continued. “And that if anyone could handle him, it would be you.”

  I blinked at her. “He did?”

  She nodded. “He’s known Landen since college. He won’t say much about his past, just that…” She trailed off as though she were reconsidering her words.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “Th
at Landen doesn’t have the best track record with women. Because he’s so intense that he scares them off.”

  I deliberated on her words. I could see that. Landen wasn’t the easiest of men. Though he’d been relaxed and almost carefree yesterday, his fierce intellect and forthright manner could be intimidating. I’d witnessed it enough in the office, but I admired him more for it.

  I preferred clarity to tact in most cases. I was blunt as well and I appreciated it when someone told me exactly what they were thinking rather than what they thought I wanted to hear.

  “I could see that,” I murmured. “He’s not an easy man.”

  “No, he’s not,” Lucy agreed.

  Tanya, sensing that we were getting into delicate territory, interjected and broke the tension. “Are you seeing him again?”

  I looked at her and nodded. “Yes. He’s coming over later today.”

  Once again, all the ladies at the table were grinning and I found myself returning their smiles.

  The conversation about my love life ended abruptly when Adam returned to take our orders.

  The rest of the brunch was filled with chatter about the wedding Yancy was currently planning, Tanya’s impending motherhood, and Lucy’s honeymoon. As we talked, I noticed that Grier seemed preoccupied and looked almost…sad. It worried me more than a little.

  While Grier wasn’t insanely cheerful, she was usually the most positive, thoughtful person in our group. And she rarely ever looked upset or depressed.

  I knew I wasn’t the only who noticed when Tanya’s eyes met mine and then shifted to Grier. I nodded, telling her silently that I saw it too.

  When Grier got up to go to the ladies room, Tanya leaned over to me. “Will you talk to her this week? See if you can figure out what’s bothering her? I’ve already tried and she’s being close-lipped.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. We’re planning to go for a walk after work tomorrow. I’ll talk to her then.”

  Normally, I wouldn’t stage a chat with one of my friends just to talk about it with the others. I didn’t like to gossip. Well, at least not about my friends, but I was worried about Grier. She didn’t seem like herself and she was preoccupied a lot lately. If she appeared happier, I would have thought there was a man in the picture, but she wasn’t. She seemed almost…lonely.