She laughed. “No, really. I’m so happy for you. And proud. That’s big, finally getting something you worked so long and hard for.” Like Chace was trying to do. Her heart sank.
“Stop it. I’m gonna start blushing over here or something.”
She tapped her fingers on the arm of her sofa. “Do you think you could get him over here? I feel like I’ve been such a crab to him.”
“You have been. And I don’t know…”
“Try. Please? Trick him. Lie. Do something. I feel really horrible and I have to apologize.”
“I’ll try. I’m not making any promises. He’s really pissed. What you said to him really ticked him off. And he’s not easy to tick off. That guy’s really laid back. More than me. What did you do to him?”
“You know how I am when I’m stressed.”
“Yeah. Barely human.”
“Quit it.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t take my head off now. I’ll do my best, Whit.”
“Good. Bring him over at eight, okay?”
“I’ll call you if I’m not able to talk him into it.”
“Sounds good.”
Whitney hung up the phone, biting her lower lip. It was time to get started.
To make up for what she’d done, Whitney decided to do something she’d never done. Which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t a good thing to do for the first time for a person she was trying to make something up to. She decided to cook.
How hard could it be? She could read a cookbook. She could follow instructions. Why hadn’t someone warned her that it took more than those two basic skills?
Before calling Rob, Whitney had gotten out a cookbook she’d been given for Christmas one year, looked up a recipe that sounded good, made a grocery list, and then she went to the store. Now she stood in her kitchen, surrounded by ingredients, pots, and pans, and with only a cookbook to guide her through the wilderness.
She was attempting to make chicken pot pie. She remembered Chace mentioning that he liked it once, and so she’d gotten it in her head to make it. And knowing she was a rookie, for some reason she’d still decided it would be a good idea to make the pie crust from scratch. Weren’t lawyers supposed to have logic skills? What had happened to hers?
She spent almost an hour on the crust before she gave up on it. Next, she decided to just bake the chicken instead of attempting to make a pot pie. So she put chicken, vegetables, and oil into a baking pan and stuck it in the oven. She set the oven temperature at five hundred degrees since she didn’t have much time left before Chace was supposed to show up. If he showed up.
She realized that her mother had been right when she’d said that a higher temperature doesn’t cook it faster. Yes, right at the moment that her smoke alarm went off and her beautiful, Italian marble filled kitchen was hidden by a fog of black smoke, she realized it. Coughing, she ran over to her balcony doors, opening them despite the freezing February night air. She then turned on her ceiling fan, exhaust fan—any fan she could reach.
Whitney looked around her kitchen before burying her head in her hands. For all her efforts, all she’d really made was a mess. Blackened chicken—and not the Cajun kind—on the counter. A gooey flour mixture that had never become a pie crust. It never would, either. Other kitchen casualties that all added up to make one giant hot mess.
Of course, just then her front door opened and in walked Rob and Chace. She wanted to crawl into one of her kitchen cabinets. Chace looked around the condo, coughing subtly into his fist. He looked so delectable in even the simplest outfits. The fact that she could still notice despite her state of distress proved that he could make anything sexy. He wore khakis and a brown long-sleeve T-shirt. He made them look runway good. He’d already removed his jacket and thrown it over the back of her leather recliner the way he always did.
Rob ran over to her. “You tried to cook? Whitney, no! Why? You had to know no good could come of this.”
She looked up plaintively at Chace. “I wanted to cook for you. I wanted to make it up to you for being so horrible to you the other day.”
Rob said, “Yeah, but did you have to risk burning down your house to do it? You should have just gotten him a card or something. Or ‘I’m sorry’ works, too.”
“So I’m not a great cook,” Whitney said, glowering at Rob.
“Understatement. Of the year,” he said.
“I tried to make your favorite,” Whitney said to Chace, trying hard not to laugh at her own ridiculousness.
“It’s the thought that counts,” Chace said, the corners of his mouth twitching with the laugh he was obviously trying to hold back.
“Yeah, you know, you would think that’s always true, but this time, I don’t think it is. This is one of those rare exceptions,” Rob said, scrutinizing the kitchen with his eyebrows raised.
“Rob, you’re not funny.”
Chace burst out laughing. It seemed he couldn’t stop once he got started.
“Is it that funny, Chace? Really?” Whitney sighed, rubbing a flour-specked hand across her forehead without thinking about it, leaving a trace of flour behind.
“You’re just adorable, that’s all. Too adorable.” Chace walked over and wiped the smudge of flour from her forehead. He then furrowed his brow for a moment, and Whitney could almost see the light bulb going off. He turned to Rob. “In fact, hold on. Rob, let me see your keys. I need to get something out of your car.”
Rob handed over the keys. Chace left the apartment and returned a few moments later with his camera bag.
“Oh, no,” Whitney groaned.
“Oh, yes,” Chace said with a grin, unzipping the bag.
“Chace, please?”
“You promised I could shoot you and I haven’t gotten a good shot yet. This is too good to pass up. I promise, if you really hate them when I show you later, I’ll delete them all.”
Whitney rolled her eyes, but it was too late. Chace was already snapping away. He continued to do so as Rob helped her clean the kitchen, which involved lots of mocking and laughing, and slaps to the side of Rob’s head with a dish towel. Chace sometimes laughed too hard to even snap the shots and eventually he gave up and went back downstairs for his tripod.
It was the most fun Whitney had had since she kicked Chace out of her life. Even if she had almost destroyed her kitchen and several thousand dollars worth of remodeling. So much fun she realized she should never kick Chace to the curb again. No matter what. With work, she would deal. She always had before. Just another new adjustment to make. Chace’s company was more than enough in the way of compensation.
After the kitchen was cleaned up, Rob picked up Delaney, and the four of them went to a Thai restaurant near Rob and Chace’s neighborhood. Rob gave an animated re-telling of the cooking incident, complete with acted out scenes in true Rob fashion. They were all laughing so hard that the other people in the restaurant probably thought something was wrong with them.
Chace sat next to Whitney and they sat across the table from Rob and Delaney. He draped his arm casually over the back of her chair. She enjoyed the intimacy that came from having him so close even if they weren’t touching. The scent of his cologne was clean and sharp and she breathed in deeply every time he shifted position in the chair, loving the smell of him again. She’d missed it so much over the past few days. She’d been an idiot.
* * *
Chace realized once they were across the Potomac and almost back home that he’d left his camera at Whitney’s. He had Rob let him out at a metro station and he took the train back to Whitney’s place. Once he was back in the building, knowing her code now, he went up to her floor and knocked on the door. It would have been awkward to use his key when she was there. It wasn’t like he lived there or anything.
She opened the door a crack and poked her head out, stifling a yawn. She’d already gotten ready for bed by the look of it. She’d had a rough week—well, rough weeks. He knew. He’d experienced her frustration first-hand. She probably just wanted
to turn in now that she had the chance to before the wee hours of the morning.
“Oh. I thought you guys were long gone by now.” Whitney opened the door wider.
Chace didn’t know how to react when she stood in the open doorway wearing only tiny shorts that looked like cut-off sweats and a threadbare T-shirt with no bra. He could clearly see the outlines of the rounded mounds of her breasts beneath the white shirt, the circles in the center of them darker. He had a sudden desire to caress those circles until her nipples showed through the shirt. He shook away the thought, forcing his eyes back to hers.
He worked hard to focus enough to speak. “I. Camera. Forgot. Um, I forgot my camera.”
“Oh. I should have known you wouldn’t go far without that thing.” Whitney walked back into the apartment. He followed. Those shorts were teasing him to death. He willed them to be just a half inch higher so he could see the gentle curve of her buttocks, which was currently hidden by a scrap of fabric.
Her hand closed over the strap of his camera bag. He pressed his body to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist.
She froze for a moment and then relaxed into his arms, making him bolder. He caressed her sides, letting his fingers play into her flesh with only the thin material of her T-shirt separating skin from skin.
“I don’t want to leave,” he whispered the words against her ear. “But I will if you want me to.”
She turned to face him, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. “I don’t want you to,” she murmured into the skin of his throat. “Stay.”
He picked her up and carried her to her room without another word. They lay on her bed just staring at each other, his hand loosely at her hip, his thumb stroking the bare bit of flesh exposed by her shirt having ridden up above her shorts a few inches.
She sat up and rolled over so that she was sitting just above his hips. She took his hands and laced their fingers together.
“I’ve never felt the things you make me feel. And I want to feel them. It’s scary, but it’s also wonderful.”
Chace smiled at her, but didn’t speak. He reflected on her words, back when she’d told him that she’d never been in love before. He put his hands on her waist, slipping them under her shirt. She closed her eyes and arched her back, responding completely to his touch. She seemed to melt into him. He could almost feel the tension leaving her body.
“I never thought I could like living life without a safety net,” she murmured.
“I am your safety net,” he said, his voice barely audible as he stared at her with hungry eyes.
She smiled down at him, but said nothing. She shifted against him, her short shorts riding up enough for him to see that she didn’t have on any panties and that she waxed. Bikini. He slid his hand up her inner thigh and let it rest against her hip. He was intensely aware that the only thing separating skin from skin was the scrap of cloth that her shorts were made out of. At that thought, all others fled from his brain.
* * *
The next morning, Chace woke up with a smile to Whitney’s kisses on his cheeks and chin.
“Hey.” He grinned and nuzzled her nose with his.
“Hi.” She kissed him just below his lower lip.
“You’re friendly this morning.”
She grinned. “You’re in my bed. How can I not be?”
He kissed her neck.
“Sorry about last night.”
“Nothing to be sorry for.” He took her hands in his and kissed her fingers.
“We didn’t even—”
“Shh. Like I said, you don’t have to apologize to me for anything.”
“Do you know how perfect you are?” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
They weren’t ready for that next step yet. She was still too hesitant about her feelings for him. And he hadn’t been completely honest with her yet. He hadn’t mentioned a word to her about the Kelly situation. He didn’t know how he had stopped things from getting out of control, though, when all he had been able to think of was making love to her. He’d wanted her for a long time, and he hadn’t done anything with anyone in months.
Self-control wasn’t easy.
She curled up against his side and he stroked the area between her shoulder blades.
“The past few weeks since Christmas and New Year’s have been unbelievable.” She smiled and curled her fingers against the sides of his face. “I guess I’m lucky.”
“Hm?” He moved his hands up and down her arms, raising goose bumps on them.
She said with an exaggerated drawl, “You don’t scare off easy.”
“Not when it comes to you. I refuse.”
She kissed him, let her lips linger on his before pulling away. “I could get used to this. You sleeping over.”
He could, too. He just hoped he wouldn’t explode. He buried his face in her hair, ignoring the impulse to think about how much he wanted her or his Kelly problems.
She turned onto her stomach and he stayed on his side, propping his head up with his hand. He traced his fingers over her bare back, raising goose bumps on her warm brown skin. He moved his fingers under her left shoulder blade.
“Tattoo, huh?” Chace moved the pad of his index finger over the intricate lines of the tribal pattern inked into her skin before kissing it. She laughed, her body moving under his touch when she did.
“That was college. Erika has one, too. Different tattoo, but we went to get them done together.”
“Looks good on you.”
“Thanks.” She sighed. They lay there like that for a while in silence, the only movement being Chace’s hand on her back.
She turned her head to the side and looked up at him. “I want you around. I’m sorry I told you not to come over as much. I missed you so much.”
Chace rubbed her back. “It’s okay.”
“You should come over whenever. I mean it. Whenever you want.”
“Don’t tell me things like that. You might never get rid of me.”
“What makes you think I would want to?”
He smiled. “We should do something for Valentine’s Day.” He spread his fingers out across her back. “You know, nothing big, but just so that we’re not single people with nothing to do on the big day.” He slid down on the bed so that he was lying next to her.
“We should.” She moved closer to him.
He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face into her neck. He couldn’t tell her about Kelly now. Not when he was finally making the progress he’d been trying to make for weeks.
“Do you have to get to work or something? Should I go?” he said. He hoped for the answer he was almost sure he wouldn’t get.
She shook her head. “I don’t think I’m going to work today.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The injunction hearing’s done. And besides, I really don’t want to,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “I haven’t had a Saturday to myself away from work in forever. I was thinking we could spend the day together.” She pressed her forehead to his.
“I would love that.” He kissed her cheek and hugged her to him.
“Me, too.”
“As soon as I throw these clothes in the wash and take a shower.” He tore himself away from her, finished undressing himself—picking up where she’d left off the night before—and headed to the door. He turned around, grinning, his hand on the doorknob. “Are you staring?”
She smiled. “You have a problem with that?”
“Can’t say I do.”
Her smile broadened. “Maybe you should leave some clothes here. You know, just in case.”
The pre-work, pre-stress Whitney he’d met back in River Run was coming back. Good. “Yeah, okay. I’ll bring some stuff the next time I come over.”
“I’ll clean out a drawer.” She stood and stretched and he watched with naked desire. “I’ll go get our shower ready.”
“I’ll be right back.” Chace bolted for her laundry room, anxious to make it back to the maste
r bath. All the teasing was driving him insane, but he would rather have that than nothing.
Chapter 21: Valentine’s Day
For Valentine’s Day, Chace and Whitney went out with Rob and Delaney. They went to a restaurant Rob’s friend owned. So they were able to slip another couple of people—Whitney and Chace—into their party even though Rob’s reservation was for two.
Whitney wore a low-cut violet sweater and a black knee-length skirt. Chace made simple sexy, as usual. He wore a black blazer over a crisp white shirt open at the throat, exposing a delicious bit of his smooth olive skin. He’d paired the blazer and shirt with dark designer jeans that completed the outfit well. He turned heads, as usual, but didn’t seem to notice. He held her hand all night and seemed to see only her.
Could she be falling in love for the first time in her life? He was all she thought about. She didn’t want to be anywhere without him. Whenever someone asked her what she was doing later or if she wanted to grab a drink or dinner, Chace always sprang to mind. Inviting him along had become second nature. Even thinking about seeing him made her heart beat faster and brought out the most foolish grin imaginable.
Rob had asked what was happening between her and Chace, and so had Erika. She didn’t have a good answer. She didn’t know what they were to each other. But she knew she didn’t feel right when he wasn’t close. And so her friends had labeled it for her. And she neither confirmed nor denied.
“What are you getting?” Chace asked. His arm encircled her waist. He was finding ways to be close to her and touch her, not that she minded.
“Um, I think I’m getting the ‘What’s It Like’ Salmon,” she said. The restaurant was having a Jagged Edge-themed Valentine’s Day evening. The menu had items named after the group’s songs and the music they were playing was the equivalent of a Jagged Edge Pandora station. But the salmon wasn’t what she was hungry for.
“Hm. Really,” Chace said.
Even though she knew he couldn’t read her mind, she blushed, nodded, and put her menu down. “What about you?”
“Hm…I’m thinking of the ‘I Gotta Be’ Vegetarian Platter.”
Holding Her Breath (Indigo) Page 16
