by Leilani Love
He nods his head, grinning. “It will be my pleasure.” Looking around, he nods at the juice stand. “How about a smoothie while we wait?”
Chapter 12
Chase finds himself disappointed that Violca doesn’t live farther from work. The tow truck showed up shortly after they received their smoothies. Not wanting for her to pay for the tire, he gave the tow truck driver enough money it cover the cost. Chase makes a point to tell the driver not to tell her he paid for it. Just tell her it was a repair and that it was free.
The drive back to her house takes only twenty minutes since most the traffic has died down already. Walking her to her door, he smiles down at her. “Do you need a ride to work in the morning? I have to drive back to that area of town tomorrow for a meeting.”
She shakes her head. “No, that’s okay, I have a ride.”
As she bites she her lower lip, he resist the urge to sooth that lip with a light kiss. Before he can ask if she is sure, the living room door flies open and there stands Angyalka, who looks first at Violca then at Chase, then smiles really big. Chase shakes his head when she starts to open her mouth, worried she will say she saw him the other night. Her smile broadens. “You made it for dinner,” she simply says before grabbing his hand and pulling him into the house.
Laughing, he lets her lead him into the living room where he hears Violca behind him. “Angel, what are you doing?”
Stopping, letting go of his hand, Angyalka looks up at her sister before sticking out her lower lip. “I thought he was going to eat with us.”
Violca takes on a very scolding voice. “Angel, you can’t grab strange people by the hand and drag them in the house.”
Chase finds himself smiling down at the little girl who frowns for a moment before finally saying, “I’m sorry.”
“Go and wash up, I will be right there.”
Angyalka starts to head inside, then turns and runs back to him. “Are you staying for dinner?”
Chase winks at her. “I don’t know. I was hoping your sister would ask me, it smells amazing.”
Angyalka nods. “My sisters made spaghetti.” Turning, she looks at Violca. “Can he stay and eat with us?” She pauses for a long moment before adding, “please?”
Violca sighs, running her fingers through her hair. “Angel go…and maybe.”
Angyalka beams up at him before practically skipping back down the hall where he can hear her sisters. Chase turns, looking over at Violca who looks surprised. “She’s really cute.”
“Thanks, she doesn’t usually act that way.” Violca smiles. “Well if you are interested, we are apparently having spaghetti for dinner. Would you like to stay and eat with us?”
Chase raises an eyebrow. “Are you asking because you can’t think of a way to not ask me since…” he lets his voice trail off and makes a hand gesture pointing toward where Angyalka just bounced off too.
“No, I would like for you to join us for dinner.” She says, and he notices a slight flush on her cheeks.
“In that case, I would love to.”
Violca feels her cheeks heating up so much she wishes that the floor would swallow her. She can’t believe her sister just did that. She did invite him to dinner because Angel had basically trapped her into it, but once he accepted, she was glad.
“Great.” Smiling at him, she leads him down the hall. “I hope you don’t mind being in a room full of girls.”
She hears him chuckle and when she gets to the kitchen, Eva and Kati both stop talking and stare at him. “Chase this is Eva and Kati.”
Before they can reply, Angyalka runs down the hallway with Sari and grabs him by the hands. “Come, the table is set already.”
Smiling over his shoulder at them, he says, “Guess I am going this way.”
When he gets out of ear shot Eva grins. “Who the hell is that?”
Kati smiles, blushing. “You didn’t tell us you were bringing a guy home tonight.”
Violca grins at her sister’s reaction, feeling her cheeks heat up again, wondering what the hell is wrong with her. “He gave me a ride home after my flat tire, and Angel invited him to dinner.”
Eva and Kati look at each other and burst into laughter.
“Glad you find this funny.” Shaking her head, she grabs the bowl with the salad. “Come, let’s get the food on the table. It’s time for dinner.”
Kati grabs the bowl of the spaghetti and Eva grabs the basket of garlic bread, following Violca to the dining room. Chase is sitting between the little girls, who both seem to be trying to talk over each other. “Guys, it’s time for dinner. If you two are going to talk his ears off, I will move you.”
Both girls pout. Violca winks over their heads at Chase. “Chase, have you met my youngest two sisters, Sari and Angyalka.” Sitting down, she points to the older two as they set down the food. “And like I was trying to introduce you to earlier, Eva and Kati. Guys this is my new friend Chase, he drove me home today.”
Chase shakes Sari’s hand first, smiling at her before looking at Angyalka. “Angyalka that is a pretty big name for a little girl.”
“I will be big one day like my sister, Violca,” Angyalka says.
“I am sure you will be,” Chase agrees then looks at Kati and Eva. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Eva grins mischievously. “It’s nice to meet you, Chase.” She grabs the bowl of spaghetti and everyone makes themselves a plate as she continues, “It was really nice of you to drive Violca home today.”
Kati smiles and Violca tries not to groan out loud while fixing her own plate of spaghetti.
“I was just at the right place at the right time.”
The girls had made salad and garlic bread to go with the spaghetti. The girls instantly start talking about their day, Angyalka and Sari being the loudest. In the middle of Angyalka’s story about a boy who was mean to her, she looks up at Chase, “Violca says boys pull girls’ hair when they like them. Is that true?”
Chase grins and Violca sees his shoulders shaking as he tries not to laugh. “Yes, your sister is right, boys sometimes pull hair when they like a girl.”
Sari frowns as if taking it in. “Did you pull my sister’s hair before you drove her home?”
Eva and Kati cough. “No, I haven’t pulled your sister’s hair.”
Eva, not to be left out of the conversation, says, “Don’t you like my sister?”
Chase smiles at both girls before looking at Violca. His eyes lock onto hers. She feels her cheeks heat up, and her breath catches as she waits for his answer. “I do like your sister, but I think your sister would get mad at me if I pulled her hair, so I thought I would try something different.”
Sari nods. “Good, I don’t like when the boys pull my hair.”
Eva and Kati, unable to hold back any longer, burst into laughter. Covering her face, Violca tries to think if there was ever a more embarrassing moment in her life and finds she can’t think of one. Counting to ten, she looks up to find Chase smiling at her. He winks before going back to talk to Sari and Angyalka.
Violca is happy when the rest of dinner goes smoothly. She finds herself a little surprised at how easily Chase adapts to sitting between two young girls who are determined to keep his attention during the meal. He smiles and asks all the right questions, making the appropriate noises when the girls take a breath during their stories. Eva and Kati ask him a few questions, which he answers easily. When dinner is over, Kati and Eva volunteer to clean up. Sari and Angyalka run to their rooms to finish up the last of their homework.
Helping clear the table, Violca walks with Chase into the living room. “You were great with them.”
Chase smiles. “Your sisters are sweet.” He walks over to one of the family pictures. Picking up the frame, he studies it before looking at her. “You have a lot of your mom in you, but if you look carefully you can find just hints of your dad in your features too.”
“Yeah.” She pauses to look at the picture. “I think Angyalka looks the
most like our father with her coloring, but there are traces of both of them if you look close enough.”
Carefully putting the picture down, he looks around for a moment. “Are your parents on vacation?”
Shaking her head, she looks away for a second before looking back at him. “No, they passed away a few years back. I am raising my sisters.”
There is a quick flash of sympathy on his face before he steps closer to her, tracing the line of her cheek down her jaw with the back of his hand. “I am sorry to hear that.”
Violca nods, wanting to say thank you, but finds herself swallowing a small lump in her throat. This is usually when most guys take off running, and she finds herself a little sad thinking he might leave and not come back.
Their eyes lock and he slowly bends down, brushing his lips against hers. Her eyes close and she thinks she hears a growl coming from him. His hand slides around her neck, gently cupping the back of her head, pulling her up. When his lips brush hers again, she sighs, parting them just a little and moans when she feels his tongue come out and slide against hers. She jumps when she hears footsteps running down the hall. Blushing, she quickly takes a step back as Angyalka runs into the living room.
“Violca, can you help me?” Angyalka ask, her math book in her hand.
“Sure, give me one moment, I’ll be right there,” Violca says and watches her walk back to her room.
“I should get going.” Chase heads to the door.
Violca follows him, wondering if her cheeks are as red as they feel. When he gets to the door he opens it and turns to look at her.
“Thank you for the ride home.”
He reaches out and gently strokes her cheek, and her eyes close enjoying his feather light touch. “It was my pleasure. Are you sure I can’t pick you up on my way downtown tomorrow?”
Violca starts to tell him no, she will take her sister’s car, when Eva suddenly pops in the living room. “Hey V, I forgot to tell you, tomorrow I’m going to have to leave early with the girls. I have a study group for a test.”
She realizes that her sister was listening. “I, umm, guess I could use a ride.”
Chase smiles and she sees him wink at Eva. “Great, I will be here by eight, if that is okay with you.”
Nodding, she tells him goodbye and locks the door behind him. Shaking her head at Eva, she heads down the hall to Angel’s room to help her with her homework, her lips still tingling still tasting Chase’s kiss. She tries to get her pulse to slow down as she concentrates on helping her sister.
Chapter 13
Chase finds himself smiling as he gets into his SUV. He didn’t plan on kissing her. There was something so vulnerable when she told him that her parents had passed away. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her. If they hadn’t heard her sister coming down the hallway, he didn’t think he would have been able to end the kiss.
Driving around the block, he parks his vehicle and lets his dragon come to the surface. Closing his eyes, he listens for anything out of place. He inhales deeply, trying to detect any unnatural scents. Not sensing anything unusual, he starts the SUV back up and heads toward Scott’s place.
Pulling up to the house, he gets out and heads up the few stairs of the porch to the door. Walking in, he is surprised to see Scott and Eryk sitting in front of the TV playing the latest Call of Duty. He hears Scott swear when a sniper picks him off. “I know these fuckers cheat.”
Eryk laughs. “Well glad you moved on from camping, mother fuckers.”
Chase goes into the kitchen, grabbing two beers, placing one in front of Scott before sitting on the chair. When the match ends, they turn it off and Scott takes a pull of his beer, looking at Chase. “How was your night with the witch sisters?”
Chase feels a small smile playing on his lips, his memory going to how Violca’s lip tasted when they kissed. Scott chuckles. “Viktor is not going to be happy about you getting overly friendly with them. Violca is a nice girl Chase. She’s not one to play around with.”
Chase fights the urge to tell his friend off and to back the hell away from Violca. His dragon, sitting just below the surface, growls. The word Mine plays in his head. “I am not getting that friendly with them. Besides, we are going to need to be close enough to protect them if we determine they are the sisters we are looking for.”
Eryk shakes his head, standing up. “I know we have no concrete proof, but I am positive those girls are the ones we seek.”
Scott nods. “I agree. The original Earth witch’s eyes were supposed to be a rare shade of violet that was passed down to the first and usually only daughter of every generation. The rumor is that they only had one daughter though and the fact that they have five is truly unique. I don’t smell magic on them, but Violca smells earthy…like”
“Lavender and…”
Eryk laughs. “Man, I am glad you are not getting that close to her.” At Chases glare, he laughs harder. “I am going to go up to my room and finish my homework while you two compare what you think the oldest sister smells like.”
Eryk heads up the stairs and Scott grins, shaking his head. “I better get up to bed, I have to work early.”
Nodding, Chase tells him good night while thinking about tomorrow. He doesn’t doubt he can win Violca over, but getting her to confess she is an earth witch probably will take more time than he has. Heading up to his room, he thinks a good, long, hot shower will help clear his head and help him think of some way to get her to use her magic before Micah makes his move.
The next morning, Violca gives her sister a dirty look. “I thought you were going to leave early, Eva?”
Eva tries to look innocent as she finishes putting her books in her backpack. “I was, but at the last minute, they backed out.”
Rolling her eyes, knowing that Eva is lying to her, she hears a knock at the door. Looking at the clock, she sees it’s a few minutes before eight. “How convenient,” she mumbles, heading from Eva’s room to the living room. Hearing voices, she shakes her head, wondering how many times she was going to have to tell Angel to quit opening the door.
“Thank you for not telling on me,” she hears Chase say quietly before stepping into the living room.
Angel giggles.
Violca frowns, wondering what he is talking about. “Angel, what are the rules about opening the door?”
Angel looks down, pretending to pout.
“Go and finish getting your stuff for school, I think Eva is about ready to take you.”
Angyalka heads to her room to grab her backpack then looks over her shoulder at Chase. “Are you coming for dinner tonight?”
Chase winks at her. “If I can get your sister to ask me again, I will gladly come.”
“V, can Chase please come to dinner?” Angel asks her hands on her hips.
“Maybe. Go get your backpack and jacket,” Violca says, gently pushing her sister back down the hall, shaking her head. Running her fingers through her hair, she looks back at Chase who is grinning at her as he leans against the doorframe, his golden brown eyes dancing. “She doesn’t usually take to guys.” Grabbing her purse and her black jacket, she follows him out the door.
Chase smiles down at her, putting his hand on the small of her back as he leads her to his SUV. “She seems sweet. I hope she is not that friendly with everyone, but if it keeps getting me free dinners…”
She blushes as he opens the door for her. Violca finds herself fidgeting with her slacks and her top. Her dad used to open the door for her mother when they were still alive, but the few boyfriends she had never did that for her.
When he gets in and starts the car, she watches him from the corner of her eye. “So what do you do? I don’t believe you have ever mentioned it.”
Chase glances at her and smiles. “Nothing exciting, I’m a security consultant. I verify an object’s value and then I see to the object’s security when there is something worth protecting.”
Violca tilts her head. “Can I ask what you were sent to prot
ect?”
Chase grins. “It’s more than one this time and I am researching them now. All I can say is that if they turn out to be what we think, then they are literally the last of their kind and worth more than their weight in gold.”
Violca thinks about it for a second. “I take it these items are a secret.”
They stop at a light and Chase looks over at her. Violca sees his eyes linger on her lips for a moment, and her cheeks heat at the memory of his kiss.
“While I am verifying if they are real or not, I must keep it a secret, but if you’d like, I will make sure you are one of the first to know and maybe even get your input on helping me to secure them.”
As they start to drive, Violca smiles at him. “I don’t know what help I can be.”
Chase pulls into an open garage near her work and gets out with her. Again he puts his hand on the small of her back, and she finds the gesture oddly comforting. “I have a funny feeling you will have some valuable advice for me.”
When they reach her building, she pauses outside. Turning to look up at him, she sees him glance at the door before looking down at her. Licking her lips, his eyes darken as he watches her. “Thank you for bringing me to work today.”
Chase reaches up and brushes a strand of hair back behind her ear. “It was my pleasure. I’ll call you later if you don’t mind, to see if you need a ride to your car, if that’s okay with you?”
Violca blushes, still feeling the warmth from his light touch. “Sure, call me around lunch and I will let you know.”
He leans down, brushing his lips against hers. “I’ll call you around noon. Should I call the office number or would you like to give me your cell number?”
“Oh.” Reaching into her purse, she grabs one of the cards the office gave her when she started working there. “I never use these, but this has my work and my cell number. For some reason they order these for all the employees.”
Chase tucks the card into his pocket, winking at her. “I will call you later.”
