How could Chase be attracted to both Felicity and her? They couldn’t be more different if they tried. Felicity represented everything feminine and elegant about a woman, and Shayla had never owned a pair of high heels or set foot in a spa. Her idea of a haircut was whichever walk-in place didn’t have a line, if she didn’t cut it herself.
Shayla tucked hair behind her ear out of nervousness. She realized that’s what Maya did. She was not turning into Maya. Not that there was anything wrong with Maya, but Shayla had never carried around a nervous energy, not until lately.
Shayla let out a deep breath. “I think I need a drink.”
“Did someone say happy hour?” Felicity asked.
Shayla smiled over at her, and Felicity gave her a warm smile in return. Yep, Shayla was doomed to liking this woman. “Have you seen Chase’s wine selection?”
“Have you seen his stocked bar?” Felicity asked. “High quality stuff, too. Shame for it to go to waste.” Felicity’s phone rang. “Do you care if I take this?”
“No,” Shayla said, relief flooding her. “Please.”
“Hi, Mom,” Felicity said, her mood changing.
They pulled up at Starbucks, and Felicity told her mother she had to go. “I’ll come in with you,” she said. “I’m going to grab a latte. A little caffeine to pep me up from that flight and all that sitting. I might need to run around the block to wake up.”
Scott stood and started packing up his stuff when he saw Shayla and Felicity walk in. “That’s him?” Felicity asked under her breath.
“Mmm hmm.”
Felicity rolled R’s over her tongue, causing Shayla’s cheeks to heat.
Shayla walked over to him. “Scott, this is Felicity.”
He blinked when he saw Felicity, holding out his hand to her, his face brightening. “Hi.”
“She’s staying with us this weekend.”
“Oh, great,” he said, seeming to mean it.
Felicity smiled back in a way only a charming movie star who knows everyone wants her could. She took his hand. “Hello, Scott, roomie.”
Scott blushed, looking at Shayla like he was caught. Shayla didn’t know whether to be thrilled at this possible love connection or jealous. One thing was for sure. Felicity knew how to attract a man.
“So, I guess I’ll follow you to the house?” Scott asked.
When Shayla had left him, he’d still been considering whether or not he was going to stay at the hotel. She guessed Felicity changed that. Shayla couldn’t help a little smile.
“Yep. I’ll text you the address in case we get separated.”
“I’m going to grab my latte. I’ll be out in a sec,” Felicity said with a wink.
They walked to their cars, and Scott put his stuff in the back seat. He turned to Shayla. “So that’s Chase’s girlfriend?”
Shayla shrugged. “That’s a good question.”
“Oh,” Scott said, scratching his eyebrow.
“She seems really cool,” Shayla said.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said, looking at her through the window as she gave a little wave. He turned back to Shayla and focused on her. “Are you okay? You look a little rattled.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just having a weird day.”
“Is this about Bo getting married?”
She waved him off. “Oh, God no. I’m happy for him. Seriously.”
“Anything with Brian?”
“Not that I know of. He doesn’t have my new number and I haven’t checked the old phone. Was he at work yesterday?”
“Yeah, and he’s on email today. Someone sent a group email that he responded to. But that really doesn’t mean anything.” He motioned toward Starbucks, where he’d just been working. Shayla nodded, glancing around, paranoid now. Scott brushed her arm. “I’m here so you can enjoy this weekend. I’m watching for him okay? If he shows up here, I promise you won’t even see him.”
She smiled at him. “I really don’t deserve you as a friend.”
“I’m the one who’s lucky, Shayla.”
The door opened and Felicity came out with her cup. “All caffeinated and ready to go.” She headed toward the passenger door of Shayla’s truck, and Scott looked down at his keys.
“Why don’t you ride with Scott, Felicity, in case we get separated,” Shayla said. “You know your way, right?”
“Yep,” she said, changing direction.
Scott looked at Shayla like he was in trouble and she gave him assured smile.
Shayla got in her truck and pulled out to the exit, waiting for them. That was an idea she could get on board with. Felicity and Scott. God knew he deserved a good lay. Unless he’d been lying to her, he hadn’t had one in months. None of his dates worked out and he always called her at nine o’clock. She doubted there was a woman lying next to him during those times, though there could have been.
But more importantly, it’d keep Felicity away from Chase. Shayla rolled her eyes at herself, hating what she was turning into.
Chase had just pulled in when Shayla’s truck and a car he didn’t recognize pulled down the driveway. Trouble headed his way in the form of two women he’d slept with in the past few months and a guy who wanted one of them. Chase narrowed his gaze to find Felicity in the car with the guy. Hell, after a car ride from PCB with Felicity, Scott probably wanted her, too.
Shayla got out of the truck and walked around to the passenger side where she pulled Felicity’s suitcase out of the back. Chase went to her. “Let me get that.”
“I’ve got it,” she said.
“Let me,” he said.
She met his gaze with a look so serious he took a step back. “I said I had it.”
He held up both hands and backed away, wanting nothing in the world but to take her inside, straight up to his bed where he’d show her what a real night of making love with him was supposed to be like.
Chase glanced over at Felicity, who was watching their exchange with interest. A smile slid across her face and she walked toward him with her arms open, her purse balancing on one of them. “Chase O’Neil. You are a sight for wide open eyes.” Felicity wrapped her arms around him, and he hugged her, glancing at Shayla, who was looking down at the suitcase and adjusting the handle on it. Felicity pulled away and pointed a finger at him. “You’re a big fat liar,” she said in a low voice. Chase gave her a curious look, but she stepped aside.
He turned to see Scott walking toward him, and he instinctively stood taller. The guy was better looking than Chase had hoped he’d be, in good shape, too. Better than Chase was, probably. Chase’s gym visits were sporadic due to his schedule, though he did force himself to get there at least once a week.
“Scott Stover,” the guy said as he held out his hand to Chase.
“Chase O’Neil. Good to meet you.”
“I hope this isn’t odd, me staying here, a complete stranger. I promise not to steal your silverware.”
“Well, you’re welcome to it, but I don’t think you’d get much for it. Come on in.”
He took them in through the garage and then pointed to the guest room on the left. “Felicity, you can stay in there.”
Felicity stopped, looking between Shayla and him like she was confused. “This is your bedroom.”
“No, that’s the guest room,” Chase said.
“Oh.” She looked surprised, and maybe even a little offended. He winced. That room was where he and she had slept, or not slept, actually, when she was there a few months prior. He’d never said it was his room, but he’d never said otherwise either. Shayla rolled her suitcase in there.
“Scott, I’ve got you upstairs. You can follow me, or we can all have a drink first?” Chase asked, glancing between all three of them.
“I’m going to grab a shower,” Shayla said. “We probably need to leave around five for the rehearsal.”
Chase got out his phone to text the limo company. He’d told them five-thirty.
Felicity stepped into the room. “I better skip the
drink, too, if I’m going to transform this look into my bachelorette bling. See you squirrels in a bit.” She shut the door behind her.
Chase led Shayla and Scott down the hallway and to the staircase. Shayla stepped to the side. “Text me if you need anything,” she said, looking at Scott.
The idea that the two of them shared this bond of him helping her get away from a monster didn’t sit well at all with Chase. “I’m right down the hall, too,” he said, looking at her in challenge.
She held his gaze long enough to prove something, and then headed through the kitchen.
Chase turned back to Scott, who was looking at him curiously, and he forced himself to relax, realizing he was wound tighter than a yo-yo. He pointed up the staircase with an easy smile. “Just up the way.”
Scott let Chase pass at the top of the stairs, and he took him to the guest room at the end of the hall, the farthest one from his room. He wasn’t wild about Scott staying there, but if he had to, Chase wanted him upstairs with him where he could keep an eye on him, or on Shayla coming and going from his room, more so.
“Smells like the cleaning crew were here earlier,” Chase said. “I told them to rewash the towels in the closet there. Nobody’s used this room in a while.”
“This is great. Better than the shithole I was going to stay in. I should have checked with Shayla before I booked it.”
Chase nodded, unease creeping up his chest at the idea of this guy’s relationship with Shayla. Chase knew he called her every night…almost appreciated that he was still looking out for her after whatever it was she’d gone through with her ex. But he hated the fact that this guy knew more than he did. This guy had the details Chase’s imagination had run wild with.
“Well, let me know if you need anything. I’m the first room at the top of the stairs. There’s a rec room right around the corner, too, if you want to just hang and watch television or whatever.”
“Thanks, man,” Scott said, giving him a closed mouth smile with a look in his eye that told Chase he wasn’t the only one of the two of them uneasy with the other’s relationship with the girl in the pool house. Good.
Chase shut himself in his room and picked up the picture of Sam, staring at it like he was seeing it for the first time. He did that sometimes when he felt like he was losing control of what was circling around him. Sam grounded him. Reminded him that he was human and that the worst thing in the world had already happened to him. He could deal with anything else thrown his way.
He needed to put the picture up. Too many people floating around his house this weekend, and one right down the hallway. His phone buzzed and he lay the picture down on his bed.
It was the limo company confirming the times for the limos, but by the look of the text, they had the address wrong. He texted them back. One limo to his house at five, the other to Maya and Bo’s house at five. Then he had to text Bo to let him know the limo would be there at five and not five-thirty. Then it became a whole thing with picking up Maya’s parents at Sebastian’s first and swinging by to get Blake and Seanna, and Chase was caught up in a frenzy of logistics. Tonight’s limos were part of his contribution for the weekend. No good deed went unpunished.
Chase headed downstairs, showered and dressed, but feeling somehow shittier than he had before he’d cleaned up. He’d also cut himself shaving and had a bloody gash on his cheek, which was guaranteed to turn on the ladies.
He caught a glimpse of Scott sitting at the kitchen table, typing into an iPad. Chase headed on to Felicity’s room, wanting to know why she called him a big fat liar earlier. He knocked on the door.
She opened it, standing in front of him with nothing on but her bra and thong underwear. He glanced out the window at the pool house, which was sitting undisturbed at the moment, and then in the direction of the kitchen. He put his gaze back on her. “What if I were Scott just now?” he whispered.
She waved him off and walked back into the room. “He’s hot. I wouldn’t kick him out of bed. I haven’t been with anyone since you if you can believe that. This may be a record for me.”
“You’re not bothered by the fact that he’s here for Shayla?” Chase asked.
Felicity stood in front of the mirror, fluffing her hair. “He may be here for her, but she’s not here for him, I can promise you that.”
He sat down on the bed. “Why, did she say something?”
“Didn’t have to. Now you, on the other hand, are an entirely different story.” She turned to him. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“That the two of you are madly in love with one another.”
Heat rose up through his chest to his neck. “What are you talking about?”
She picked up a tube of lip something and smoothed it onto her lips. “Don’t be obtuse, Chase, it’s annoying.”
“I’m not being obtuse,” he said, not entirely sure what it meant.
She turned to him with an exhausted look. “Please. You couldn’t hack through the sexual tension between the two of you with a machete.”
“How can you tell something like that after being around us together five seconds?”
“I have eyes, Chase. Actually, I have a blind friend who could have sensed that chemistry.”
He adjusted himself on the bed, not sure what to say.
She put the lipstick down and walked over to him. “Don’t worry. I’m going to stay out of your way this weekend.”
“You don’t need to do that. You’re welcome here, of course.”
“What’s the deal, anyway?” she asked. “Did you two have a fight? Not about me staying here, I hope.”
“No, nothing like that.”
“About Scott staying here? About me basically making you have him stay here?”
He looked up at her, a couple of feet away, still in her bra and panties. “Will you please put some clothes on?”
“Chase O’Neil, I could strip naked and you wouldn’t see me right now. You certainly wouldn’t appreciate it.”
He exhaled a deep breath, meeting her gaze. “Were you expecting for the two of us…” He looked down at the bed and then back to her.
She shrugged. “Not necessarily expecting. I did get waxed, just in case. It may not go to waste though. I hope not. No woman should have to go through that torture unrewarded.”
He stood. “Thanks for understanding.”
“Sure.” She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He wasn’t sure he’d ever had a lover go to a friend like that, not genuinely. “I am going to miss our phone sex. That’s some of the best sex I’ve ever had.” She pulled away. “That’s pretty sad.” She smiled at him. “It’s worth it though for you to be happy. You deserve it.”
He glanced in the direction of the pool house. “Nobody’s happy right now, I can promise you that.”
“This is a stressful weekend. A lot going on. Once you get through this and you get rid of your pesky houseguests, all will clear away.”
He smiled at her. “Here’s hoping.”
“Hang on before you leave. You can zip me up.” She walked over to her closet and took off her bra, her back to him, before pulling something off the rack. He glanced around, feeling like he was about to get caught, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her back and ass before. She stepped into the outfit which was all one piece. He zipped it up and waited for her to turn around. “Go on,” she said. “I’ll make my entrance.”
“I know you will,” he said, and headed into the kitchen where Scott was still on his iPad. “I hope you found the beer,” Chase said, opening the refrigerator.
“I could use one. You can leave the state, but you can never truly get away from work, you know?”
“I definitely do.” Chase handed him an IPA. He couldn’t stand it if he found out Scott preferred pilsner like Shayla.
“Thanks,” Scott said, shoving his iPad away. “It’ll still be there tomorrow, right?”
Chase could tell he was trying
to convince himself with that statement. “What you’re doing there and more, I imagine.”
Scott frowned at the iPad. “You’re right about that.” He picked it up and went back to work on it.
Chase sat down at the table and scrolled through his phone. A few minutes later Felicity walked into the room, making an entrance worthy of an actress at the Oscars. Her green silky outfit had a V-neck that plunged all the way down between her boobs, with sky-high heels to top it off.
Scott suddenly had no interest in whatever he’d been doing on his iPad. “Hey,” he said, drool practically running down his chin.
Felicity twirled. “I like to make an entrance.”
“That you did,” Chase said. “You look great.”
She put her hands on her hips, tapping her fingers. “Great? That’s all you’ve got?”
“Stunningly gorgeous?” Chase asked.
She shrugged. “I’ll accept that.”
She walked over to Scott and took his beer from him, but Chase imagined she just wanted him to have a better look at her tits. “What’s this? IPA?” She turned to Chase. “You got a whiskey sour somewhere?”
“I think I can come up with one.” He walked over to the bar in the dining room and pulled a bottle of sweet and sour mix out of the refrigerator, aware of Felicity teasing Scott about something. In another life, he may have felt territorial about a woman he’d slept with flirting so shamelessly with another man in front of him, but at the moment, he couldn’t have cared less. He just wanted to see Shayla.
He came back in the kitchen and handed her the drink. “Let me know if it’s too strong.”
She gave him a look. “Do I look like I’m going easy tonight?”
He smiled back at his friend, happy to know her, the week they spent in bed together feeling like a decade ago.
The door to the pool house opened, and Chase’s jaw dropped as he laid eyes on Shayla, who was turned around locking her door. She wore skin-tight, faux leather black pants and cowboy boots with a red, long-sleeved top that draped down her back just far enough to reveal that she might not be wearing a bra. She turned around, dropping her keys into a small purse, and walked toward the house brushing big, soft curls out of her face, revealing red-painted lips.
Seagrove Secrets (Love Along Hwy 30A) Page 17
