by Shaw, Rhonda
“I still owe you tickets,” he finally said as he leaned forward on his knees, watching Bree hop over to the sandbox. “I didn’t forget about that.”
“You don’t need to get us any tickets.”
He looked back at her. “I want to.”
She couldn’t stop her audible sigh.
“What?” he asked.
“I don’t know how to say this, but I’ll give it my best.” She paused as she tried to choose her words carefully. “I believe that you really want to do these things for Bree, but I think that perhaps maybe you’re taking on too much. I mean, I don’t think that you would intentionally break your promise, but I just don’t see how you’re going to be able to follow through on everything.” When he continued studying her without saying anything, Maddie pressed on. “I’m just playing mom here. Sorry. I don’t want to see Bree get hurt, that’s all.”
Chase looked down at his hands replaying her words in his head before he sat back. “I’m not going to pretend that you didn’t just insult my character, but I’m going to give you a break because you don’t know me,” he said with a crooked grin. “I know what I’m promising, what I can deliver on and what I can’t. You’re right, I probably should have explained I was going to be heading out on the road and wouldn’t be around for a while, but it slipped my mind. I’m sorry. But,” he said as he reached down into one of the side pockets of his shorts and withdrew a baseball. He arched his brow. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
Maddie couldn’t help herself and smiled back at him, his enthusiasm and charm breaking right through her irritation. He was right. He was here and she really hadn’t given him a chance. His only failure had been not following some timeline she’d devised in her head as acceptable.
“Okay, okay. You’re right. I’m being a little overprotective, sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’ll let you off the hook this time, but three strikes and you’re out,” he teased.
He turned his gaze back to where Bree was running around the jungle gym, chasing her new friends. He was silent for a few moments before turning back to her.
“What’s the story with her dad?”
“There isn’t one.” When he looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue, she blew out a breath. “He isn’t in the picture for the most part. He sees her about once or twice a year, whenever his family asks to see her.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, it does, but we deal with it.”
“Is that the reason you got divorced?”
Maddie nodded as she stared out across the park, amazed at how easy it was to talk to him but more surprised that she wanted to. “The day I told him I was pregnant he was pretty much out the door. I didn’t try to stop him.”
“I’m sorry,” Chase said, truly looking so.
“You hardly had anything to do with it. Besides, I try to tell myself it’s his issue and not mine. He’s got a great daughter and he’s missing out on everything.”
“Damn right he is.” He watched Bree run around some more and chuckled when she stumbled over her own feet but got up unfazed. “It must suck, marrying someone thinking you want the same things and then finding out at the worst time it isn’t true.”
She was amazed that he had immediately cut straight to the heart of the issue. So many people hadn’t understood how she could leave Kyle when she was pregnant, effectively choosing to be a single mother over staying with him. Even Karen had expressed some reservations about her decision initially, assuming there had been some sort of misunderstanding. “Thank you. I think you’re the first person who’s seen it from my side.”
“It seems obvious. I mean, I would think that if you both knew you wanted different things before you got married, you wouldn’t have.”
“Exactly.”
“Honesty. It’s all about honesty, that’s what I always say.”
“I wish it was that easy.” She glanced at his profile out of the corner of her eye.
“It is. People just make it more complicated than it needs to be. I figured if everyone just laid it straight all the time, sure you might not like what they have to say, but you don’t end up making decisions based on false pretenses or lies.”
“It would be nice if everyone thought like you. I know it would make my life easier,” she added with a laugh.
“Well, how about this? I promise I’ll always be straight with you, Maddie.”
She frowned as the jitters in her stomach struck up again. “I hardly see why you would have to make a promise to me.”
Chase shrugged as he stood up. “You just never know.”
She watched as he trotted over to the sandbox where Bree was digging with some friends. Her mind was going a mile a minute as she puzzled over what he could have meant by “you just never know.” There was no reason he should feel like he owed her anything.
When Bree spotted him approaching, she jumped up with a squeal. Maddie couldn’t hear what he was saying to her, but she was beaming from ear to ear as she looked up at him with stars in her eyes. Oh, Lord! Her daughter was definitely having her first crush.
Maddie watched as he said something and placed the baseball in Bree’s hand. She looked it over as if it was a foreign object, her small hand just big enough to hold on to it. Chase grinned at her reaction as he steered them away from the jungle gym and into a small clearing. He patiently relayed instructions as he demonstrated a throwing motion with his arm before taking a couple of steps back, kneeling down and holding his hands out.
Bree stuck her tongue between her teeth in concentration, planted her legs apart to steady herself, and gave it all she had, but the ball dropped dead at her feet. Maddie’s heart gave a sharp thud at the look of disappointment on her daughter’s face and she was quickly on her feet. As she approached the clearing, Chase was gently repeating his instructions.
“You need to bring your arm all the way back like this,” he said, stretching his arm back in demonstration and slowly pulling it forward. “Take a step with this foot and that way you can reach way back.”
Bree tried again, without moving her feet, and ended up with the same result.
“Come on, Bree, work with me here. You’re throwing like a girl,” he teased.
“I am a girl!” she complained.
“I know, but that doesn’t mean you need to throw like one,” he said with a glint in his eye.
“Forget it! I can’t throw!” She crossed her arms with a sulk.
“Aw, come on. Do you think I gave up whenever something was hard?”
“But you’re a boy!” she protested.
“So? That doesn’t have anything to do with it. You can throw just like I can,” Chase told her patiently.
“You’re like ten times bigger and stronger than me!”
“I didn’t say you’d be able to throw as far or as hard as me, but you can throw like me, we have the same mechanics.” He demonstrated slowly again.
Bree eyed him skeptically. “I can’t do that.”
Maddie was about to encourage her daughter to try again, but Chase wasn’t giving up.
He stood behind her and walked her through the motions, making her shift her weight to her left foot with her right arm stretched out past her shoulder. “You see how that feels there? That’s where you want it. That’s all you have to do, shift your weight like that. I saw you do it when you were playing around over there, so I know you can,” he encouraged gently. He placed the ball back in Bree’s hand. “Give it another shot.”
Circling around to stand in front of her, he knelt down and held out his hands. Sticking her tongue in her teeth again, Bree tried to repeat what he’d showed her and while it wasn’t quite the same, she did succeed in throwing the ball a short distance as he reached forward and snagged it from the air. “See! I knew you could
do it!” he said with pride.
Her face glowed with triumph. “Mommy! Did you see that?”
“Yep, I sure did. Great job!”
Chase stood and gave Maddie a sly look. “How about you? You throw like a girl too?”
She backed up a bit. “Oh no! You’re not getting me to do that. I definitely throw like a girl, and proud of it.”
He walked steadily toward her. “Come on. If I can teach Bree, I can teach you.”
“Yeah, Mommy! Come on!”
Maddie gave him a steely cold stare, but he ignored it. Smiling, he gently pulled her to where Bree was standing and plopped the ball in her hand. “Your turn. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
She took a deep breath and waited for him to walk a few feet away from them, but he didn’t go much farther than where he’d stopped with Bree. She wished she could heave it past him to prove him wrong, but she knew deep down it wasn’t going to happen. At least he hadn’t knelt down. If he’d done that, she would have definitely aimed directly for his head. As it was, she hoped she had it in her to launch it far enough so he would have to run after it or hard enough to hit him where it would hurt. He was enjoying her embarrassment too much.
Trying to replay in her mind what she’d seen him demonstrate, Maddie took a step with her left foot and did a little jump as she threw the ball in his direction. It went far enough for Chase to catch even though he had to bend down to get it, but he also fell to the ground on his butt, laughing. “What the hell was that?”
Her cheeks immediately flamed. “What? I got it to you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but what was with the hop?”
“It worked, didn’t it?” She scowled at Bree, who was giggling right along with him.
He stood up and brushed off his shorts before trotting back over to where she was standing. He put the ball back in her hand and she promptly dropped it on the ground, disappointed that it didn’t fall on any of the toes sticking out of his flip-flops. “I don’t think so. I’m not doing that again if you’re going to laugh at me.”
He fought to bring himself under control, but his lips continued to twitch. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he repeated when she turned away from him with her arms crossed. “I’ve just never seen that before and, well, you looked ridiculous.”
Maddie glared up at him. “Apology not accepted.”
“Oh, come on. Lighten up. It’s all in good fun,” he said as he bent over to pick up the ball. He put it back in her hand and stepped behind her with a smirk on his face. “I’ll show you how to do it right.”
She gave an impatient sigh and rolled her eyes, but let him move her through the motions, his body molded against hers.
“Lift your left foot there, that’s right, and bring your arm back to here. You feel that?” Chase asked as he held her right arm up, his warm hand moving slowly from her elbow to her wrist. He angled his body and she could feel the feel length of him pressed against her, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. “And then you’re going to bring it through and follow through to here.”
Maddie nodded. Could she feel that? She could feel nothing but that! The breadth and solidness of his chest against her back as he leaned over her made her want to turn and worship its strength. Her butt was snug against his front and she didn’t even want to think about what she could bump into if she moved even the slightest inch. His breath was warm on her neck and his lips were right by her ear making her mouth water. Her skin started to tighten and tingle as the air seemed to clog in her throat, and she could feel her cheeks burning. Her reactions, all of them, were shocking. Had it been that long that any touch from a male was going to set her off? Did it not matter that he was many—way too many—years her junior? Her mind screamed, asking what the hell she was thinking, but her body was happily ignoring the alarms.
When she felt herself sink back into him, she jerked away and returned his puzzled look with an uncomfortable smile. “Thanks. I think I’ve got it.” It was humiliating that she sounded breathless to her own ears.
He nodded slowly, still giving her a questioning look, but slowly walked away from her and turned around, waiting for her to throw the ball.
“Just remember what I showed you,” he called out.
Maddie took a deep breath. She was flustered and all she could focus on was how it had felt to be against him. What was wrong with her? He was a kid to her, wasn’t he? Although that had been all man she’d felt, there was no denying that. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t a child, but he was definitely dating her niece. There was no way she should be having any thoughts like that about him. It was probably illegal.
“Everything all right down there?” Chase asked, confused as to why she hadn’t thrown the ball yet.
“Yeah, yeah.”
She set her shoulders and forced herself to focus. Just because that had been the closest thing to sex that she’d had in a long time, it didn’t mean she needed to lose her mind. Repeating what he’d showed her, she threw the ball and was pleasantly surprised when it flew through the air in a straight line and right into his hands.
“Mommy, that was awesome!” Bree shouted.
“Good job,” he agreed.
She pulled her shirt down with purpose and gave him a smug look. “I’m a quick study.”
He chuckled as he walked back over to them. He gave the ball to Bree. “Next time I’ll bring you a mitt so we can do some catching.”
“A mitt?”
“Yeah, you know a glove.” He mimed putting a glove on his hand. “You catch the ball with the glove.”
She thought it over. “Can I get a pink mitt?”
“Sure, I think I can find you a pink mitt.” He smiled down at her as he absently rubbed her head. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got a game tonight, so I need to head to the ballpark.”
“Good luck with the game,” Maddie said, eager to be out of his company before she did something stupid like intentionally falling into him, forcing him to put his strong hands on her again. “Bree, say thank you.”
“Thank you, Chase.”
“It was my pleasure,” he replied, looking steadily at Maddie. She met his gaze, but quickly looked away, certain she was misreading what appeared to be desire deep in his dark eyes.
Risking another glance at him, she was relieved that his usual friendly demeanor was back. “I’ll see you guys later,” he said
She watched as his long stride took him out of the park and back toward the complex. She didn’t realize she was still watching where he’d disappeared around the corner until Bree tugged on her hand. “Mommy, are we going to stay here?”
“What? Oh!” She quickly recovered. “No, let’s go get some lunch.”
As they walked back home, Maddie convinced herself she’d mistaken the look on Chase’s face. She, with her new mental issues apparently, had read too much into everything. It didn’t help that feeling him against her had set her hormones into overdrive, but she was going to have to rethink her dating ban if she was going to start seeing sex in everything. Karen was right. She desperately needed to get some.
* * *
Later that evening, Maddie and Karen sat on her back porch enjoying a glass of wine and the warm summer temps. Bree was inside watching TV—probably looking for the Detroit Rockets’s game hoping to catch a glimpse of her new best friend.
Karen took a deep sip of her wine and sighed. “I could totally do this all the time. Warm night, an excellent glass of wine and good company.”
“I know what you mean.” Maddie cleared her throat. “Uh, so I forgot to tell you that we saw Chase in the park.”
“Forgot, my ass. I knew there was something on your mind. You’ve been scattered all night.” She sat up in her chair and looked expectantly at her. “So what happened?”
“He saw us walking down and came
over. He played catch with Bree.”
Karen’s sharp stare remained trained on her face as she waited. When Maddie didn’t offer anything else, she rolled her eyes. “And?”
“And what?”
“Come on, Maddie. Hello? Did you forget who you’re talking to? I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”
She scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.”
Maddie glared at her friend as she reached for her wine. “You’re such a pain in the ass.”
“I know, I know. It can be a real annoying when someone calls you out on your lies.”
She sat quietly for a second before she sighed. “Fine. If you must know, I think there’s something seriously wrong with me.”
“We all know that’s true,” Karen laughed.
“Seriously, I had some really inappropriate thoughts about him.” Maddie explained how Chase’s hands had been all over her when he was teaching her the mechanics of throwing and how all she wanted to do was turn around to jump him. “Add to that the fact that he’s so young and dating my niece, and I have major issues.”
“I don’t know. Sounds pretty hot to me.”
“Karen!”
Karen looked at her unapologetically. “What? Who cares how old he is? If he gets your blood running, that’s all that matters. I mean, it’s not like he’s illegal or anything.”
Maddie shook her head. “This is just great. There’s something wrong with me and you’re telling me everything’s okay.”
“No, what I’m telling you is that if he’s dating Sandy, which I’m beginning to question, by the way, based on everything you’ve told me...I knew he was trying to impress you! But anyway, if he’s dating Sandy and you try to go after him, then yes, you have issues. But if he’s available and interested and you’re available and interested, then what’s the issue?”
“Uh, what about the fact that he’s like a child to us?”
“How is he like a child? Does he look like a child? Act like a child? Like I said, he isn’t illegal. Who cares how old he is exactly? If he made me feel that way, I wouldn’t care and you shouldn’t either.”
