He slipped it into his pocket. “More than nice.”
The way he said it, and the way he looked at her, made her feel like he was actually talking about her. “Uh.” She looked away, getting nervous for a minute.
“So I was thinking about what you said at the wedding. Any more suggestions?”
She nodded. “For the presentation, you need to look professional. Did you bring a suit?”
He shook his head, tapping his hat. “Nope, but I brought my dress hat.”
She frowned.
“Hey, I need to look the part.”
“True.”
“I made a PowerPoint last night.”
“You did? Great, we’ll look over it together when we get to the hotel.”
“Perfect.”
The rest of the plane ride went smoothly. It wasn’t long, barely four hours.
After they got to LA and found their rental car, they were surrounded by salty air. Traffic was predictably horrible, and they decided they would simply get something to eat at a drive-thru on the way to the hotel so they could spend more time on the PowerPoint presentation.
Michael had set them up at the Marriot, and Autumn felt spoiled. Their rooms were connected, and it was fun to be able to just open up the door between them. At the same time, it felt intimate.
“You okay with this?” Chase asked, gesturing to their adjoining rooms.
“Yeah.” She shook her head, not wanting to be weird. “It’s fine.”
Chase narrowed his eyes then frowned. “Okay. What’s wrong?” He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and leaned back against the wall.
“I just …”
“What?”
She didn’t know why she was telling him this, but she was. “I always had to have extreme boundaries between me and Brad. I believe in waiting until marriage, and Brad doesn’t.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Okay. Do you want me across the hall?”
“No.” She felt stupid.
Chase put his hands up, the side of his lip turning up. “Look, if you can’t stay away from me, I’ll move.”
She frowned, glaring at him. “Ha. Ha.” But his joke did make her feel better.
“Hey.” Chase moved into his room and took his laptop out of his bag. “Let’s get this PowerPoint presentation fixed.”
After working on it for two hours, he stood, stretching tall. “Man, I think it’s going to be good.”
She stood too.
“Hey, should we go take a dunk in the hot tub?”
She marveled at how much she actually wanted to. “Race you down.”
After they’d changed, she found herself barreling down the hall and fighting for who got to push the elevator button.
He decided to run down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. When Autumn met him at the hot tub, he was already soaking in the water with his hat on his head.
She put her towel down and frowned at him. “Couldn’t leave the hat, cowboy?”
He grinned. “It’s like my brand in the big city.”
This made her laugh. She got into the hot tub and leaned back, loving how amazing the hot water felt.
“Can you believe the weather here?” Chase looked around grinning.
“I love it.”
They both soaked for a few minutes. Then Autumn said, “I’m sorry, again.”
He frowned. “Are you okay, Autumn?”
Her heart was racing as she thought about how Brad had a lawsuit against Chase. Knowing it wouldn’t work to try to hide her feelings from Chase, she shook her head again. “I can’t believe I was ever with the idiot. And now, there’s this lawsuit. It could really hurt you. Everything you’ve worked for.” Tears were bubbling in her eyes, and she turned away.
“Whoa.” Chase pulled her into his strong arms. The smell of earth, wood, light cologne, and leather was squelched by the chlorine of the hot tub.
She pulled away. “I just hope it doesn’t ruin all of your plans for your ranch.”
“Hey.” Chase let out a sigh. “Listen, if I know anything about the legend that is Michael Hamilton, it’s that he doesn’t waste time or money. You know he has the best of the best working on my case. Your buddy Brad is gonna get tuned up. Brad and his dad might be hot stuff in Billings, but Michael has big-time lawyers in LA. Michael won’t let us down. Do you know how much he and Janet went through to be together?”
Autumn smiled, knowing the story full well. She’d heard about how Janet and Michael had gone through ten years of being apart and how Janet had fought cancer and Michael had made himself into a business guru. “I do.”
Chase released her, but held her gaze. “I’m not worried about it. The idiot deserved to be thrown out of that store on his butt.” He shrugged. “It was my pleasure to do it.”
Shaking herself from her fear, she sucked in a breath. Before she could fully relax, she noticed Chase’s scowl. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
For a second, he didn’t answer. Then he said, “I don’t like a man that torments women.”
“I’m fine now.”
Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Eventually, Chase asked, “So what do you want, Autumn?”
“What?” She hadn’t been expecting this.
“When everything works out for you, which it will, what do you want?”
She sighed. “I want to … well, I want to do theater. Or manage a theater.”
“That’s cool.”
“But lately, after all the time I’ve been spending with Lacy, I’ve been thinking how fun it would be to teach acting to kids. Do a summer program or something.”
He pointed at her. “You could do it on the ranch. I could make room for you.”
She knew he was kidding, but she kind of loved the idea. Still, she played it off. “Right, like you’d have room for a theater.”
“Heck, I’d build you one.” He pressed his lips together in thought. “Yeah, toward the Snow property. I bet the Snows might even go in half. They always like good causes.”
“Destiny’s aunt and uncle.”
Chase nodded. “Yep.”
She couldn’t believe they were really talking about this.
“Well, at least I know the presentation’s gonna knock it out of the park because of you.” Chase nodded at her. “I like how we added all the other benefits of going to the corporate retreat. Loved your part about the spa and massages too.”
“Thanks.” She smiled, feeling better than she’d felt in a long time.
Chase’s phone rang. It was on a towel on a chair close to them. He pulled the chair over, patted his hand and answered the phone, putting it on speaker.
“Hey, Chase, I have an update on the charges.” It was Michael.
“We’re both listening.” Chase sat up straight and held the phone between them.
“My attorneys have been digging into Brad’s record. It appears he had a restraining order filed on him in high school and assault charges that were wiped from his record when he was a minor.”
Once again, Autumn felt more and more like a fool for even dating the guy, let alone falling in love with him and agreeing to get married.
“Where does that put us?” Chase asked.
“It’s good,” Michael said. “They are putting together some papers to settle this thing out of court.”
Autumn clenched her hand into a fist, unsure if she liked that idea or not. It might be nice to see Brad pay inside of court, if it didn’t hurt Chase.
Michael continued. “So you two hold tight. But listen, the meeting for tomorrow got pushed back a day.”
Disappointment filled her. “Why?”
Michael sighed. “My assistant had to reschedule some stuff. So now the presentation is Thursday. You two just go out and have some fun in LA tomorrow, okay?”
Fun was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment.
“Go shopping. Autumn, I gave Chase one of my credit cards. I want you guys to charge everything to me. After all, this is a
business trip for you two. Do something to keep yourselves fresh. I gotta run. I’ll check in later.”
They both said their goodbyes quickly.
Chase let out a breath, then put his phone on a nearby chair. “Well, what do you want to do that’s fun? Disneyland?” His eyes lit up.
She found it totally in character for Chase that he wouldn’t let the reminder of the charges against him dampen his mood.
Disneyland didn’t really appeal to her. “I don’t know.”
“Hmm…”
Just then, an idea flashed into her mind. She popped out of the hot tub and grabbed his phone, checking the time. It was eight thirty at night. Maybe she could get it all worked out in time. “Leave it to me.” She rushed toward the rooms. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“What are you up to?” He called after her.
This made her laugh because he could already tell when she was scheming. She called back. “Get some rest, cowboy. Be at my room at seven a.m. sharp.”
Chapter 9
It hadn’t been hard to be up and ready to go by seven in the morning for Chase. Heck, he’d gotten up at five thirty like he did most days of his life and gone to the exercise room. Then he had run three miles, done fifty push-ups and sit-ups, and showered. He’d even had time to get some eggs from the complimentary breakfast bar.
When he knocked on her door promptly at seven, he couldn’t deny that the perfume and the way her hair wasn’t quite done, half pulled up onto her head made him smile. Made something else inside of him shift, too. He realized he liked seeing her first thing in the morning.
“I’m almost ready.” She waved him inside in a frantic hurry. “We’ve got to leave in the next ten minutes to get there on time.”
Not knowing what was happening, but liking it, Chase took his hat off and entered.
She went to the bathroom and kept the door open as she finished curling her hair. “Okay. So. I think you’re going to love this. Go to the bed and put on one of the shirts I got us.”
Confused but still excited, he went to the bed and saw the hot-pink shirt with white stencil that read Just Engaged. “What the he—”
She appeared in the doorway and cut him off. “The Price Is Right!”
His mind whirled with confusion. “What?”
Putting down her curling iron, she came out of the bathroom. “You need ways of getting money, right? And we’re in L.A.”
In a heartbeat, he realized what the t-shirt meant. “Holy cow.”
She laughed too and grabbed her shirt, taking it with her to the bathroom and shutting the door. Her words came out muffled. “I researched it last night. They like to have big groups, or people who stand apart. Of course the shirts have to match. So I asked the concierge last night who could get these printed quick.”
“Awesome.” Slowly, he unbuttoned his shirt, took the bigger “Just Engaged” shirt off the bed, and slipped it on. There was something about putting on the shirt that made him feel different. Different then he’d ever felt about a woman before. She’d done this for him.
Coming out of the bathroom, she watched as he pulled it over his head. It was a bit tight, but not bad. She stared at him.
“What?” He never felt self-conscious, so this discomfort was unfamiliar to him.
Looking away quickly, she coughed. “Uh. Nothing. I just didn’t realize …” She blushed and trailed off.
Grinning, he let out a laugh, trying to cover his angst. “You didn’t realize I was so buff, right?” He flexed, knowing he was acting like a teenager and not caring.
Shaking her head, she smiled and moved to the bathroom. “No, I just didn’t realize pink would look so good on you.”
* * *
Two hours later, they stood in line around CBS studios with a plethora of other game-watchers trying to get on The Price Is Right—mostly women, some men. One group of women had shirts labeled “Moms Love Drew” with fake black glasses on that framed their faces like Drew Carey’s.
Chase let out a rippling laugh and nodded to the group. “Man, these women are competitive.”
Autumn, who looked totally composed at the moment, gave the group of hyped-up moms a once-over and narrowed her eyes, pushing her sunglasses back. “We’ve got them. Totally got them. In my research last night, it mentioned every single person who gets on the show has to be interviewed by a producer. The producer is looking for something interesting about the person. Something catchy. He’s also looking for energy. We’ve got both interesting and catchy between us.”
Chase frowned and rubbed his face. He hadn’t shaved that day since they weren’t doing meetings, and he had a bit of five-o’clock shadow going on.
Cocking her eyebrow, she seemed to read his mind. “You didn’t shave.”
Liking that she was paying close attention to his appearance, he grinned. “And you like a man with a little face stubble.”
She pressed her lips together. “Unprofessional.”
“What?” He took her by the shoulders and playfully pulled her into him, gently rubbing his face against her cheek.
She squealed happily and tried to get away from him. That just made him laugh and pull her closer, smelling her light lemon scent and loving the satin feel of her hair against his cheek.
“Stop.” She laughed.
Without warning, a man in a suit was in front of them, grinning like he’d just won a jackpot. “Hey, folks, what do we have here?”
Chase let go of Autumn, who abruptly turned and put on a smile. “Hello,” she said in a chipper voice. Chase figured this must be the producer.
Reaching out to shake each of their hands, the man said, “My name’s Jack. I have a few questions for you two lovebirds.” He eyed their shirts. “Just engaged, huh?”
Autumn linked arms with Chase. “Yesterday.” She flashed a grin.
“What are your names?”
She rushed to answer. “I’m Autumn, and this is Chase. He’s starting a dude ranch in Montana.”
The man in the suit eyed Chase and then gave Autumn a smile Chase didn’t like. Chase made a flash decision about this LA guy. With his too-white, big-toothed smile and a fancy suit, this was not the kind of guy that mixed in Chase’s circles. He doubted this guy had ever even been around a horse.
The guy took a step closer to Autumn, and Chase knew if she really was his fiancée, he wouldn’t like the proximity. “So what’s your name again?”
She put on a pretty smile. “Autumn.”
“Ah, I really like that name. What’s your favorite season?”
A sorority-girl laugh came out of her mouth, and Chase had to do a double-take to make sure it was Autumn laughing. She pushed him gently in the shoulder. “Fall, of course.”
The man looked pleased at her friendliness, but his eyes shifted to Chase. “And you are both starting a dude ranch?”
Chase cleared his throat and forced a smile. “Yep.”
The man shifted his attention right back to Autumn. “How do I know you two didn’t just put the shirts on for this show?” He seemed to be hoping that was the case. “How do I know that you’re really engaged to the man next to you?”
Autumn kept a teasing smile on her face and put her hands on her hips. “Well, what man would wear a pink shirt like this just to come on The Price Is Right?”
The man didn’t back away. “I would.” He challenged.
Chase resisted the urge to push him away.
Without missing a beat, Autumn teased. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to prove it.” Before Chase knew what she was doing, she linked her hands behind his neck and pulled him to her, kissing him with an intensity he’d not been expecting.
It was as if the world had vanished, and all he could feel was her soft lips on his. His hands went behind her hips, and he pulled her closer, loving the way their bodies melded in perfect sync. The lemony scent overwhelmed him.
Then she pushed away, keeping close to him. “Sorry,” she said, sounding out of breath. “We just kinda g
et lost in each other.”
The producer let out a laugh. “Well, that certainly was a convincing kiss.” He pumped his eyebrows. “But you didn’t tell me your story, Autumn.”
“What?” she asked, startled.
“What’s your story? Your fiancé wants to start a dude ranch. What do you want?”
Chase could tell she hadn’t thought about the question, which made him smile since she’d orchestrated the whole thing. He remembered what she’d said the night before. “She wants to teach theater classes to children. We’re building a theater on my property.”
“Theater?” the man asked.
Chase felt proud of her. “Yep.”
The producer’s eyes gave a whole sweep of her body, and Chase felt the urge to clock him, again. This was the same kind of guy Brad was—rich and predatory. Chase didn’t like it even though he knew he had possessive thoughts of his own.
“How are you going to incorporate that into a dude ranch in Montana?” the producer asked her.
Autumn still didn’t have a response, so Chase gripped her hand more firmly. “Summer theater classes. She’s going to have groups from all over the country come to her summer programs. Scholarships will be available. It’s gonna be amazing. We’ll get ’em all up on a horse too.”
The producer gave him a skeptical look then said, “Nice story, cowboy.” All ceremony, he pointed to Chase and took on a tone of bravado. “What’s your favorite game on The Price is Right, Chase?”
For a second, he scrambled for what to say before blurting something out. “Plinko!” The people in line around them cheered in agreement.
The man nodded and moved down the line.
After the guy was far enough down the line, Autumn withdrew her hand from Chase’s and looked away from him. “I can’t believe I completely froze up.”
Chase stared at the side of her face, liking that he could really get a good view of her from this angle. The pink shirt fit nicely on her, and she wore a jean skirt to the knee with fancy laced-up-her-leg shoes that made her taller, though still a good few inches shorter than him. He couldn’t stop himself from being more and more attracted to this woman every second. “You did fine.” His mind flashed to the kiss. “More than fine.”
Winter in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance) Page 60
