Sliding his finger under my chin, he tilted my face back. “Look at me.” His voice was hoarse, proving I wasn’t the only one overcome with a myriad of emotions. Doing as he said, I opened my heavy-lidded eyes and peered up at him. “I will never break any promise I make you.” Tracing his thumb along my jaw, he dipped his face closer to mine. Noses nearly touching, he exhaled; his minty breath wafted over my face sending my heart into overdrive. “Not ever.”
“I—”
Whack!
My words faltered when Chase jerked, and garlic-scented poultry juice mixed with deep fryer grease splashed across the side of my face. Eyes nearly popping out of my head, I swung my gaze to Grandmama and the turkey leg she held up in the air as if she were wielding Thor’s mighty hammer.
“Did you just fucking hit me with a piece of meat?” Chase all but hollered.
Confused, I swung my gaze to him.
Then, I almost choked.
Grease, combined with a few tiny pieces of eviscerated meat clung to his reddened cheek, marring his tanned skin and acting as irrefutable proof that the Crazy Old Biddy had indeed popped him with an oversized piece of southern-fried fair food hard enough to splatter it all over me too.
Oh. My. God.
Seriously, oh my God!
“Grandmama,” I said, my tone admonishing. “What in the world are you doing?”
She quirked a brow, challenge sparking to life in her eyes. “I’m tryin’ to knock some dadgum sense into one of you’s!” she hollered, one hand going to her hip. “Why, if you two don’t yank your heads outta your butts, I’m gonna pull out my flyswatter and go to town on ‘em!”
Yank our heads out of our butts?
Good gravy.
She had lost her mind!
“It’s bad enough that I’m having to work overtime to get your brother”—she pointed at Chase before swinging her finger to me—“and your best friend to see what’s right in front of their dag-blasted faces. Now I’ve gotta spend my precious bingo time workin’ my magic on you two knuckleheads too. I swear,” she continued, wavering the turkey around in the air, “it’s more work than herdin’ cats!”
I narrowed my eyes. “What do Ty and Heidi have to do with Chase and me?”
Puffing out her chest, she pinched her lips into a thin line. “’Cause all four of you are blinder than bats drunk on liquor!” Stepping closer, she dropped her arm, along with the fried weapon she’d used to pummel Chase with and looked at me. “When a man turns you stupider-than-a-stump with just one kiss, then you hang on to him, Ashley Jo.” Her brows climbed her forehead. “Especially when his lips meeting yours makes your dadgum toes curl so hard your feet almost snap right in half.”
I blinked, unsure of how to respond.
“Now,” she said, taking a bite of turkey. “If y’all don’t mind, they are about to have a pull-up competition thing-a-ma-bob over yonder at the t-shirt stand. I’m first in line.”
Wearing a disgusted look, Chase swiped the grease and meat from his face. “Grandmama, you can’t do a pull-up. Your damn arms will break slap off.”
“Boy, you better thank the good Lord above for football,” she said, exhaling frustratedly. “’Cause you don’t know whether to check your ass or scratch your watch half the time. Course I ain’t gonna do no pull-ups, but you can bet your sweet behind that I’m gonna be watching from the front row.”
Of course, she was.
Pull-ups meant muscles, and muscles were Grandmama’s drug of choice.
Well, that and moonshine.
Shooting me one last look—one which I couldn’t read worth a flip—she turned and headed in the opposite direction, waving her turkey leg at anyone who got in her way. Before she was out of earshot, I heard her yell, “Outta my way, people! I’ve got pictures to take and tushes to pinch!”
“One day,” Chase said, watching her go. “She’s going to end up in jail on charges that your daddy won’t be able to get her out of.”
I shrugged because yep, it would probably happen. “Good thing Brantley is a defense attorney then,” I replied. “He already spends half his time getting her out of traffic tickets even though that isn’t his area of expertise. I mean, just last week she got cited for parking in front of a fire hydrant while some guys from Station 41 put out a shed fire.” I nearly rolled my eyes at what I was about to say next. “You know she was just gawking at them, but she swore before God and everybody that she was just making sure her tax dollars were being put to good use.”
Shaking his head, Chase chuckled.
Then, without giving me any warning, he snaked his arm around my lower back and pulled me into him. Our fronts collided, almost knocking the air from my lungs. “We’ve spent enough time on the Crazy Old Biddy,” he said. “It’s time for you and me to have some fun.”
The smile that tipped my lips nearly split my face in half. “Yeah? And what did you have in mind?”
I shuddered when his tongue raked across his bottom lip, leaving a trail of moisture behind. “For starters, I’m buying you a funnel cake. Then, I’m going to win you a teddy bear three times the size of the one Grandmama had.”
My heart swelled with each word.
“And finally, I’m going to take you on every ride here.” Resting his forehead against mine, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Because tonight, we’re going to do everything you missed out on as a kid.”
My chin wobbled. “I’d like that,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. “I’d like it a whole lot.”
He brushed his lips against my forehead before standing tall once more. “Let’s go then.” Taking a step back, he bent at the waist, lightly shoved his shoulder into my belly and lifted me into the air. Arm clamped over the back of my thighs and the skirt of my dress, he started to move.
“Chase, put me down!” I yelled, between bouts of laughter as both amusement and mortification worked its way through me.
“Not gonna happen,” he replied, tightening his hold.
“Fine!” I said, faux exasperation dripping from my voice. “But if you’re going to embarrass me in front of half the county, then the least you can do is buy me a caramel apple to go with my funnel cake.”
“Anything you want, beautiful girl. All you have to do is say the words, and it’s yours.”
Every word he said was the truth.
Because that night, he spoiled me rotten.
And I loved every bit of it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chase
Anthony Moretti looked ready to kill me.
It was a normal occurrence for us.
Standing in the open door, his arms crossed over his chest, he glared at me just like he’d done the first time I’d shown up on his porch two years earlier. The only difference between then and now is that one, I wasn’t carrying Ashley’s purse in my hand, and two, Lucca was now glaring at me instead of looking at me in confusion like he’d done back then.
Like father, like son.
Christ.
“You’ve got exactly three seconds to explain to me why I shouldn’t have my wife come out here and shoot you where you stand,” he said, looking from my bare chest to Ashley, who I held in my arms, her face buried against me. Eyes closed, she was half asleep. “If she’s drunk—”
“She’s not drunk,” I cut in, interrupting him. “And neither am I. She got sick on the Tilt-a-Whirl after eating nachos.”
I cringed thinking back to the moment I realized shit was about to go bad. Face tinted green, Ashley had grabbed her stomach with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. Locked in tight, there was nothing either of us could except let nature takes its course.
And fuck me, there had been vomit.
Vomit every-damn-where.
On me. On her.
On the people in the car behind us.
I’d almost puked at the sight.
“I got her cleaned up as best I could, but she needs to shower.” Catching a whiff of the smell coming off me,
I shuddered. “And so do I. I’ll use the garden hose, I don’t give a damn, but she needs to be washed off before she breaks out. You know her skin is sensitive, and who knows what was in those nachos.”
The murderous look on Moretti’s face softened at my words. Stepping to the side, he pulled Lucca out of the way and nodded toward the stairs. “Take her up to the bathroom across from her bedroom. I’ll have Shelby meet you up there after she gets done putting Gracie to bed.”
Disappointed that I wouldn’t get to see Gracie, I instinctively pulled Ashley closer, holding her a little tighter. I wasn’t ready to let her go. Not yet. The three hours we’d spent at the fair weren’t enough.
Not even close.
When I didn’t react, Moretti shot me an expectant look. Gritting my back teeth together, I headed inside and up the stairs. Knowing that my time with her was ticking away with each step that I took, I moved as slow as I could, drawing it out.
Once upstairs, I carried her into the bathroom like Anthony said. The moment I stepped through the door, her signature peach scent invaded my nose. Between the bottles of body wash, body spray, and lotion situated around the small room, the sour smell clinging to my skin vanished.
Thank fuck for that.
“Baby,” I whispered, jostling her the slightest bit. “You’ve gotta wake up. You need a bath, and your Mama is on the way to help you.”
She cracked one eyelid half open. “I’m twenty, Jock. I don’t need my Mama to help me bathe.”
I smiled at her smartass comment. Back when we first met, she didn’t have a whole lot of fight in her, but now my girl was full of sass at times.
Shelby was to blame for that.
No doubt.
“Yeah, but you got awfully sick, and I don’t feel right leaving you. What if you pass out? You could fall and hit your head, and then I’d lose my absolute—”
“You’re staying,” she said, opening both eyes wide. If anybody is going to see me naked, it’s not going to be my mother. I love the woman, Lord knows I do, but just no.”
I raised a lone brow. “You’d rather me see you naked?”
The look she shot me was one of disbelief. “You’re kidding me, right?” she asked, sliding her hand up my chest. “Chase, you’ve seen me naked before. Don’t get why now would be any different.”
She was right.
I’d seen her naked more than once.
And I had every soft curve memorized.
In fact, the only thing I didn’t have committed to memory was how it felt to be inside her. Mainly because I’d never experienced it. Since the first time we messed around in her bedroom, we’d had plenty of repeats, but we’d never gone any further.
My girl was... delicate.
Which I respected.
It didn’t matter how long it took for her to work past her issues, I’d wait. Determined to make her future brighter than her past, I wouldn’t take something she wasn’t willing to give. Just as I wouldn’t push her into a relationship until she was one-hundred percent ready.
I wasn’t a monster.
“Baby,” I said, chuckling. “Difference between then and now is your parents are home. Do I need to remind you of what’ll happen if your Mama walks up here and sees me undressing you? To hell with Moretti and his service-issued weapon. It’s Shelby and her .45 that scares me.”
Little Miss Sassitude rolled her eyes. “She won’t shoot you. Not when the babies are home.” She smiled. Soft and sweet. “She might feed you to Ziggy though.”
Death by giant marshmallow.
That would be an embarrassing way to go.
Especially since the little shit was just waiting for the chance to eat me. I couldn’t even walk through the house without him glaring at me disapprovingly. The dog was more temperamental than Shelby!
Doing as she said—well, more like demanded—I put her feet on the floor and helped her stand straight. Hands on her hips, I held her steady as she found her balance. “My stomach doesn’t feel right,” she mumbled. “Not at all.”
Pinching the hem of her dress, she eyed the door. “Lock that, please.”
Knowing I was likely signing my own death warrant by doing so, I nodded and twisted the lock, engaging it. Ashley shifted, and when I looked from the door to her again, my mouth ran dry.
She’d ripped her dress off, baring her braless chest.
The perfect handful, her breasts were perky with upturned, rose-colored nipples. I wasn’t a tit man by any means—legs were my kryptonite—but hers were perfect.
Averting my gaze, I moved past her and reached into the shower, turning on the water. I adjusted the knobs, playing with them until the water was warm but not too hot—perfect for her sensitive skin.
When I turned back to face her, she was sliding the lacy white bikini-style panties she wore down her smooth, toned legs. Refusing to gawk—even if I wanted to—I sat on the closed toilet in front of where she stood and dropped my gaze to the tiled floor.
Don’t make her uncomfortable.
Her body isn’t yours to take.
It belongs to her.
“Chase.” My whispered name falling from her bow-shaped lips sent chills racing down my spine, something that didn’t often happen to me. “Want to know a secret?”
Still focused on the ground, I nodded. “Yeah, Sweetness, I do.”
Tracing her nail across my jaw, she moved closer. Then, sliding a finger under my jaw, she lifted my face. “Look here.” My eyes instantly landed on the small scar directly beneath her belly button. “This,” she said, caressing her thumb over the top of it. “Is from my sweet Addie.”
That was when it hit me.
It wasn’t a scar.
But a single stretchmark.
“I don’t know why I didn’t get others,” she whispered, continuing the slow strokes. “But I think having just this one makes me love it even more.” A single tear fell from her eye before splattering onto the floor. “And I love it because it reminds me that she was real.” Another tear. “And that if only for a moment, she was mine.”
That crushing pain, the same one I felt deep in my chest each time she talked about Addie returned, stealing the goddamn breath from my lungs. All this time later and she still hadn’t told me what happened to her baby, but I had a feeling—a bad one—that she really was gone.
For good.
Knowing some of the vile shit Dominic had done to Ashley, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d hurt an innocent child, especially since my girl had said time and time again that her baby was gone because of him.
If I ever found out he killed Addie...
Hell, I didn’t know what I’d do.
But it was a truth I wasn’t sure I’d ever learn. With her determined not to tell anyone about that particular secret, I doubted I’d ever get to the bottom of what really transpired. And it’s not like I could press her for more information than she was willing to give.
Over Addie, Ashley would shatter.
She’d come so far in the past couple of years, but being forced to confront those demons would be her downfall, and as selfish as it sounds, I wasn’t going to risk losing the girl who unknowingly held my heart in the palm of her hand.
Not for any reason.
“She will always be yours,” I whispered, staring at the inch-long mark. “It doesn’t matter what happened, Sweetness. No one can take that away from you.” I looked up, meeting her watery gaze. “Can I touch you?”
A small nod.
That was the answer she gave me.
Resting my hands on her hips, I leaned forward, stopping when only an inch separated her belly—one which had produced life—from my face. Then, with my eyes locked on hers, I kissed the small mark, allowing my lips to linger above the place where her little girl had once laid, the sound of her Mama’s heartbeat filling the space where she grew.
“I’m sorry, Ashley,” I whispered, a lump forming in my throat. “So damn sorry.”
More tears fell.
> But not just hers.
Slowly standing, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me, hugging her tightly. Face buried against my chest, she hugged me in return, her small body trembling against mine as steam filled the small room, blanketing us in wet heat.
“Want to know another secret?” Her voice was quiet as could be, barely audible over the running shower.
Chest resting atop her head, I closed my eyes. “Yeah, baby, I do.”
Fingers digging into my lower back, she sunk further into me.
Then, after pulling in a deep breath, she whispered five little words, all of which were the sweetest I’d ever heard.
Those words? She should have been yours.
I opened my mouth to reply—because hell yes, Addie should’ve been mine—but I didn’t get the chance to speak before someone banged against the locked bathroom door, rattling the hinges.
Boom!
“Open this damn door right this second, or else I’m gonna boot it the hell down!”
Fucking Shelby...
“Well,” I said, squeezing her one last time as I smiled ear-to-ear. “Seems the executioner has arrived. Let’s just hope she makes it quick.”
Ashley leaned back and tipped her face to meet mine. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For always being here for me.”
Sliding my hands into her hair, I lightly touched the tip of my nose to hers. “I will always be here for you, Sweetness. Until the day I take my final breath.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chase
I woke to the sound of ringing.
Still half asleep and assuming it was Ashley calling, I snatched my cell off the nightstand and pressed it to my ear without glancing at the Caller ID. “Morning, baby,” I said, rolling to my back. “You feeling any—”
“It’s about time you answered.”
I froze at the sound of the familiar voice.
Every Kiss You Steal: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 7) Page 19
