She looked over at him. “People are drawn to you because you’re different?”
“It has a way of making me the center of attention—for good and bad.”
“But eventually, you have to get to know people to get access to places, right?”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way, but sure. I need to be good at chatting people up, finding out what’s important to them.”
She smiled. “Is that what you’re doing now?”
He turned to look at her. She had such an urge to touch his handsome, rugged face with her fingertips, to put her mouth on those kissable lips. He was gazing at her openly with his beautiful blue eyes, and he started to say something then stopped himself.
“Just making friendly conversation,” he finally said. “So you haven’t ventured out of D.C. in what—six or seven years?”
“More like eight,” she said.
He finished off his beer. “I can’t imagine staying put that long.”
“But you are staying put in a way,” she said. “You keep coming back to D.C.”
“Not the same thing. This is just a landing spot. I feel like my real life is out there.” He waved an arm toward the window.
“On the front porch?” she teased.
He laughed. “I’d be willing to venture onto the sidewalk under the right conditions.”
“I think your life is there,” she said softly. “And here.”
He turned to look at her again, and she saw the desire in his eyes and knew he wanted to kiss her. And as much as she wanted him to, she was relieved when he didn’t.
“I should get going,” he said, his voice suddenly rough. “I want to start hitting up some photographers for images to donate, and I’m sure you’ve got other things to do.”
He shut down his laptop and gathered up his notes. “How’s your neighbor doing, by the way?”
Rayne was surprised and pleased that he remembered. “She’s doing much better, thanks for asking.”
He slid his laptop into his bag, and she walked with him to the door.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping with this,” she said.
“My pleasure. Plus, it gives me something to do while I’m waiting on my next gig.”
“Hey, whatever happened with that guy we saw at Zipped? Did you find out about the assignment in Nepal?”
“Still working on it,” he said.
She felt a stab of disappointment that he was trying to go away. But that was who he was and other women had doubtless tried to get him to stay, which made her think of Crystal. She suddenly felt like crap for even thinking about kissing him.
He was halfway down the porch steps when he turned and said, “My mother has a killer Christmas card list. I’m going to see if she’ll give me a copy—or maybe even send everyone a personal note about the event.”
Rayne smiled. “I want to meet this woman!”
“She’d like you.” Then he turned—a little abruptly, Rayne thought—and walked away.
She watched him go, thinking Crystal wouldn’t mind if she took a moment to enjoy the way his long legs and firm ass rocked those Levis.
Chapter 6
After he left Rayne’s house, Chase headed for Sweet Happens, thinking a hazelnut coffee would be just the thing to clear his head. He’d had such high hopes for the afternoon. Rayne had started out a little distant and jumped away the first time she brushed against him, but then by the end, she had sidled closer and was relaxed and cozy and so damn kissable. She had that sleepy, flushed look that made him lose his mind. He imagined that’s how she’d look in bed, after he’d—
“Focus, man!” he said out loud.
He needed to figure this thing out because it was starting to drive him crazy that he couldn’t just touch her, couldn’t just kiss her. As soon as he thought he might have a chance with her, she seemed to withdraw and Colin’s warning rang in his ears. And he was starting to worry that the longer he waited, the harder it would be to walk away.
As Sweet Happens came into view, he realized he shouldn’t go in. He didn’t want to give Crystal the wrong idea. She’d already texted him a couple times since they’d gone to the opening together on Thursday, and he’d been friendly but not overly so. Still, he knew it was just a matter of time before she came up with a reason for him to come over to her place. He’d had fun with her at the event, and there was no denying how hot she was, but he didn’t like her the way she obviously liked him. If she could have kept it casual maybe—but at the notion of a meaningless fling with Crystal, he immediately thought of Rayne and felt guilty.
As he veered away from Sweet Happens, he couldn’t remember ever having so much trouble navigating between women. He took it as a sign that he’d been in town too long. Life in D.C. got damn complicated when he stayed put.
Sweet Happens was out, but he didn’t feel like going go back to his empty apartment so he decided to walk over to Zipped.
There were a few groups of people eating dinner when Chase got there. He sat down at the bar, and Colin walked over a few minutes later with a glass of water and a cup of coffee.
Chase shook his head in amazement. “I don’t know how you do that, man, but you’re always dead-on. How’d you know I didn’t want a beer—or something stronger?”
Colin shrugged. “Elementary, my dear Watson,” he said with a terrible English accent that made Chase cringe. Ever since Colin had fallen in love with Savannah, he was so cheerful and, well, goofy.
“You’re a little bleary-eyed,” Colin continued, “your shoulders are slumped, and you’re moving slow. So you’ve obviously already had a beer, or two.”
“Damn, you’re good.”
“Been watching Swamp People all day?” Colin asked as he fixed a gin and tonic for a customer.
Chase took a sip of his coffee and felt his head begin to clear. He thought about lying, but Rayne would tell Savannah and Savannah would tell Colin.
“No, I was helping Rayne with her fundraising thing,” he said.
Colin set the drink on a tray with a few others and held it out as Diana swung by. She picked it up in one fluid motion.
“Hey, Chase,” she said as she passed him.
“Hey, babe.”
“I hear that fundraiser was your idea,” Colin said to Chase.
“We sort of came up with it together. I just encouraged her to do it.”
Colin braced his hands on the bar and pinned Chase with a serious look. “Savannah said you were over there the other night, too. She’s pretty concerned that you’re not taking us seriously about steering clear of Rayne.”
“I don’t see how it’s any of Savannah’s business.”
Colin gave him a look that didn’t need words.
“OK, OK, I get it,” Chase said, putting his hands up in surrender. “They’re chick bonded, BFFs and all that. But seriously, Rayne is a grown woman. You guys talk about her as though she’s some fragile girl who needs babysitting.”
Diana came up beside Chase. “Who’s fragile?” she asked. “And do you want wings or a burger?”
“Burger,” Chase said. “And we were talking about Rayne.”
“That adorable girl who tips a ten every time?” Diana asked. “I like her. I say go for it.”
Chase grinned.
“Thanks, D. You’re a big help,” Colin said as he picked up a towel and started wiping down glasses behind the bar.
Diana shrugged. “I just call it as I see it. I think she’s a keeper. I’m also pretty sure that she’s past the age of consent and can make up her own mind,” she said with a pointed look at Colin. Turning to Chase, she asked, “French fries or onion rings?”
“Fries,” Chase said. “You need to learn to do that thing Colin does with drinks so we can skip
all this ordering business.”
“Unlike Colin, I like to let people make their own decisions.”
“Truly a wise woman,” Chase said as Diana walked away.
Colin sighed. “Do what you want, but if you’re dating Crystal and you start messing around with Rayne and hurt her, Savannah’s going to be upset, and if Savannah’s upset—”
Chase interrupted him. “Who said I was dating Crystal?”
“Savannah did.”
“Where the hell did she get that idea?”
“She said Rayne told her.”
“What the hell?” Chase suddenly remembered the Sweet Happens box on Rayne’s counter the other day, and then she’d asked him that afternoon whether he’d seen Crystal at the opening. If she’d known he was lying, why hadn’t she called him on it? But if she thought Chase was dating Crystal, then her behavior was starting to make more sense.
“What can I tell you, bro,” Colin said, interrupting Chase’s line of thought. “There’s this whole chick communication network we’re not even aware of. I think it’s in the cloud or something.”
Chase leaned forward. “First of all, I’m not dating Crystal. She invited me to Roger Thaw’s opening, and it was a golden opportunity for me to do some networking.”
“And she’s hot and you’ve got a history.”
“No, man. Seriously. It wasn’t like that. We had a nice time, but nothing happened.”
Colin picked up some empty glasses and dumped them into a rubber bin behind the counter. “Just let me know before you leave town again so I can start going somewhere else for my coffee. Crystal was seriously upset when you took off the last time.”
“I’m not hooking up with—”
Colin cut him off. “I’m just saying that actions have consequences. Even if you aren’t here to see them.”
Colin moved off down the bar before Chase could respond. His head was spinning, and for once in his life, he wasn’t sure what he wanted. No, strike that—he knew what he wanted, but he didn’t know how to go about getting it. He wanted Rayne. He wanted to slowly, ever so slowly peel away all her clothes and explore every inch of her body and watch her smoky gray eyes smolder. He wanted to lick that sweet perfume she’d been wearing right off her skin. He wanted to stroke and caress and nibble until he knew every spot that gave her pleasure. He wanted to be the reason for her tousled hair and flushed cheeks.
But he didn’t know how to do that without getting tangled up and ultimately hurting her. It was never really easy to walk away from relationships. That’s why he always seemed to find a reason to leave town when the time was right, and the woman’s anger did the rest. But he didn’t like the idea of doing that to Rayne, and it hamstrung him in a way he’d never experienced.
Diana brought him his burger and fries and offered to refill his coffee. “No, thanks,” he said. His brain already hurt, and he had a feeling he was going to have a hard enough time sleeping as it was.
He took a bite of the burger, but he wasn’t all that hungry either. He was remembering the sandwich Rayne had made for him and how good it had tasted—and how good it felt to have someone like her taking care of him. And now he felt miserable.
Colin came by and helped himself to some of Chase’s fries.
“Why is Savannah so damn protective of Rayne?” Chase asked. “If I’m such a scoundrel, why can’t she be trusted to tell me to get lost on her own?”
“I don’t know,” Colin said. “Savannah just said Rayne had some history, some guy really did a number on her a year or so ago, and Savannah sees something in you that’s bringing it all back.”
“Damn those guys,” Chase said.
Colin gave him a pointed look. “You have been that guy for plenty of women.”
Chase knew he was right. “I must be losing my touch. I used to be able to pick out the women who were on the same wavelength. Have some fun, have some sex, move on. But lately—”
“Life getting a little too real for you, bro?”
Chase looked up at him. “Something like that.”
“About time for you to take off for Timbuktu, isn’t it?”
“Thanks for reminding me!” Chase pulled his phone out of his pocket to check his email and was excited to see that Ben had finally sent him a note about the gig in Nepal. He said the magazine looked legit and included the email address of the guy in charge so Chase could contact him directly. Chase immediately sent the guy a message saying he’d heard about the potential assignment in Nepal and had experience in that part of the world. He included a link to his online portfolio, which also had some client testimonials, and said he could leave at a moment’s notice.
Chase glanced up as Colin came around from behind the bar, his face suddenly lit up with a big smile. Chase turned around in his chair and saw that Savannah had walked in.
“Hey, sweetie,” Colin said as he put his arms around her and held her close, planting a kiss on the curve of her neck. “Did you get your work done?”
Savannah gave him a quick kiss on the mouth before answering. “Yeah, I think I’m all caught up.”
Letting go of Colin, she walked over to the bar and hopped up on the stool next to Chase.
“Hungry?” Colin asked as he walked back around the bar.
“Starving.” She eyed the fries on Chase’s plate.
“I recommend the burger and fries,” Chase said. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and grabbed his laptop bag, sliding the plate toward Savannah. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. But try to keep it down tonight. Some of us need our beauty sleep.”
“Hey, I make no promises,” Colin said. And the loving gaze he turned on a grinning Savannah made Chase feel a flash of something unfamiliar—was it envy?
Christ, he needed to get to Timbuktu.
By the time he got home that night, Chase had resolved to keep his distance from Rayne and focus on getting the gig in Nepal or anything else that would take him out of town and away from all romantic entanglements.
For the next week, he kept himself busy and tried to steer clear of seeing Rayne, though he couldn’t avoid communicating with her about the gala. But that felt safe; he could handle that. He spent some time composing an email message to the list of artists and photographers the two of them had come up with, and then he sent her the text to review, with a note saying he’d enjoyed hanging out with her. It seemed like the natural thing to do.
When she emailed back her revisions, she said she’d enjoyed herself, too.
He sent the message out to the artists, asking them to respond in ten days. He figured he’d follow up with phone calls to most of them, partly for his own personal networking and partly because he wanted Rayne’s event to be a success. And because he was only human, he allowed himself a moment to imagine her in a skimpy cocktail dress and the look of gratitude she’d give him, laced with desire.
Later in the week, he culled through the photos he’d taken at his parents’ house and put the best ones up on a private page of his website and emailed a link to his mother so she could pick out her favorites. But he knew she didn’t check email every day so he called to tell her what he’d done.
“Let me know which ones you like and whether you want me to handle getting the prints,” he said.
“Thank you, sweetheart. I’ll take a look just as soon as I get a chance.”
“And hey, I was wondering if you’d part with your Christmas mailing list. It’s for a good cause.”
“Of course,” she said. “What’s the cause?”
“I’m helping a friend put on a fundraiser, for the Center for Action on Climate Change. We’re going to have a fancy gala and auction off a bunch of photos and other artwork. You should put it on your calendar.”
He gave her the date and heard her flipping through her desk planne
r. “Yes, I can be there. I’ll have to check with your father. And I’ll email you a copy of the mailing list.”
“I think it would be even better if the note came from you,” Chase said. “They’re making up some invitations, but maybe you could write a little something...?”
“I’d be happy to. It’s so nice to see you involved with a philanthropic venture,” she said, and he could tell she was smiling. “Is this ‘friend’ the girl who lost her phone?”
“Woman, Mom. And yes, it’s for Rayne.”
“Rayne. That’s an unusual name. Where have I heard that before?”
“She’s Savannah’s roommate. You didn’t meet her, but she was at the wine bar back in June when Colin gave Dad his sales pitch.”
“Ah yes. She was having a drink with you and Jessica at the bar. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”
“She’s dying to meet you, too. I should set you two up on a date.”
“I’d enjoy that, and you should come, too. Pick any of our restaurants and name the time, and your father and I will meet you there.”
“Whoa, Mom!” Chase said with a laugh. “I was teasing. We’re just friends. And even if we were more, it would be years before I’d be ready to subject her to dinner with Dad at one of his restaurants.”
His mother laughed, too. “Fair enough. I’ll look through your photos this week and let you know.”
“Great. And thanks for helping out with the gala.”
“Anything for you, dear. And your friend.”
She emphasized the word “friend” in a way that let him know she was hoping for more. So far she was the only person—himself included—who hadn’t told him to back off.
He hung up and then held onto his phone for a moment, thinking he’d like to call Rayne. His little fantasy of her in a cocktail dress was undermining his resolve to keep his distance, though, so he decided to text her instead.
The Pursuit (Capitol Love Series Book 2) Page 6
