She ended up buying fresh salad greens, heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, a block of havarti cheese, free-range eggs, and fresh-baked rolls. Later, she walked over to Sweet Happens to find something suitably casual for dessert. The heat of summer was retreating, and it was pleasantly warm and breezy. The door to the cafe was propped open to take advantage of the weather, but Crystal wasn’t her usual perky self when Rayne walked in. In fact, she looked like she’d been crying.
“Everything OK?” Rayne asked.
“Yeah, fine,” Crystal said, but her voice was flat. Then she made an effort to smile. “Sorry—you caught me in a fit of self-pity.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Nothing serious, I hope...?”
“Just a serious case of me being an idiot.” Crystal shook her head. “I always seem to waste my time on the wrong guys.”
“Tell me about it!” Rayne said. Then it dawned on her. “Are you talking about Chase?”
“Yeah.” Crystal sighed. “We went to that photography opening I told you about, and we had a great time. But he’s been evasive ever since, and then the other day he tells me he’s sleeping with someone else.”
Rayne felt a flush of heat and a wave of nausea that she knew was jealousy. She also knew she had no reason to feel it, but that didn’t make it go away.
“I’m so sorry, Crystal!” she said. “I didn’t know he was like that.”
“He’s definitely some kind of player, but he usually sticks to just one woman at a time. See, that’s the thing—I know he’s into me, but he’s been distracted for the last month or so, and now I know why. He loves the chase.” She stared at Rayne, who was still lost in thought. “That was a joke, a play on words: Chase loves the chase.”
Rayne smiled. “I get it. And I’m glad you can laugh about it. Who needs him, right? If he doesn’t know a great woman when he sees one, it’s his loss.”
“Yeah, you’re right. He’s the poster child for commitment phobia. But in his defense, much as I hate to admit it, he never led me to expect anything else from him. If I could have kept things casual, like he does, everything would have been cool.” She sighed. “But I just can’t do casual, not once sex is involved.”
“I know what you mean,” Rayne said.
“But hey, you didn’t come in here to talk about Chase. What can I get you?”
Rayne was suddenly uncomfortable. In a way, she had come in to talk about Chase, or at least to buy dessert for him.
“Do you have any of those little fruit tarts?” she asked.
“No, sorry, I’m all out. I made some cream puffs today though.”
“That sounds good. I’ll take half a dozen.”
“They’re in the refrigerator in the back. You and Savannah hanging out tonight? Want me to throw in some cupcakes?”
“Savannah’s with Colin tonight. I...uh... I’ve got a friend coming over to help me with the fundraiser.”
What was it about Chase that had her lying all over town? She hadn’t told Savannah that he was coming over because Savannah hadn’t asked what Rayne was up to. But it was a sin of omission. Now she was doing the same thing to Crystal. She told herself she was doing it to keep from looking like an idiot after everything Crystal had just said about him.
But the truth was, he felt like a secret she was keeping even from herself.
When Rayne got home, she changed into a denim skirt that flared around her knees and a short-sleeved linen blouse. Then she put together a simple quiche and tossed the leftover vegetables in with the salad greens. She was straightening up the living room when Chase showed up a few minutes before 6:00 with a bottle of Chardonnay. He was wearing jeans and a lightweight knit shirt in navy blue with the long sleeves pushed up over his muscular forearms. The shirt was snug over his equally muscular chest, and he smelled of a woodsy, musky soap-and-aftershave combo. She liked the scent—a lot.
Chase followed her into the kitchen. “Something smells amazing.” She smiled to herself. At least they were sort of on the same wavelength.
“Don’t get too excited, it’s just a basic quiche,” Rayne said as the timer sounded and she reached for her rooster pot holders.
“You know how much I like anything that’s home cooked,” he said.
Rayne bent over to take the quiche out of the oven, and when she turned, she noticed that Chase’s gaze had to work its way up from her ass to her eyes. She felt a little thrill, and it made her smile.
“So where’s Savannah tonight?” he asked as he leaned against the counter.
“She’s hanging out with Colin at the wine bar. He was having dinner with her, then she was going to go to his place—your place—and wait for him to get done with work.”
She handed Chase a corkscrew, and he starting peeling the foil from the wine bottle while she dug some glasses out of the cabinet. It occurred to her that they hadn’t discussed eating—or drinking—this evening. They had both just assumed. She liked the feeling of being in sync with someone, with him specifically.
“You have another roommate, right? Karen?” he asked.
Rayne laughed. Chase was notoriously bad with names. “Carol. She’s off at a work conference for the next few days.”
He removed the cork with a pop. “So you mean you and I are without adult supervision?”
“Looks that way,” Rayne said and then without thinking added, “Should I have gotten a chaperone?”
He looked startled, but then he grinned. “I’m not sure how to answer that.”
She blushed in embarrassment. “Just kidding,” she said and turned away to get the salad out of the fridge. She took advantage of the opportunity to remind herself that he was sleeping with someone and this was not a date—no matter how much it felt like one. No matter how much she wished it were one.
She scooped the salad into two bowls, slid two slices of quiche onto plates, and handed one of each to Chase, who followed her into the living room where she’d already set the bread and cheese. Chase ran back to the kitchen for the wine, and they made themselves comfortable on the floor with the laptop on the table in front of them.
They ate and drank wine as they looked at images of what the artists were donating to the auction. Rayne took notes on sizes and prices and kept a running tally of the amounts to see if they would hit their goal. They could do it but only if all the images sold for the high end of where the artists had priced them. She tapped her pencil on the notepad, lost in thought. Then she was suddenly aware that she hadn’t spoken in several moments and glanced over to see Chase sipping his wine and watching her.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“We’re so close,” she said. “If we could just negotiate a lower price with Vincent, we would hit the mark no problem.”
He took the pencil from her and did some math of his own. “I think Thaw’s photos could go for quite a bit more, so we should just raise the minimum on those. And I’ll throw in a couple more of my own, and if we bump up a few of these prices—”
Rayne peered over his shoulder. “This could actually work!” she said, and a feeling of relief and excitement washed over her.
“You sound surprised,” Chase said, setting down the notepad and picking up his wine glass.
“I was never really sure. I mean, no offense to you, but there are so many variables. You have done an incredible job of pulling all these artists together.”
He shrugged, but he was smiling. “Networking is what I do.”
She got to her feet, a little awkwardly because she was feeling the effects of the wine despite their dinner. Chase stood up, too, and helped her carry the dishes to the kitchen then refilled their wine glasses and held onto the bottle. As she followed him back into the living room, she couldn’t help thinking how much she was enjoying the evening, how comfortable and easy she felt with h
im, and how good his ass looked in those well-worn jeans.
Chase put the wine bottle on the table, but this time, he sat on the couch instead of the floor. She sat down beside him and sank into the cushions, tucking her feet under her and turning slightly to face him. She’d been running herself a little ragged, and now she was feeling a pleasant, relaxed sort of fatigue.
Chase said, “So how was your dinner with Jeremy the other night?”
“Hmmm?” she asked, resisting a strong urge to lean in and smell him again, maybe rest her head on his shoulder the way she had that night months ago at Zipped when she’d had enough gin and tonics to be as relaxed as she was now. She was a little surprised that Chase had never mentioned that night, but she’d figured it hadn’t been that memorable to him.
“Rayne?” Chase said, and she realized she’d been staring at him a little dreamily instead of answering his question.
“Oh! Um, it was fine.” She shook her head a little to try to clear it. “We got a lot of work done. And he ordered flowers for your mom.”
“Nice guy,” Chase said, taking another sip of wine.
“Yeah, he’s pretty dreamy.”
Chase laughed. “Has anyone used that word since the 1950s?”
She blushed and laughed with him. “Sorry. He’s handsome and he’s my boss and that’s that.”
“Oh? Never had the urge to pursue him?”
“Nope.” The sun had gone down and the only light in the room came from the moon and the streetlight outside. She swirled the wine in the glass and watched it shimmer. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
“What lesson is that?” he asked, shifting his body toward her and draping his arm across the back of the couch. She looked away, keeping her eyes on her wine glass as she thought about the simplest way to explain her disastrous relationship with Brandon.
“I don’t get involved with men I work with,” she finally said.
“Does that include me?”
She slowly raised her eyes to his, expecting to see him grinning and teasing, but his serious expression confused her. Every cell in her body told her the attraction between them was mutual and real. But then she remembered her conversation with Crystal and didn’t know how to answer his question—she wasn’t even sure she’d understood him right.
“I saw Crystal today,” she said, figuring she had nothing to lose by being direct. “She was pretty down. She told me you were...involved with someone else.”
He drew back a bit, looking startled. “Rayne, I—.”
“Oh, I totally forgot about the dessert!” She set her wine glass on the coffee table and started to stand, grateful for the distraction, but he put his hand on her arm to stop her. With a little tug, he brought her back down, and this time their knees were touching.
“Crystal is right,” he said in a low voice. “I am interested in someone else.”
Rayne suddenly felt the overpowering need to turn on a lamp. To do anything rather than stay in this romantic setting while Chase told her about the woman he was sleeping with. But he was looking at her so intently that she couldn’t move away.
“Lucky girl,” she said softly, in spite of herself.
Chase smiled a slow, sexy grin that spread pleasure through her whole body. “I’m glad you think so.”
He reached out and gently turned her face a little more toward him. Then he leaned in and kissed her, barely pressing his lips against hers with his fingers lingering under her chin.
Rayne froze, thoroughly confused, and Chase pulled back, looking equally confused.
“Did I make a mistake?” he asked.
She jumped to her feet, eager to put some space between them. “No. I mean, yes. I mean, obviously I’m attracted to you, but I can’t get involved with you when you’re sleeping with someone else.”
“Rayne,” he said, and he was smiling as he looked up at her. “I didn’t want to tell Crystal, but you’re the one I’m interested in.”
“Oh,” she said, feeling foolish. And then when it sank in, “Oh!”
He stood up, just inches away from her. “I know that Colin and Savannah aren’t exactly keen on us seeing each other, and I’ve tried to stay away, I really have. But...”
“But what?” she asked, her voice catching in her throat, barely able to breathe.
He put one hand on her bare arm and cupped the other one against her neck, his thumb grazing her lips. He leaned close and whispered. “But I can’t.”
Then his mouth was on hers, and this time there was nothing gentle or tentative about the way he kissed her and thrust his hands in her hair. Rayne stretched toward him, her tongue hungrily seeking his as she breathed in the scent of him. Something inside her, something she’d been holding onto tightly, finally slipped loose. And she couldn’t—wouldn’t—call it back.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body more tightly against his, and she melted a little more. She pulled back to catch her breath, but he responded by kissing the corner of her mouth and then her chin and jaw, down to her neck, and she was breathing hard.
She wanted him now, here, in this moment, and it felt good to give into her desire. She let go of all the planning she’d been doing for work and all the energy she’d been putting into resisting her attraction. To be alive and touching him in this moment was so damn good that she decided it would be worth whatever penalty she’d have to pay. Tomorrow. Which was worlds away.
Chase covered her mouth with his and reached down to grab her ass, snugging her up against his crotch. Rayne felt the effect she was having on him and ran her hands down his back, feeling the movement of his muscles like a low volt of electricity.
His mouth moved to her neck and his fingers started to undo the top button of her blouse, and she didn’t stop him as he worked his way through the next two buttons. But when his warm hand slipped inside her shirt, she took hold of his wrist, suddenly wanting to slow the pace. If she was going to give herself permission to do this, she was going to make it last, savor it like a good meal. An exquisite, one-time-only meal.
He looked at her with a question in his eyes but let her push him back onto the couch. She straddled his lap and pinned his arm back by the wrist, kissing him roughly like a little nip from a playful animal.
“What’s the rush?” she whispered in his ear and was rewarded with a shiver.
“Careful you don’t start something you can’t finish,” he murmured as he slipped his arm free of her hands and pulled her head down toward his and kissed her deeply.
After a moment, she pressed her hands against his chest and sat back. Then she started to undo the rest of her blouse one tortuously slow button at a time. When he reached up to help her, she shook her head. “No touching.”
Chase’s hands dropped to her hips, and his gaze strayed to the hollow between her breasts and her white lacy bra. Then he looked up at her face. “Are you seriously asking me to keep my hands off that body?”
“Mmmm-hmmm,” she murmured. “For now at least.”
She slid her blouse off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. His breath caught as he inhaled sharply, and then she leaned forward and started kissing him, long and hot and full of hunger. She pressed her chest against his, and he kept his hands loose against her hips and kissed her back with a ferocious animal hunger that matched her own.
She tugged at his shirt hem and pulled it up, and he immediately raised his arms so she could yank it over his head. She tossed it aside and ran her fingertips across his chest and paused on the tattoo of a Japanese kanji symbol near his left shoulder.
“Let me guess,” she said. “Adventure.”
He pulled her toward him, abandoning the no-touching rule, and she thrilled to the warmth of his bare skin against hers.
“Don’t tell me you read Japanese,” he said,
nuzzling her ear.
“No, just you.”
His mouth found her neck, and he kissed and sucked and she threw her head back so he could have it all, an act of surrender that felt like power. She couldn’t believe how amazing it felt to assert her desires in this way. She shifted her weight and pressed herself against his crotch, and he sat forward and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard on the mouth.
“You’re seriously testing the limits of my control,” he said, his voice gruff with desire.
Rayne stopped moving and smiled. “Well, then, I guess we better take a step back.”
She stood, and he grabbed her hand, but she pulled free. “We haven’t had dessert.”
“You’re the only dessert I want,” he said.
She walked away toward the kitchen, feeling herself wet and swollen and alive for the first time in months. She took the cream puffs out of the fridge and turned to find Chase leaning against the door frame, studying her. The light from the refrigerator cast strange shadows over his face, and he was looking at her with a raw desire that almost made her lose her resolve to go slow.
But she was determined to do this on her own terms. That way, when it all fell apart, she could at least feel like she’d made her own decisions. It gave her a sense of power that was almost as arousing as the sight of him bare-chested in her kitchen.
She picked up the box of pastries and went back to the living room, grabbing his hand as she passed. She led him back to the couch and sat him down.
“Close your eyes,” she commanded, and he instantly obeyed.
She straddled him again and took one of the cream puffs and scooped out some of the creamy filling and then put her finger to his lips. He opened his mouth and began sucking the filling off her finger, and they both moaned with pleasure. Then she kissed him, long and deep, before feeding him another scoopful of the filling, sitting back on his thighs with his hands warm and snug against her hips.
The Pursuit (Capitol Love Series Book 2) Page 8
