When Rylie had introduced herself, with watery eyes, he’d been tempted to pull her into his arms and comfort her too, but, thankfully, his hands had been full already between Mickey and the flowers. Chase didn’t think Rylie was the type of woman who would go for a temporary fling with no attachments, and that’s all he had time for lately. BHS was busier than ever between their government and corporate contracts, in addition to individual clients. Some of their cases were local, while larger, more complex missions could take place anywhere around the globe. Even though he was at the point in his life where he left the down and dirty work to his operatives, most of the time, he still lived and breathed the world of black ops.
“Isn’t it pretty?” Mickey asked him as she led him over to a wrought-iron table and chairs set for two. A white tablecloth lay under a delicate, china tea set, a thin vase filled with wildflowers, and a plate of cookies covered with plastic to keep any bugs off them. The setup stood in the shade of well-maintained landscape of tropical trees, shrubs, and a flower bed that had been cleared of weeds recently. It would look stunning in the photos.
He squeezed the little girl’s hand as she hadn’t let go yet. “It’s beautiful, sweetheart. Just like you.”
A cute blush spotted her cheeks. She was going to be a knockout when she got older. He hoped he was still part of her life then, so he could kick the ass of any little shits who wanted to mess with her. Yup, he was a total goner. Within five minutes, she’d taken up residence in his heart.
For the next half hour, Chase and Mickey had cookies and tea—thankfully, it was iced tea—as the other woman he was introduced to, Aubrey, took God knew how many photos. But he didn’t mind. He was getting a kick out of Mickey and all her questions and comments about everything under the sun. More than a dozen times, he’d burst out laughing at something she said. The little pixie was quite entertaining.
Nearby, Rylie and Claire sat at a round table on the patio, with an umbrella blocking the sun, watching the photo shoot and jumping up to help Aubrey with anything she needed. Chase hadn’t been able to prevent himself from stealing a few glances at Mickey’s mother, especially when she laughed at something funny her daughter had said. The sound penetrated his clothing and made his skin tingle each time, as if someone had brushed him with a feather.
“Okay, I think that’s about it,” Aubrey finally said, putting down her fancy camera. “I got some wonderful shots. You’re both very photogenic.”
Chase snorted a little to himself at the compliment as he stood and stretched his legs. He’d been called many things in his life, but he couldn’t recall anyone using the term “photogenic” to describe him.
Ten minutes into the photo shoot, it’d had gotten warmer and he’d started to sweat in his suit. Aubrey had noticed and told him to feel free to take off the jacket. Grateful, he’d hung it on the back of his chair, loosened the tie, and undid the top button, before rolling up his shirt sleeves. Now, he got rid of the tie and tucked it in his jacket pocket before undoing the next button on his shirt. He didn’t miss how Rylie’s gaze roamed over his torso before she gulped. Her eyes lifted and found him smiling back at her. She blushed and looked away. Damn, he wished he could’ve met her under different circumstances, where a night or two in his bed would’ve been just enough to satisfy them both.
He followed Aubrey over to the patio, and after she sat with the other women, he took the last available seat. “You have an amazing daughter, Rylie.”
She beamed at him. “Thank you. She’s a beautiful gift I’ll never take for granted. Thank you for saving her.”
“Aubrey, can Peanut come over to meet Chase?”
“My dog,” the photographer said to Chase before answering Mickey. “Sure, sweetie. He’s probably dying to see you.”
Rylie stopped her daughter before she was able to take more than just a few steps. “Not so fast, Mickey. Go change first, then you can bring Peanut over. I don’t want you getting that dress dirty.”
The girl rolled her eyes but headed for the back-porch door. “Okay.”
“Thank you.”
“She’s a bundle of energy,” Chase said with a grin.
Watching Mickey disappear into the house, Rylie chuckled. “You have no idea.” She turned back to him. “I don’t know how I can thank you. Not just for what you did last year, but for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come here today and do the photo shoot. It means a lot to Mickey. She couldn’t wait to meet you.”
“To be truthful, I couldn’t wait either. She’s been on my mind all year. Well, sort of. All I knew was my bone marrow went to someone who needed it. I had no idea the recipient was a little girl until Claire contacted me to ask if I wanted to meet Mickey. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear the transplant had been a success and consented to meeting her.” His gaze drifted to the woman who’d arranged everything. “Thanks for letting me know pink was her favorite color.”
“You’re welcome.”
Rylie smiled. “Mickey was thrilled, too, when you said yes. She was doing cartwheels out here for about an hour after Claire called.”
The back door swung open and slammed shut again after Mickey came running out. She unlocked a gate in the fence separating the backyard from what Chase assumed was Aubrey’s property. A few moments later, she returned with an energetic Jack Russell terrier on her heels. “Chase! This is Peanut. He knows all sorts of tricks.”
“Really? Can you show me a few?”
“Uh-huh. Peanut, sit! Good dog. Now, give me your paw.”
The adults watched as Mickey put the energetic pup through his paces. Chase realized he was in no hurry to leave. It felt so comfortable and natural to be sitting there with Rylie, Mickey, and the others. His gaze flitted to Rylie several times, and once he caught her staring at him. Her cheeks pinkened, and he couldn’t stop himself from winking at her, causing her blush to deepen. If anyone spelled trouble for Chase’s heart, it was that woman and her daughter. God help him.
After peeking into her daughter’s bedroom to find Mickey had finally fallen asleep, Rylie shut the door and padded into her own room, heading for the en suite bathroom. She turned on the shower to let it warm up before stripping off her clothes. It’d been a long but wonderful day.
She hadn’t known what to expect when Chase arrived, but it definitely hadn’t been to be so attracted to him. Not only was he ruggedly handsome, but he was friendly, intelligent, and incredibly kind to all of them, especially her daughter. He seemed to be having the time of his life talking to Mickey and drinking iced tea with her once he began to ignore the camera. The man was clearly not used to being the center of a photo shoot, although, if someone sent his photo to Playgirl, surely, they’d be knocking on his door to pose for them.
After he’d taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, Rylie had gotten a better sense of how physically fit Chase was, but she doubted he was a gym rat. The men she knew with sinewy muscles like him got them from doing hard work, calisthenics, swimming, extreme sports, and other outdoor activities. She’d wished there’d been a reason for him to take his shirt off so she could see the hard chest and washboard abs she just knew were underneath it.
He’d been clean-shaven, and Rylie had wondered what he’d look like with a five-o’clock shadow. Probably even more handsome.
Sigh. Men like him had no interest in women like her. A single mother who was a little overweight and hadn’t had sex in . . . God, it’d been so long she couldn’t remember the last time. It’d definitely been before Mickey had come to live with her. Dating had been the last thing on her mind over the past few years. Now, instead of going out with friends for a drink or dinner, she went to PTA meetings and had pizza or macaroni and cheese more nights than not. The last time she’d gone out to a nice restaurant was to celebrate with Mickey and Aubrey when they’d gotten the news that Mickey was in complete remission.
It was doubtful a hot bachelor like Chase would be interested in a single mother, but it didn’t s
top Rylie from daydreaming about him since he’d left at around 3:30. She’d been surprised he’d stayed that late, but he’d sat there, talking with the women and Mickey, as if he hadn’t had anything better to do. That was until his phone rang. After a brief conversation, he’d apologized to Rylie and Mickey, saying he had to leave. Although he hadn’t said why, Rylie got the impression it wasn’t anything good. Concern had filled his eyes as he’d listened to whomever had been on the other end of the call. Before he left, though, he’d given Rylie his business card with his personal cell phone number written on the back of it, telling her if she ever needed anything to call him. After giving Mickey a big hug, he’d said if she ever wanted to talk to him, for any reason, she could have her mom call him. And then he was gone.
Claire had left shortly after that, but Aubrey had stayed for dinner when Rylie had invited her. While she’d cooked hamburgers on the patio grill and made a salad, Aubrey had cleaned up from the tea party with Mickey as Peanut followed them, waiting for any cookie crumbs to drop.
Stepping into the shower, Rylie washed the day’s dirt and grime from her hair and body. It was still early—not even nine o’clock—but she was exhausted. However, after she dried off, put on a pair of pajamas, and crawled into bed, she couldn’t shut her mind down. It kept spinning with all things Chase Dixon. His smile. His eyes. His incredible body and that sculpted ass that’d originally been hiding under his suit jacket. His laugh had warmed her, and whenever she’d felt his gaze on her, that warmth had morphed into holy hotness, as if she were in a sauna and it was stealing her breath.
Giving up on falling asleep right away, Rylie grabbed her Kindle from the nightstand and turned it on. The latest book from Kristen Anders had come out the day before and was already waiting for her, thanks to pre-ordering it. While Rylie wasn’t personally into the whole BDSM thing, Ms. Anders’s fictional stories were well-written, entertaining, and incredibly spicy.
As Rylie read about the newest hero and heroine in the Seductive Sensations series, she couldn’t help but imagine Chase and herself as the main characters—minus being submissive to him, of course. A little naughtiness in the bedroom, and anywhere else she could get away with it, was fine, but the whole Master, submissive, and punishment thing wasn’t for her. It was fun to read about, but for real life, it wasn’t her cup of tea.
“Gideon . . .” aka Chase, “pulled Crystal . . .” aka Rylie, “into his arms, and his mouth crashed down on hers. He stole her breath away as his tongue danced with hers. Crystal clung to him, afraid if she let go, she’d realize it was only a dream.”
“. . . only a dream.”
“. . . only a dream.”
Rylie fell asleep to mental images of Chase fulfilling her wildest fantasies.
Chapter Four
“Anything new on Irv’s high-school crush?” Ian Sawyer asked as he sat in front of Chase’s massive, cherry-wood desk, ladened with paperwork, files, and other crap. No matter how much he worked on the piles, they never seemed to diminish an inch.
Sitting opposite him, Chase tossed a stress ball up in the air and caught it with his other hand. Irv’s “high-school crush” was a woman he hadn’t seen in years, who was now missing, along with the formula and cure for a deadly biochemical agent. Since Meat had been injected with a microchip containing some of the scientific intel on it, Blackhawk had inadvertently gotten drawn into the mess and was now assisting NCIS. The Navy was involved, since Major Arabella DeWitt was one of their top scientists at the Naval Medical Research Center, in Bethesda, Maryland. Add in the FBI, CIA, and other agencies looking for her and the formula, it was either a miracle DeWitt hadn’t been found yet or a sad fact she was dead or captured by someone keeping it very quiet. Irv had just happened to have gone to school with the scientist who’d discovered the formula by accident and, ultimately, the cure. The questions were whose side was she on and where was she now? If she was still alive, it was imperative the US found her first.
A loud sigh came from Meat, the big goofball, who was currently planted at Sawyer’s feet. For some reason, the pit bull was enthralled by the retired Navy SEAL and BDSM Dom and always sought him out whenever they were in the same room together. It didn’t even matter if Meat’s owners, Chet and Tuff, were nearby.
“Not since the last update I got from NCIS the other day. She’s still MIA.”
Ian nodded. “Figured as much. How’s what’s-his-name doing? Your guy from yesterday.”
“Sherlock? Looks like he’s going to be okay, thank God, but they’re keeping him in the hospital for a few more days. Could’ve been a lot worse.” Marty “Sherlock” Holmes was one of Chase’s operatives and had been in a bad car accident yesterday, while running an errand for Shannon, after some idiot ran a stop light and hit him. Irv had called Chase, who’d still been at Rylie’s house, to let him know Holmes had been unconscious at the scene and needed to be extricated from the SUV. Both vehicles had been totaled. Thankfully, it’d happened right in front of a Tampa FD Station, because the engine of Holmes’s vehicle had caught fire. The firefighters had been able to put out the flames before they’d reached the victim. When Chase had arrived at the ER, it was to find his man had regained consciousness and was being admitted. With a major concussion, a broken clavicle, and compound fracture of his left forearm, among other lesser injuries, he’d been a mess. “He’ll be out at least eight weeks according to the orthopedic surgeon.”
A knock at the door a second before it swung open drew both men’s attention. Shannon poked her head in, with a huge smile on her face. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you have two very special visitors, Chase, and they can only stay a few minutes. I hope you don’t mind, Ian.”
“Not at all,” the man answered, but it was clear he was curious, since Shannon rarely disturbed their meetings and, usually, only in an emergency.
She opened the door wider, and in ran a little tornado, wearing short pigtails, a blue T-shirt, denim overalls, with the legs rolled up to midcalf, and pink, high-top Converse sneakers. Mickey looked adorable. “Chase! We brought you some cookies!”
Chase’s entire office seemed brighter as soon as she and her mother entered the room. As he stood, the little girl rushed toward his desk but quickly put on the brakes and froze when Meat lumbered to his feet. Mickey’s eyes grew wide, and she took one step backward. Eighty-five pounds of solid canine muscle could be intimidating to anyone.
“Meat,” Ian barked softly, as he and Chase stood. “Platz.” At the German command, the dog immediately laid back down and stared up at his favorite human. “Braver hund.” Ian smiled at Mickey. “It’s okay. He’s a big mush, but if you’re scared of dogs, there’s nothing to worry about. He’ll stay right there.”
She eyed Meat, then Ian, then Meat again. “I love dogs, but he’s huuuge!”
Behind Mickey, Rylie stepped forward and put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Sweetie, we have to hurry. I’m sorry, Chase. We didn’t realize you were in a meeting. We can—”
Chase held up his hand. “No worries. C’mere, munchkin. Did you say something about cookies?”
“Yes!” The dog and other man forgotten for the moment, she moved to Chase’s side and held out a filled plastic container. “They’re white chocolate-chip cookies with nooooo mac’damia nuts! Your favorite.”
She appeared so proud of herself, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. During their tea party, she’d asked him hundreds of random questions and had, apparently, remembered some of his answers. It drove him crazy that, in baked goods, macadamia nuts were usually paired with white chocolate, which, like she’d said, was his favorite. The nuts, not so much. When he’d been a kid, his mother had always made certain there was a white chocolate bunny in his Easter basket, along with jelly beans, Peeps, and a new toy.
Taking the container from her, he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mickey. You made my day.” He glanced at Rylie. “You both did.” Yeah, that was the truth. What the hell was up with hi
s heart pounding in his chest and his dick twitching at the sight of a woman he shouldn’t be lusting after? Her shy smile only made her even sexier.
“Again, I’m sorry. We should’ve called first. Mickey has a dentist appointment a few blocks away and wanted to stop by to see you and bring you the cookies.”
The pinkness that dotted her cheeks made Chase wonder if Rylie had wanted to see him as much as her daughter had. He hoped so. She’d been on his mind since he’d left their house yesterday.
Ian cleared his throat. It only took a second for Chase to realize his friend’s curiosity was killing him. Before Chase could get his head out of his ass and introduce them, Ian said, “Don’t apologize on my account. We’d just wrapped up our business right before you got here.” He held out his hand to Rylie. “I’m Ian Sawyer.”
She shook his hand, which dwarfed her own. “Rylie Hart, and my daughter, Mickey.”
Grinning at the little girl, Ian said, “It’s nice to meet you, Mickey. How do you know Chase?”
A groan almost escaped Chase’s throat. Leave it to Sawyer to know exactly who to ask questions of in order to get the answers he wanted.
“We’re blood related,” Mickey answered, before there was any chance of cutting off the conversation. “Chase gave me his bone marrow last year and saved my life!”
Clearly taken aback, Ian eyed him for a few moments, and Chase could almost see things falling into place in the man’s mind. “Last year? That two-week vacation you took? I knew you were lying through your teeth back then.” He gave Rylie a conspiratorial wink. “The guy never goes on a vacation. Nice to know he finally found a good excuse to take one.”
Blood Bound (Blackhawk Security Book 2) Page 2
