Blitz: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy (Blast Brothers Book 3)

by Sabrina Stark

  "On what?"

  "Everything," he said. "Especially women." He gave a low scoff. "We both know what happened with that barista, right?"

  I did know. And I was still wishing I didn't. But I nodded, anyway, dying to hear what he'd say next.

  "That kind of stuff – it happened to me all the time. And for a long while, I couldn’t get enough. But then, almost overnight, it was like I'd had too much already." His gaze locked on mine. "I was done."

  "You mean, just like that?"

  "Just like that. And tonight, I finally realized why."

  "Why?"

  With his free hand, he reached up to caress the side of my face. "Because I was making room for you."

  Oh, wow.

  I leaned into his touch. "Seriously?"

  "Seriously." He gave me a rueful smile. "Except on the day we met, I didn't realize that you were the one I'd been waiting for, which is why I was such an ass." He leaned his forehead against mine. "And for that, I really am sorry."

  My eyes filled with tears – not the sad kind, but the happy kind. This whole thing felt like a dream – a crazy wonderful dream, even more so when I heard the sound of my name being called from the base of the Ferris Wheel.

  I looked down over the edge of our car and saw two couples, waving up at me. I recognized them instantly as Chase's two brothers with their fiancées, Arden and Cami.

  As I watched, Cami cupped her hands around her mouth and called out, "It's nice to meet you!"

  When I looked to Chase, he was grinning. "My family."

  With a laugh, I leaned over and hollered back. "Nice to meet you, too!"

  As my words echoed across the distance, Chase pulled me tight against his side and whispered in my ear, "They've been dying to get to know you."

  And I was dying to get to know them.

  When our ride ended, I finally met them in person, and they couldn't have been any nicer, even Mason, who had always seemed like such a hard-ass on the TV show.

  Afterward, the six of us spent the rest of the evening going on every ride that was still open and wandering through the midway, playing games, winning prizes, and laughing like old friends.

  It was the best night of my whole life.

  And it wasn't over yet.

  Chapter 77

  Mina

  We were still laughing when we stumbled through the door of Chase's condo. We weren't drunk, but we were giddy.

  Or at least, I was giddy. And Chase? Well, he seemed just as happy as I was.

  He was holding a giant pink teddy bear, which he'd won fair and square in a classic ring-toss game. He'd given me the bear over my laughing objection that he should keep it, since he'd won the game, not me.

  His reply was something I'd never forget. "No way. I won it for the girl I love."

  The girl he loved.

  That was me.

  And even though I'd personally bombed out on all of the festival games myself, I considered myself the luckiest girl in the world, because Chase was the biggest, best, most wonderful prize of all.

  Even now, I could hardly believe my luck. He was mine.

  And I was his.

  Way back in the beginning, I'd set out to save the Tomato Festival. But in the process, I'd gained more than I ever would've imagined. How crazy was that?

  As Chase shut the condo door behind us, I kicked off my shoes and gave him a happy smile. "Do you know what today was?"

  "What?"

  "The best day of my life."

  He pulled me close and whispered in my ear, "Hey, that's my line."

  I was still holding onto the bear, which made it utterly impossible for me to do what I wanted, which was to grab Chase's ass with both hands and yank him tighter against me.

  I mean, sure, I could attempt it with only one hand, but why go half-way, right? And besides, I wanted to do a lot more than that.

  I pulled back to say, "We should probably take the bear into your bedroom."

  Chase lifted a single eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"

  "Definitely. I mean, he's probably really tired."

  The hint of a smile tugged at his lips. "How about you?"

  I shook my head. "I'm not tired." I glanced toward the master bedroom. "But I wouldn’t mind hitting the bedroom just the same."

  Now that was a massive understatement. Or was it? I mean, I wasn't terribly picky about the location, just as long as I had Chase all to myself.

  In front of me, he looked almost ready to laugh. "You wouldn't mind, huh?"

  Deliberately, I jerked my chin upward. "Well, maybe I'm playing hard to get."

  He grinned. "I'll show you hard to get."

  And with that, he swooped me up into his arms almost exactly like he'd done that very first time, up in the hayloft. But this time, instead of heading toward a pile of straw, he headed straight to his bedroom, carrying me and the bear along with him.

  When he reached his king-size bed, he tossed both of us – me and the bear – straight into the center. I fell in a laughing heap, giddy with love and anticipation.

  But then, my laughter faded to a warm, happy glow as I gazed up at the guy I loved.

  He was doing it again – looking at me like I was the only girl in the world. I loved when he did that.

  I crooked a finger, beckoning him closer.

  His gaze shifted to the bear. "Are you sure he's gonna want to see this."

  I giggled. "Wait, how do you it's a he." I gave Chase the squinty-eye. "Come to think of it, how do I know you're a he."

  With cool deliberation, he shoved off his shoes. And then, he moved onto the bed and prowled closer, like a predator stalking his prey. In a voice laced with sin, he said, "If you play your cards right, I'll prove it."

  Oh, boy. He really did have an amazing voice.

  Already, I could feel myself growing warm and ready with anticipation. Or was it longing?

  In the end, I decided it was both, because suddenly, I couldn't wait a moment longer.

  And from the look in Chase's eyes, I wasn't the only one.

  I was wearing a white sleeveless top and a long country skirt, while Chase was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. These weren't a lot of clothes, and yet, they suddenly seemed far too many.

  With growing eagerness, I reached for the hem of his shirt even as he reached for mine. And then, as if both of us couldn’t wait another moment, we were tugging off each other's clothing in a desperate bid to be naked with the person we loved.

  It seemed like an eternity, but suddenly, all at once, there we were, naked, upright on our knees, facing one another on Chase's nice and roomy bed.

  My hands were on his hips, and his hands were on my shoulders as our gazes locked and held.

  I wanted him.

  And yet, I couldn't help but stop and appreciate the splendor of his naked form.

  My gaze drifted from his face, down his sculpted chest, past his well-defined abs, and lower still, until I stopped at the sight of his massive erection.

  Oh, man.

  He was one heck of a guy, alright.

  And me? I was just as ready as he was. Already, my insides were slick and eager with longing. Oh, yeah. I wanted him. Bad.

  When I returned my gaze to his eyes, my breath caught at the look of pure, unbridled love that I saw staring back at me.

  Without breaking eye-contact, he slid his hands up from my shoulders and over the sides of my neck, until he held the sides of my face in both of his hands. With more tenderness than I'd ever heard, he said, "Mina, I love you."

  Oh, man, I loved the way that sounded. "I love you, too."

  Almost in a trance, I moved forward, and so did he. Our lips met in a ragged kiss, filled with all of the longing that we'd been holding back for hours, days, maybe a lifetime.

  We were still kissing when we tumbled sideways onto the bed, with our hands exploring, our tongues intertwining, and our hearts racing as we took all of the time we needed to get reacquainted with each other's bodies.

  He
was warm and hard, just the way I remembered, and I loved the feel of his hands on my back, in my hair, over my shoulders, on my ass, and everywhere in-between.

  When he reached between us and stroked my clit, I thought I was going to climax right then and there. But more than anything, I wanted him inside me.

  Beyond eager now, I rolled over on top of him and sat up to straddle his hips.

  I paused for a long, dreamlike moment to gaze down at him – the guy I loved, the guy I'd been longing for, the guy I'd been missing so very much over the past few days.

  As Chase gazed up at me, he whispered, "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

  His words warmed my heart. "Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you." I smiled. "And you know what?"

  "What?"

  "This." I reached down to guide his erection to my slick opening. And then, slowly, deliberately, I lowered my hips, loving the sound of satisfaction that drifted from Chase as I took more and more of him inside me.

  My eyelids fluttered shut at the sheer size of him, filling me so deep that I thought I might have to stop. But I couldn’t. I didn't want to. I wanted all of him inside me, now.

  When our hips finally met, I gave a sigh of pure bliss, and took a long moment to savor the fullness, the closeness, and sweetness of something more wonderful than I'd ever known.

  I leaned down and once again pressed my lips to his, kissing him with all of the hunger I'd been storing for who-knows-how long, even as our hips moved, and our hands wandered.

  It was like both of us couldn’t seem to get enough. We rolled over onto our sides, never breaking our rhythm as we continued to kiss, to fondle, to caress, and to savor all of the sensations that both of us had been missing.

  Already, I was feeling the pressure building inside me, longing for that sweet release. And yet, almost by silent agreement, our rhythm began to slow. We stopped kissing, and our hands grew motionless as we gazed into each other's eyes.

  What I saw in his would've taken my breath away, if only I weren't so breathless already.

  And then, as we tipped over the edge of oblivion, my body convulsed and so did his. I savored the sound of him and the feel of him as his body became a rigid mass of pure granite, before, he too, found his full release.

  Afterward, we held each other for a long moment until our pulses slowed and our breathing returned to something like normal.

  We were still lying side-by-side, and I pressed my forehead to his. With my sweetest smile, I said, "Hi, I'm Mina Lipinski, and I'd like to buy you a coffee."

  Chase was silent for a long moment before a slow grin spread across his face. And then, all of a sudden, he grabbed me tight and rolled me over onto my back, with him on top of me.

  "Forget the coffee," he teased. "You know what I want?"

  "What?"

  He winked. "The girl who offered it."

  At this, I couldn't help but laugh, especially when I considered that he didn't have to want, because he already had me.

  And I had him.

  Talk about lucky.

  And I had a good feeling about us, too. Correction – a great feeling, which only got better as the days turned to weeks, and the weeks turned to months.

  Almost before I knew it, a whole year had passed, and there we were, repeating history in a different way.

  Chapter 78

  Mina

  One Year Later

  It was the first night of the Tomato Festival, and Chase and I were walking hand-in-hand down the festival midway.

  As we waded our way through the crowd, I looked to him and said, "Can you believe it's a been a whole year?"

  He smiled. "A year since when?"

  I gave him a playful bump to the hip. "You know when."

  With a long, amused glance, he said, "So, you mean the whole 'I love you' thing?"

  I almost rolled my eyes. For someone who'd taken a long while to confess his feelings, Chase had made up for it and then some by telling me those three magical words at least once a day, and often multiple times a day, during the past year.

  And what a year it had been.

  After the amazing success of last year's festival campaign, Blast Tools – or should I say Chase Blastoviak – had decided to make it an annual thing and expand it to other regions of the country.

  Blast Tools had even created a brand-new job position – director of festival outreach.

  They'd filled this position almost immediately with someone who had a real passion for the project. And that person's name?

  Mina Lipinski.

  But you knew that already, didn't you?

  And yet, you might be surprised to hear that it took me a little while to accept the offer – not because I wasn't eager for such a great opportunity, but rather because I was sleeping with the boss, and didn't want any special favors.

  But then, I'd been informed by all three brothers that there was nobody else they wanted for the job, because there was nobody on Earth who cared for the endeavor as much as I did.

  They were definitely right about that.

  In the end, I'd signed on the dotted line and considered myself beyond lucky, especially when Chase pulled me close, right there in Mason's office, and whispered into my ear, "It's a good thing you signed, because you're not going anywhere."

  He was right about that.

  Thanks to the incredible job offer, I no longer had to move away to have a career that used my degree. On top of that, I was actually being paid to support something near and dear to my heart.

  In spite of my new job, I was still living with my parents and chipping in with expenses whenever they let me, which wasn't nearly often enough, even if they did seem happier than ever with the arrangement.

  Maybe I should have gotten my own place, but the truth was, I was gone so often that it really didn't matter where I was technically living.

  In spite of the address on my driver's license, I was spending most of my nights with the guy I loved – a guy who made me laugh, made me smile, and now, made me want to elbow him in the ribs, when he looked at me and said, "But I'm still pissed about the sunroof thing."

  It had been an ongoing joke ever since I'd confessed to Chase that during our argument in the car, I'd deliberately taunted him with the noise from my own defective sunroof.

  Immature?

  Probably.

  But hey, a girl couldn’t be sweet all the time, could she?

  These days, the sunroof wasn't a factor, because the Malibu was long gone, replaced by a cute little sports car – a gift from Chase for my most-recent birthday.

  When I'd objected to such an extravagant gift, he'd claimed it was for his own benefit, not mine, because he refused to be further traumatized by my sunroof.

  Yeah, right.

  It would take a lot more than that to traumatize a guy like Chase Blastoviak. And besides, he was the one who usually drove us whenever we went someplace.

  Still, I couldn't resist teasing him. "But you're forgetting, it was the sunroof that brought us together."

  "How so?"

  "Well, you remember the first time you drove me home, right?"

  "Yeah?'

  "Well, you wouldn’t have done that if the sunroof had opened like I wanted." I paused for dramatic effect. "Which means we never would have gotten together in the first place."

  "Forget that," he said. "I would've fallen for you, anyway."

  It was just what I wanted to hear, because I felt exactly the same way. "Good thing," I teased, "because I'd hate to be just another girl chasing after you."

  He pulled me tighter against his side. "Trust me, the last thing you are is just another girl."

  His words warmed my heart like they always did, especially because I did trust him. In spite of his wild past, he'd been the most loyal, wonderful boyfriend I'd ever had.

  And the hottest.

  Go figure.

  As we continued walking along the festival midway, he pointed off in the distance. "Hey,
look."

  When I looked to where he pointed, I saw the barn – yes, that barn, where we'd gotten to know each other intimately all those months ago.

  Tonight, the barn was seeing a lot more action – meaning the family-friendly kind, not the other kind – with festival goers lined up for a traditional hayride.

  With a grin, Chase asked, "So, how about it? Wanna take a ride?"

  I laughed. "Seriously?"

  "Sure, why not?"

  It did sound like fun. With a wistful smile, I said, "I haven't been on one of those in years."

  "And me never," he said. "So come on, let's go."

  Hey, I was game if he was.

  Our timing was perfect. By the time we reached the barn area, a new group of riders was already climbing into the big, wooden wagon for a trip around the festival grounds.

  Chase and I joined the others – mostly younger couples and families with kids – in climbing into wagon. It was filled with straw on the bottom and large bales of hay that served as rustic seats for everyone on-board.

  Chase and I claimed a bale near the middle, and off we went.

  Even though it was a simple pleasure, the hayride was even more fun than I recalled, because this time, I was with Chase, a guy who made life fun no matter what we were doing.

  We were riding side-by-side, jostling with the other passengers, and I leaned into him, enjoying the feel of his body, the scent of the hay, and the sights and sounds of the festival going on around us.

  But then, as we turned onto the main midway, I grew slightly puzzled when Chase pulled away and crouched in the straw in front of me.

  I blinked. No. Wait. He wasn't crouching. He was kneeling.

  On one knee.

  Oh, my God.

  Was he going to…?

  Yup, he sure was. Even now, he was pulling a small velvet box from the pocket of his jeans. Around us, everyone in the wagon had gone completely silent.

  Already, my heart was racing. I stared into Chase's eyes, wondering if this was really happening.

  And then he smiled. "Mina?"

  I swallowed. "Yeah?"

  "You're the only girl I've ever loved. The only girl I will love. And I want to be with you forever, if you'll have me."

  Oh, boy would I ever.