by Lori Wilde
“I still think it’s romantic,” she maintained. “I think it would be wonderful to have someone so in love with me that he’d make that sort of public declaration. Imagine how special you’d feel, how treasured.”
Chase moved closer, stopping when he stood only a few inches from her. Megan wished she knew what he was thinking, what he felt for her. He sure was frowning, so whatever he was thinking, he wasn’t too happy about it.
Finally, he said, “You’ve always been special, Megan. I know maybe Florene didn’t make you feel wanted, but the people of Honey care about you.”
She had to smile at the vagueness of his comment. “The people care? What about you, Chase? Do you care? Am I special to you?”
“You know you are.” He blew out a loud breath, and again, his gaze met hers. Attraction arced and sparkled between them, and even though she knew he wasn’t a bit pleased about it, she also knew he could feel it, but he was fighting it.
“Dang it, Megan. This is all Leigh’s fault. We were fine until she started all that naked business,” he muttered.
Deciding she’d long since passed the point of pretending with Chase, she admitted, “It’s not Leigh’s fault. I’ve pictured you that way many times in my life. I’ve wanted you for a long time.”
He groaned. “Someone must be putting pheromones in this town’s water. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
“Why can’t you accept what’s happening between us?” she whispered. “Why can’t you believe we can be much more than friends?”
They stood only a couple of inches apart, but now Chase closed that slim distance between them. He placed one hand under her chin and tilted her head so her gaze was locked with his. “I don’t want to lose you in my life, Megan. That’s how special you are to me.” His deep-blue gaze scanned her face. “Don’t you see that?”
“No,” she said on a sigh. “Because the fact is you may lose me anyway. I can’t help how I feel about you.” When he opened his mouth to argue, she hurriedly added, “And it has nothing to do with Leigh. I’ve felt this way about you since the day you defended me against Tommy Whitman in this very park.”
When the hand he’d used to tip her chin slid up the side of her face to caress her cheek, Megan pushed her advantage.
“Come on, cowboy. It won’t kill you to admit you feel a little something for me,” she teased, anxious to hear his response.
He studied her face for a heartbeat, then said, “Damn the scruples.”
Before she could do much more than suck a startled breath into her lungs, he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her body flush against his own, and kissed her.
7
Chase knew he shouldn’t be kissing Megan—that was the last thing he should be doing. Right now, he should be explaining how much her friendship meant to him. Barring that, he should be telling her how she’d always be a special part of his life.
He should be doing about any old blasted thing other than kissing Megan. But that’s what he was doing—kissing her. And not just a nice little peck between friends. No, he was kissing her as if his life depended on it. One of those wild, wet, warm kisses that seemed to only lead to more kisses. Hungry kisses that spoke of lust and want and desire.
And Megan, bless her soul, was kissing him back with equal ferocity. He intended on breaking off the kiss. He really did. His brain kept sending signals to his lips to cut it out. But when she made a little mewing noise and wrapped herself even tighter around him, he cupped her face in his hands and deepened the kiss. At this point, he figured he’d already sunk the ship. He might as well capsize the dinghy, too.
So he gave in to the need he felt and kissed her. And kissed her. And kissed her.
The sound of a car backfiring somewhere nearby made reality crash back into him. His brain finally won the tug-of-war, and he tore his mouth free from Megan’s.
He struggled to regain control, sucking deep breaths into his lungs. Of all the pea-brained moves. He was standing in the middle of a city park, in plain view of anyone who happened to drive by, kissing Megan. And not just kissing Megan, practically devouring her.
Way to solve the problem, Einstein. What had happened to his plan to once again calmly and rationally explain how they could never be more than friends? He’d decided over the past few days that if he explained his concerns to her often enough, she’d eventually come over to his way of thinking.
Of course, he might have had a better chance of convincing her of that little fact if he hadn’t been busy kissing her. And what about his scruples? Plankton had more scruples than he did.
He slowly backed away from Megan. “About that kiss—”
After giving him a completely feminine smile that looked a little too complacent for his peace of mind, she held up one hand. “Don’t tell me. It was a mistake, and it will never happen again.”
Okay. At least she was being reasonable. “That’s right.”
“Got it. Well, you take care, Chase. I’ll see you around.”
With a flirty little wave, she walked away, leaving him standing in the middle of the park, dumbfounded. She couldn’t seriously be okay with this, could she? Sure, he didn’t want to hurt her. And sure, he knew sex would ruin their friendship, but how could she calmly walk away when two seconds ago they’d been sharing a kiss that had caught them both on fire?
He narrowed his gaze and watched her climb into her car. As she drove off, reality hit him in the face like a wet sock. She wasn’t unaffected; she just wanted him to think she was. Megan didn’t want to fight about the kiss, so she’d gone on the defensive and cut off any chance he had of starting a fight.
Smart lady. He couldn’t help admiring the neat way she’d outmaneuvered him like a roper chasing a calf. Still, she might have avoided a fight today, but sooner or later, this mess was going to boil over. Megan still thought they had a romantic future, but they didn’t.
Okay, after the two kisses they’d shared, he’d admit they shared more chemistry than he’d originally counted on. But chemistry could be ignored or even changed if you tried hard enough.
He blew out a disgusted breath and headed across the park to his truck. One way or the other, he needed to get her to face facts about their relationship.
“You stupid cowpoke, why don’t you stop kissing her for starters,” he muttered as he climbed in the cab of his truck.
Yeah, that would go a long way toward cooling things off.
“The coward’s hiding from you,” Leigh said, then tossed a piece of popcorn into the air and caught it neatly in her mouth. “You need to stop him.”
Megan scanned the carnival grounds, looking for Chase. Leigh was right. Chase was back to avoiding her. He’d done a lot of amazing footwork in the past few weeks to keep his distance, and she had no reason to expect him to change today.
His behavior was a direct result of their last kiss. She understood it had rattled him. It had rattled her, too. Heck, there was a fairly good chance it had registered on the Richter scale.
But rattled or not, she hadn’t let the kiss distract her from the carnival and thankfully, neither had Chase. He’d simply used his brothers as a human shield.
The day after their last kiss when she’d swung by the park to help dismantle the old playground equipment at the appointed time of eight in the morning, she’d found Trent and Nathan standing in front of a neatly stacked pile of old rusty metal. They’d told her Chase had a conflict, so he and his brothers had started at six in the morning and were already done.
And gee, no one had thought to call her.
Then when she’d needed additional help lining up sponsors for the booths, Chase had done the calling, but Nathan had dropped the forms off at the library.
And when she’d run into trouble getting Earl to commit resources to assemble the tent, Chase had taken care of that as well. This time, though, Trent had been the one to drop off the final paperwork at the library.
She sighed. Nothing like running a committee with stand-ins
.
“I still think you should give my idea a twirl,” Leigh offered. “Whipped cream has brought many a man into line.”
Megan continued to scan the crowd, still finding no sign of Chase. Disappointment washed over her, but she pushed it away. Today, she wasn’t going to mope about Chase. The weather had turned out gorgeous, and the carnival had attracted a huge crowd. Not only did it appear most of Honey was crammed into the small city park, but quite a few out-of-towners had come as well.
“Are you sure Chase is here?” Megan asked Leigh, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look. “I need to talk to him about the auction.”
“Yeah, he’s here. Lurking around.”
Well, that didn’t make her feel any better. It hurt that Chase was avoiding her. She didn’t enjoy feeling like day-old liver at a Sunday brunch.
Giving up, she turned and headed toward the tent where the auction would start in a few minutes. She’d just slipped inside the darkened interior when two of the men running some of the carnival games cornered her. As she’d feared, the bigger turnout was taking a toll on the homemade booths. They needed help making a few quick repairs.
Before Megan could even open her mouth, Chase spoke from behind her.
“I’ll pitch in. Let me just grab my brothers, and I’ll meet you over there.”
After the men walked away, Megan turned to look at Chase. As usual, the sight of him made her heart beat faster.
“Hi,” he said, moving a little closer when a large group of people came through the door.
Megan drank in the sight of him. He looked so handsome today in his jeans and plain white shirt. The simplicity of his clothes only served to showcase his gorgeous face and amazing blue eyes. Of course, she’d never tell him that. Chase Barrett was the least vain man she’d ever met. She knew his choice of clothing was based on practicality not on impression. But she was impressed, and she knew without even looking that the other women in the tent were impressed, too.
Slowly, she let her gaze wander over him. Her confidence soared when he took his time looking her over, too. She’d given a great deal of thought to her appearance, and the simple white sundress with the blue and green flowers made her feel pretty.
Chase seemed to agree because when he said, “You look nice,” his voice had a husky overtone to it.
“Thanks. You look nice, too.”
The goofy look Chase gave her made her laugh, and when he smiled in return, she felt her gloomy mood evaporate. Things were going to be fine. At least she hadn’t lost her best friend. Not completely at least.
“I haven’t seen you in forever,” she said, even though she’d promised herself this morning that she wouldn’t mention his absence. But how could she not? He really had been avoiding her.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been busy. But you got everything done you needed, right?”
She took a step closer to him. “Yes, but I still would’ve liked to have seen you.”
“Couldn’t be helped,” was all he said.
“Really?” When he didn’t elaborate, she pushed on. “Problems on the ranch?”
“Yes. No. Well, you know. Ranch stuff.”
She smiled. “Ranch stuff?”
His shrug was self-conscious. “Horses, cows, ranch stuff.”
Before Megan could question him further, Janet entered the tent, her red lips forming a wide smile at the sight of Chase. She was wearing her trademark flashy halter top, this time in the exact same shade of heart-attack red as her lipstick.
“Chase Barrett, you’re harder to find than my ex-husband when he owes me alimony. I thought when I joined this committee that we’d spend time together. Maybe get to know each other.”
Megan leaned forward and told the other woman, “Chase has been busy with ranch stuff.”
Janet raised one thin brow. “Ranch stuff?”
Megan nodded and adopted her most sage voice. “Yes. You know, horses, cows, ranch stuff.”
With a knowing nod, Janet said, “I see.”
Megan bit back a giggle, and almost lost it completely when Chase groaned. “If you ladies will excuse me, I’ve got to go help fix a couple of the booths.”
“Wait.” Janet grabbed Chase’s arm. “I just wanted you to know I plan on bidding on the trip to San Antonio. And if I win, I’ll definitely need an escort.”
With that and a quick wink, Janet wandered farther into the tent, eventually sitting near the front with her girlfriends.
“Man, I’d forgotten all about that stupid trip.” Chase moved closer to Megan. “Listen, you’ve got to make certain you come in with the winning bid.”
“I will. I can go as high as five hundred dollars,” she told him.
Chase frowned. “We already agreed to use my money, so I’ll be the one to go as high as five hundred dollars.”
Megan didn’t want to argue with him, especially not in front of a large portion of Honey, so she merely nodded. Besides, if things got rough—and with Janet involved, they very well could—she could add her five hundred to his five hundred. There was no way Janet would bid more than a thousand dollars. Even she wasn’t that crazy.
“Don’t worry, I won’t lose,” Megan assured him.
His gaze locked with hers. “Truthfully, I’m not sure what worries me more—you losing or you winning.”
While Megan turned his comment over in her mind, a commotion near the front of the tent drew her attention. The mayor was about to begin the auction. As much as she hated walking away from Chase when she’d finally gotten to see him, she had to go help with the auction.
“I have to go, but can I convince you not to disappear after the carnival is over?” Drat. She sounded as if she was pleading with him, which in a way, she was.
“I won’t disappear,” Chase assured her. “Besides, I have to find out who won the trip.”
With that, he turned and left the tent. Megan felt like the energy had left as well. But before she could even miss him, Earl called her to the podium.
Public speaking had never been her strong suit, but Megan figured after the past few weeks, she was definitely getting better at it. She made a few introductions, gave a lot of thanks and a couple of reminders, then stepped aside and let Earl start the auction.
Megan sat in a small chair next to Leigh and settled back to watch the action. The first few items were small: a suitcase and a silk flower arrangement. They attracted only a hundred dollars each. But as each minute ticked by, the items became more expensive. The laptop Nathan had donated generated a lot of bids, eventually selling for more than it would have if bought at retail.
“Jeez, this crowd is like a school of sharks smelling blood. Earl has whipped them into a frenzy,” Leigh said.
Leigh was right. Earl had obviously missed his calling. The seventy-three-year-old mayor was teasing and cajoling the crowd out of money like an old pro. This could be bad. Very bad. Earl might very well convince the ladies of Honey that a trip with Chase was worth big bucks.
Megan glanced toward the back of the tent, hoping she’d spot Chase, but he wasn’t there.
“Okay, next up is a trip to a bed and breakfast in San Antonio.” Earl peered at the crowd over the top of his glasses. “Now, in case you folks don’t know this, San Antonio isn’t just famous for the Alamo. It’s also one of the world’s most romantic cities. And I understand that if a single lady bids, she can decide to ask Chase Barrett to come along with her for company. I want everyone here to picture yourself on the River Walk. Soft music. Fine wine. A full moon.” After a long, long silence, he grinned a devil’s grin. “May just have to bid on this myself and take Mrs. Guthrie there for our anniversary. This old house still has a fire burning in the hearth, if you know what I mean.”
The crowd laughed, then Earl started the bidding at a hundred dollars. Before Megan could even raise her hand, the bid shot up to two-fifty.
“Oh, no, go find Chase,” she whispered to Leigh.
Leigh glanced at her. “What’s wr
ong?”
The bid went up to six hundred.
“Leigh, I only have a thousand dollars to bid on this. I promised Chase I’d make the winning bid.”
The bid went to eleven hundred.
“Hurry,” Megan told Leigh.
“I have fifteen hundred. Do I hear sixteen?” Earl asked.
“Wow, you’d think Chase was a professional gigolo the way these ladies are bidding,” Leigh pointed out.
Megan felt her heart drop to her shoes. This bidding was out of control. By now, the only bidders were single women. All of the couples had long since dropped out. Megan grabbed Leigh’s arm. “Seriously, you have to go get him.”
“Two thousand dollars. I have two thousand dollars from Janet Defries,” Earl said. “Come on, let’s keep going. This is starting to get interesting.” Megan felt her heart sputter. Oh, no. She stared at Leigh, who merely shrugged.
“Going once...”
“Going twice...”
Leigh shot to her feet. “Stop!”
The tent fell silent. Everyone stared at Leigh, who in turn stared at Megan. Leigh’s expression clearly asked, “What do I do now?” but Megan had no answer for her.
“What’s the problem?” Janet demanded. “I want to be declared the winner.”
After a nerve-racking moment, Leigh turned toward Janet. “Tell me something. If you win, are you going to expect Chase to come with you on this trip?”
Janet’s smile was feline. “I might like some company.”
“Oh.” Leigh looked at Megan, then turned toward Earl. “In that case, I think everyone here should know something.”
“And what would that be, Leigh?” Earl asked patiently.
“Um, well...Janet can’t win the trip because Chase can’t go with her,” Leigh said.
Megan frowned. Where was she going with this?
“Chase promised he would,” Janet pointed out, her temper obviously at the breaking point.