by Soraya Lane
Hope gulped, focused on each breath, not daring to look away. Like being confronted with a predator, she had that feeling that she couldn’t back down, had to stay strong and show that she was just as capable of staring back at him as he was her.
“Chase…”
“No, hear me out, Hope,” Chase said, leaning deeper over the railings, his dimpled smile like a touch straight to her heart, teasing her, making her body betray her. “What we did that night, it wasn’t just some meaningless fun and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a rematch. I think I made that clear the other night.”
She was speechless. Absolutely, utterly speechless. Hope kept her jaw clenched tight. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel the same, but …
“You want to hang out as friends, well, fine, but I want to lay it all out so you know how I feel.” Chase pushed back off the fence and moved toward her, his frame blocking out everything else when she turned to him, stared up into dark eyes that seemed to warm every inch of her. He raised his hand, fingers curling gently around her chin as he tilted her face up, eyes searching hers. “You change your mind about wanting something more, I’m here.”
Hope was transfixed, couldn’t take her eyes off the man so confidently telling her exactly what he wanted. Part of her wanted to just scream yes, but the more dominant side of her was immobile, knowing it was all wrong. Sober, it was obvious that she needed to steer clear of Chase romantically; the other night it had been the alcohol talking, or at least that’s what she was telling herself.
“So what do you say?” Chase’s husky voice commanded her attention, her gaze falling to his full lips as he spoke. It would only take a second to close the distance between them, to remind herself what it was like having that mouth moving in time with hers, but she resisted.
“I say, I’ll think about it,” she told him, her voice barely a whisper. If she went there with Chase, there was no way she could keep her secret, would have to come clean, and then what? He’d hate her and do what she’d always feared—want to share custody of her son, make her stay in Texas when her heart was still in Canada, with the land she was desperate to buy back one day.
“That’s all I needed to hear.” He grinned, fooled her into thinking he was about to pull away. She took a deep breath at the same moment his mouth closed over hers, so softly all she could do was gasp against him as he kissed her tenderly, his hand resting on the back of her head, palm against her hair.
Hope was powerless to pull away, even though she tried. The soft push and pull of his mouth on hers, the warmth of his skin, the hard planes of his body as she leaned into him—it was too good, too mesmerizing to say no to.
A loud ringing ruined the moment, broke the connection between them. It was Chase who pulled back first, his lips moving slowly away from hers, hand running the length of her hair and then skimming down her back before trailing away. Hope was numb, a chill running through her body like a gentle shudder, cold when his body left hers.
“And the phone does it again.” Chase chuckled. “I think it’s yours.”
She blinked, broke the trance she was in, and reached for her back pocket, plucking out her phone. “Shit.” She cleared her throat and took a second before answering. It was her boss.
She glanced up at Chase and wished she hadn’t, not with the heat in his gaze that spelled out every kind of trouble. He wanted her and she wanted him. The only difference was that he’d come out and said it and she was still trying to deny it, even if her body had just betrayed her.
Hope focused on what her boss was saying, gazed out at the trees in the distance as she answered his questions and promised to hit the road straightaway to see a client in trouble. When she hung up, she was straight back into work mode.
“I have to go,” she announced, slipping the phone back into her pocket.
Chase grabbed her hand, stroked his thumb across her palm. “Saturday night?”
She nodded, wondering what the hell she was doing but knowing it was going to happen regardless. There was no way she wasn’t coming over for poker night, even if the sensible thing would have been running a mile in the opposite direction. She was in too deep to just walk away now, at least until her work on the ranch was done. Then she could run for the hills.
“Yeah,” she muttered, taking a step back so that he eventually had to release her hand. “Yeah, I’ll be here. But you call me before then if you notice any signs, okay?”
Chase nodded. “Hey, is everything all right? I mean, that wasn’t about your son, was it?”
She smiled. “No. If it was about Harrison we wouldn’t even be having this conversation because I’d be long gone.” She pushed her hands into her pockets for something to do, and to avoid Chase grabbing hold of her again. What she needed was to not have his skin anywhere near hers. “It was my boss, wants me to head to the Ramsey ranch. They’re having trouble with some very late calving and they want me to see if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“You want me to come lend a hand?”
Hope started to walk backward, shaking her head. “No, Chase, I’ll be just fine. And it’s not brawn they need, it’s medical knowledge.”
“You sayin’ I’m all brawn and no brain?” He flexed his biceps and made her laugh. “I’ve delivered one hell of a lot of calves single-handedly, I’ll have you know.”
“Good-bye, Chase,” she said, running the pads of her fingers across her lips once she’d turned away.
“See you Saturday night.”
She kept walking, not looking back. Because the last thing she needed was to see that handsome-as-hell cowboy leaning against the fence with his sexy-lazy eyes trained on her. The memory of his kiss was more than enough to distract her for the rest of the day, especially when she had her arm elbow-deep in a heifer stuck in the second stage of labor.
Chapter 8
“So tell me about her.”
“Who?” Chase looked up, beer in hand. He’d just finished helping Chloe since Ryder was still nowhere to be found.
“Who do you think, doofus?” Chloe gave him a pretend slap across the back of the head as she passed him, putting a bowl of chips and a homemade dip on the table.
Chase scowled and took a sip of his beer. “She’s, I don’t know, what do you want me to say?”
“I’m not going to laugh at you,” Chloe said, collecting her soda from the kitchen counter, “if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Chase arched an eyebrow. “There’s nothing to say, Chlo. Seriously.” He shrugged. “And I’m not into this talky, touchy-feely stuff anyway.”
“Give me a break, Chase,” she muttered, sipping her drink when he did. “I’ve known you a while now, and neither you nor Nate has ever invited a woman over to hang out with us.” She laughed. “To your bed, sure, but not to meet the family.”
“This is hardly meeting the family,” he said. “I just thought you’d like some female company, balance up the genders around the table.”
Chloe leaned across the table, taking his hand and giving him a long, serious look. “Chase, you got it bad, you know that, right?”
He grunted. So much for coming over to hang out with Chloe for a while to relax. He would have been better off having a beer with Tommy first, or meeting up with some of the other guys who’d already be out shooting pool. “Don’t be crazy.” Yeah, he liked Hope, a lot, but Chloe was seriously exaggerating.
“And for the record, if I wanted some female company, I could ask one of my friends over.” Her grin was wicked. “As far as I’m concerned, these little poker nights are more of a family thing.”
“Where’s your husband, anyway?” Chase asked. He was sick of Chloe baiting him and he wasn’t going to engage—she was worse than his brothers!
“He’ll be back in a minute. He went down to check on Bruce.”
“Who the fuck is Bruce?”
Chloe took another sip of her soda and rose, wandering barefoot to the oven to check on the nachos he’d seen her put
in earlier. “Bruce,” she said in an exaggerated voice, “is our new bull. Ryder thinks he’s going to be the biggest, baddest rodeo bull around. He didn’t want to say anything to you guys until he was sure, but he’s sure.”
“Better to call a bull Bruce than a kid, I guess.”
“Hey, who’s talking about my moneymaker?”
Ryder slid into the kitchen on socked feet, grabbing Chloe when he stopped and planting a smacker of a kiss on her lips. She giggled, arms looping around Ryder’s neck as he dipped her back for another. If Chase hadn’t known them so well he would have looked away, but he was used to it and they clearly didn’t mind having an audience.
“Your better half was just telling me about your new acquisition.”
“Hey, when does your girlfriend arrive?” Ryder quipped.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Chase told him. “Hope will be here by six and I don’t need you giving me or her any shit.”
Ryder looked smug as he pulled his wife in tight, arm around her neck. “Oh, I won’t be giving her any shit, don’t you worry about that.”
“Hey boys.” Nate appeared, dressed down in jeans and a T-shirt. He was carrying a bottle of Wild Turkey, their favorite whiskey, and sporting a big grin. “And lovely lady.”
Chase watched as Nate shoved Ryder out of the way to put his arms around Chloe and plant a kiss on her cheek.
“Hands off,” Ryder growled.
“Wait till I get my hands on Chase’s girl. Then we’ll really see some fur fly, huh?”
Chase glowered at his brothers. They were both morons, and Chloe was being a royal pain in his ass, too. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked Hope over after all.
“You guys are gonna have to behave, ’cause she’s bringing her kid,” Chase told them.
Nate and Ryder both stopped dead, staring at him. Chloe was the only one still smiling.
“Bad,” she said, waving her finger at him. “Only a guy with it real bad would let a kid tag along.”
“Hey, he seems nice.” Chase shrugged. “Besides, it was the only way I could get her to come.”
Ryder and Nate exchanged looks and then went to the fridge and both pulled out beers. Ryder took a long pull of his then disappeared into another room, while Nate headed over and sat down beside Chase.
“You know we love you, right?”
Chase ignored Nate. “You are gonna be nice to her, aren’t you, Chlo? She’s not just some woman I met at a bar, she was my best friend in college. We were like…” He paused. Nothing witty came to mind. “I don’t know, but we were tight.”
“So you’re trying to tell me that I can trust her, is that it?”
“I guess I’m just saying that she’s the real deal. You’ll like her.”
“I think she just knocked at the door,” Nate called out.
Chase pushed his chair back and jumped up at the same time his brother started to laugh. Chloe gave him a guilty smile, clearly trying hard not to join in with Nate’s bullshit.
“What the fuck?”
“Sorry,” Nate said, “I just wanted to see that excited look on your face when you thought she was here. Kinda like a puppy…”
“Ha-ha, very funny,” Chase muttered. “And I don’t know what the big deal is. She’s an old friend coming over to hang out and play some poker with us.” He stopped talking when a knock sounded out. Either Ryder was playing some bullshit game or she actually was standing at the front door now. “Just think of her as one of the guys.”
“Are you going to get that or shall I?” Nate asked dryly.
Chase just stared at him long and hard before standing again, taking his time. His brothers were great, but they were assholes, too.
“I’ll get it,” he said, talking as he walked. “And just don’t go giving her a hard time. Or the kid.”
“As if I was ever gonna give the kid a hard time,” Nate called back. “Give me some credit.”
Chase stalked down to the door, wondering what the hell he’d done inviting her in the first place. He knew his brothers were full of shit, but still—this was Hope and they had history. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t trying to impress her, and the thought of convincing her to stay tonight … Damn. She’d made it clear that she wouldn’t be intimate with him in front of her son, and he got that she’d only just separated from the boy’s father, but he still wanted her in his bed. If not tonight, then soon.
He swung open the door and had to look down to see Hope. She was dropped down on her haunches, one arm around her son as she talked to him, but when she saw Chase she rose.
“Hey,” she murmured.
“Hey, straight back.” Chase leaned in and put an arm around her, drawing her in close so he could kiss her cheek. Her hair had the same sweet-berry kind of smell it had always had, wafting up to him and making him want to hold her tight, to inhale it at the same time as touching every inch of her body.
He reluctantly let her go, conscious that her son was watching.
“Hey, Harris, how are you buddy?” he asked, holding out his hand and grinning when the boy grasped and shook it.
“Can we come in now?”
Chase stepped back. “In you come.” He bent down as Harrison passed, touching the boy’s shoulder. “I hope you’re good at card games, cause I might need your help tonight.”
The kid grinned back at him, looking like he’d just been let in on a big secret.
“Thanks for having us over,” Hope said as they walked. “Harrison was pretty excited about coming. It’s been a while since we’ve just, I don’t know, had fun, I guess.”
“Come meet everyone,” Chase said, letting her walk ahead of him through the door into the big open-plan lounge and kitchen. “Then you might change your mind.”
“Hey, what lies are you telling the lovely lady?”
Ryder emerged at the same time they did, hair wet from his super quick shower and dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a fresh shirt.
“Harrison, this is my brother, Ryder. Harris is one of the boys tonight,” he told Ryder.
“Hey, Harrison.” He watched as Ryder held his hand up for a high five and touched the boy’s head, grinning at him before giving Hope a quick kiss on the cheek. “Nice to see you again, Hope.”
“Hi.” Chloe came forward and gave Hope an impromptu hug, her warmth so genuine it made Chase smile. He should have known how welcoming his sister-in-law would be. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Hopefully only good things?” Hope laughed and pushed her hands into her jean pockets before pulling one straight out and reaching for her son. “This is Harrison. And I hope at least one of you guys likes Transformers because he’s stuffed at least five of them in my bag.”
They all laughed, but it was Nate who called out. “That’d be me. If you’ve got an Optimus Prime in there, I’m all in.”
Harrison’s face broke out in a beamer of a smile and Hope nudged him toward Nate who was sitting sprawled on the sofa. Chase could see he was desperate to show someone his Transformers, so he put one arm around the boy and reached for Hope’s bag. He wasn’t opposed to reliving his childhood either.
“You mind if I take this?”
She slipped it off her shoulder. “Be my guest.”
“Hey, wine or beer?” He heard Chloe ask. “I usually drink beer with the guys but I’m just as happy to not be one of the boys and drink a nice chardonnay.”
“Harris, this is my big brother, Nate. Nate, Harris,” Chase said as Nate leaned forward, ditching his beer and gesturing for the boy to come sit beside him.
“Who you got in there? Bumblebee?”
Harrison nodded. “And Wheeljack.”
“You and me are gonna get on just fine,” Nate said. “How ’bout you take a look in mom’s bag and get them all out, and then you can show me how to transform your favorites.”
Chase dropped to the ground with Harris, trying to figure out how to transform one of the toys he had. The boy made it look easy but Chase was strug
gling.
“I think you’ll have to help me out here, buddy,” he admitted.
Harris leaned over and transformed it in about a minute. “He’s a goodie. See his Autobot patch?”
Chase nodded. “You sure know a lot about Transformers, huh?”
“I watch them on YouTube. Mom said she’ll buy me a Dinobot if I’m good tonight.”
“Dino what?” Chase asked with a laugh.
“Dinobot. You know, from Age of Extinction. The movie.”
Chase was in way over his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but next time you come over I reckon you should bring it so we can sit down and watch it.”
Nate nudged him and nodded over at Hope. Chase could have sat all night and played games, but he appreciated the chance to spend some time alone with Hope. He smiled at his brother. It wasn’t often he owed Nate for helping him out, but right now he sure as hell did.
“So have you played poker before?” he overhead Chloe ask Hope.
Hope glanced at Chase and they both laughed. “Well, there was a time that I talked Chase into playing with a few of the girls in my dorm.”
“Oh yeah?” Ryder passed Chase a beer as he shook his head.
“Imagine a lot of drunk girls and an even drunker Chase, having his ass whooped and ending up butt naked.”
“No way!” Chloe clapped her hand over her mouth as she laughed. “I bet he’s never told any of the guys about that.”
Hope gave him an apologetic look, but he just smiled back at her. She could tease him all she wanted, it was his brothers who couldn’t get away with it.
“I never told anyone because I was expecting to end up with an entire dorm full of seminaked women to myself, and instead I ended up bare and they were all still fully clothed.”
“Ah, so my darling husband learned his poker skills from you, did he?” Chloe asked dryly.
“Why do I feel like I’m missing a really good story here?” Hope asked, looking from Chase to Chloe.
Chase touched Hope’s back, his palm pressed to her leather jacket. It annoyed him that he couldn’t feel her skin. “It’s a long story,” he told her as Chloe grinned. “My idiot brother lost a big-ass poker game, Chloe came along and saved the day, and the rest, as they say, is history.”