Ready To Love Again

by Annalyse Knight

  “Yep.”

  “Well, Ms. Rodriguez . . .” He leaned closer to her and closed the gap between them. Katie’s breath caught in her throat at his sudden movement, and she took a step back, colliding with the counter. “Don’t be surprised when I tease back.” Chase flicked a strand of her hair over her shoulder before he chuckled and stepped away. She had to shake her head to clear the haze that fogged her brain from his unexpected playful banter.

  “Are we ready to go?” Gina asked when she came into the room, her brow raised and directed toward her brother.

  Katie glanced at Chase, but he was looking at his feet like a boy who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Gina looked from him to Katie and then back again before a wide smile spread across her face. It took Katie a moment to realize Chase was nervous about being caught flirting with her.

  Gina ignored her tongue-tied brother and grinned at Katie. “Daniel and I are going on the motorcycle, so why don’t you guys ride together? We’ll meet you at the restaurant.”

  Chase nodded, and Katie caught a wink from Gina before she turned and darted out the door. Katie had a strange feeling Gina was playing Cupid, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. For now, she would enjoy the time with her new friends and not think about spending the evening with an extremely sexy and single man.

  Chapter 6

  Chase and Katie drove to the wharf in comfortable silence. His flirtation with her at the house had been out of character, and he wondered what had possessed him. He had forgotten how entertaining it was to tease an intelligent woman. There was no way he would have dared to cross that line with one of the nurses, and especially not with Tiffany.

  The flirtatious babysitter had been obvious about her crush on him, but even though she was harmless, he was still embarrassed Katie had witnessed their exchange. He didn’t want her to think he had any interest in a girl half his age. Chase had always ignored Tiffany’s batting eyelashes and leading comments, but now he felt like he should have stopped her unwanted advances sooner.

  He caught Katie watching him before she turned and looked out the window. Glancing at her profile, he was struck by her natural beauty. She wasn’t like some of the artificial women who flounced around Carmel. Katie was genuine and had that girl-next-door appeal. Innocent—yet not. He was sure she’d seen her fair share of heartache. With her divorce and raising a son by herself, it was inevitable.

  Chase had been around Shawn enough to know he was a great kid. He had a kind heart and a sense of justice that could turn him into a little vigilante. Chase was going to have to watch him around the Arnold kid, but he couldn’t be angry with him for protecting Tony. Shawn had been doing what any friend would do, and Chase wondered if it was the first time someone had defended his son.

  “Why are you smiling?” Katie asked.

  Chase glanced over at her, and his smile widened. “The boys. I think Shawn will be good for Tony.”

  “Your sister said the same thing. Shawn tends to get in a lot of trouble, but he always means well. Besides, he has a pretty bad case of hero worship, so I’m sure he’d do anything you or Daniel asked him to do.”

  Chase smiled. If only his own kids were so eager. “So what brought you to Monterey?”

  “I called an old professor, and she told me there was a position at the aquarium.” Katie’s eyes lit up as she spoke. “I’ll start as an aquarist because I haven’t worked since college, but hopefully I’ll be able to put my degree to use in the future. It’s an exciting time at the aquarium with the white shark. It’s pretty amazing that they’ve had her for so long.”

  Chase nodded along while she filled him in on the progress of the shark. She’d been following its development since its rescue several months earlier, and her enthusiasm for her new job was refreshing. Chase could remember a time when he had been that excited about his own occupation. Somewhere along the way, he’d lost the zeal for his work, and that troubled him.

  “So I know you’re a doctor. What’s your specialty?”

  “I’m one of the attending surgeons at Community Hospital. I’ve been there for a few years. The fast pace is great, but sometimes it makes raising a family difficult.”

  They talked for a while about her previous stay in Monterey, Shawn’s penchant for animals of every description, and Chase’s time at Stanford. He marveled at the ease with which their conversation flowed. Katie was an interesting person. The more she talked, the more he wanted to know. They were so engrossed in their conversation that the twenty-minute drive flew by, and before he knew it, they were pulling into the parking lot at the wharf.

  Chase climbed out of the car and moved to her door before she could open it. When he offered his hand, she took it with a small smile. The warmth of her skin felt nice against his. Chase pulled her upright and then reluctantly released her once she was steady. He rubbed the palm of his hand with his thumb, but when it brushed against his wedding band, a stab of guilt shot through his heart.

  They continued with their conversation while they walked toward the wharf, Chase giving Katie no sign of the internal war he was waging. When they were passing the first shop, she glanced in the display window and gave a quick intake of breath. He peered over her shoulder, and she pointed to a large glass sculpture with dolphins jumping out of a wave.

  “My parents gave me that same sculpture for my graduation from CSUMB. I loved them until their unfortunate demise.”

  “Unfortunate demise?”

  “Another critter incident.” Katie shrugged, but he could tell it bothered her. “When we were packing to move, Shawn’s frog got loose. In the process of trying to capture it, he knocked them over.”

  She turned and gave him a smile before they continued down the wharf. Chase listened while she talked about the last time she’d been on the wharf and how she’d tried all the samples of clam chowder each restaurant handed out to entice folks to eat in their establishments. Chase stopped her in front of a building painted bright yellow and held open the door for her.

  “If you’re looking for clam chowder, then the Grotto has the best, or so says the guy out front handing out samples.”

  Katie laughed. “Isn’t that what they all say?”

  He motioned her into the bar, where he noticed Daniel and Gina were waiting.

  “Hey, guys,” Chase said.

  Daniel turned on his barstool and spotted Katie. “Katie!” he bellowed. “What made you agree to go out on a date with this schmuck?”

  Chase stiffened, not sure if he should correct him. In the end, he didn’t want to embarrass Katie, so he kept his mouth shut.

  “Actually, I have a date with your fiancée. She invited me,” Katie said, threading her arm into Gina’s.

  “Yep,” Gina said. “She’s much better company than the two of you.”

  “Johnson, table for four?” a petite blonde called into the bar.

  Maybe Chase wouldn’t have to strangle Daniel after all. Even so, Chase gave Daniel a long, hard glare.

  The conversation flowed, and by the time the waiter brought out their drinks, Katie still hadn’t picked up her menu.

  “Do you need help picking something out?” Chase asked, trying to be helpful. “We come here at least once a month, so I can give suggestions if you like.”

  “No, thank you. I think I’ve got it covered. I noticed they serve the chowder in sourdough bread bowls, so that’s what I’m going to have. After all, you claim it’s the best.”

  Daniel’s mouth opened as if he wanted to say something inappropriate, but Chase shook his head, giving him a warning to behave.

  “So, Katie,” Daniel said, leaning across the table, “Gina said you just moved here. What brought you to the Peninsula?”

  She was animated while she spoke about her new job at the aquarium, and Chase was thankful Daniel had decided not to embarrass her.

  During the meal, the girls were having a deep discussion about the upcoming Good Old Days, when Daniel leaned toward Chase and
beckoned him closer.

  “She’s hot, bro. You need to get you some of that.”

  Chase chose to ignore his comment and sat back in his seat, shaking his head. Daniel chuckled but then motioned to him again.

  “Seriously, she’s a nice girl.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Ask her out.”

  Chase shrugged, hoping to end the subject.

  “What do you think, Chase?” Gina asked.

  His head snapped up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch what you were talking about.”

  “The Good Old Days. We’re planning to go together. Do you know if there’s a game that day?”

  “Yeah, we have games every Saturday, but I think it’s in the morning. Even though we’d miss the parade, there’s still the motorcycle competition and the street fair.”

  Gina turned back to Katie, and Chase couldn’t help but notice how well the two women got along. His pushy sister wasn’t the easiest person to be around. She claimed it was because of working with bridezillas all the time, but he knew she’d inherited the trait from their mother.

  Katie laughed, and Chase found himself smiling with her, even though he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. He liked her. She was different from Terri, but he could also see the similarities. Katie had a passion for the things she cared about, and she seemed charming and genuine. It didn’t hurt that she was nice to look at, too.

  When dinner was over, the waiter handed the bills to Daniel and Chase. Katie tried to look over his shoulder, but he dodged her and slipped his credit card in the holder before handing it back to the waiter.

  “My treat,” he said to her when she pulled out some cash and set it in front of him. He slid it back in front of her and watched as her jaw clenched.

  The longer the money sat on the table between them, the more he wondered whether she would give in and let him win. Gina droned on about her favorite dessert and how it was always too much for her to finish, oblivious to the power struggle going on across from her. Chase looked over at Katie and saw she had a small smile on her face.

  When they all stood to leave, Katie picked up the cash off the table. Chase felt a small sense of victory and turned to head for the exit. His sister and Daniel were already out the door when he felt Katie’s hand on his arm. Her warm hand touched his hip, and he froze. Something stirred within him that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

  Her hand moved from his hip to slip into the pocket of his shorts. The lump that formed in his throat when she pushed her fingers deeper made it hard to swallow. He was stunned when she winked at him before pulling her hand out of his pocket.

  “This isn’t a date, so I’m paying for my dinner. If you want to pay, you’ll need to ask me out first.”

  Katie passed him and walked out the door, giving him a small smirk over her shoulder. Dumbfounded, Chase shook his head and tried to clear the buzz that had sounded in his ears from the moment she touched him. He reached into his pocket, verifying that she had given him fourteen dollars for her dinner.

  Score one for Katie.

  “We’re going to go see the sea lions,” Gina said when Katie and Chase emerged from the restaurant. Katie looked over at him with a smug smile, but neither one of them said anything about the money or the implied possibility of a real date.

  Chase wanted to take her out again, but part of him worried he wasn’t ready, so he told himself that he would sit back and see how the rest of the evening went.

  “Katie, come see!” Gina called from the end of the pier.

  Katie and Chase looked over the rail to the docks below. There were about twenty enormous sea lions piled on top of each other. The combined weight of the obese animals threatened to sink the dock. While they watched, there was a splash to the left of the boats in the harbor. Katie sucked in a breath, and Chase looked toward the sound. A few seconds later, a graceful bottle-nosed dolphin leapt into the moonlight.

  “They don’t normally come in this close. It’s dangerous for them to be in the harbor,” Katie whispered to herself, but Chase caught every word.

  “Will they be okay?”

  She nodded. “They’re extremely smart. Some researchers think their intelligence rivals ours. Did you know dolphins have been reported to have saved humans from shark attacks?”

  Chase nodded, remembering the story of a local surfer who was friends with one of the X-ray technicians at the hospital. “Yeah, there was a guy attacked off Marina Beach a few years back, and he swears a pod of dolphins kept the shark away until he could get to land.”

  “Dolphins are amazing animals. I was fascinated with them as a child, and they were the main reason I wanted to study the sea.”

  A small smile played at the corner of her lips when she looked out over the harbor, and he wondered what she was thinking about that gave her such contentment. They stood close to each other, and a wisp of her hair fluttered in the breeze and landed on his shoulder. Chase reached up and pulled it away at the same time she pushed her hair from her face, so it slipped between his fingers. The familiarity of the moment unsettled him, and he found himself stifling feelings he’d thought had been buried three years prior.

  The group stayed and watched the dolphins play in the moonlight until they moved on to deeper waters. Katie and Chase were deep in conversation over dolphin-safe tuna and how the aquarium helped in the effort to educate consumers when Daniel interrupted.

  “I hate to rain on your environmentalist parade, but I need to get Gina home. She’s got an early appointment with a wedding party,” Daniel said, slapping Chase’s back.

  Chase offered to take Gina home, but Daniel insisted that he wanted to do it. Whatever their motives, he didn’t want an audience anyway. Daniel’s encouragement from dinner started ringing in his mind while he helped Katie into the car. His hands began to sweat as he gripped the steering wheel.

  “I had a lot of fun tonight.” Katie broke the silence, and Chase nodded, afraid that if he spoke he would give away his anxiety. “I think that was the best apple pie I’ve ever eaten.”

  “I’d have to agree with you on that,” he said. The silence set in again, and he knew that if he didn’t ask her now, he would chicken out.

  “What do you think about doing this again?” he asked. “I mean . . . with just me?”

  “You mean a date?” Katie asked with a smile.

  He nodded, feeling like a moron for his tongue-tied query.

  She paused for a short time—probably not even a minute—but it felt like a lifetime to Chase. He considered letting her off the hook and retracting his invitation, when she finally spoke.

  “That would be nice.”

  When they arrived back at his house, Chase carried a sleeping Shawn out to her car, making sure to slip the fourteen dollars Katie had insisted on giving him into her son’s pocket. He smiled, thinking about her reaction when she figured out where it came from.

  Chase watched from the front porch while Katie pulled out of the driveway and Gina pulled in on the back of Daniel’s bike. Gina gave Daniel a quick kiss before she bounded up the stairs. She slapped Chase in the stomach, then turned to wave at her fiancé before he drove down the street.

  “So, big brother, you seemed a little cozy with Katie at dinner.”

  “Gina, please, don’t start.”

  She stuck out her bottom lip. “Come on, Chase. It’s been three years. It’s time to move on. Do you think Terri would want you to be alone forever?” Gina asked. “I loved her, too. She was my best friend, and I know she’d want you to find someone who can make you happy. I’m not saying Katie’s the one to do that, but you need to get out there, date . . . hell, go get laid. I don’t care—just do something.”

  Chase chuckled at her speech. This was the first time she’d told him to go out and get some. “I’ve already asked Katie out.”

  Gina’s eyes went wide, and she bit her lip while she tried to control her excitement. It didn’t work.

  “Did she say yes? When
are you going out? Where are you going to take her?” she spit out.

  “Yes, I don’t know, and I don’t know.” He knew the simplicity of his answers would drive her crazy.

  Folding her arms over her chest, she huffed. “What do you mean you don’t know? You said you asked her out. Didn’t you set a date?”

  “Damn . . . no. I don’t know what I’m doing here. Cut me some slack.”

  Gina glared at him and shook her head. “If you plan on getting her in the sack, then you better have a more solid plan than ‘I don’t know’ up your sleeve.”

  “Gina,” he warned over his bark of laughter. “I can’t believe we came from the same set of parents. Didn’t Mom teach you how to be a lady?”

  She smirked at him. “Leave it to me. I’ll make everything perfect. You’ll have her in—”

  “Don’t get your meddling self into the middle of this,” he said, cutting her off before she could plan some elaborate outing. “If it happens, it happens. I don’t need any help from you.” He knew if he didn’t restrain her, he’d find himself neck deep in wedding plans.

  She was about to object when the phone rang, giving Chase a reprieve. Gina made her way into the kitchen while he started for his room.

  “Chase, the phone is for you,” she sang from the kitchen, and he paused on the stairs.

  He walked back, and Gina held the phone out to him. Her smile was even bigger than before, and he concluded it could only be one person on the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Chase, hi, it’s Katie.” She sounded nervous.

  Chase shooed Gina away so she wouldn’t hang on to every word he said. With a pout, she left him alone and went into the living room. He wasn’t stupid—he knew she’d still eavesdrop on his conversation.

  “Hi, what can I do to you?” He heard a small gasp from the living room and immediately recognized his Freudian slip.

  “Excuse me?” Katie asked, a laugh in her voice.

  “I mean for you. What can I do for you?”

  Chase buried his face in his hands, mortified. Gina’s tinkling laugh floated in from the other room, and he knew she was never going to let him live that one down.