by Emma Hart
“You did it in front of almost a hundred people at a bar.”
“Again, it was my birthday, and I was drunk.” She shifted on the chair. “It happened one time.”
“I still have that video on my old phone.”
“I thought we were going for dinner, not a rehash of old times.”
“Aw, come on, Rae. It’s so much fun when you blush, though.”
Her cheeks turned bright red again. “It is not!”
I grinned. “See, you say that, but you’re blushing right now, and it’s fucking adorable.”
She jabbed her fork into the pasta. She was still bright red, and her eyes narrowed as she put the fork into her mouth. She ate like that for a good minute until I laughed and shook my head, focusing my attention on my dinner instead.
We finished without saying another word. She made a point to ignore eye contact with me, but she finally broke that—and her silence—when I handed our server my credit card before she could even bring us the bill.
“What are you doing?” Rae asked. “I can pay for my dinner. This isn’t a date.”
“I know it’s not a date, but you’ve had a rough day, and I wanted to do something nice.” I finished the rest of my drink. “You don’t have to be so defensive all the time.”
She sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. Just—don’t you think this is weird? Us having dinner when…” She trailed off.
“When I just told you I’m still in love with you?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Yeah. That.”
“No. Do you?”
“Yes.”
I let go of a small laugh and leaned back in my chair. “All right, okay, fine. It’s a little weird, I guess, but I’m not doing it to try to trick you to fall back in love with me or anything. I don’t have some ulterior motive for being nice to you. Do I wish you still loved me? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, but it’s not the point. I’m buying you dinner as your friend because you need one of those right now. You also made my favorite ice cream, so take this as my thank you.”
She twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. “The ice cream was a thank you.”
“So, dinner is a thank you for the thank you. Relax.” I smiled and took back my card from the server. “Speaking of… Do you think the ice cream will be frozen now?”
She checked her phone by hitting the lock button to light it up. “Yeah. Why? Are you that impatient?”
“Are you kidding? I haven’t eaten that for two years. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN – RAELYNN
I laughed as I pushed open the front door to Best Served Cold. “That is not what happened, and you know it!”
Chase groaned. “It was. You deliberately let the ice melt over the floor so I’d slip on the water.”
“The freezer broke and defrosted itself. It wasn’t even close to being my fault.” I tossed my keys on the counter and set my purse next to them. “Not like you breaking my toe.”
“It was an accident.” He clapped with every word, blue-green eyes alive with laughter. “Unlike the water.”
“You didn’t even get hurt. All you got was a bruised ego, and I was the only person who was there to see it!”
He followed me through to the kitchen with a barking laugh. “That’s bullshit. My ego didn’t get bruised.”
“Oh, yeah right.” I scoffed, opening the freezer and getting a blast of cold air to the face. “That’s why you’re telling me it was deliberate. Face it, Chase. You walked into the kitchen, didn’t watch where you were going and slipped on your ass.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m listening to this.”
“I can’t believe it’s still an argument, but here we are.” I pulled the tub of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream out and set it on the counter, shoving the freezer door closed. “Am I making this into a sundae or can I just scoop it into a bowl?”
Chase looked at me and without blinking said, “If you just scoop that into a bowl we’re never speaking again.”
“Tempting.” I smirked.
He grabbed a sundae glass and put it in front of me. “Don’t swear at me. That stuff is too good to just be eaten without caring about it.”
“Calm down, princess.” I pulled the glass toward me. “Get me one, too.”
“Princess? You just called me a princess?”
“Are you acting like one?”
“I’m a big fan of this ice cream.”
I took the sundae glass from him. “You know you can buy it in tubs from literally any grocery store, right?”
He shrugged and leaned against the countertop. “It’s not yours though, is it?”
Our eyes met, and I blushed, looking away. I was no Ben and Jerry’s, but it was no lie that fresh ice cream was better than anything else.
I pulled down the chocolate sprinkles and reached for the sauce from the fridge. “Can you get the whipped cream for me?”
Chase moved, brushing past me as he went to the other fridge. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself reacting to his fleeting touch and focused on scooping the first bits of ice cream into the glasses.
The fridge opened and closed behind me. Seconds later, his hand settled on my lower back, fingers creeping toward my hip. He leaned forward and set the can of whipped cream on the metal counter next to me.
“Thank you.” My face turned instinctively toward his.
His breath fluttered across my lips. “You’re welcome.”
Neither of us moved for a second. My heart thumped hard in my chest. This position was so familiar—he used to stand here and watch me all the time, and it would always drive me crazy.
He reached forward and went to pinch a piece of brownie from the ice cream tub. My fingers connected with the back of his hand with a sharp slap.
“Shit!”
“Don’t touch the tub! You know the rules!” I whipped around and brandished my ice cream scoop as a weapon between us.
Not that there was a lot of room between us right now.
Nope. My scoop was touching his abs.
Jesus. It was getting more action than I was.
“Rae?” Chase said in a low voice.
I jerked my head up and met his eyes. “Yeah?”
“Your scoop is leaking ice cream through my shirt.”
“Shit!” I jumped back, bumping my ass into the counter, and dropped the scoop.
Chase laughed, bending down to pick it up. “Here, butterfingers.”
I took it from him with a glare and reached over to rinse it in the sink. “Do you want your ice cream or not?”
“I do.”
“Then stop hovering over me. You’re not a drone.”
He laughed and stepped to the side, holding his hands up in defeat. “All right, all right.”
I shot him one more look and focused on making the sundaes. The ice cream had only just started to melt, so I quickly got to work. Within a couple of minutes, I was looking at two rich chocolate fudge ice cream sundaes, complete with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and wafers in the top.
“Grab spoons.” I picked up the glasses and swept past him into the main store. I could hear him rifling through the drawers in the kitchen as I set the two glasses on the counter and pulled up two of my new stools.
Yes, they were still covered in plastic. I wasn’t removing that until I was ready. Pretty bar stools were surprisingly expensive.
Annoyingly expensive, too.
“Found them.” Chase appeared with two spoons and took the stool opposite me, sliding one spoon across the counter.
“Did you need a metal detector to find it?” I asked, keeping my face expressionless.
“Ha ha ha. You’re so fucking funny I can barely breathe.” He rolled his eyes and picked up the spoon. “Can I eat my ice cream without a side of snark?”
I dipped my spoon into my own glass and put the ice cream into my mouth. My glare was his answer.
Every meal should come with a side of snark. Just like life.
Life was brighter with a little snark.
Chase groaned. “This is so good. I think I missed this ice cream more than I missed you.”
I laughed so hard I choked on a particularly chunky bit of brownie I’d just spooned into my mouth. My spoon clattered to the counter as I thumped my chest and coughed it back up. I grabbed a napkin from the dispenser next to the register and spat the brownie into it.
“That was dramatic,” Chase said, lips curved in a wry smile.
“That’s okay. I’ll almost choke to death,” I rasped. “You sit there and eat your damn ice cream.”
“All right then.” His eyes glittered. “Let me guess—my fault, too?”
I got a bottle of water from the front fridge and sat back down. “You bet your dumb ass it is,” I said after taking a swig of the water. “But at least now I see where I stood in our relationship.”
“Second to your ice cream,” he replied around a mouthful of it. “What? I came second to my tongue. You were never as excited to see me as you were when I was about to lick your—”
I spat water over the floor. “The line. You’re crossing it.”
“Clit,” he finished, smiling way too smugly.
“Chase!”
“What?” He put his spoon in the glass, eyes dancing with laughter. “What do you want me to say?”
I wiped my mouth. “‘Thank you for making me ice cream, Rae,’ would be a nice start.”
“Thank you for making me ice cream, Rae.”
“Without the snark.”
“Coming from the queen of snark, that’s a little rich.”
“You know what will be rich? The hospital when you’re done paying the bill for the extraction of this spoon from your backside.” I waved the spoon at him. “How the hell did I put up with you for two years?”
He stuck his tongue out and wiggled it side to side, grinning like a fool.
I pursed my lips, trying not to laugh at him. He looked so freaking stupid. I dipped my head and pinched the bridge of my nose so he couldn’t see just how hard I was trying to not laugh at him.
His chuckle sent goosebumps over my skin, and I rubbed my hand down my face.
“I know you’re trying not to laugh,” he said through his own laughter.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
There was a screech of metal against metal, and the next thing I knew, Chase was spinning my body on the stool and dragging me up. I bit my lip as I met his eyes, and desire flashed through his gaze.
He had chocolate sauce on his cheek.
“You’ve got—” I wiggled my finger, but it was useless because he had my hands in a vise-like grip.
“What?”
“You’ve—give me my damn hand back.” I wrestled my hands from his and tapped my cheek. “Sauce. On your cheek. And you think I’m messy.”
“You are messy.” His lips twitched, and he wiped at his cheek. “Got it?”
I shook my head. “The other cheek.”
“Crap.” He rubbed his other cheek, but he still missed some. “Now?”
Again, I shook my head, but this time I laughed. “No. Damn it. It’s here.” I touched my finger to his cheek, no more than an inch from his mouth, and wiped my thumb across his face.
The stubble on his jaw brushed against the backs of my fingers, and I drew in a deep breath when I met his eyes. His full lips were slightly parted, and I couldn’t help how my gaze dropped to it.
My body’s reaction to this closeness was immediate.
Goosebumps erupted over my arms. A shiver ran down my spine, and my heartbeat picked up double-time, sending heat flushing through my body in an instant.
“Did you get it?” Chase asked, his voice low.
I swallowed. “No. It’s just—” I paused, moving my thumb closer to the corner of his mouth where the sauce started.
His skin was soft beneath my thumb. The sauce disappeared, transferring from his skin to mine, and as I slowly moved my hand from his cheek, the pad of my thumb brushed down the stubble coating his jaw.
I moved before I even knew what I was doing.
I touched my lips to his, my fingers moving so my hand cupped the curve of his perfect jaw. He didn’t move to touch me, he just leaned in, hesitant.
I pulled back, heat flushing my cheeks.
I didn’t know what came over me. I just wanted…needed…to kiss him. Just for that second, it’d seemed so damn right to press my lips to his.
“I got it,” I whispered, dropping my hand from his face.
His eyes opened, his gaze slamming into me with a fierce desire burning there. He took a deep breath and let it out, bringing his own hand up to touch his cheek and jaw where my fingers had just trailed.
“Thanks,” he said, voice still low, barely above a whisper. “You’ve got some, too.”
My heart jumped out of my chest. “Where?”
He raised one large hand and cupped my jaw, fingers curled beneath my chin as his thumb touched the very corner of my mouth. “Just here.”
He dipped his head.
My eyes fluttered shut when his lips brushed the corner of my mouth. I knew what he was doing, and I didn’t care.
I didn’t care at all.
“Did you get it?” I whispered.
“No.”
He kissed me. Firm and deliberate, his lips covered mine as his hand snaked around the back of my neck and pulled me closer to him. My fingers wound in his shirt and pulled him right into me as our kiss deepened, his tongue teasing its way between my lips.
We staggered back, my feet dragging me to the stool I’d just vacated. My ass propped up onto it as fire burst through my veins.
Chase’s fingers dug into my hip as he slipped between my legs and tilted my head back to kiss me fully. He had a few inches of height on me, so it worked, even when I slid my arms around to his back and gripped his shirt there.
I could barely breathe. This was everything I’d tried to avoid, but at this moment, it was everything I wanted. I wanted his fingers digging into my hip and his lips moving over mine with a hunger I’d missed for a long, long time.
It felt right and comfortable and like I’d come home.
Home.
It was that overwhelming feeling of being exactly where you knew you were supposed to be.
That was in Key West, in the middle of my half-renovated ice cream store, in the arms of my ex-boyfriend.
And, at that moment, as Chase pulled away from kissing me only to come back and do it all again, I realized that this was so much more complicated than I’d ever imagined it would be.
Because my feelings for this man weren’t entirely dead.
Every second I spent with him reminded me why I fell for him in the first place. His assholery and his jokes and his smartass sexy mouth. His smile and his eyes and how he had that something.
That something special.
The ability to make me feel like I was the only girl in the world. The only girl who mattered. The only girl he saw. The only girl he heard. The only girl he thought about.
The only girl who existed.
I leaned up into him, pushing my body closer to him. His muscles were tight, clenching as he held me to him like I’d disappear into thin air. His cock was hard as it pressed between my legs, and desire flushed through my veins.
I’d forgotten this.
I’d forgotten what it was like to want someone this way. Probably because I’d never wanted anyone the way I’d ever wanted Chase—I doubted I ever would, and that was terrifying.
Chase slid his hands up my body, his fingers probing against my skin as they crept from my hips over my waist and across my breasts to my neck. They came to rest on either side of my neck, his thumbs curving over my jaw to cup my face and hold me right where I was.
The kiss slowed, moving from deep and hungry to slow and gentle. Slow kisses, one after another, sent shivers over my skin and down my spine.
&n
bsp; Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.
Each one tasted like he didn’t want to stop, like he didn’t want to let go, just in case it never happened again.
Each one felt like that. Like a desperate cling onto right now, just in case I suddenly jerked away and the moment slipped through his fingers.
And I understood it.
I felt it. I tasted it. I knew it.
When Chase said he was in love with me, it was the way he’d loved me when I’d left him. It was the same all-consuming love we’d shared back then, and guilt wracked me, because I didn’t quite know how to handle the emotions that were rocketing through me right now.
But I knew how he felt.
I tasted his guilt, his regret, his want, his hope, his love. All of it was wrapped into tiny little kisses that were dotted one after another against my lips.
I slid my hands up his body, pushing his arms apart, and wrapped my arms around his neck. I took control and kissed him, making the tiny kisses hard and firm once again.
Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.
Kisses that meant something. Kisses that told him I didn’t hate him, that I wanted him, that I wasn’t closing a door.
Kisses that told him I was leaving the door ajar.
Leaving it open until I had it all figured out for myself.
Kisses that asked him for more time, that asked him to see if this would grow by itself, to see if we weren’t done after all.
Kisses that I meant from the deepest part of me, no matter what I asked of him.
CHAPTER TWENTY – RAELYNN
Chase dragged his lips from mine with one gentle tug on my lower lip. Our noses touched, our breath mingling. My heart was going so fast that it was all I could do to regulate my breathing into something that didn’t sound like I’d run a marathon.
That was what it felt like. I felt like I’d run ten marathons back-to-back and come out the other end gasping for air.
Chase rested his forehead against mine, taking a deep breath. “Rae.”
“Chase, I—”
I was cut off by the ringing of the phone. Neither of us moved for a second, both of us frozen in place by the kiss we’d just shared. The phone cut off, sending an uncomfortable silence through the air, but it lasted only a second before it started up again.