by Cate Beauman
“Thank you.” She kissed Neve’s cheek and got up, pausing in the doorway, surprised at how deeply she was going to miss the woman still snuggled in her bed. “You know, I have a pullout couch in Bakersfield if you ever want to come visit.”
She smiled. “Maybe I’ll pop in next month for a long weekend and we can do some more yoga.”
Julie smiled back. “Just say when.”
“Good night, honey.”
“Night.” She walked down the hall toward Chase, dreading that this was officially the beginning of the end.
Chapter Thirty-six
Chase looked up from his computer screen, recognizing the sound of Julie’s gait as she made her way down the hall. He studied her beautiful face cast in the dim lamplight when she stopped in the doorway. “Hey.”
She smiled. “Hi.”
“Did you and Neve have a good time?”
She nodded. “We did.”
“Are you coming in?”
She tucked several strands of hair behind her ear. “Mmhm.”
He put his laptop on the side table when she stayed where she was, recognizing the uncertainty in her eyes. Tomorrow was on her mind as much as it was his. He stood and walked to her, holding out his hand. She placed hers in his, and he pulled her to him, giving the door a gentle shove closed with his elbow. “What’s up?” he asked, lacing his fingers at the back of her waist.
She shrugged.
He sighed, settling his forehead against hers.
She cupped his cheeks and closed her eyes as she exhaled a long breath. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
He took her palm, pressing his lips to the center. “So don’t,” he whispered, doing the same to her other hand.
She opened her eyes, looking into his. “We have to.”
“Not tonight.”
“Tomorrow.”
“But not tonight.” He captured her mouth slowly, drawing out the moment as their lips met and clung. He added pressure as she twined her arms around the back of his neck and he lifted her off her feet, walking with her to the bed and settling her on the mattress. He intended to follow, but she got to her knees in front of him, pulling his shirt up and off.
He slid her sweater up, unfastening the clasp of her silky bra with a flick of his thumb, and sent her clothes to the floor. Wrapping his arms around her, he bathed her neck in kisses as her soft breasts pressed against his chest.
Her shuddering breaths grew more ragged next to his ear as she caressed her hands up and down his back.
Craving her, already knowing how wet and warm she would be, he slid his hands over her butt, around to the front of her hips, and unsnapped her jeans, tugging them off.
Holding his gaze, she followed his lead, doing as he did, moving her palms over his ass, then his hips, and went after the button on his pants, sending them to pool at his ankles.
He tugged on her sexy black panties, letting them fall down her legs to the bed.
With her eyes heavy and darker with passion, she bit her lip and sent his underwear to join the heap on the carpet.
He touched her, stroking gently, and slipped his fingers inside, groaning when he found her hot and slippery.
Her breath caught in her throat and she whimpered, letting her forehead fall against his shoulder as she gripped him in her hand.
He clenched his jaw as she worked him as he did her, watching her eyes widen as she gasped, going over the first peak.
Mouths met again and he laid her back, falling with her to the mattress.
They rolled and she lay on top of him, combing her fingers through his hair, kissing his mouth, then his jaw and neck, moving to his chest, pressing her lips to his heart, once, twice, three times.
The tenderness of her gesture, of what she told him with her actions, was his undoing. Reversing their positions, he sunk inside her, and twin moans echoed in the quiet of the room. Staring in each other’s eyes, neither of them hurried as they moved together. Julie rocked her hips in time with his slow thrusts, trembling beneath him.
Her kisses grew more urgent, deeper, longer as she clutched at his shoulders, calling out to him.
“Jules,” he gasped, emptying himself into her. “Jules,” he repeated, kissing her temples, her nose, her mouth as their hearts pounded in unison.
She touched his cheek, snagging her trembling bottom lip between her teeth, and looked away.
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m glad we’ve had this—these past few weeks together.”
She nodded, staring at the wall. “They went too fast,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
He took her chin between his fingers, turning her head until her damp eyes met his. “Don’t cry, Jules.”
She shook her head, trying to smile. “I’m not.”
He raised his brow, wiping at the tear trailing down her soft skin.
She gave a half-hearted chuckle. “Or I’m trying not to, anyway.”
He couldn’t do this—look at her and say goodbye. “What if—what if we try the whole long-distance thing?”
She blinked. “Long distance… I don’t know.”
“It worked for us a long time ago,” he reminded her, reading the doubt in her eyes.
“We were kids. Life was different then. This is so new.” She gestured to them lying together. “You’ve been helping me through a crisis. Eventually the crisis will fade. It already is. What if we do too?” She swallowed. “I can’t go through all of that again. I made you my whole life. I thought we were going to get married and have a family, but then you left for Virginia and we fell apart.”
“I don’t want to lose you again. I’m not ready to say this is all we had.”
“Our lives are so busy. So separate.”
“If I book you a flight, will you come to Los Angeles?”
She held his gaze for several seconds. “Yes.” She sighed. “Yes, I’ll come.”
The knots in his belly loosened. “I have to go to Iraq in a couple of weeks, and things are going to be pretty busy in LA for a little while, but you could come for a weekend.”
“I have skating lessons on Saturdays.”
“So we’ll meet in the middle until the weather warms up. A two-hour flight for both of us. We would have Saturday afternoons and evenings and all day Sunday.”
“Until our schedules get too busy again and everything fades away.”
“It doesn’t have to.”
“There’s a part of me that wants to hug you tomorrow and go my own way—while I still remember that I lived a decade without you and did just fine.”
He didn’t want her to be fine without him. “Let’s try it. We owe it to ourselves to try it,” he added, sensing her still hedging. “We’re so good, Jules. We’ve always been so good together.”
She steamed out a breath through her nose. “Okay.”
“It’s going to work.”
She nodded but the doubt was there.
“It’s going to work,” he repeated, kissing her.
“Let’s talk about something else,” she said abruptly, initiating a roll. “Anything else.”
He obliged her, settling her on top of him, and traced his fingers up and down her spine. “Better?”
“Much.” She kissed him. “Tell me about your meeting today. How’s business?”
His hand stilled against her skin, knowing he couldn’t lie to her as he stared in her eyes. “Jules, I met with Donnie Dorman this afternoon.”
“Oh.” She sat up, straddling him. “Why?”
He sat up as well, settling his hands on her hips, unwilling to break their connection. “Do you really want to talk about this right now?”
She hooked her legs around him and returned his embrace. “I do.”
“I’m trying to get him a deal so he’ll talk.”
“He knows what happened to Alyson?” She shook her head. “To me,” she corrected. “For sure?”
He nodded. “I think so. He hasn’t come right out and said it, but I kno
w he does.”
“Gut instinct.”
“Exactly.” He scratched at his jaw. “Uh, there’s actually more.” He snuggled her closer, unsure of how she was going to react.
“What?”
“Dale Abbot and his widow, Holly. Your mom worked for them at their Tampa Harley shop for a few months—under the alias, Jane Downing.”
“What?” She tensed. “Mrs. Abbot told you this?”
“Yeah. On Friday.” He winced as she stared at him. “I should’ve told you then, but you and Neve had such a good day. For once you actually looked happy, then we fought yesterday morning and we had the ball and newspaper bullshit this morning…” He huffed. “I’m sorry. I should’ve spoken up Friday night.”
“That’s okay.” She pressed her fingers to her temple in a weary gesture. “So that’s how my mom knew Dale Abbot.”
“Yeah.”
“She lied to me.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “She deceived me my whole life by keeping me from the truth, but telling me Dale was my father was an outright, blatant lie.”
“She had to have a story, Jules. Kids want to know about their parents. I’m sure Gram and Gramps had plenty of questions.”
She sighed. “I guess. What else did Mrs. Abbot say?”
“That your mom worked the front desk in an under-the-table arrangement. Jane Downing was a solid employee. She showed up on time, did what she needed to do, and brought her blond-haired daughter Julie with her every day until you two just stopped showing up. Right around the time you and Miranda Keller popped up in Bakersfield.”
She closed her eyes, resting her face in her hands. “I don’t even know what to say anymore.”
He stared at the top of her head, contemplating for a moment whether to tell her the rest. Ultimately, she had a right to know and wanted to. “I think there was a third person involved in the abduction plot. A woman named Helen.”
Her gaze whipped to his. “A third person.” She tossed out a humorless laugh. “God, Chase, is there anything else?”
“I went to Mattapan yesterday—tracked down one of Donnie’s old landlords. She said Dawn Summerman would come by Donnie’s place fairly often. They would fight a lot and have sex.”
Julie wrinkled her nose. “That’s disgusting.” She shuddered. “That man is disgusting.”
He bobbed his head a couple of times. “Agreed. Another woman would come by on occasion too. Helen. She and Donnie had a huge blowout not long after Alyson disappeared. Helen knocked on Donnie’s door and told him he screwed everything up.”
She made a quiet sound in her throat. “When will this end? When do the twists and turns stop coming?”
He curled a thick lock of her hair around his finger. “I don’t know.”
“I’m learning to accept that my mother took me, and that I have another mother down the hall, but we keep adding layers and complications.”
“There may be more before it’s over. We have to take it as it comes.”
She held him tight, nuzzling her cheek against his neck. “How about another subject change? I don’t like this one.”
“Anything you want.”
“I just want to be with you, for the rest of tonight to be about us.”
“You’ve got it.” He leaned forward, pushing her back to the mattress, and settled himself on top of her. “Just you and me, Jules.”
She kissed him with a hint of desperation.
He eased away, stroking her cheeks, and brought his mouth back to hers, tenderly, soothing. She tilted her hips, inviting him to enter her.
He slipped inside her and moved with her until he knew the only thing she thought of was him. Time and again, they came back together, taking advantage of their final hours as night ticked away into early morning.
~~~~
Julie jumped when the alarm started blaring its incessant beep on the bedside table. She opened one eye and reached out, slapping the button to “off” as Chase mumbled something obscene and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. She smiled, glancing toward the sun rising over the trees in the morning sky, and lay still, treasuring the feeling of Chase’s muscled body plastered against hers as his breath heated her neck with every exhale. Today they would both go home. Today they would give another long-distance relationship a try. And she would hope they could make it work, even as she worried that it wouldn’t.
A couple of intense weeks together cemented nothing between them in the grand scheme of things. Their lives were so different. She’d started hers over a decade ago, making certain each day was so busy, she didn’t have time to miss him. Now he’d asked her to make room for him again, and the idea was terrifying. She’d meant what she said when she told him she couldn’t go through what she had again. He’d left a gaping hole in her heart the day he left—one she’d never entirely filled…until he reappeared in Bakersfield. Now she was risking everything because she couldn’t bear to let him go. “We need to get up,” she said, laying her hand over his.
“One more minute,” he mumbled, tickling her skin with his lips.
She smiled. “We’re expected for breakfast in exactly one hour.”
“That’s plenty of time,” he kissed her shoulder.
“No.” She gave him a nudge and settled on her back. “I still have to pack. I didn’t get around to it last night.” When he still made no effort to let her go, she attempted to lift his arm.
“Not so fast, Jules.” In a lightning fast move, he maneuvered himself, and she lay beneath him. “We’ll make sure you’re ready to go with plenty of time to spare.”
She couldn’t help but grin. “Chase.”
“Neve will understand if we’re a measly minute or two late.”
She shook her head. “That’s rude.”
“I sense that Neve’s a passionate person.” He snagged the lobe of her ear with his teeth. “I believe she would overlook our minor faux pas in the name of romance.”
She laughed. “You have a line for everything.”
He smiled, shrugging.
“You need to rest on your way home.” She touched the purple under-eye marks marring his handsome face. “Someone’s been keeping you up at night,” she whispered.
“I know.” He wiggled his brows.
“I really do need to get dressed.”
“Sure.”
She narrowed her eyes, with his easy surrender, not trusting the glint of mischief she saw in his. “Okay, how about a deal—a multitasking if you will: a quickie in the shower, packing, then breakfast. That’s my offer.”
“And one I can live with.”
They both scrambled out of bed, and she ran toward the shower, letting loose a tiny screech when he scooped her up and carried her with him, setting her down and pressing her against the shower door.
“I can’t keep my hands off you, Jules.” He laced their fingers, raising them over her head. “Or my mouth.” He pulled her nipple between his lips, sucking gently.
She closed her eyes, moaning as he released her hands and let his fingers wandered south. “I don’t know how to stop wanting you.” He got on his knees, teasing her with flicks of his tongue, eventually adding his fingers.
She let her head fall back against the glass and gripped his hair before her hands traveled to his shoulders, kneading as she stood on her tiptoes, offering him more of her.
He hooked an arm around her and yanked her to him.
“Chase,” she panted. “Oh my God, Chase.” Her fingernails pressed crescents into his skin when his mouth found yet another way to drive her wild. “Chase. Chase,” she chanted, straining for release as delicious tingles filled her belly. Then she gasped when the flash of heat finally engulfed her. He sent her over once more, and she reached above her, gripping the top of the shower stall as her legs turned to jelly.
“Jules,” was all he said when he stood, his eyes promising her even more, and he slammed himself inside her, ravishing her until they both called out to each other.
Clinging t
o one another, she sagged against him, struggling for each breath. “How—how do you keep finding new ways to destroy me?”
He grinned. “I consider it a hobby.”
“Well—” The distant, blood-curdling scream cut her off.
Chase frowned. “What the hell was that?”
“Ms. Neve!” Ferra’s muffled scream carried down the hall.
“Something’s wrong.” Julie pushed away from him and hurried into the bedroom, scrambling for something to put on. She pulled on Chase’s long-sleeve shirt from yesterday and her panties and ran.
“Jules, wait,” Chase said as he stumbled, tugging on his sweatpants.
“Catch up,” she called over her shoulder on her way out the door, her heart pounding with an eerie sense of dread.
“Jules,” he sprinted down the steps beside her.
“Neve,” Julie hollered, trying to figure out where everyone was, and raced through the living room to the solarium when she heard Ferra’s wails. “Ferra!” She grabbed Chase’s hand and rushed outside through the double French doors, stopping dead as Thomas stood in the hot tub, fully clothed in his familiar khaki pants and tie combination, fighting to pull Neve, pale and limp, from the water. “Oh, my God! Neve! Neve!”
“Jesus,” Chase hurried over, grabbing Neve under the arms and pulled her out, laying her on the snow-covered ground as steam from the hot water rose off her ashen skin.
“Neve!” Julie fell to her knees at her side, the bite of ice and gravel into her skin barely registering as she fought to untangle Neve’s dripping mass of black hair covering her face while Chase checked for a pulse. “Is she breathing? Is she breathing?” Even as she asked, she knew the answer.
“Fuck! Fuck! Call nine-one-one,” Chase hollered.
Thomas stumbled out of the water, the older man dripping and breathless. “The ambulance is coming. Ferra has called.”
“Starting CPR.” Chase overlapped his hands and pushed deep into Neve’s sternum through her bathing suit in a steady rhythm. “Breathe for her, Jules.”
Julie struggled to focus through the fog of horror and bent over, plugging Neve’s nose as she pressed her mouth to hers, expelling two deep breaths the way she’d been trained to do at several recertification classes.