Tempting Chase_Burlap and Barbed Wire

by Shirley Penick

  A girl about twelve years old came up. “Tim, mama says to quit your flirting and come into the church. You need to get a flower pinned on you or something like that. Even though you aren’t actually in the wedding, mama says you need to have a flower because you’re family. See, I got one too, but it’s on my wrist with a bracelet thing, since I’m singing a song.”

  Tim looked chagrined, told Summer and Katie he would see them later, and went off with his sister.

  Katie and Summer grinned at each other and decided to go into the church to get a seat. This group was going to pack the place.

  Chase was surprised at the number of people that had driven for two days to attend his brother’s wedding. Alyssa must have been popular in her home town, which didn’t really surprise him, she was friendly and outgoing. Not that his town hadn’t shown up in droves, but they didn’t have to drive for two days either.

  He’d heard some people had also flown into Denver and rented a car. There was an old woman, that had to be pushing ninety, who walked in on the arm of one of the men about his age. He hoped they had flown, two days in the car was a long time for an older person to sit, but she looked like a lively woman, there was nothing fragile about her. She was petite, but her demeanor belied her size. He was curious to know more about the tiny dynamo. When he got a chance, he would ask Rachel or Alyssa about her.

  The wedding had looked perfect to him. No one fell down or passed out. He’d helped usher, as had the rest of his brothers and some of Alyssa’s. Alyssa and Beau had chosen two attendants only, because if they’d included the siblings from both families it would have taken an hour to get them all down the aisle. Plus, both families were stacked on the male side, so they would have had to recruit lots of women to pair them up.

  Alyssa’s sister, Beth, had opted to sing a song rather than be an attendant. She had a lovely pure voice for a teenaged girl. It was an excellent decision in his opinion.

  The reception was being held at the Grange Hall and they’d all come over yesterday to help with the setup and decorations. Alyssa and Beau had chosen to let the church and Grange ladies do the cooking and serving. The Rockin’ K ranch had supplied all the beef, so that just left the side dishes. They’d been thrilled to provide those, and Chase noticed his favorite fruit salad was being served, the one with the tiny marshmallows in it. Score!

  Chase filled a plate and wandered the room. It was packed with people, congratulating the bride and groom, and eating and drinking. They had a local band set up in the corner and there would be dancing once all the people had eaten.

  A woman from Alyssa’s home town had driven in early to make the wedding cake, and the church had been happy to let her use their commercial kitchen. It looked like a masterpiece to him. He’d never seen anything quite so elaborate. It was almost a shame to cut it up, but he’d heard one of the layers was chocolate with raspberry filling. He hadn’t even known a wedding cake could have different flavors, he thought they were always just white cake with frosting in between. Alyssa and Beau had picked out three or four different kinds of cake with various fillings. He’d also heard one was going to be a spice cake and another was lemon, both sounded tasty, but he didn’t want to make a pig out of himself. Maybe they would leave the leftovers, and he could sample the other flavors.

  When the dancing started Chase noticed Katie was being passed around like a piece of meat. But as he watched closer he could see all the women were going from partner to partner, and for that matter so were the men. It didn’t seem to depend on which town they were from, everyone was dancing with everyone else, even the old lady.

  He decided to get a few dances in himself. He danced with some of the women he knew and also some he didn’t. His most memorable partner was the older woman he’d noticed earlier. She’d marched right up to him and told him it was his turn. Introduced herself as Mrs. Erickson and then she’d grilled him. Question after question about who he was, what he did for a living, what his hobbies were, and what kind of grades he’d gotten in school, especially third grade. But her last question was the killer.

  “So young man did you and your twin brother over there, with that woman barely letting him breathe, attempt to trick your teachers?” Mrs. Erickson asked.

  He tried to hedge because of course they had, he didn’t think they’d ever been too successful at it, but they had tried.

  She glowered at him. “It’s a simple, yes or no question. Spit it out, I’m not getting any younger.”

  “Yes, ma’am we did try to trick our teachers every once in a while.”

  “Good, no twin set worth its salt hasn’t tried. I don’t imagine you were terribly successful at it though. The two of you have completely different demeanors. Maybe if you tried it in the first week with a new teacher from out of town. But beyond that it wouldn’t work at all.”

  “Really? I thought we were often confusing to people.”

  “Only clueless people. Just like you are, dear boy. Now walk me back to my table I need a small rest before I go pry your brother away from that cling wrap in the short dress.”

  Chase laughed and escorted her back to the table she was sitting at. And he didn’t wonder about the clueless remark until the Washington contingency had left the area.

  Mostly because he was distracted by Katie dancing with other men. He noticed that Tim was dancing with her over and over. He tried to ignore that and enjoy himself but every time he saw the two of them dancing again it notched his temper up.

  Finally, when he couldn’t stand it any longer he went over and cut in on Tim. “You’ve had more than your fair share with Katie, Tim. It’s my turn.”

  Tim had the panache to grin at him and swoop some other woman up in his arms.

  Chase looked at Katie’s surprised expression and growled. “You’ve been dancing with him all night, I was beginning to think you two were joined at the hip.”

  Katie rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t be ridiculous. I think I’ve danced with every man in here, except for you and Cade. Tanya seems to have her nails sunk in deep tonight. I don’t think she’s let Cade dance with anyone but herself. Poor guy. You’ve been out with a lot of ladies yourself. Any of those Washington women catch your eye?”

  Chase was surprised by her question. He’d been so focused on who Katie was dancing with he had barely noticed his partners. He was, however, noticing Katie, she felt so good in his arms and she smelled like heaven. “Not really. The most interesting was the old woman, I gather she was the third-grade teacher in their town. She intends to dance with Cade and if anyone can get him away from Tanya it will be her. The other women seemed nice enough.”

  “Yeah it feels like our town folks and their people are nearly interchangeable. I can see why Alyssa feels right at home here.”

  Thinking of Alyssa moving here reminded him of Rachel teasing Tim about buying the miniature golf place. Chase thought about the idea of Tim moving to their town and didn’t like it one bit. Even worse would be if Katie moved to Washington. That would really piss him off. Although he didn’t agree at all, he grunted some reply that she would take as agreement. He didn’t want them to be interchangeable.

  Chapter 5

  Katie grinned when Chase walked into the drug store her family had owned for generations. “So, it’s your turn for the candy run, is it?”

  Chase groaned. “It’s not my fault. I need some blades for my razor and I made the mistake of actually mentioning that fact near a family member. Not five minutes later I had twenty texts with candy orders.”

  “With your beard I don’t imagine your razor gets much of a workout. The last time you bought blades was probably when we were still in high school.” Katie laughed. “I’m sure your big, bad self is capable of buying a little candy for your family and ranch hands.”

  “I’m not sure of that at all. In fact, I’m not sure my truck will hold it all, I might need to rent a trailer,” Chase whined. “I could just tell them you were closed today,”

  She
wagged her finger at him. “Oh no you don’t. Your family and their collective sweet tooth keep us from going under when all the tourists head home to avoid the weather and before ski season starts. Now stop whining and get to your list.”

  Chase sighed like she’d just sentenced him to death row. The man was quite the drama queen at times. She chuckled and pointed him to the candy aisle. He glanced at the aisle then turned back to her.

  She pointed again. “You might want one of the carts to help you carry it all,” she said sweetly.

  “You are an evil woman, Katie Jackson, and here I thought we were friends.”

  “Since first grade, Chase. Now quit stalling and get after it.”

  As he went about selecting all the candy on his list, he thought back to Tim dancing with Katie at the wedding. He’d been jealous as hell and had cut in on them after Tim had danced with her over and over. He’d been kind of a dick and he needed to apologize to Katie, she hadn’t deserved his wrath.

  He’d been worried that Rachel’s hinting about Tim buying the old mini-golf place was more than just a pie in the sky idea. What if he was considering it because of his attraction to Katie? But Tim had loaded up in his truck and driven off with the rest of the family after the wedding, so he decided she was safe. He had to wonder why he felt that way, Tim was a nice guy with good morals, so it wasn’t Tim exactly. He just didn’t really like the idea of anyone hitting on Katie. He’d gone to claim a dance with her when he couldn’t stand watching any longer and had been abrupt with her. He needed to find a way to make sure she wasn’t pissed at him.

  He shook his head and tried to concentrate on his purchases. Fortunately, the store had small grocery carts to use so he wasn’t trying to carry it all and read the list on his phone. Katie finished ringing up another customer and then came over to join him.

  “You seem to be taking forever, have you never bought the family candy before?”

  “Sure, I have, but my mind wandered for a minute and then I had to figure out where I was on the list.”

  “That’s right, you are a man, and cannot even pretend to multitask. I would offer to help you, but it looks like I have another customer that might really need my help.” She bumped him with her hip and sauntered off.

  Maybe she wasn’t pissed. She was acting like her normal self. Tim was right. She was a fine-looking woman, and now that his eyes were opened he could see that. She was on the short side and had a killer figure. Nice ass, good tits, small waist. Her eyes were a dark brown and her hair hit her waist in back. She’d done something to the ends to make them blond rather than the medium brown that was her natural color and it hung down her back in soft curls. Yep she was a gorgeous woman, Chase could see why Tim was attracted to her. But he better not lay a hand on her or Chase might be compelled to deck him. She was still his best friend.

  And he should really apologize, she was his best friend and he owed her that much. He also needed to get his own self under control, looking at Katie as something other than his best friend was wreaking havoc on his mind and body. Maybe he should have decked Tim on principle.

  Katie helped her customer who was looking for maps of the area, both the National Park and the National Forest. She glanced over to see Chase sigh and put his phone away. He must have completed his candy buying. Now if his guy brain would remember what he actually came to her store to buy, that would be a miracle.

  Almost as big of a miracle as if the man across the store were to look at her like the woman she’d become, rather than the little girl that had been his buddy. She sighed, that was never going to happen. She’d hoped he would since they were juniors in high school when she’d first seen him as a man. That had been ten long years ago and it just wasn’t happening. She really needed to move on, because it was frustrating the hell out of her and she didn’t know how long her heart could handle the futile yearning. But there had never been another guy that even piqued her interest, and that just sucked.

  Tim Jefferson had kind of hit on her during the wedding and she’d enjoyed flirting a little, but he wasn’t Chase. When Chase had cut in on her and Tim she’d thought maybe there was some jealousy going on there, but she’d talked herself out of that idea when she’d tried to flirt with him and he didn’t notice.

  When Tim had loaded up his truck and driven off she hadn’t even felt a twinge of regret. Which kind of pissed her off, she was twenty-seven for goodness sake. She would like to get married and have a family someday. But she didn’t even know where to begin to look for a man.

  They lived in a small town and sure there were tourists in the spring and summer, hunters in the fall, and skiers in the winter. Nearly every one of those people came into her store. But so far, no one had sparked her interest at all, not one tiny spark, except for the man rummaging around in the shaving section. She sighed and went to go see if he needed help.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Blades for my razor.”

  “In the shaving section, really? I’m not sure that’s where you should be looking, Chase. Idiot. I know you’re looking for blades. Can you be a bit more specific?”

  “Last time I bought them, they were in a blue package.”

  “Chase, the color of the package is irrelevant. What kind of razor do you have? Single blade, double blade?” The man just stood there blinking at her. She put her hands on her hips, could he be more obtuse? “The kind that snap on with double or triple blades? Or the old-fashioned kind that open up and you put the blade inside?”

  “Oh, they snap on.”

  “Good. Any idea what brand? They aren’t always interchangeable.”

  He ran his hand down his face. “No.”

  Oh, for goodness sake, she couldn’t remember him ever being quite this stupid. What was wrong with him? “Maybe you should just buy a nice electric razor. You’re only shaving your neck and keeping the rest trimmed.”

  He rubbed his neck, which drew her attention to it and she wanted to shave him, slowly and then kiss the freshly smoothed area.

  He said, “Show me what you’ve got in mind that would work for both.”

  She shook herself out of the fantasy and took him over to show him what his options were.

  When she finally got the man rung up and out the door she was ready for a drink, or a nap. He was not normally an idiot, if she didn’t know him so well she’d have been convinced otherwise. Not only was he being particularly clueless, but he seemed distracted. She wondered what was on his mind.

  Chapter 6

  Chase was glad to finally get out of Katie’s drug store. He’d never been so confused in his life. After he’d gotten all the candy in the basket and she’d come to help him in the shaving aisle, his mind had gone down a path he didn’t like.

  He’d started fantasizing about her. Stripping her down and taking her every way he could think of, in her own store. That had made all the blood leave his brain to head south and he hadn’t been able to think, at all. And he’d panicked at the idea he was thinking of her that way. What in the hell was wrong with him?

  Now that he was away from her, and his wild ideas, his body was starting to relax. He knew exactly what kind of razor he had, and what kind of blades it took. But when she’d come up to him and asked, he couldn’t remember shit, not even his own name.

  So, now he had a brand new electric shaver, which he didn’t want. And no blades for his real razor. Hell itself would freeze over before he went back into her store, however, so he would just have to use the electric. He could order the blades online or drive to Granby.

  Once his mind had gotten started down the path of lust he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. This was craziness and he didn’t know what to do to stop it. He wished it was just a case of horniness, but it was not. This obsession seemed to be focused on Katie and Katie alone. If he thought he could divert it with another woman he would do so in an instant. But he didn’t feel desire for any other women.

  Maybe if he didn’t see her for
a few days he would get over it and go back to normal. Yeah, he would try that. And dammit he still hadn’t apologized for his behavior at the wedding.

  Katie hadn’t heard from Chase or Cade in a week and she was bored. She wanted to see them. She’d been busy all week with lots of tourists during the day, and in the evenings with a wine rack someone had ordered online. But the wine rack was done, it was Friday night and she wanted to go out. Maybe she could talk them into Karaoke or bowling. She decided to call Cade this time since she’d called Chase last time. She also wanted to find out if they would be stuck with Tanya if they went out, because washing her hair would be more fun than that.

  Cade answered on the first ring. “Katie, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

  “I was wondering what you guys are doing tonight.”

  “I am celebrating the fact that Tanya is in Steamboat Springs with her mother for the weekend. What did you have in mind?”

  Thank goodness Tanya was out of town, now she could have a fun night without worrying about trouble. “A night on the town, Karaoke, or bowling?”

  “That would be most excellent. Let’s do Karaoke, we’ve been haying, so my body would prefer sitting on my ass, instead of throwing a heavy ball around.”

  She laughed. “Very good, we wouldn’t want your arm to give out and you to drop the ball on your toe.”

  “The way I’m feeling at the moment that’s a likely scenario. After I shower I might be better. I’m certain Chase will be happy to go along with that plan. He needs to get out, he’s been grumpy this week. No idea why, he won’t talk about it. Tanya’s been around a lot, so that might be all it is. He doesn’t care for her much. I can’t blame him, she can be difficult.”

  Katie wanted to say something snarky but held her tongue. “Want to meet there? Say eight-ish?”