Tempting Chase_Burlap and Barbed Wire

by Shirley Penick

  She’d passed out in seconds however, so he thought the tequila had finally caught up with her. Fortunately, it was late enough there was no traffic. He’d carried her up the stairs to her bed and she hadn’t even protested. After pulling her shoes off, he’d dragged a light throw blanket up over her. Then he’d left her keys by the bed and let himself out.

  He grinned, wondering how long she’d slept in her clothes. A text from her this morning confirmed she was doing good, even if she was a bit chagrined from falling asleep on him the night before. He’d just sent her a smirking emoji back.

  Chase was damn glad when they finally called it a day. Although that’s when his brother picked to talk. All Chase could think of was getting the damn hay off of him, it was everywhere, but he sat on one of the bails, so Cade could talk. They had two bailers, so the hay they rolled into the large round bails, but they bailed the straw into the smaller square bails. That made it easier for storage and quick identification.

  Chase sat patiently while Cade paced in front of him. “So, I know you’ve wondered why I stay with Tanya, even though she is a royal pain in the ass.”

  Chase nodded.

  “I never wanted to talk about this, but I just can’t deal with her any longer and I’m tired of paying for a mistake I made years ago.”

  This piqued Chase’s interest, but he kept silent knowing his brother would continue on.

  “The fact of the matter is the woman is driving me batshit crazy and I can’t do it anymore.” Cade slumped down onto the haybale and hung his head. “She had an abortion when we were in high school. She didn’t tell me about it before she did it and she’s kept me dancing on the string in order to keep it a secret.”

  Chase couldn’t help himself when he burst into laughter. He didn’t know his brother was quite so gullible. But this bit of news explained so much of why he had put up with that raging bitch for so many years.

  Cade looked at him with a scowl. “Just what is so fucking funny about that?”

  “Cade, she told every guy in high school that same song and dance. Apparently, you are the only one who actually believed her.”

  “What?”

  “She told everyone that story, every one of the guys she’d slept with for months. Including the boyfriend of one of her inner circle, she’d passed the guy on to her friend with her blessing. So, when Tanya came back to the boy with that story, it pissed the girl off, so she ratted her out. Tanya did not have an abortion. She wasn’t even pregnant. Apparently, she did have to have a D&C because of some abnormal bleeding. The guy wasn’t supposed to tell anyone of course, but when she told me the same damn thing we talked about it.”

  “Are you serious, right now? You had sex with Tanya in high school?”

  “Cade, everyone did. For me it was only one time, because I realized you liked her. But that was enough for her to tell me that ridiculous story about an abortion. I can count another half dozen guys she told the same thing to.”

  “Why didn’t I know this?”

  Chase rubbed a thumb over his mouth as he thought back to that time. “Now that I think about it, the subject came up in a science class, because one of the guys was freaking out. So, we talked about it and several of the other guys were relieved to hear the truth. You weren’t in my science class, because you were busy being a math geek.”

  “So, because I chose to take math instead of science in my senior year, that woman has been torturing me for almost ten years? Well, fuck.”

  “She wouldn’t have if you’d said something earlier.”

  Cade shook his head. “I was too ashamed, and I felt guilty.”

  “Now that you know the truth you can move on. Not that you have to break up with her, but she doesn’t have anything to hold over your head, either.”

  Cade looked up with a grin. “She doesn’t, does she. So next time she has a hissy fit I can walk away, with no fear or shame.”

  “Yep.”

  “Hot damn. That’s some good news there. Kristine and Daniel.” Cade pointed at him.

  “Yep.”

  “I always wondered why Tanya and Kristine went from besties to not speaking.”

  “Now you know.” Chase scratched at his chest.

  Cade nodded. “I’m hot and itchy, do you want to go jump in the river and cool off?”

  “Sounds like an excellent idea.”

  Katie had only a slight headache from her margarita drinking last night. She was grateful to Chase for putting a glass of water, some crackers and a bottle of pain killers next to her bed when he’d taken her home. She’d woken up about two in the morning and had finally gotten into bed after putting on some pajamas and taking the pills.

  Overall, she’d had a good time with him last night. Just the two of them had seemed more like a date. She knew it wasn’t, but her foolish heart wouldn’t listen to her more sensible head. Dinner had been tasty, and she was looking forward to eating the other half of her burrito for lunch. The movie had been fun, an action film with some humor thrown in and a side of romance. She felt a little bad about falling asleep on the way home. But he’d encouraged her to have the second margarita so part of it was his fault. She’d sent him a sorry text this morning to which he’d responded with a smirk.

  She spent the morning stocking the candy aisle, it was looking a little ragged. She didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, so it wasn’t a challenge for her. She’d hired a kid last summer who spent his whole paycheck on candy. Not all at once, but he’d take one item a day and ask her to take it off his paycheck, at the end of two weeks his take home pay ended up being about ten dollars, even with the employee discount she’d made up for him, because she just couldn’t bring herself to give him nothing at all. It had been a hard lesson, but he had learned quickly and reigned his sweet tooth in. He still spent some money on candy, but it was a carefully thought out purchase.

  She shook her head at the memory as she heated up her burrito. She would eat it at the front counter, so she could keep an eye on the store, like she did pretty much every day. Normally it was a sandwich and some carrots so today was a real treat.

  She set it down and got herself a bottle of water, unscrewing the lid she took a drink and heard the door chime. She turned to greet her customer and noticed it was the girl from a couple of days ago and she was even dirtier and skinnier than she had been. As the girl moved toward the snacks something about her movement tugged at her memory. She didn’t know what it was, she shut her eyes and tried to remember.

  It hit her hard. The person in the alley last night. She was ninety percent certain it had been this girl. So, if the girl was rooting around in dumpsters and was filthy, just what was going on. Was she homeless? Abandoned? She didn’t know how to get the girl to talk to her, so far, she hadn’t said a word. Could she even speak? Or was she simply skittish?

  The girl came up to the counter and laid a few peanut butter crackers on the counter. Katie noticed her looking intently at the burrito. Dammit, she had to try.

  “Hi, back for some more crackers, I see.”

  The girl nodded and started putting a bunch of coins on the counter. Some of those were as filthy as the girl herself.

  “Hey maybe you can help me out. Do you like Mexican food?” Katie waived her hand toward her burrito.

  The girl’s eyes went wide, and she shuffled back a step, but nodded.

  “Me too, but I can’t eat the whole thing. It’s so delicious, but I never eat leftovers. I usually forget about them until they end up being science experiments in the fridge.”

  That got a tiny smile out of the girl.

  “Anyway, rather than throwing it away I thought you might like to eat it. Then I won’t have to feel guilty about not eating it or stuff myself until I explode.”

  Another small smile and a lingering look at the burrito was all the response she got.

  “So, would you eat it? It’s a little on the spicy side so you’ll need at least one bottle of water, or better yet, milk. I’ll pay for
one of each in gratitude of you saving my poor stomach and conscience. Deal?”

  The girl nodded again so Katie hustled over to the drink cooler and got a large container of milk and an even bigger one of water. She put the water and milk in a bag along with the crackers. Then closed up the register and put the to-go container on top with a package of plastic utensils and napkin. She scooped the change up and handed it back to the girl.

  “You keep that for next time. I can’t take money from my food savior.” She handed the girl the bag. “Thanks so much, for helping me out. There’s a nice picnic table across the street in the park over under the trees.”

  The girl looked like she was going to cry, but quickly nodded and walked out the door and straight to the park. Katie kept an eye on her and watched as she opened the to-go container and the milk and started eating.

  Now that she had no lunch, Katie went and got a package of peanut butter crackers. She wouldn’t starve and now neither would that kid. As she munched on the crackers she thought about ways to help the girl. Maybe she could get her to trust her enough to tell her what was going on.

  She wasn’t going to call the Sheriff or CPS until she had more information. Her assumptions about the girl being homeless might not be true at all. She didn’t believe that for a second and she hoped the girl had found somewhere safe to be at night. For the most part their town was a safe place unless tourists got out of hand. Or wild animals wandered in. But they didn’t see many animals until winter, which was still weeks away.

  Chapter 15

  Katie wanted to dress up for Karaoke tonight. Chase was going to come by and park his truck at the store and walk with her to the bar. Not that she was afraid of something happening a second time, but apparently, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

  She smiled at herself in the mirror, her hair looked pretty and so did the flirty purple dress she’d pulled on. There had been some turmoil in her mind about the dress, she’d thought about wearing something similar the night she’d been accosted. Was that only a week ago? That night she had gone for comfort rather than dressy. After the men had tried to take advantage of her, she’d been so thankful she’d gone with jeans and boots. They had protected her, whereas a dress wouldn’t.

  But she was damn sure not going to live her life in fear, so she’d pulled out her sexiest dress and awesome black sandals with the four-inch heels. Her makeup was perfection and she’d chosen sparkly jewelry. She was ready to go and prove to herself and the world, that some jerks wouldn’t keep her down.

  She also had a big advantage from earlier in the day. Happiness was bubbling in her because she’d fixed the homeless girl up with a bag of ‘expired’ food and some drinks to go with it. The girl had whispered a quiet thank you before scurrying out the door and disappearing. So, it had been a great day in her opinion and she was excited to be going out to have some fun with her bestie. There was no telling if Cade would be there or not, but she would have just as good a time with Chase if he didn’t show. If it was all three of them that would be a kicking time too.

  There was a knock on the door, so she called out. “Chase?”

  “Yep.”

  “It’s open, come on in.” She put her last long sparkly earring on and turned away from the mirror and toward the door.

  Chase stood in the door wide-eyed and speechless.

  She grinned. “So, I look okay?”

  He shook his head. “Okay? No, you look fucking awesome.”

  “Thank you, kind sir. Ready to go?”

  He shook his head again and cleared his throat. “Sure, still don’t know if Cade is joining us.”

  “Well if he doesn’t it’s his loss.”

  She heard him mutter something as they walked out the door. It sounded like ‘that’s for damn sure’ but it could have been something else. But he’d made her feel confident and powerful, rather than scared or timid and that was exactly what she needed, to get back on the horse so to speak.

  Not only that but she’d decided if Cade didn’t show, she was going to see if she could get Chase to see her as a woman rather than a buddy. She’d chickened out the other night, but was determined to put those fears into a locked box and give it her best shot. He’d looked interested when he’d picked her up, so was there was a spark of attraction there? She had a plan and she just hoped he wouldn’t laugh at her when she completed it.

  Chase walked next to Katie toward the bar where they held the Karaoke event on Friday nights. He knew she was talking to him and he really should be paying attention, but his mind was shot. When he’d walked into her home and seen her standing there in that damn sexy dress and the come fuck me heels, he’d lost all power of thought. He was certain she’d worn both before, but that was before that dumbass Tim Jefferson had shown up, and thrown his whole life into chaos by talking about how sexy Katie was.

  It was all he could think about, and then when he’d seen her tonight in that beyond sexy outfit, he’d lost his shit, together and forever. It was like his brain had leaked out of this head and pooled on the floor. But he’d learned a long time ago how to keep her talking, so when she paused in her speech he grunted, and she started talking again.

  When they walked into the bar, he noticed several men give her the once over, clearly interested, she didn’t even notice. He glared at them, until they turned their eyes back to their own dates or friends. No way in hell was he going to allow some idiot to pick her up tonight. He steered her past the crowd to a table he saw available on the side of the room, not far from the dance floor and Karaoke area. He wondered if he could put up a no trespassing sign, to keep the guys away and dearly wished his brother would come and join them, to sit on her other side. But he didn’t really hold out any hope in that area since Cade was out with Tanya. Unless she picked a fight with him, and he supposed there was a fifty-fifty chance of that happening.

  They ordered some drinks and looked through the Karaoke menu. Several people had signed up ahead of them. Chase chose The Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band, it was a fun song and he pretty much knew it by heart. Katie got a small smirk on her face when she signed up and didn’t tell him her song.

  They listened to some truly horrible renditions of songs, that made a person want to cry. A couple of people did a really good job with their song and everyone cheered for them. Chase was called up and Katie watched him perform his favorite. She clapped and cheered like crazy when he finished, while a couple of people called out that he needed to expand his repertoire and learn another song.

  He simply grinned and shook his head. “You don’t mess with perfection, boys.”

  Which elicited groans and laughs.

  When they finally called Katie up for her song she winked at him and told him to pay attention. He turned his chair toward the stage, so he could see better, and told her he’d be cheering for her. She kissed him on the cheek and strutted up to the stage.

  Chapter 16

  Katie marched up on stage, she’d specifically asked to be the last singer in the Karaoke line up because she had every intention of making this event a showstopper. On one hand she was scared to death that Chase would think she’d lost her mind and wouldn’t be interested. And the entire town would know what she’d done. She had no misconceptions on that part, tomorrow morning everyone in town would know she’d challenged Chase.

  On the other hand, she felt powerful and in control. She knew she looked great and she was—by God—going to do this. She was putting it all out there for good or for bad. No shrinking away, no turning back. She was determined to let that man know that she was not a little girl anymore and she wanted an adult relationship with him. Starting today.

  She got up to the stage and took the mic in her hand. The music cued up and the words started to scroll across the reader, but she didn’t need them, she knew every word. She looked out into the crowd, who in three and a half minutes would be doing exactly what the words said. She was going to give the entire town something
to talk about. Bonnie Raitt’s song was exactly how she felt about the man sitting across the room.

  It didn’t take her long to turn her attention to him. There was no way he was getting out of this evening without knowing how she felt. He would have no choice but to acknowledge it. As she sang he watched her like a hawk, there was no laughing or shrugging it off. He was paying attention and getting the message loud and clear.

  From the stage it looked like he might be receptive, so she decided to be brave and go for it all the way.

  Chase could not believe what he was seeing and hearing. The woman on stage, his best friend forever, was singing directly to him about giving the town something to talk about by the two of them hooking up. She looked so fricken sexy and the words went straight to his blood, making it race enough to give him a heart attack. She was seducing him from the stage and doing a damn fine job of it. His hands were shaking as desire coursed through his body and his heart pounded.

  Did she really mean it? Did she think of him night and day? She didn’t even look out into the crowd again but stared straight at him and since he was up against a wall he knew for a fact there was no one behind him. He wanted to turn and look just to be sure, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off of her.

  She belted out the song and looked so damned beautiful he was frozen. He was so confused and filled with such lust he couldn’t think straight. When the song ended, she came over and plopped down in his lap. He didn’t know what else to do but hold on as she laid a big fat kiss on him. He did not fight her off.