My Last - Riley & Chelle

by Melanie Shawn

  On the bright side, she had been spending the last week feeling sorry for herself, and wondering if she could ever have any feelings for a man that wasn’t David. So...question answered! And that answer was a loud and resounding YES.

  She had always been attracted to David. He was a good looking guy. She had enjoyed the physical aspects of their relationship. When they did have sex it was fine...he was fine. But he had never made her feel anything close to what she had felt just a moment ago when she had simply looked into Riley’s gorgeous hazel eyes.

  Riley. HOLY MOLY! Riley was hot.

  Like...flames-coming-off-his-body-that-will-burn-you-if-you-get-too-close-or-dare-to-touch-him kind of hot.

  Hmm. She hadn't phrased the metaphor that way intentionally, but it brought up a good point. It was probably a good thing to keep in mind - the fact that if you play with fire, you get burned.

  She put a hand to her forehead. This was ridiculous. She was getting so far ahead of herself, cautioning herself for nothing! She was thinking of the situation as if Riley even wanted to play. She knew he probably still thought of her as Eddie’s little brat of a sister. An annoyance. An inconvenience.

  And why shouldn’t he, she thought. Just look at the facts. Case-in-point, this very situation. After not seeing each other for over a decade, their very first re-introduction consisted of a situation where he was being asked to look after her, to check on her, to make sure she was okay. She was an inconvenience.

  She squared her shoulders with renewed determination. She was going to take back some control in a situation that felt 100% out of control. She was going to solve both his problem and hers in one fell swoop.

  As soon as he returned, she would let him know that she was fine, thank him for his time, and send him on his merry way. Problems solved! There was no possible way she could get burned if the fire was gone. And if she asserted herself and let him know in no uncertain terms that, yes, she had been having a bit of a rough patch, but she was doing better now - then he could be on his way. She would be out of his hair. True, she may have been a slight inconvenience when she was passed out, unconscious. BUT now that she was up and about, he didn’t have to worry about her. No sirree!

  Quickly and efficiently, she towel dried her hair and pulled on the first clothes she saw, which were a pair of jeans and a blue thermal. She took in her reflection in the mirror.

  Wow! An entire week of nothing but junk food and alcohol seemed to have caught up with her.

  There were deep purple bags under her eyes, and her jeans were a little tighter than she remembered them being the last time she'd worn them…which had been last week.

  Oh well, damn it. It would have to do! She shouldn’t even care what she looked like. It’s not like Riley would notice anyway!

  Taking one last deep, fortifying breath she turned the knob and opened the bedroom door. She might as well get this over with, quick and painless - like pulling off a Band-Aid. The sooner she sent him on his way the sooner she could be certain that she wasn’t inconveniencing him, and - more importantly - the sooner she could stop worrying about getting burned.

  She stepped out to a bright clean apartment, she blinked several times at the light flooding the room. The drapes were pulled back, blinds were up and all the windows were wide open. Chelle looked around. It was like seeing the apartment for the first time.

  Since she had arrived she had kept everything shut up tight, closed and dark. She had not even noticed how beautiful the small space was.

  Katie had carved out quite a life for herself here in San Francisco. Even with most of the items that had filled the apartment now packed up and shipped back to Harper’s Crossing, the pieces that were left really made the space feel like a home.

  A home which, right now, smelled like bacon, eggs, and coffee. At first Chelle thought the smells would cause her to get nauseous again, but that didn’t happen. In fact, quite the opposite occurred, and she heard her stomach rumble loudly.

  “Sounds like someone’s hungry,” she heard the light, teasing tone in Riley's voice and felt herself fall right back into the bond of camaraderie they used to share. Effortlessly, like a tongue in groove joint, her soul fell back into lockstep with his. She closed her eyes, reveling in it and refusing to think about the consequences right at that moment.

  She turned to look toward the kitchen, which was where his voice had originated. Riley stood with his back to her, cooking at the stove. Chelle’s heart melted, just a little. Damn fire.

  No man had ever cooked for her before. She knew it wasn’t like he was cooking for her. He was just making the two of them breakfast.

  But it did kinda sorta feel like he was cooking for her.

  And, since no guy had ever cooked for her, she had never realized how sexy it was. She stood watching him at the stove. Her mouth was watering, sure enough, but it had nothing to do with the food and everything to do with the cook.

  Riley glanced over his shoulder, “Do you want coffee with your OJ?”

  For an instant, she felt caught, like a deer in headlights. She thought that somehow Riley had read her thoughts, felt her energy, knew what she was thinking. She thought his question was some kind of double entendre, like when idiots replaced their wolf-whistling with some clever phrase like, “Can I get some fries with that shake?”

  It took her only an instant to mentally process the words and realize that wasn't what was going on, but it was an important instant - it served to snap her out of the trance that she had begun to fall into.

  “Um, yeah...but I can get it.” She forced her feet to start moving and headed into the kitchen. She moved to the far left corner cabinet where the mugs were kept.

  “Thanks for cleaning up,” she said awkwardly, “You, um...you really didn’t have to do that.”

  “Not a problem,” his baritone voice rumbled.

  The sound made Chelle’s toes curl and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up as a sensual chill ran through her. Fire, she reminded herself, four-alarm fire. You don't need to get burned right now, girl!

  “ Do you want a cup?” She asked as she stepped around him and reached for the mugs on the top shelf of the cabinet. They were just out of her reach, so she went up on her tip toes. She could feel the cold ceramic of the mugs brushing her fingertips...almost there...just stretch a little higher...

  Chelle felt Riley move so that he was standing directly behind her. He easily reached the top shelf and pulled two mugs out, setting them down on the counter. She froze when he didn’t immediately move away. She felt as if she couldn't draw a breath. She was utterly paralyzed – but not just her. She felt like the entire world now existed in a state of suspended animation.

  She waited. She could sense more than actually feel his solid form directly behind her.

  Her first instinct was to lean back and melt against him. Nope! Melting was probably a bad idea. Not just probably. Definitely. Bad idea. Bad, BAD idea. Melting indicates heat, heat comes from fire, and fire equals burn. Chelle decided to play it safe and turn to face him, thinking he would back away.

  She thought wrong.

  Riley stood perfectly still in front of her, his golden eyes staring down at her, the liquid pools boring into her own. Oh yeah, definitely fire. Hot-hot-hot. She couldn’t take the heat, in fact, so she dropped her gaze and looked toward the ground.

  Riley's large frame surrounded her, encompassing her, becoming her whole world. Soon she was aware of nothing but the nearness of his flesh. He slowly placed both of his large hands on the counter, one on each side of her so that his arms formed a barrier. She was trapped in the corner of the kitchen. She wasn't sure she ever wanted to escape.

  She started to look up at him to ask what he was doing, but her eyes were sidetracked midway through that journey. As soon as they alighted on his sexy, muscular chest she forgot that she wanted to ask him what he thought he was doing...hell, she forgot her own name. Suddenly, there was nothing in the world to her but the fact t
hat Riley Sloan was mere millimeters away from her and, if she wanted to touch him, all she would need to do was reach out the slightest little bit.

  Her breathing quickened. Her heart raced. Her belly tightened.

  The electricity running between them was palpable, at least on her end. There wasn't even room in her consciousness to wonder what he was experiencing, so overwhelmed by the sensations that she was feeling.

  She could feel her chest rising and falling, could hear nothing but the pounding bass line of her heartbeat in her ears.

  She tried to get herself together. Figuring that ‘panting’ at Riley’s mere nearness may not be what one would consider ‘playing it cool’ - nor would it be the most attractive thing in the world - she decided she should try and alleviate the tension a bit.

  Not having the slightest clue how to go about doing that, she simply looked up into his sexy hazel eyes and smiled and squeaked out a simple, “Hi.”

  Emotion flooded those amazing hazel eyes, and a deep rumbling sound, one that could be likened to a growl, vibrated from his chest. It sent a delicious thrill running down Chelle’s spine.

  She stood perfectly still, her lower back pressed up against the counter. She never wanted this moment to end...but at the same time, she was excited to see where it would go.

  She stood, remaining stock still, waiting...just waiting...for his next move.

  Yesterday, if you would have asked her if Riley Sloan would be standing in this small kitchen, pinning her in the corner, desire flashing in his eyes...Good God! She probably would have snorted and shot back that the scenario was too crazy even for her wildest dreams. But right now, in this moment, it seemed as if her wildest dreams might just be coming true.

  Breathe, just remember to breathe!

  Riley leaned down and rested his forehead against hers, just for a moment. “Hi,” he whispered. Chelle breathed out, her knees weakening.

  But then, with ninja like quickness, he was gone. Before she even had time to blink he was standing a few feet away from her, back in front of the stove pulling pieces of bacon off of the fryer and placing them on a plate.

  She stood frozen where he had left her and tried to decide if she had, in fact, just imagined that little encounter or if it had in fact really just occurred.

  Wildest dreams much?

  It had felt real...but as she watched Riley walking calmly to the small kitchen table, two breakfast plates in hand, she thought that she may have indeed taken a trip to crazy town. He was behaving for all the world as if nothing had just passed between them.

  Then, when he leaned over to set the plates on the table, she looked down and noticed how snug his jeans looked in the groin area. She smiled to herself. Aha! So she hadn’t imagined it.

  Riley Sloan had been affected by her. For some reason, this made her want to rethink her plan of immediately kicking him out. Suddenly, spending some time with Riley didn’t seem like all that bad of an idea. Not that bad of an idea at all, as a matter of fact...

  No, wait…must not play with fire! She knew she needed to stick with the plan. She had gotten burned, and burned badly, by David – and he was barely even the tiny flame of a candle in the heat department. Riley Sloan was a four alarm inferno! If she tangled with him, she would never make it out unscathed.

  “So after breakfast, do you want to catch a cable car down to Fisherman’s Wharf? Have you been down there yet?” He sat at the table and began eating.

  No, she hadn’t been there.

  Yes, she wanted to go with him.

  Why did he have to make this so much harder than it already was?

  “Actually Riley...look. I appreciate you stopping by and checking on me.” She finished pouring the coffee and carried both steaming hot mugs to the table as she sat down. “But I am fine, really. You don’t have to stay and babysit me. I promise I will keep my phone on and return all phone calls I miss, alright? That way no one will be worried about me.”

  “I don’t think I have to babysit you.” He looked serious and his jaw flinched. “My flight isn't until 8 o’clock tonight and I’d like to see some of the city today. You don’t have to keep me company if you don’t want to.”

  Well, when he put it like that...

  “No! I mean...yes...I mean...” she stumbled.

  Riley gave her a good-natured half smile, “Well, which is it?”

  She smiled back, “Yes, sure, that sounds like fun.”

  What had she just agreed to?

  An entire day with Riley Sloan.

  Alone.

  That thought should make her nervous, and it did…a little. But mostly she just felt happy. She smiled.

  He made another noise that sounded like a groan and then snapped at her, “Eat.”

  She looked up at him, a little shocked by his tone, expecting to see him giving her a stern look or something. But he was just bent over his plate, shoveling food in his mouth.

  Alrighty then, looks like someone’s in a hurry, she thought. Well, there's only one thing to do. Eat.

  Chapter Five

  Riley was starting to relax a little now that they had left the all-too-confining space of the tiny apartment. He almost hadn't been able to control himself when he had stepped behind Chelle to grab the coffee mugs.

  He had wanted so badly to turn her around, pick her up, and place her on the counter. Oh, God. To step in between her legs and pull her against him. To kiss her sweet mouth until coffee and breakfast were the last things on their minds...

  He had just about gotten himself under control, but then when she looked up at him with those incredible almond-shaped brown eyes and smiled...his control had just about snapped.

  Then she had taken it to another level entirely by voicing that tentative, “Hi.”

  Good Lord! His resolve, at that point, had almost completely snapped. There was just something about her smile that had always gotten to him.

  Whenever she smiled at him, it was like her whole face lit up. It was sexy as hell. Just thinking of it now he was growing harder by the second.

  He had to stop his mind from going there or he was going to have a permanent imprint of his zipper on his dick by the end of their little sightseeing adventure. Plus, walking around with a hard-on wasn't the most appropriate or comfortable way to spend the day.

  It occurred to him then that it had been a good long while since he had gotten laid. Maybe that was it. Maybe he just needed to hook up with someone, release a little of that pent up tension. Yeah. That had to be the issue.

  Well, it would be taken care of soon enough. He and Megan had been sending messages back and forth on Facebook. He shrugged to himself. He had always liked Megan well enough when they had hooked up back in high school, and he had already made plans to see her when he got back to Harper’s Crossing. So that would take care of that.

  Now he just needed to concentrate on keeping himself under control and enjoying this beautiful day in San Francisco. And it was a beautiful day – that was an understatement, as a matter of fact. The weather was perfect, eighty degrees with a slight breeze. The air was so bright that it actually seemed to sparkle. It almost felt magical.

  He just had to get his head on straight - the one that ought to be doing the thinking, that is...not the one that actually was.

  Riley and Chelle walked several blocks to Powell St., got their tickets, and stood in line. Riley tried to think of something to say – and not just something, but the right thing. Chelle seemed preoccupied. She was quieter than he remembered her being. Then again, he thought, she probably has a lot on her mind. It’s not like she's here on a real vacation. She's here because of that douchebag David.

  Riley wasn’t sure if he should ask her about it. She was probably aware that he knew what had happened, but it seemed like an awkward conversation to have. Plus, she may not even want to talk about it. Better to stick to safer subjects.

  “So Eddie mentioned that you're a nurse now.” He felt ridiculous making small talk with someone h
e'd known practically his whole life, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. It was either that or grab her by the waist, pull her against him and kiss her senseless.

  So, yeah. Small talk was probably the way to go.

  “Yep, I really love it,” she responded, turning toward him. Her face lit up with one of those smiles, and it almost knocked him flat on his ass.

  Well, damn it. Maybe silence is the way to go, Riley thought as he tried to keep his reaction to her under control.

  She continued, “I work in labor and delivery. I just love being around all those babies.”

  Suddenly a picture popped into his mind unbidden. An image of her sitting in a rocking chair, holding their baby, looking down at the child as she stroked its tiny head and whispered and sang, pausing every once in a while to kiss the tiny, perfect nose... he shook his head to clear it, to no avail. In fact, instead of erasing the image like an etch-a-sketch, it seemed to be making the vision more clear like, say, a Polaroid picture coming into focus.

  He was, honestly, stunned that his mind would even go there. A very long time ago Riley had decided that a wife, kids, and white picket fence would never be in his future.

  He just wasn’t that guy.

  He had nothing against it. In fact, sometimes he really wished he was that guy. He knew part of his reluctance to even hope for anything like that came from all he had been through with his Mom. Well, actually, all he had seen his Dad go through because of her was more like it.

  He never wanted to end up like his Dad had - trying to take care of kids and a depressed wife. Being the breadwinner, disciplinarian, cook, and maid. Of course, he and Seth had helped out with Alex and Bobby. Jason had always been pretty self-sufficient, but the younger ones needed a lot of time and attention.

  Looking back, he wished he would have done more. He wished he could have managed to not have been such a problem child. He realized now, as an adult that he was just acting out because of being angry and confused about his Mom. But, damn, he certainly hadn’t made life any easier for his poor Dad!