Reluctantly in Love

by Niecey Roy

  He fell into step beside me. “I don’t think yogurt and toast will satisfy me this morning.”

  I whipped my head to glance up at him and the sexy quirk to his lips. His hand dropped to rest against the small of my back, so close to my ass that I couldn’t hold back a shiver.

  Holy hell. I needed a cold, cold shower. I had places to be, and inside Chase’s pants wasn’t on the schedule. Which is stupid. I’d much rather have what was inside his pants than cupcakes. But good friends didn’t bail on friends who needed them. And I was a good friend.

  Tell that to the sexually frustrated woman. Chase wasn’t making this easier, either, what with dropping sexy-flirty talk like no big deal.

  Frustrated, I left Chase in the kitchen, feeling his gaze on my ass until I stepped into the hallway and out of sight.

  After I did the cupcake thing, I planned to do something better. With Chase. But for now? A cold shower was definitely necessary.

  Chapter Twenty

  Of course, once I made the decision to rip Chase’s clothes off, the universe decided to get in the way. There was another disturbance outside Beverly’s house, but the video camera didn’t catch anything. The cops weren’t taking her seriously, either. The officer on duty wasn’t sharing information with me—not even when I sent Leo to speak with him. I spent the next five days staking out her place in case the ass-hat prowler appeared again.

  No one did, though. Beverly’s neighborhood was quiet as a church mouse. Maybe it was a fluke and the prowler didn’t have tormenting Beverly on his calendar on these days, or maybe he’d been tipped off that I would be out there.

  Forensics were back. The shoe print was a size eight and a half. Whoever left the print, it wasn’t Meredith Jensen. Linda had snuck into Meredith’s home while she was at the community center playing bingo and gone through every shoe in her closet. All size sevens. Linda was eager for a new task now, but I had nothing for her. There wasn’t much for me to do.

  Matthew Garrett was still avoiding my calls. His secretary said meeting with me wasn’t possible for at least a month. Even though nothing in his financials set off a red flag that he was hurting for money—Pretzels’ reward money—his not meeting with me was definitely suspicious.

  He left me no option—I had to ambush him. Drop in unannounced at his work, maybe follow him to one of the restaurants he took his girlfriend to and shake things up. I’d been playing nice for too long, all because having a hunch didn’t give me the right to harass someone under baseless circumstances. No evidence pointed to Matthew. His being a louse and a cheat had nothing to do with Pretzels being abducted.

  Now that I had some free time, Chase did not. He’d decided to visit his parents for the weekend, so I was alone on a Friday night with visions of a shirtless Chase dancing through my head. Gen invited me out for pizza, but I declined. Pizza was great and all, but it wasn’t Chase, and being the third wheel sounded like more work than I cared to do on a Friday night. Lexie and Leo were at the cabin for the weekend. That definitely wasn’t appealing—camping in a pasture might have ruined me from nature activities for good. Well, at least for the year.

  I was curled up on my couch, browsing my computer tablet for restaurant delivery, two hours into a paranormal activity marathon on the movie channel. Since the lead character in the book I was writing was a paranormal investigator, getting in the right mood before a long writing session always helped. I’d already managed to thoroughly freak myself out. Every light in the house was on and I’d been holding my bladder for the last hour.

  When the doorbell rang, survival mode kicked in. I’d seen too many movies, read too many books, where bad things happened to the girl alone who wasn’t expecting house guests. I checked my phone to see if I’d missed someone’s message—I hadn’t. This time, whoever was at the door knocked on it, kick-starting an adrenaline rush of all the what-the-hell-ifs.

  Crawling across the living room floor, I whispered, “Not paranoid—safe.”

  I once took a quiz about how long I’d last in a horror movie and got an amazing score. If I hadn’t answered that I’d stop to record paranormal activity in a haunted house full of threatening noises, I might have scored even better.

  The knocking and doorbell buzzing stopped. I lifted a blind with my finger and peeked out. A shadowy figure stood on my porch holding what looked to be bags of restaurant carryout, and possibly a bottle of wine. The sun had set an hour ago, and for some reason the motion light hadn’t turned on. While my stomach grumbled, I debated—answer the door to a maybe-psycho-killer with a restaurant delivery disguise, or crawl back to huddle on the couch and clutch my phone, ready to call 911 if necessary.

  My hunger won. I jumped in place a few times, shook out my hands to loosen my muscles in case I needed to assume a kick-ass position, then flung the door open.

  “Hey, Bruiser.” Chase held up the bottle of wine and the paper carryout bag. “Gen said you were starving.”

  I threw myself into his arms. He oomphed in response and tried to hug me with his hands full.

  “I am so glad you’re not a serial killer.” I dropped my arms from around his neck and stepped back into the house. “I’m equally glad you brought food.”

  “Were you expecting a serial killer?” He followed me inside.

  “A girl’s got to be prepared, you know?” I nudged the door closed behind him. It was stupid how excited I was to see him. There went the stomach flutters and the tingly nerve-endings, and the rush of warmth that came with anticipation of a kiss. “I thought you were leaving town?”

  “I got off work late. I’ll just leave in the morning.”

  God, how I love his smile. “I’m glad.”

  “Did you miss me?”

  I shrugged and pursed my lips in feigned indifference. “Not really.”

  He grinned. “Liar.”

  “Maybe a little.” I took the bottle from him. “That’s a lot of food.”

  “Yeah. I went to pick up the food and—”

  The doorbell rang, cutting him off. Before I could answer, the door opened.

  “I am starving. Thank God you got here first.” Gen stepped inside, and Matt followed her in. “Sushi sounds awesome right now. Did you get the noodles too?”

  “You’re always starving,” I said. So much for my night of seduction. No one noticed my sigh of disappointment.

  Keeping me and Chase a secret hadn’t been an option, not with friends like Gen and Lexie. They’d been too interested in helping to change my relationship-status not to notice all the smiling I’d been doing lately. They’d noticed I’d been spending time with someone, and at the risk of having them staking out my house for clues, I’d fessed up. I’d been worried they read too much into things, but Gen was doing an amazing job of not bringing him up in every conversation.

  We laid out the takeout containers on the dinner table. After a couple of glasses of wine, my ability to keep my eyes off of Chase was severely tested. He was so damn adorable with his celebrity impersonations. As one bottle of wine turned into two I glanced to the clock more often. I tuned out pieces of the conversation while my mind daydreamed ripping off Chase’s clothes.

  I caught Gen in the kitchen after everyone else had settled in the living room to watch TV. Snagging her by the hem of her shirt, I steered her to the wall. In a whisper, I said, “You and Matt need to leave.”

  She puckered her brows and a wrinkle appeared between them. “What’s wrong?”

  I glanced over her shoulder and said, “Nothing. But now that he’s here, I’m going through with Operation Seduce Chase.”

  She grinned and crossed her arms over her chest. “So is this the moment you admit that I know what’s best for you? Always.”

  I sniffed. “Um, no. Because the Chase thing was a lucky guess. You know I have a thing for dark hair.”

  “No, Blake had dark hair and you had a thing for him. That’s not the same as having a thing for dark hair.”

  “Ssh. Someone might hear yo
u.” I smacked her in the arm. “Anyway. The longer I wait the more nervous I’m going to get. It’s been awhile since you know.” I waggled my eyebrows obscenely.

  “I know. You’re all dusty, remember?” She snickered and I covered her mouth with my hand, which only made her laugh harder.

  “Ugh, you’re going to kill my sexy mood.”

  She snickered again, and it turned into a snort. I stabbed her in the arm with my pointer finger.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “Sheesh.”

  “This is serious shit.” I hunched closer. “I did a quiz a couple days ago and it said that I am ready to do the horizontal mamba with him. And then I read that we are at the stage in our . . . whatever we are, that if we don’t do it soon it might jinx us into bad sex.”

  Gen rolled her eyes. “You and those quizzes. They’re not accurate.”

  I raised my brows. “Coming from the person who was disappointed that my catnapping isn’t an alien abduction.”

  “That’s irrelevant.” She leaned back against the wall and sipped at her wine. “You’re making too big of a deal out of this.”

  I flicked her in the forehead. “No, I’m not. I wasn’t expecting him so I’m not even wearing sexy underwear.”

  She rubbed her forehead. “So go sneak into your room and put sexy underwear on.”

  I blew out a frustrated breath. “I had this whole thing planned differently. Now it feels rushed.”

  “Like what kind of plans?” Gen’s eyes widened in revelation. “Oh wow, you don’t just like him. You like him.”

  “What? No.” But I didn’t like how that sounded. I shook my head. “I mean, yes, I like him. But not like how you’re saying it.”

  “Yeah, you do. You’ve been prepping.”

  “Quit being weird.” I narrowed my eyes at her and crossed my arms over my chest. “Shaving and waxing and buying frilly lingerie is normal when someone wants to get her sexy on.”

  “Who’s getting her sexy on?”

  Chase’s voice at my back made me jump. I spun around, my cheeks blazing hot.

  “I’ll let you two talk this one out,” Gen said with a laugh. I didn’t have to turn around to know she’d left us in the kitchen.

  “Um, how much did you hear?”

  He stepped closer, the blue of his eyes intense while he gazed into mine. “Shaving and waxing and frilly lingerie.”

  “Oh.” I sucked in a breath because he took another step, closing the distance between us.

  “We’ll see you guys later!” Gen called from the other room. The front door closed.

  We were alone.

  “So, is there frilly lingerie under there?” He hooked a finger to the blouse of my shirt and pulled the material out to peek inside at my bra. This wasn’t the set that I’d purchased with the idea of wearing it for Chase, but at least the set matched.

  “It’s pretty.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say, because one of his hands was on the bare flesh of my thigh, moving higher up under the skirt of my dress. My breathing grew shallow at the thought of how close he was to—

  His hand made it to my panties before my mind could register what was happening. He cupped me there and leaned down to press his lips against mine. My mouth dropped open when his finger slipped inside the waistband of my panties. His tongue slide inside my mouth at the same time his finger rubbed against the wet flesh. I moaned; the hot blaze of desire shot straight from my loins up to my belly button.

  I was wild with need by the time he stopped kissing me, by the time he stopped stroking me. With his eyes burning into mine, he reached down to cup my ass and lift me. I wrapped my legs around him and he carried me to the table. I didn’t object. My mind was mush by now.

  His hand made a possessive sweep up my leg and under my dress. In one quick tug, he pulled my panties off. My breath caught, my pulse accelerated, and I grabbed recklessly for the button of his jeans. When I got it loose I reached inside and pulled him into my hand, the hot flesh pulsing in my grip. I wanted him inside of me so badly that everything else went fuzzy. I barely noticed the condom he’d taken from his wallet. While he slid it on with one hand, the thumb of his other hand rubbed against the swollen nub between my legs.

  My breaths came hard and fast now. Tugging my bottom lip with my teeth, I leaned back on the table and lifted my legs to wrap around his waist. He plunged into me and I almost screamed. My breath caught in my throat and with every deep stroke, bursts of light undulated behind my closed eyelids. The orgasm was blinding. I moaned and pressed myself into him, my flesh quivering around him.

  With one final thrust, he pulled me against him and leaned over the table with me in his arms. He pressed his forehead against mine, his breathing heavy.

  “I’m sorry. The table—did I hurt you?” He pressed a kiss to my lips.

  I was delirious. “Are you kidding me? That was hot.”

  He chuckled, and this time his kiss lingered, his tongue hot against mine. Against my lips, he said, “It was too fast.” He nibbled my bottom lip. “I wanted our first time to be slower.”

  “How about we go to my room?”

  His eyes brightened and he scooped me up into his arms. “This time, I want to taste every inch of you.”

  As if I’d argue with that.

  I awoke from the best sleep I’d had in a long time. Rolling to my back, I stretched. Memories from the night before made my cheeks and insides warm. A sated smile enveloped my lips and I rolled to the other side of the bed.

  My eyes shot open when I was met with only empty space and rumpled sheets.

  Of course Chase hadn’t stayed the night. He was supposed to go to his parents. I had drifted off to sleep in his arms with the expectation I would awaken alone. And still, the bite of disappointment got to me.

  Don’t be an idiot. This was what I wanted. Casual. What’s wrong with you? One romp—well, many romps—in the sack with a hot doctor and I was all out of whack.

  “Ridiculous,” I mumbled and slipped my feet into the slippers at the side of my bed.

  I needed coffee. Lots of coffee. Maybe then I wouldn’t worry about how weird it would be the next time Chase and I were in the same room. And I needed a bagel. Carbs would solve my irritation with all things male—and with myself. I was the one being weird about this. It’s what I wanted. I trudged down the hall.

  I rounded the corner and reached to flip on the light in the kitchen.

  “Hey.”

  I screamed. My body leapt to an offensive stance—hands up, legs wide and bent at the knees, ready to propel me forward into a kick. It was a gut reaction ingrained by the self-defense lessons Uncle Leone insisted I needed, and hours training with Leo.

  I realized too late that it was Chase in my kitchen, and not an early morning intruder. I had lived alone for so long that hearing another person’s voice in the morning was a shock. Especially when he wasn’t supposed to still be here.

  My kick had built too much momentum with my jump. I couldn’t stop, but I rotated my hips. Instead of clipping him in the face, my foot kicked the drink carrier in his hands. The to-go coffee cups flew into the air, and so did the hot coffee, spilling on him and landing at his feet. He stared down at the cups before turning a blank stare on me.

  “Oh my God!” I winced at the shrill tone to my voice. “Are you okay?”

  His hands were still raised as if he still held the drink carrier. He put his arms down.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said in to the silence. “I thought you left.”

  “To get coffee. I couldn’t find coffee beans in the kitchen.”

  “Apparently I don’t just have a twitchy trigger finger . . .” I gave him a stiff smile. “Oops?”

  He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. Then another, his lips breaking into a smile. “You say that a lot.”

  “Seems like it,” I said, my eyes glued to the shirt he slipped from his shoulders.

  “Looks like I need a shower.” He dropped the shirt to the floor beside th
e coffee cups.

  “You definitely need a shower.” I nodded, yanking my gaze from his chest.

  He reached out and pulled me closer. Pressed against his chest, I could feel his heart hammering against mine. “I’ll wash your back if you wash mine.”

  “I’ll wash whatever you want,” I told him before rising to my toes to kiss him.

  We didn’t get any backwashing done in the shower, but I didn’t mind.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I grinned down at my cell phone, reading Chase’s text message in a slow sweep so I could savor his words.

  “Look at you, all smiley,” Lexie said, and when I looked up from my phone, she tossed a filmy shawl at me from a pile she was tagging. I caught the burnt orange material in my hand. It was for a fall accessories display to hang in her window. I couldn’t believe how fast this year had passed—autumn was just around the corner.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you are glowing,” Lexie said.

  I rolled my eyes, but the smile didn’t go away. “I am not glowing.”

  “Yeah, you’re glowing,” Michelle called from the other side of the boutique.

  “Whatever. This is my skin. I’m golden tan. It’s good genes.” I crossed my legs then wrapped the shawl around my shoulders. “I love this shawl. I’m buying it.”

  “It looks good on you.” Lexie winked at me. “Just like that smile looks good on you.”

  Every time Chase crossed my mind, my lips smiled. It was impossible to control.

  It was ridiculous, really. But I was on Cloud Nine these days. It had been a week since we slept together, and whatever we were fit. There wasn’t a better word for it than that. All my worries about crossing the sexy line with him were gone.

  He was still the same Chase—humorous, sexy, intense when it was just the two of us, easy to be with, and when we were with our friends it felt natural. I only wished I hadn’t pushed against a relationship with him for as long as I had. We were casual and it was perfect—and I couldn’t stop smiling.