Passion in Portland 2016 Anthology

by Anthology

  Chapter 5

  Chase was glad he’d taken the shuttle driver’s suggestion for breakfast, but he wasn’t sure about the Irish pub he was currently sitting in. Granted, Chase had the scruffy beard thing going on, and his flannel shirt fit in well, so the hotel concierge had nailed that. But his boots were all wrong for the lumbersexual vibe that ran rampant around here. He thought the work boot look was pretty cool, but no one here wore cowboy boots except him. That at least was better than the rolled jeans with the loafers look, which reminded him too much of pictures he’d seen from the 1980’s.

  One new trend that he swore he’d never ever ever ever accept was the man bun. “No way, no how.” The lyrics for Dude, by Aerosmith, ran through his head every time he saw a guy with a bun. Yeah, Chase was a bit old-fashioned, to say the least. Looking around the bar he thought that men should look like men and women should look like…her. “Holy hell,” he said as he stood up to get a better look at the brunette from the elevator who was now clad in a short red dress and sky-high red heels.

  Leigh was desperate to get away from the creepy drunk guy that her “friends” had shoved at her. Frenemies would be the correct term for them after what they just did to her. They were pissed because Leigh had the balls to whine about going to see the famous cabaret show again. Every bachelorette party she’d been to in the last three years - and it was a seriously scary amount - had done the. Same. Damn. Thing. And she was the one who wasn’t spontaneous? To make it the shittiest birthday ever, Ryan just happened to walk in with Tina, the bitchy receptionist from work, draped all over him.

  “Aw, shit!” Leigh screeched, but no one cared enough to ask her who or what she was talking about. When Ryan and Tina started making out right in the entrance, Leigh wished that if she clicked her red ‘fuck me’ heals together three times, they would take her the fuck home.

  “Hey, Leigh, isn’t that your ex, sucking face with a much hotter woman? Looks like he traded up, huh?” Amanda, the maid of honor, and queen bitch, sneered.

  At that precise moment, Ryan looked up and saw Leigh, but he continued to kiss Tina, while he stared at her. Ew. Hearing, “Holy hell,” immediately diverted Leigh’s attention to Ryan’s right, and that’s where she spotted him looking oh so delicious in his jeans, cowboy boots and Western-styled flannel shirt. Save a horse, ride a cowboy. Yeehaw! It took Leigh only two seconds to decide she was going to finally prove Ryan that he was wrong - on so many levels.

  Chase watched as the gorgeous woman recognized him, and happily sprinted toward him. “Oh baby, you made it!” she cried as she launched herself at him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and his hands instinctively found her ass…and then she kissed him with everything she had.

  Her tongue was so far in his mouth, that Chase figured she’d be able to tell he still had his tonsils. Usually he didn’t like desperate women forcing themselves on him, but this one was pretty freaking hot. The kiss went from something fake, probably to make some asshole jealous, to something very intense. Chase was all but ready to drop her firm derrière onto the bar, and drive himself into her, right then and there. She was more intoxicating than any alcohol served in the pub, and he was reacting to her in a way he’d never reacted to a beautiful stranger before.

  The bartender cleared his throat and killed the moment. “Sorry, but I was about to have to douse the two of you with water,” he chuckled as he held up the water dispenser nozzle. “We don’t put on shows here, sorry. That’s a few blocks away.”

  Leigh couldn’t break eye contact with her sexy cowboy no matter how much she wanted to. She was the moth, and he was that damn blue light of the bug zapper. She could feel the electricity crackle between them, and she knew that if he got inside her, she’d totally get fried. Then she heard, “Well, I would have never expected a public show like that from you, Leigh.” Ryan’s voice was still irritatingly snobby.

  “Yeah, Ryan. What did you ever see in her? She looks like a two-bit hooker in those shoes, and…” Tina began.

  “And I think they make her legs look incredibly hot,” Chase finished. He looked down at the bitchy woman’s shoes and added, “Unlike yours. My grandma wears shoes like those.”

  Leigh snorted as she laughed, and then turned red. Chase ginned at her, and winked before saying, “Well, baby, I’m so glad you missed me, but if I don’t put you down this instant, we might actually get arrested this time, for having sex in public.” He gently moved her across the excitement that had built up in his pants, and she bit her lip to prevent herself from moaning. He totally knew what he was doing to her, and breaking contact, as her one foot hit the floor, totally sucked.

  “Ha! Like Leigh would ever do anything that spontaneous,” Ryan remarked, with a raised eyebrow that was just too perfectly groomed.

  Leigh’s brows pinched together in a frown as she cast her eyes down at the remark. That pissed Chase off. Since no guy’s eyebrows should look as groomed as a woman’s, and because he already hated the jerk, Chase felt the need to defend this woman. “And I bet your idea of spontaneous is going to the spa with your girlfriend to get your eyebrows waxed.”

  “God, Tina!” Ryan squealed. The man actually squealed. “You promised me that no one would know!”

  “Oh don’t be such a baby, Ryan. You already went for monthly manicures. It’s perfectly normal for a man to get his eyebrows waxed. Just ask anyone here,” Tina huffed.

  “Well hell. That explains why his hands were always smoother than mine. It was kinda… just… wrong,” Leigh mumbled under her breath.

  “Yeah, that’s not spontaneous. Nor is it normal, sorry dude. Leigh and me? We like things a little more over the top than that, don’t we, baby?” Chase’s wicked grin worried Leigh just a little, but hearing him say her name in that deep voice of his, caused her world to tilt on its axis. Looking directly at Ryan, Chase kept a straight face as he grabbed his beer and took a sip and then said, “Yes ma’am, Leigh here really enjoyed those nipple clamps we used just the other night. Didn’t you, sweetheart?”

  Leigh could feel the color literally explode on her face as Chase pinned her with a heated look, but her body immediately reacted to what he said, in other ways. To calm herself, she grabbed Chase’s beer from his hand, and began to chug it. Unfortunately he felt the need to add, “And the unplanned flogging was pretty damn hot too.”

  It was either choke down the mouthful of beer, or spray the poor bartender, who was clearly enjoying the show. Leigh did a little of both, so she quickly clamped one hand over her mouth and took a deep breath in through her nose, while she grabbed a napkin with the other hand and dabbed her chin. She swallowed the mouthful of beer, and then turned to face Chase.

  “Yeah, baby,” she cooed, since she didn’t know his freaking name, “I thought it was totally hot when I flogged you, too. And when you let me blindfolded you and hand-cuff to the bed? Mmmmm, I just loved that,” Leigh purred with a tiny sneer that let Chase know he was pushing his luck. “I just love it when you let me be spontaneous.”

  Chase noticed that Ryan’s expression changed from angry to interested, and before Chase could stop the guy, Ryan spoke, "Perhaps I underestimated you, Leigh.”

  “What, in the hell, is that supposed to mean?” Tina screeched, as she hit Ryan on the arm.

  “It just means that maybe I broke things off with Leigh a bit prematurely. Had I know that she had such a…a different side to her, then maybe…” Ryan trailed off.

  “Dude, you’re reaching DEFCON 2. Quit while your nuts are still attached,” Chase warned. He wasn’t letting this Ryan guy weasel his way back into Leigh’s life, nor did he want to witness Tina go ape-shit over it. The look she gave Ryan told Chase she was about two seconds away from doing so.

  “No, Ryan,” Leigh cut in, saving the moment, “The only thing you did prematurely was done in the bedroom. Breaking up with me certainly wasn’t it.”

  Tina’s anger deflated as she mumbled, “You got that right about the bedroom thing,” then sh
e busied herself picking invisible lint off of her sleeve.

  “Ouch! Score two for the ladies,” Chase laughed. “You would have just gotten your man card revoked, if you hadn’t already lost it at the spa.”

  “I’m sorry, but who in the hell are you?” Ryan barked, clearly pissed that he’d been emasculated by two women. “I’ve never seen you around here before.”

  “I’m Chase Baker, Leigh’s boyfriend,” Chase replied as he possessively wrapped his left arm around Leigh’s left side and pulled her in tight. Perfect fit. “We met when I came into town on business right after you two broke up. Clearly, your loss was my gain.”

  His hand creped dangerously close to the underside of her breast, and she felt the heat of his hand seep into her skin through the thin rayon material of her dress. Turning quickly to her right, so that she faced Chase, Leigh smiled and said, “Damn right it was, Chase. But, baby, can’t we head someplace quieter now? You’ve been away for too long and it feels like we hardly know each other!”

  “I’d really like that, sweetheart,” Chase replied with a genuine grin. “More than you know, in fact.”

  “Later,” Leigh said to Ryan and Tina as she grabbed Chase’s hand and dragged him out of the pub. When they hit the sidewalk, she stopped dead and Chase slammed into her back.

  “Oooff,” he grunted. Leigh began walking quickly again, clearly with a destination in mind, nearly yanked his arm out of its socket as she moved forward. “God you are freakishly strong,” he added.

  “Sorry, I kind of am. Come on, I’m hungry. Let’s hit the food carts that are still here in downtown Portland, and see what looks good.” Leigh tugged even harder and led Chase where she wanted.

  Chapter 6

  “Are you always this bossy?” Chase asked when she finally stopped many blocks later at a third set of food carts, and finally chose the one she wanted. She ordered for them, and paid for their food, then walked over to a bench and sat down causing him to chase after her again.

  “Usually not, but I’m feeling the whole I am woman, hear me roar, kind of thing right now.” Leigh cocked her head to the side as she looked Chase up and down. “You must bring that out in me. One look at you, pretty boy, and I feel pretty damn feisty.”

  “I am not a pretty boy,” Chase miffed as he sat and attacked the Gyro that Leigh ordered him. “And yay me, another crazy one. Woohoo. Not,” he mumbled, but was comforted in the fact that the food was damn good.

  “I heard that,” Leigh laughed as she bit into her Dolmades.

  “Good, you were kind of supposed to. Listen, while I thank you for the distraction at the bar, the five mile walk, and the food,” Chase held up his empty plate, as he had inhaled his food, “I think I’m gonna head on back to the hotel and figure out how in the hell I’m getting to Pendleton tomorrow. I should have actually left today,” Chase babbled, suddenly feeling the need to explain, “But I went to that romance author event at the hotel for my sister and got her a bunch of autographed books. Today’s her birthday, too, so I figured it was the least I could do for her.”

  Leigh’s heart melted into a big, gooey puddle. “You…you went to a romance author event and bought books…for your sister?”

  “Yeah,” he gave a one-shoulder shrug, “We share the same birthday, and mine always sucks, so…”

  “Wait! Today’s your birthday?” she cried. When Chase nodded, Leigh screeched, “It’s mine too! Oh my…we have got to do something fun!” Leigh thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers, “I’ve got it!” The look she had on her face scared Chase. “Road trip! Come on, let’s go.”

  Leigh grabbed Chase’s hand and as he stood, she began dragging him to some unknown destination once again. She waved down a taxi, and practically shoved Chase inside. She gave the cabbie the hotel address, then turned to Chase and said, “I’ll drive you to Pendleton. It’s almost a three and a half hour drive, so if we check out and get on the road quickly, we can be there before it gets too late.”

  Leigh was practically bouncing up and down, and had such a look of sheer bliss on her face that Chase just couldn’t pop her happy bubble. “You’re not some deranged serial killer, who preys on ruggedly handsome men, are you?” he asked, half in jest.

  “Deranged? The jury’s still out on that one,” she chuckled, “But since I can’t even bring myself to kill a spider, and I hate spiders, I probably wouldn’t make a very good serial killer.”

  “So deranged, but not a spider killer, huh?” Chase asked and Leigh nodded. “What the hell, I can live with that. Road trip it is. On one condition.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, hoping to hell he wasn’t the type of guy who had to drive.

  “The heels and the dress stay on.” Chase was dead set on that requirement.

  “Deal. But I have one condition of my own, then,” she smiled wickedly

  “And what’s that?” he asked, unsure of where this was going.

  “I get to drive,” she said almost breathlessly.

  “If you think you can handle me, I mean…it,” he replied with a wink.

  Leigh leaned in so close that her breasts touched Chase’s arm and she whispered into his ear, “There’s no doubt in my mind that I can handle you, Chase Baker. I’m just not sure you can handle me.” The next thing Chase knew, the taxi lurched to a stop, Leigh handed the driver a twenty, and she hopped out of the cab.

  Chase quickly caught up to her and spun her around by one arm. “Are you sure you want to start that, Leigh?”

  “Oh you silly, silly man,” Leigh said as she gently patted Chase’s cheek. “I started it when I offered to kiss your nuts.”

  Chase’s nuts reminded him that they, and their main counterpart were growing mighty uncomfortable in the confines of his jeans, so he turned his face into her hand, found her thumb and sucked it into his mouth. He slowly released it, and was happy to see the affect it had on her. The flutter of her pulse, and the fact that she closed her eyes and gave a small sigh proved him right. “Does that offer still stand?”

  “Can you wait until we arrive in Pendleton?” her bravado was beginning to waver just slightly.

  “I can’t think of a better way to end a road trip,” Chase smiled, and then he quickly kissed her senseless before he walked off into the hotel.

  Chapter 7

  “What in the hell was I thinking?” Leigh asked herself as she threw the last of her crap into her rolling suitcase. “I am so in over my head,” she continued to talk to herself as she made one more sweep of the bathroom to make sure she’d grabbed all her toiletries. She also made sure to grab the samples that the hotel provided. They smelled too divine to pass up. She tossed them haphazardly into her suitcase, as she continued to talk to herself. “I kissed, no no, I attacked a total stranger,” she sighed, but then smiled at the memory. “But I also like it, damn it. I liked it too much, in fact.”

  Leigh dropped to her knees on the floor next to the bed and with her bottom wiggling up in the air, she wedged her head between the bed frame and the nightstand, just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. “It’s crazy that I also just agreed to drive said total stranger over two hundred miles so…”

  “So, at least you offered to kiss his nuts first. That must mean you liiike him,” Chase’s voice rang out from behind her. “No harm in that,” he laughed. Leigh jumped as she tried to un-wedge her head, but only ended up smacking it on the nightstand as she tried to look behind her.

  “Jesus, how’d you get in here?” she muttered as she rubbed her temple.

  “Easy. You flipped that security latch thingy over before you closed your door, so it left your door open,” he replied. “But don’t let me interrupt what you were doing. I really liked the view of the red lace I saw when I came in,” he smirked.

  Leigh was embarrassed that she’d offered him a crotch shot, but then the hamster wheel began to turn. “Wait a minute. How’d you even know where my room was?” she asked. “Were you stalking me? I have pepper spray, and I know ho
w to use it!” she added, reaching for her purse.

  “Whoa, I, uh, saw you get off on this floor, remember?” Chase held his hands up in surrender. “I was lucky enough to hear your little monologue going on when I got off the elevator. I just followed the sound of your sexy voice, sweetheart. Saved me from knocking on doors.”

  “Oh.” Leigh replied, feeling foolish. She either had to trust the guy, or she didn’t.

  As if he could read her mind, Chase said, “Look, Leigh. You obviously have some reservations about me. About this. It’s totally fine for you to back out. I don’t have to be in Pendleton until Monday. I still have time to rent a car and drive there tomorrow. Really. It’s okay. This has already been a birthday that I’ll never forget,” he added with a killer smile.