To calm her brother, she added in her rational voice that she’d perfected over the years, “As you can see, he needed stitches, but Chase refused to go to the hospital, so this will have to do.” She gave Chase a forced platonic smile, pretending that all the heat and intensity burning between them did not exist, and that her panties were not soaking wet. The last thing she wanted to do was get in the way of their long close friendship. “You’re good to go.”
When he finally looked at her, any hint of what she had seen in his eyes before was gone. She could never forget that smoldering look. He craved her, as much as she did him. Sadly, she knew Chase was a dream she had to stop pursuing.
She was, and would always be, Brody’s baby sister. The one woman he was sworn not to touch. Because seeing their close friendship over the years showed her that what made Chase so incredible was his fierce loyalty to not only his family but to his friends. And while she returned from school to discover the guy she had fantasized about all through her teen years had suddenly taken notice of her and clearly wanted her in his bed, she also knew it would never happen.
Three months, she had been blatantly throwing herself right at him. Three months, he was careful not to step over the line.
Like it had been every time Brody was nearby, Chase’s expression was utterly frigid when he rose. “Thanks for the help,” he said.
“No problem.” She smiled to hide her disappointment and began gathering up the bloodied napkins.
With Chase vanishing through the door, Brody gave Harper a look, then he was gone too. She could finally breathe again, flopping back into the seat, and shutting her eyes. Oh my God!
This thing with Chase was a problem. A big one.
Before she left to attend culinary school in Denver, Chase had been her brother’s hot best friend. That was it. She hadn’t really even talked to him much growing up, mainly because he didn’t know she existed. Being so much younger, she was his best friend’s little sister who spent most of her time cooking with her mom. But when she’d come home, with big dreams of soon moving to Las Vegas to be mentored by the famous chef Jack Suttell, who owed the five-star restaurant Black Jack’s Cellar, everything seemed different. Jack had been involved in MentorChef Teen, and when he had run into her at culinary school, he’d begged to mentor her. But then Harper came home and saw Chase again. The young man she had a crush on had turned into a gorgeous, strong cowboy with a heart of gold. And he noticed her. He smiled at her with heat and interest. He flirted in ways no man ever flirted, promising so many things with his eyes alone.
In that first week she had come back and seen him, she couldn’t deny or ignore there was something there between them. Something raw and explosive, causing her to stay these past months exploring her feelings for him. Because her heart mattered just as much as her dreams, and she’d never felt such intensity with anyone before.
But then days passed and months passed, and the moment when he made his move never came. His loyalty to Brody could not be broken, and Harper knew her brother would never give his approval because Chase would threaten her following her dreams. And more and more, she needed to stop thinking of having Chase’s lips on hers, his muscular chest pressed against her breasts, and that tall, ripped body draped over her while he slid deep inside her. This all needed to stop. Because she realized there was something worse than not being noticed by Chase, and that was being noticed but having a thick line he would never cross between them.
“Harper.”
She jumped out of the chair. “Yes!” Her hand flew to her chest. “What?”
Emma Monroe, her best friend and Shep’s—the eldest Blackshaw brother’s—girlfriend, burst out laughing. Her light green eyes twinkled while her long, thick brown hair floated down to the ground when she bent over, holding her middle. “I just scared the hell out of you.” When she straightened, her smile remained. “What’s got you all inside your head?”
Harper dropped back into the chair, laughing too, studying her friend. While Emma was the type of pretty that came naturally, her beauty shone from the inside out. She’d never met anyone so warm before. They’d only been friends for four months now after Emma moved to River Rock from New York City, but in those months, she’d become closer to her than she had with friends she’d known all her life.
Emma leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms. “Seriously, though, are you okay?”
“Totally fine.” Harper dropped her hand to the armrest, breathing deep, settling her heart that had been ready to jump out of her chest.
“You don’t look fine.” Emma’s gaze roamed Harper’s face, eyebrows drawn tight. “I’m not sure what this look is on your face, but it’s definitely not . . . fine.”
Harper blew out a final breath and leaned her head against the headrest. “This look is . . .” She almost said, that I’m fine, but then realized she was repeating what Chase had been doing, and saying fine too much indicated she wasn’t fine at all. Instead, she said, “Brody is just being Brody.”
Emma gave an understanding look and a sweet smile. “He loves you.”
“Sometimes too much,” Harper said, turning the swivel chair side to side, finishing up with a shrug. “But sometimes I love him too much as well.” That’s what happened when two children lost their parents, only Harper loved Brody differently. She often thought of him before herself because of how much he had given up to raise her.
Right then, an oval face appeared over Emma’s shoulder, revealing Kinky Spurs’ owner, Megan Harrison. Twenty-eight years old, Megan turned heads, from both men and woman alike. She held an air about her that was special, and Harper could never put a finger on what made her stand out so much. Sure, she was pretty with her distinctive eyes—the left one blue, the right one brown—and her long, sandy-colored hair held a beachy wave like Harper had never seen, but there was something unique about Megan.
Her frown, though, was the opposite of inviting. “Is there a reason I’m working the bar by myself?” she asked.
“Something’s wrong with Harper,” Emma said.
Megan’s frown deepened when she pushed her way farther into the office to stare upon Harper’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Harper laughed and rose, shaking her head at the two women who had become like family. “What’s wrong is, the office is getting crowded. Believe me, everything is A-OK.” She gently nudged them out of the office first and then they all ran into a wall that was Dean’s chest.
Dean, the head bouncer at the Spurs, glanced from Emma to Megan to Harper, lifting an eyebrow in their direction. “Do I even want to know what’s going on?”
“Nope.” Harper squeezed by them all, getting the hell out of there and doing what she was very good at—dodging all things emotional or otherwise. Because in her world, she could not talk about all the things she wanted. And sometimes the best way forward was ignoring truths. She had done it after her parents passed away. She forged ahead, working hard, not thinking too much about how much she wanted them back. Life was all about overcoming hardships. Chase was just another one of those things that for some reason the universe dangled in front of her but would not let her have.
Once they all reached the bar again, Megan and Emma began dealing with the waiting customers. Chase had returned to his seat, eating the rest of the meal she had made for him at the bar, watching the sports highlights on the television next to Brody.
She drew in a long, stabilizing breath, then moved toward a customer waiting at the bar with a ten-dollar bill in his hand. Chase’s gaze met hers. Held. The heat he had contained around Brody was exposed again, hitting her like a wall of lust, making her hyperaware of her heartbeat. She could not stop the shiver of pleasure that followed.
Chase’s firm eye contact and slow-building smile was a telling sign that he knew precisely what he did to her.
Now to find a way to make him act on it.
* * *
An hour later, on the far end of the bar, next to the mechanical bull
that had tossed two men and one woman off its back to the delight of the crowd, a black dart whizzed through the air, landing directly on the bull’s-eye.
“That, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done.” Chase gave a gallant bow.
“That was all lucky, buddy,” Brody scoffed, sticking his darts back onto the dartboard, officially ending the game.
Chase laughed, not disagreeing there. He settled in next to the small round table, grabbing his beer and taking a long swig. His stomach was bloated from Harper’s delicious chicken and pasta, and the one beer he’d had.
Brody sidled up to the table. The digital clock behind the bar and beneath the KINKY SPURS sign read 8:55. The bar would soon be stuffed full of twenty- and thirty-somethings ready to put their workweek behind them. Beneath the clock, Chase’s gaze fell to Harper as she shook the martini shaker, laughing at whatever the guy at the bar was saying to her. Tension rippled through Chase, bringing tightness into his chest. That smile always felt like it belonged to him.
“Have you heard that she’s leaving?”
Chase took a swig of his beer, trying to pretend he hadn’t been staring at his best friend’s baby sister. “Who’s leaving?”
Against the rim of his bottle, Brody said, “Harper. She’s leaving for Vegas.”
A sudden coldness hit Chase at his core. “What do you mean she’s leaving for Vegas?”
Brody regarded his sister across the bar, his expression locked down tight. “I guess they had a guest chef come to her school to spend a week with the students. He’s some top chef who owns a restaurant in Vegas, and he’d been part of that TV show she was in. She’d impressed the hell out him back then, and I guess he’s been following her training ever since. Anyway, he called her last week offering her a mentorship with him.”
Chase could barely catch his breath. “When is this happening?”
“She flies out next Saturday.”
“That soon?” Eight days. His mind recoiled at the thought, flushing adrenaline through him.
“Yeah,” Brody said. “And it’s about damn time. She told me she needs to do the mentorship first with this guy, to learn the ropes, so to speak. After that, she can finally go out on her own.”
Chase noted the pride in Brody’s eyes. Of course, he was happy. He wanted Harper to move away and to live a bigger life than she could find in River Rock.
Chase’s throat tightened, making the air seem thicker and harder to draw in, and he slowly looked at Harper, reassessing. He had always known she was talented when it came to cooking incredible food. Christ, the whole town knew it too. For the last three months, she had blown him away every time she had him testing out her creations. “Who is this guy she’s going to work with?”
“I don’t know.”
Chase lifted an eyebrow. “Let me get this straight. Harper is moving to Vegas to work with some guy you don’t know, and this doesn’t bother you?” It bothered Chase.
“Of course, I’m not thrilled about that part in all this,” Brody retorted with a shrug. “But she seems happy, and this is a big step forward to her reaching her dreams that should have happened all those years ago.”
Chase battled against what was right and what was wrong. Dreams were a good thing. But Harper moving away was inconceivable.
Brody suddenly sighed at whatever he saw crossing Chase’s expression. “Don’t even think about it. You cannot interfere with this. You promised me you wouldn’t. Have you forgotten about that?”
How could Chase forget? The conversation he had with Brody two months ago had haunted him every day since. His jaw muscles worked as he lifted his beer to his mouth. He took a long swig, reminding himself when Brody gave him that very same look.
The crisp night brushed across Chase’s face as Brody slammed him against the side of the two-story brick house that Brody shared with Harper. “Fuck, no!” Brody spat, nose-to-nose with Chase. His hands fisted Chase’s T-shirt. “Absolutely not. Stay the fuck away from Harper.”
Chase stayed still, not giving Brody a reason to start throwing punches. “Let me go, Brody,” he eventually said, steady and calm.
Ten seconds passed, then twenty, then forty, before Brody finally released his fingers. Chase stepped away from the wall he’d been slammed into and moved the couple feet needed to take a seat on the porch steps, giving Brody some space. He had dropped a bombshell on his friend, and yet, he also could not ignore his interest in Harper anymore.
When Brody finally sat in next to him, Chase told it to him straight: “I know you feel like you can stop this, Brody, but I told you out of respect for our friendship. I’m not asking your permission to date Harper. And we both know you wouldn’t want me asking permission either.” Because that’s not the type of man Brody would want for her.
Brody shut his eyes, blew out a deep breath, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve known for a month now that something was happening between you two. I hoped it would fade away.”
Chase snorted. “If this thing had a chance of fading, I wouldn’t be here.”
Another loud and deep breath passed through Brody’s mouth. “You know I trust you,” he said, glancing at Chase with a hard look. “Christ, I even know you’d do right by her.” Brody hesitated, studying him for a long moment before addressing him again. “You say you’re not asking for my permission, but clearly you want my approval, or you wouldn’t be here.”
“You’re my longest and closest friend, Brody,” Chase said gently, cupping his Brody’s shoulder. “Your friendship matters, but what I feel for Harper matters too.”
Brody stared down at his laced hands. “Are you in love with her?”
“That’s what I want to find out.” Chase paused to collect his thoughts, knowing he had to get this right. “It’s been a month that I’ve been fighting against what I’m feeling for her. A month that I’ve been telling myself to stay away from her.” He admitted a truth that he could not run from anymore. “I can’t fight against this anymore.”
Brody ran his hands over his face. When he dropped his hands, his expression was troubled. “You’re as close as a brother to me. Because of that, I’m going to ask you to do something before you go ahead with this.” He hesitated. Then, “Wait.” Another pause before he added, “Give Harper time to decide what she wants to do with her life.” His voice turned sad, eyes equally despondent. “When our parents died, she had to grow up so fast. Too fast. She didn’t get the teenage life that most teenagers got. She had to pull out of that show, and I saw how that ruined her for a long time. She lost everything when they died. It took her years to start cooking again. Years, Chase. It took me even longer to finally convince her to go to culinary school.” His voice blistered. “She lost what made her happy for a long time. She’s finally got that spark back, and I won’t let anyone fuck with that. Because out of anyone, she is good and sweet and didn’t deserve any of the pain that she was handed.”
“I want to make her happy, not hurt her,” Chase stated.
“I have no doubt you do,” Brody countered. “But Harper has dreams. Big dreams. Before she left for Denver, she showed me her plans for opening her restaurant in Las Vegas. She’s got all these ideas that had gone away for a really long time and now are back. If she falls in love with you, she won’t go to Vegas. She’ll stay here in River Rock for you.”
She’ll stay here in River Rock for you. Chase felt the weight of those words press against him.
“If you’re truly the friend you say you are to me,” Brody added, voice soft, so untypical of him, as was the depth of the conversation, “and if you truly care about Harper, you will wait for her to decide what life she wants first. If she gives up on this dream in Vegas on her own, deciding to open a restaurant here in River Rock, I won’t stand in your way. Christ, I’ll stand beside you as you marry her, if that’s where you two end up.” Brody leaned forward, his eyes glinting and promising violence. “If you don’t wait, our friendship is done, and I will fight like hell to make sure
she stays far away from you. The last thing I want for Harper is for her to end up being with someone who can’t love her right.”
“Chase.”
He blinked out of the memory, reminded that he had not yet answered Brody. “Yeah, I remember our conversation,” he said.
“Two months ago, you did the right thing and let her carve out her own way in this world. Now she’s done that. She’s made her choice.” Brody hesitated. Then his eyes glinted with something hard and dark. “You will not stand in the way of her dreams.”
Chase’s gaze fell to Harper again, staring into the sweet warmth of the smile that she aimed at someone else. He felt as drawn to her as he did the day she returned. Every day that had passed had been a slow torture, forcing him to endure a punishment he did not know what he did to deserve. Every smile. Every look she gave to him. A year ago, he thought his biggest challenge was opening Blackshaw Construction, after saving his earnings from working at Blackshaw Cattle. Now that he had done that, and had been working his first job, he realized he had been wrong. His greatest challenge over the last couple months had been keeping his promise to Brody. “Of course, I won’t stop her from chasing her dreams,” Chase confirmed.
“That’s not good enough,” Brody stated with a tight voice. “Promise me you won’t give her a reason to stay.”
Chase downed the remainder of his beer, fighting against his swimming thoughts. “Her dreams matter to me as much as they do to you,” he told Brody harshly. Needing to get fresh air desperately, he rose from the stool, feeling like the world had suddenly gotten very unsteady. “She’s made her choice. I will live with it.”
* * *
The digital clock read four minutes after ten o’clock, and Chase was nowhere in sight. Harper supposed that should not have come as much of a surprise, considering her cheek was pressed against the cool wooden floor, while a coarse strand of rope burned around her wrist. Sometimes she wondered how the poor little calves felt when the cowboys slid off their horses, wrangled them up, then hogtied them.
Sweet-Loving Cowboy--A Kinky Spurs Novel Page 2