Almost Easy (Sinister Ascent Book 1)

by Brittany Clark

  “Why the hell would I hate you Chloe?” I asked getting right to the point as I brought her into my arms.

  “Because we were lying to you. I never wanted to hurt you Zane, and Blaze and I did have sex,”

  “You didn’t hurt me Chloe. Well okay that’s a lie, it hurt me to see you with Blaze, but that was only because I’m in love with you and don’t want to see you with anyone but me. Blaze might have touched your body, but I am the only one who will ever touch your heart,”

  “Are you sure you aren’t mad?”

  “I can’t be mad Chloe. You’re back in my arms baby girl. That’s what came out of this, and I love it,”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. I mean I’m not thrilled that you and Blaze slept together, but you needed to be with someone other than me, now you have. That means you’re coming to me with no regrets. Later on down the line you won’t think you need to go out and experiment,”

  “You’re taking this really well. Should I be worried?” I chuckled at her and shook my head.

  “Like I said, I have you now. That’s all that matters. I love you, Chloe, and it took Blaze stealing you away from me, for me to see that,”

  Her mouth opened as if she were about to say it back to me, but then she abruptly shut her mouth. I saw her reaction and sighed. I knew that she wasn’t ready to say it back to me just yet, and that was okay with me, but I wanted to know why,”

  “I’m not asking to pressure you. I’m just asking because I need to know. Why don’t you say the words back to me, Chloe?”

  “Because any time I said it to you before, you ran away from me and got into a relationship with someone else,”

  I let out a strangled sigh and closed my eyes. I could feel the pain I had put her through radiating off of her. I tightened my arms around her, holding her close to me. Hearing her say the words confirmed what I had already knew. Now I knew without a doubt why she was holding herself back from me.

  “Like I said, I’m not going to pressure you into saying it to me again. I want you to move at your pace, and when you’re ready to stop holding back from me you will. Just know that I will not run away from you this time. I want all of you, Chloe, including your love,”

  There were multiple different emotions that flashed across her face at my words, emotions that I couldn’t read. Before I could ask her what she was thinking about so intently her lips were pressed against mine. There was no doubt that she was kissing me in order to distract me from the conversation that we were having. God help me it worked. The feel of her warm sweet lips moving against mine always worked in distracting me. I cupped her face in my hand, tilting her head at the perfect angle to deepen the kiss. When we started fogging up the window behind us was when I pulled back.

  “I have to get back to work, Zane. Are we still on for tomorrow night?”

  “You know it baby girl,”

  “Good, how about you come to my house before we go out? That way I can cook for you and show you that I actually know how to cook now,”

  I laughed and nodded at her, “That’s fine. I was going to take you to dinner and then out, but we can just cancel the reservations and finish off the rest of the night with what I have planned,”

  “Sounds good,”

  I kissed her again before walking her out to her car. I watched her drive away before I turned and walked back into the studio. Once inside I walked straight over to where Blaze was and pulled him into a hug. Blaze laughed but patted my back before he pulled away.

  “What was that for?” Blaze asked me through his chuckle.

  “Just, thank you,”

  Blaze nodded at me earning a smile from me. I then turned to go back to work. I wasn’t sure why I had taken the news so well today, but I had. Hell it seemed that everything was working out the way we all wanted it to, that included my meddling friends. Damn I was lucky to be surrounded by people who cared so much about me.

  CHLOE

  I quickly got into my car and then covered my face with my hands. He had said the words to me that I had always wanted to hear. Why couldn’t I say them back to him? Never once did I have a problem saying those three little words to him before. However this time something had stopped me. I stood there listening to the words coming out of his mouth and wanted nothing more than to believe him. There was just something holding me back. After everything Zane and I had been through maybe I just wasn’t quite sure if I could trust him yet. He had been trying so hard to show me he had changed, and so far he was doing a damn good job. I knew without a doubt that if we kept going down the road we were on that I would end up trusting him explicitly again.

  However the future wasn’t quite here yet, and I hated not being able to tell him that I loved him as well. The look on his face when I didn’t say that I loved him back destroyed me. So I did the one thing that I could, I kissed him. The second our lips touched I knew that whatever problems we were having had flown right out the window. There was something special that happened anytime our lips pressed together. For a few seconds it felt as if everything was alright and we had no problems, and in a sense we didn’t.

  When I had gotten the message from Blaze that it was time to let Zane in on the secret, I was terrified. I honestly thought that we would tell Zane the truth and that he would dump me and kick me out of the studio, and that his cussing would be what followed me out in my shame. What I was not expecting was for Zane to instantly accept what Blaze and I had done and be okay with it. Hell he wasn’t even mad at me. It seemed as if everything had worked out, and now there were no more lies or untold truth’s left standing between us.

  So why didn’t I trust him all the way yet? I had wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I loved him too. That there was no one in the world that I would rather be with than the not so perfect guitar player in front of me. The words were at the tip of my tongue, but I was unable to push them out. I let out a sigh as I sat up and turned on my car.

  There was no point in stressing over something that I was sure would work itself out in time. For now I was just happy that all was okay with the two of us. For now that would have to be enough, I had to listen to Blaze and just trust that everything would work out in the end. If I let myself believe that, then maybe it would. So far there was nothing to prove otherwise, and I was tired of being a downer. Zane was trying his hardest to show me that this time we were both in this together. So it was time for me to show him that I wanted him just as much as he wanted me. I was tired of hurting Zane by not trying as hard as he was. Just one more time, even with the fear of getting hurt yet again, I was going to give this man my all. I pulled into the parking lot of the office building and shot off a quick text to Zane.

  “Looking forward to our next date. Is there anything specific that you want me to cook?” It was a baby step, but it was a step in the right direction

  “If you cook as bad as I remember I would suggest something that won’t kill either of us,” I laughed at his response shaking my head in the process.

  “I told you that I learned how to cook, I can’t wait to prove you wrong,”

  “I’m tempted to suggest something that would be extremely hard to cook, but I don’t want to have to say I told you so when you mess it up,”

  “Why don’t I just make your favorite meal?”

  “Do you know what that is?”

  “Um, is that a trick question?”

  “No, I’m curious to know if you know,” I shook my head at Zane’s response. He had to be messing around with me. There was no way in hell that I didn’t know what his favorite food was.

  “That settles it then. I will see you tomorrow,”

  “Wait, you didn’t tell me if you knew what my favorite food was,”

  “I guess you will just have to wait and see tomorrow. And by the way, I want a huge kiss to make it up to me when you realize that not only can I cook, but I know what your favorite food is as well,”

  “Oh, baby girl, I will kiss any part of
your body that you ask me to,” My body went on high alert instantly at his words. Damn this man was going to kill me.

  “Naughty, naughty, Mr. Wolfe, I never sleep with a man on the second date,”

  “That’s why I’m counting down the days until our third date. When that day comes you won’t know what hit you,”

  “I can’t wait,”

  There was something to say about a man who could simultaneously pretend that the two of us didn’t know each other as well as talk like we have been the best of friends our whole lives. This was going to be one hell of a date, I was surprised at just how much I was looking forward to it.

  “I will see you tomorrow baby girl,”

  “I can’t wait for that either,”

  On our date tomorrow I would show him that I was all in when it came to us. I might not be able to say the words he wanted to hear just yet, but I could make him happy in other ways. It was time I started doing just that.

  25

  ZANE

  The next day at eight-o-clock sharp I was knocking on Chloe’s door with a handful of oriental lilies. I knew that they were Chloe’s favorite flower, and the last date that we had I had brought her roses, so I wanted to mix it up a little bit. When Chloe opened the door, let out a squeal, grabbed the flowers from me and buried her face into them as she breathed deeply, I knew that I had made the right choice. When she looked up at me she had a smile on her face that almost knocked me back a step. My heart entered my throat and I knew I had never seen anything more beautiful than this woman right now.

  “I’m going to get spoiled if you keep bringing me flowers,” Chloe said as she stepped back to let me into the house.

  “I will bring you flowers every day, Chloe,”

  Instead of answering me she sent me another dazzling smile. The simple joy on her face that she made whenever I gave her flowers was addictive. I wanted to see that look for the rest of my life. She might not believe that I would bring her flowers every day, and I would let her think that I was joking, that would make it so much better when she saw that I was serious. I followed behind Chloe into the kitchen and was hit in the face with an aroma that smelled heavenly.

  “If it tastes as good as it smells, then I’m in for a treat tonight,”

  I said as I walked up and wrapped my arms around her waist from behind. She leaned back into me and relaxed as she finished dishing food onto two plates. When she was done, I let her go taking some if the dishes from her hand as we walked towards the table. That was when I noticed that she had the table set with candles and wine. It was obvious that she had gone through a bit of trouble putting this dinner together, and I loved her more for it. I had noticed at the studio the day before that there had been a shift in her attitude. This layout that she had set up for the two of us proved it. Chloe was now trying to make this work just as much as I was, and I was happy as hell about that fact.

  “It looks nice in here,” I said as I pulled her seat out for her and took my own.

  “Eh, it was simple enough to do. Besides I wanted to show you that I could actually cook now,”

  I laughed at her words then reached over to pour us both a glass of wine. When she had told me that she would make my favorite meal for me that night, I had been skeptical. I never told her what I liked to eat, but as I looked down at my plate and saw beef kabobs with a side of scalloped potatoes, I knew that I shouldn’t have been surprised. This woman knew everything there was to know about me. I picked up my fork and took a bite, then nearly moaned at how good it was. It was years ago that we had failed horribly at that cooking class, and since then she had definitely learned what the hell she was doing. There must have been a look of bliss on my face because Chloe let out a musical little giggle before taking her own bite of the food.

  “I told you I knew what I was doing now,” She said before slipping the fork into her mouth. I shifted in my seat at the thought of putting something else into her mouth, before I collected my thoughts and answered her.

  “You can’t blame me for doubting you. That cooking class was so bad, not only were we both covered in food by the end of the day, but our food was not edible,”

  “That was your fault that we got covered in food, you didn’t put the lid on the blinder,”

  “I don’t belong in the kitchen, and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. You’re the one who knocked over the entire bag of flour off of the cabinet and all over yourself. Fuck the teacher practically kicked us out and asked us never to return,” By this time we were both laughing at the memories we shared.

  “Hey, I never cooked before that class, so I had no idea what I was doing,”

  “That has definitely changed, you know what you’re doing now. This food is delicious,”

  “I’m glad you like it,”

  I nodded and got back to eating the food in front of me. We chatted mindlessly over our dinner and lingered for a bit longer over our empty plates. I was amazed at how easy all of this was turning out to be. I should have expected it to be this easy in the end, but the chase was anything but. Once we were both done, I helped Chloe quickly load the dishwasher, then she and I headed out.

  “So where are we going?” Chloe asked once we were on the road.

  “You’ll see,” I said with a smirk on my face.

  “Aw, you’re no fun,”

  “Have you forgotten already that, that just isn’t true? I could remind you later just how fun I am if you want,”

  Chloe blushed hard at my words causing me to break out laughing. She was so easy to mess with, and I loved doing it. She was living up to everything I thought she would be, and I loved being with her. I just wished that I had gotten with her sooner. I couldn’t believe that I had lived so long without her. Yes, I always had her in my life, but this was more intimate, as if the two of us shared some huge secret with each other, and that made it all the better for me.

  I pulled into the parking lot, watching her face as I did. She was staring out the window and I knew the moment she realized where it was that we were. There was a comedian show going on tonight. Since we were young, Chloe and I loved going to comedian shows. There was something about hearing the corny, funny jokes that put both of us in a better mood. Chloe began to practically bounce in her seat as her face once again lit up with pure joy. Right then I knew that I had made the right decision. I got out of the car and ran around to her side to open her door for her. Once out she linked her hand with mine, entwining our fingers together as we headed towards the club.

  “It’s been so long since we’ve done this,” She murmured as we walked inside and found a table. I pulled her seat out for her before I took my own. I made sure to sit beside her so that our legs were touching from the hip down. Once comfortable I put my arm around her waist and held on.

  “I know. I figured after the last few months we both had, that we needed something stress free and fun. Laughing all night seemed the best answer,”

  She nodded at me before she turned to the waiter and ordered a vodka tonic. I ordered a beer then leaned in so that I could whisper into her ear. I felt her shiver the second my breath hit her ear which caused me to smirk again.

  “Chloe, this is our second date, I know that we’re supposed to wait until the third date before I get to bury myself inside of you again, and we are going to do just that. But there is so much fucking sexual tension between the two of us, so I’m going to do what I would normally do on a date that had this much of an undercurrent of lust,”

  “What’s that?” She responded breathlessly.

  “You look so damn hot in this little skirt that you’re wearing. The only thing I can think of when I see you walking, is the way your hips would move over me while I’m buried deep inside of you,”

  “Zane,” she gasped as she turned her head and captured my mouth with hers. I kissed her back hard, parting her lips with my tongue so that I could taste her. I let the kiss carry on for a few seconds before I pulled back breathlessly. Chloe leaned in to k
iss me again but stopped when she felt my hand begin to travel up her thigh.

  “How wet are you baby?” My hand skimmed over her thigh before I pushed her thong to the side, my fingers met damp flesh and I bit back a groan, “Mmmmm, you’re very wet for me.”

  Chloe again shivered at my touch. I wouldn’t let this go too far, I was testing my limits as I was, but I wanted to move our relationship along. I had no problem waiting to get Chloe back in my bed as she climaxed beneath me, but I was tired of walking on egg shells. I was going to start acting like I normally did on my dates. If she freaked out and told me to stop I would, but I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t do that. It was time to have a little bit of fun.

  CHLOE

  I shivered at Zane’s touch, and then bit my lip to hide my moan when his calloused finger traced over my clit. I was very aware that we were in public at the moment, and that anyone could see what the two of us were doing. It might have made me insane, but the only thing I cared about at that moment was that Zane was touching me in public, and if we were caught everyone would know that we were together. The thrill of my new found knowledge added to the pleasure Zane was already giving me which caused me to let out a small moan. Zane let out a small chuckle in my ear, right before I heard the waiter setting down our drinks.

  I buried my face into Zane’s neck so that he couldn’t see my flushed face, and tried to push Zane’s hand away, but he wouldn’t stop what he was doing. I bit my lower lip hard, and I knew my eyes were coated over with lust. I peeked out from Zane’s neck and noticed that the waiter’s eyes were glued to me. Zane let out a sexy sounding growl that had the other man snapping to attention. When he walked off Zane leaned down so that he could whisper in my ear, as his fingers began to move faster, rubbing my clit in fast circles.

  “God, it drives me insane that other men want you. Did you see him drooling over how gorgeous you are? He would have given anything to be able to take you home tonight. I have never been envied as much as I am right now because you’re sitting beside me,”