Fair Lakes Series Box Set

by Kaylee Ryan, Lacey Black

  I click over to the other side of the schedule, the one for the manager. Except, when it pulls up, the schedule is nothing like it was on Friday. I move to the next day, expecting it to say he’ll spend the day at the Porter location, but that’s not what it says at all. It shows him at Fair Lakes. Quickly, I flip over to Wednesday, finding the blocked-out time he’s supposed to be at Lakeview to be cut to a third. In fact, he’s only spending about three hours at the location, instead of all day. The rest of the week is much the same. His schedule is completely wrong.

  “What the hell?” I whisper aloud, clicking through the entire week.

  “What?” Harrison asks, stopping his conversation with Chase.

  “Something’s wrong with the schedule.”

  I can sense the tension that sweeps through my boss at the mention of the schedule. Last fall, his assistant, Gina, fucked with his schedule, moving meetings and overlapping appointments. It caused a huge problem, not only for him and the company, but also for him and my sister. He missed doctor appointments, which is something he never would have done without the scheduling errors.

  “No, not yours,” I reassure my brother-in-law. I glance up from my computer to his manager. “Yours.”

  Only Chase doesn’t seem concerned. Not at all.

  “Oh, yeah, I adjusted a few things this morning,” he replies with a shrug.

  “A few things? Your entire week is upside down.” I sit back, gaping up at the gorgeous man in front of me. This messes everything up. Everything. The only way I logically agreed to room with Chase was because he was rarely there. His schedule kept him busy, especially in the evenings, between site visits from each of the locations and his client schedule. Now, he’s made adjustments, ensuring he’s home by a reasonable time every evening. He’ll still be out of this office a lot during the day, but not nearly as long as before. In fact, his last appointments of the day are… mine.

  “Everything okay?” Harrison asks, pulling my attention back to the matter at hand.

  “Fine,” he replies with another shrug. “Everything has been going great at the other locations, so instead of spending most of the days there, micromanaging them, I’m cutting back on the length of my visits and allowing the assistants to do their jobs. I’ll still be off-site a lot, just not as long.”

  “And you can still get in your clients there too?” Harrison asks, referring to the fact that Chase sees appointments at all four locations.

  Chase nods. “Sure can. Most of them were more than willing to come in earlier in the day. The only one I’ll still need to be available for the later appointments is Liza at Lakeview. She still needs an evening appointment two times a week, but even those are done by seven.”

  Harrison continues to watch his friend. “You’re sure the assistants can handle not having you on-site as much?”

  “Definitely. We’ve trained them well. Plus, I’m just a phone call away if something comes up,” Chase adds.

  I sit here, dumbfounded, by this new revelation. Chase is going to be home more? Chase is going to be home more. Like earlier in the evenings. Most days. Shit.

  “I’m good with it if you are,” Harrison says, slapping his friend on the back. “Come on, let’s get this meeting started.” Together, they head into Harrison’s office, closing the door behind them as they go. I’m left shocked and a little uneasy by this piece of information. Sure, living with Chase was going to be difficult, especially in light of the sexual tension that surrounds us, but now? With him home evenings instead of working?

  This brings our living arrangement to a whole new level of difficult.

  By lunchtime, I’m completely engrossed in payroll. Our new system is completely efficient and saves a lot more time than using timecards. Each employee signs into the computer system and does the same when they leave. It jives with the schedules that Chase and the assistant managers create, and shows discrepancies easily, like if an employee stays over their scheduled timeframe, one of the assistants has to sign off on it and state why. The program itself was costly, but it was something Harrison insisted on. It makes my job a lot easier, that’s for sure.

  “Lunchtime!” my sister hollers as she breezes into the office, my niece seated securely on her hip.

  “Hey,” I reply, saving all my progress and logging out of the system. “What brings you here? I thought Harrison had a client over the lunch hour today.”

  “He does. I came to steal you away for a little bit. Miss Crabby Pants and I were desperate to get out of the house for a bit, so we thought we’d surprise her favorite aunt and take her to lunch,” Gwen says, a wide, yet very tired smile on her face.

  “Awww,” I coo, getting up and taking my niece. “I was working on payroll, but I could probably slip away for a short lunch break.”

  “Good.” Gwen huffs, blowing her hair out of her face. “I was going stir crazy. I’m desperate for adult interaction,” she confesses.

  “I’ve got all the adult interaction you need,” her husband says, coming up behind her and wrapping her in his arms. “Hey, baby,” he whispers, kissing her temple before turning her in his arms and devouring her lips with his own.

  “Gross,” I mumble. “Don’t look, Sophia. Mommy and Daddy are being all icky again.” Sophia just continues to blow bubbles and coo as she tries to stick my dangly necklace in her mouth.

  “My princess,” Harrison says as he comes over to kiss his daughter on the forehead. “I only have a second, but I wanted to say hello. I’ll be home by six tonight,” he tells his wife before stealing another kiss.

  Sophia and I turn away so we don’t have to watch them swap spit.

  “Maybe we can get the princess to bed early tonight,” Harrison mumbles, his voice all deep and dirty.

  “I’m still here, you know,” I argue, refusing to turn around and watch them maul each other in my office.

  “Yes, I know. If I had more time, it would actually work out perfectly. You could babysit.” Harrison chuckles.

  “Early bedtime sounds divine,” Gwen yawns.

  “It’s a date then,” her husband says, placing one more chaste kiss on her lips. “See you later.”

  Gwen waves goodbye while I grab my purse from my drawer. “You two are so mushy,” I tell her, throwing the strap over my shoulder and still juggling my niece. I’ve given up on stopping her from chewing on my necklace.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Someday, you’ll find someone who makes you all mushy too,” she says, leading me down the hallway and through the gym. My mind instantly goes to Chase, the only man who has the ability to make me weak in the knees with lust and smoke billowing from my ears in anger… at the same time.

  We walk down the sidewalk, enjoying the gorgeous sunshine, to a nice little sandwich shop on the corner. They have amazing Rueben sandwiches, which is one of my favorites. Top that with homemade potato chips and a chai tea, and it’s heaven in my mouth. Again, Chase flashes through my mind.

  As we order, Gwen tells me all about her summer plans, including a short vacation she and Harrison are planning for July. “I’ve always wanted to visit the mountains, and I think a cabin in the Smokys is a great getaway. There’s so much we can do and see, even with a baby.”

  “You’re going to miss the Strawberry Festival.” I pout as we head over to an empty table and await our food.

  “I know, but it was the easiest week for Harrison to get away. Everyone cancels their sessions that week since they’re all so busy with the festival. Plus, shortly after that, I’ll have to get back into teaching mode and start working on my classroom.”

  I can see the struggle raging in her eyes and hear it in her voice. Gwen is having a hard time deciding if she wants to go back to work or not. She’s a preschool teacher, and while she loves her job and is amazing at it, she took months off at the end of last school year to stay home with Sophia. Now, she’ll have to decide if she wants to stay home full-time or if she’ll be returning to the classroom this August. I know where her husband stand
s on the issue; he’s confided in me at work. He’d rather she stay home and spend her day with Sophia, but he also knows that may not be what she wants to do. If she wants to return to work, then he won’t stop her. In fact, he’ll encourage her, like always. But I can tell Gwen is having a hard time making the decision.

  “So, you’re definitely going back?” I ask tentatively.

  My sister shrugs. “I don’t know. I mean, I love my job, but I also love staying home with Sophia,” she says, glancing down to her daughter, who’s sitting up like a big girl in the high chair.

  “You don’t have to decide right now,” I remind her. Though, I know that’s not really the case. No, she doesn’t have to make up her mind this very instant, but the summer is going to fly by quickly, and before you know it, it’ll be time to start school.

  “Actually, I do. I need to tender my resignation by the end of the month in order to give the board enough time to find a replacement,” she says sadly, looking completely torn.

  I reach across the table and pat her hand. “I know you’ll make the right decision for you and your family. Talk to Harrison. You two will figure it out.”

  Gwen rolls her eyes. “Oh, I’ve talked to him. If it were up to him, I’d be barefoot and pregnant all the time. He’s more than anxious to knock me up again.”

  Sticking my fingers in my ears, I sing, “La la la la la. I can’t hear your dirty talk.”

  My sister swats at my arm. “Stop it. I’m not talking dirty. I’m stating a fact. I definitely want more babies, but I’m just not sure I’m ready yet. I’m having way too much fun spending my time with this peanut,” Gwen says, reaching over and stroking her daughter’s fuzzy head. “So tell me what’s new with you. All settled in with Chase?”

  I stiffen. All settled in with Chase? There’s rarely any settling involved. In fact, I find myself completely on edge whenever he’s around. Even when we were relaxing on the couch, I felt warm and flustered. So much so that Saturday night, I took matters into my own hands (if you know what I mean) and had to get myself off to relieve the ache between my legs. That man is a potent combination of sexy and dangerous, and I need to stay away.

  Of course, that’ll be harder now that he’ll be home most evenings.

  “Uh-oh, what’s that look for?” she asks, taking a drink of her tea.

  “What look? There’s no look,” I reply, busying my hands by straightening the napkin holder.

  “Mmhmm,” she sings, a knowing look on her face.

  “He changed his schedule,” I suddenly blurt for no reason at all.

  “Okay?” she asks, seemingly confused about this piece of information.

  “I don’t know why. He has always worked late in the evenings, which is why I agreed to rent his guest room. But now he’ll be home. With me.”

  “And that’s a problem because…?”

  I shrug. “It’s not a problem, per se….”

  “But it’s not convenient because now you’ll see him all the time and are afraid you’ll want to jump his bones.”

  I gape across the table at my older sister. “I do not want to jump his bones.”

  I totally want to jump his bones.

  Gwen laughs. “Liar. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they’re nice bones. Not quite as nice as Harrison’s, but to each his own. Besides, Harrison’s bones are taken.”

  “This conversation is weird,” I tell her, sipping my tea.

  Gwen places my niece’s teething ring on the table for Sophia but keeps her eyes locked on mine. “It’s only weird because you won’t admit that you like Chase’s bones. Or at least, one particular bone,” she adds, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

  “Stop it. I don’t even know what that bone is like,” I defend, recalling how it felt pressed against me that time in my office. And the time he tried to hide it under the blanket when we watched Gilmore Girls. He doesn’t know I saw how tight his shorts were, but ohhhh, I definitely saw.

  “But you wish you did.”

  “Do not. Stop talking about Chase’s… bone. We’re roommates.”

  “Roommates who want to bone,” she replies with a laugh.

  Our food is delivered as I roll my eyes at my sister. I quickly change the subject to Mom and Dad and a vacation they’ve been planning for this summer. It seems everyone is taking a trip. Well, everyone except me. The closest thing I’ve done to a trip is moved into my brother-in-law’s best friend’s guest room and try not to think about him naked.

  When our food is done, I toss out the trash and gather up my tea and purse. We walk together back to the gym, grateful for the short reprieve from the mundane office work. “Thanks for inviting me to lunch,” I tell my sister when we reach the gym.

  “You’re welcome,” she replies, but I can tell she wants to say more.

  “What? Just say it.”

  “I think you should give Chase a chance.”

  My eyes widen and my mouth falls open. “What? Are you off your rocker?”

  She quickly shakes her head, adamantly. “No, I’m serious.”

  “Gwen,” I start, closing my eyes for a few seconds to gather my thoughts. “Listen, I get that you think me and Chase together would be a good thing, but I’m here to tell you, it would not. It would make things too complicated. Plus, he’s a major player, and I just don’t want to get myself tangled up in that mess.”

  Gwen scrunches up her nose. “But, here’s the thing, Gabby. I don’t really think he’s a player. Not really. I think he wants to give off that playboy, bad-boy vibe, but do you know what? Even though he’s always talking about going out and girls, I don’t think there really are any. At least none that he takes home. In fact, Harrison pretty much eluded to that fact not so long ago.”

  My mind is spinning as I recall his words from last week.

  “I just think if you two like each other, you should see where it goes,” she adds with a shrug.

  “But we don’t like each other, not really. We argue and fight all the damn time.”

  “Foreplay.”

  “What?”

  Gwen rolls her eyes. “That’s foreplay, little sister. You two have been dancing around it for years. Don’t deny it.”

  I open my mouth to do just that, but quickly snap it shut. She’s right. We’ve been dancing around this crazy sexual tension for a while, but neither of us have acted upon it. Not until recently. Now, we haven’t acted on anything, but Chase point-blank stated what his intentions were. Of course, I shot him down, declaring all we’d ever be was friends, but even I’m not so sure that’s accurate, because at the end of the day, my body still fires to life and a deep-rooted need takes hold whenever he’s around.

  I’ll just have to build a thicker wall between us.

  “I’m not saying you should jump into bed with him tonight, though if you do that, you better call me in the morning. What I’m saying is don’t completely discount the idea of exploring those feelings between each other because you think he’s some big partier who screws everyone with a vagina. Honestly, I don’t think he is,” she says with another shrug.

  Giving her a quick hug, I reply, “I’ll think about it.”

  She wraps her arms around me and squeezes back. “That’s all I can ask for, I guess.”

  “I’ll see you later.” I wave as I head into the gym, the deep pump of bass and the clanking of weights greeting me at the door.

  I promised I’d think about it, but I know I won’t. I can’t. I can’t let myself get caught up in the idea of Chase and me. Nor can I keep picturing the impressive size of his bone and what skills he’s sure to have between the sheets. No, I need to push all thoughts of my new roommate out of my head for now—and for good.

  As soon as Chase walks into the gym, I know I’m screwed.

  The whole “I’m not going to think about Chase or his cock” thing didn’t go so well this afternoon. In fact, the more I tried not to think about it, the more I thought about it. And holy hell, my overactive imagination has had a grea
t afternoon. She could use a cigarette, actually. Now, I have to spend the next hour with the man, trapped in a small space, with his body dangerously close to mine, and all I can think about is screwing him.

  Hard.

  On the gym floor.

  Riding him like a prized bull.

  Letting him take me from behind against my desk.

  Dropping to my knees as he grips my hair and fucks my mouth.

  Yeah, it’s been a long afternoon.

  I’m horny, wet, and now I have to spend the next hour being trained by the man I’ve been fantasizing about. Welcome to hell, population one.

  I try to ignore the way every woman in the gym notices him. Some just openly watch him walk, while others do something a little bolder, like bend over and touch their toes right in front of him, ass pointing skyward, as if being offered to him on a platter. He doesn’t seem to notice, though. Oh no, his eyes are focused completely on me as he makes his way to where I stand on shaky legs.

  “Hey,” he croons, his deep voice all gravelly and raw.

  My mind instantly flashes to sex.

  So. Much. Sex.

  “Hi,” I croak in a voice that barely sounds like my own.

  Get yourself together, Gabrielle.

  His eyes darken as if he can read my mind. I quickly avert my eyes and glance around the gym. “So, what do you have planned for me today?” I ask, looking anywhere but at him.

  “Oh, I have a special treat for you, Gabs. You’re about to get a hard workout,” he quips, that cocky smirk teasing his lips, and all I can think about is how he used the words hard and workout together in a sentence. “Come with me,” he adds, sticking his hand out for me to take.

  There’s only the slightest hesitation as I place my hand in his, but he catches it anyway. Chase doesn’t call me on it, only continuing to guide me through the masses of gym-goers, toward one of the small, private rooms.

  My mind starts to panic.

  Red alert, red alert!