Fair Lakes Series Box Set

by Kaylee Ryan, Lacey Black

  “Don’t let her.”

  “I don’t plan on it.” I run my fingers through my hair. “Thanks, man, tell Gwen I appreciate her support.” Knowing that Harrison and Gwen are behind us, only adds fuel to my mission to pursue her. Gabby’s worried things will change, and they will. For the better.

  “You’re family, and she wants to see you both happy. Hell, this angry foreplay thing you all have going on has been fun to watch. I’m surprised it’s taken this long.”

  “I knew she wasn’t ready. Hell, she still might not be, but fuck if I can wait any longer without her knowing.” As far as the angry foreplay, he’s right. I love pissing her off, seeing that fire in her eyes. She’s fucking breathtaking, and it gave me her attention without her ever knowing I wanted more. Was it childish? Sure. Do I regret it? Never. I got to know her, the real her. Not some painted-on version she wanted me to see. The real Gabby. The one I fell hard and fast for.

  “You’re doing the right thing. I wish I would have fought harder,” he says. I can see the sadness in his eyes as he thinks about his wife, the divorce, and how they found their way back to each other.

  “Yeah,” I agree. I don’t tell him that watching what he and Gwen went through is a big part of why I decided to tell her how I feel. I watched him divorce the love of his life, and wallow in a field of regrets. They fought their way back to each other, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

  I don’t want any regrets when it comes to me and Gabby. I know what I want, and I’m willing to put in the effort. I’m willing to fight for her.

  I’m going to fight for her.

  Chapter 7

  Gabby

  “Let’s go,” Chase says as I come downstairs to find something to eat.

  I still haven’t made it to the store, but not for a lack of trying. Chase insists I eat the food he already has in the fridge and freezer. Plus, there’s the fact that the man cooks almost every night. Well, except for Tuesday because he didn’t get home until late from training a client in Lakeview.

  “Where are we going?” I ask, rounding the corner and finding him dressed in running shoes and carrying a backpack.

  “It’s a surprise,” he replies with that trademark smirk I secretly love but pretend to hate.

  “I’m not sure I like your surprises,” I mumble before heading off to the laundry room to retrieve my running shoes. If Chase is wearing them, I better put them on too. There’s no telling what he’s up to, and it’ll probably be best I don’t show up in ballet flats and a skirt.

  “Chop-chop, Gabrielle. The sunset waits for no one,” he whispers against my ear. I startle, not even realizing he followed me into the room, let alone got close enough to practically press his front to my back. A shiver sweeps through my body at visions of Chase pressing his hard body against me… naked.

  Exhaling loudly, I slip on my shoes, making sure they’re laced tightly, and follow him out the garage door. Chase tosses the backpack into the back seat of his truck and meets me around at the passenger side. Before I can even open the door for myself, he’s there, holding it open and placing his hands at my waist.

  “I can do it myself,” I retort with only a tiny bit of venom behind it.

  Chase just grins that lopsided smile and says, “I know. But then I wouldn’t have an excuse to put my hands on you.”

  As he helps me into my seat, he places a loud kiss on my cheek. “Thank you.” I’m blushing, I know it.

  “You’re most welcome. Now, let’s go, woman!” he barks as he shuts my door and heads toward the driver’s side, a smile on his lips the entire way.

  When he gets in the truck, he carefully backs it out and turns right, heading out of the cul-de-sac. I watch as the landscape changes from small-town city streets to open fields and ditches. “You’re seriously not going to tell me where we’re going?” I ask.

  “I’m seriously not going to tell you, Gabs. Just sit your cute ass there and wait two minutes,” he teases, reaching over and grabbing my hand with his. He doesn’t let go; just holds it comfortably between us on the console and surprisingly, I don’t mind.

  Glancing around, I notice we’re circling around the lake our town is known for. I love it out here, so peaceful and quiet. I used to love taking the pontoon out every weekend when I was younger, but now, the older I get, I’m lucky to enjoy a couple of random days on the lake during peak summer months.

  Chase pulls off, taking one of the dirt roads that lead to the water. This is one I rarely take, mostly opting to park at the marina or one by the beaches. We bounce around the well-used road until the majestic lake stretches widely before us. The sun is just starting to drop low in the sky and I can’t help but smile at his earlier words.

  “Let’s go,” he says, parking along the road and jumping from the truck. He darts around to the passenger side and before I can unbuckle my seat belt, he has my door open. “Come on, slowpoke.”

  The smile playing on his full lips is the reason I respond with, “Stop using those terms of endearment on me.”

  Chase chuckles. “When I use terms of endearment, you’ll know it, sweetheart.” He runs his thumb along my bottom lip before adding a wink for good measure. “Now, let’s go! You’re as slow as my grandma Edna on her way to church on Sunday morning.”

  He grabs the backpack, reaches for my hand, and leads me down the walking path. I can see the water just beyond the tall grass and a smile instantly spreads across my lips when the lake comes into view. The landscape is dotted with a few boats, some fishing, while others are just trolling slowly through the open water.

  “I love it here,” I say, mostly to myself, but know Chase heard me when he squeezes my hand and replies, “Me too.”

  When he lets me go, it’s to dig into the backpack. He pulls out a small plaid blanket and spreads it out along the grassy shore, followed by retrieving a handful of small plastic containers. He crouches down on his knees, the muscles in his legs flexing in that incredibly sexy way, and waves for me to join him. “Have a seat, pokie.”

  I go ahead and give him a big eye roll, since I know how much he loves it, and take a seat, legs crossed, across from him. “What’s all this?” I ask, pointing to the familiar kitchen containers spread out between us.

  “Dinner.”

  The first container houses cut up watermelon. He takes a small piece and holds it out for me. Leaning forward, I place my lips around the sweet fruit, brushing against his fingers. Chase’s eyes dilate with need as I take the fruit into my mouth and chew. I swear I can hear him groan.

  As if clearing the fog from his brain, he gives his head a quick shake and reaches for the second container. Cottage cheese with tomato slices on top. One of my favorite comfort foods. He hands me a plastic fork and tells me to dig in. I do as instructed, cutting the juicy pieces of tomato into quarters and then coating them with the white curded cheese.

  “So good,” I mumble, my mouth full of food.

  “I could get off watching you eat.” His statement is blunt and brings my eyes to his. They’re serious and packed with desire and have me squirming in my seat.

  “That’s… graphic.”

  “That’s the truth. I love watching you eat,” he says, reaching for the third and final container. “That’s why I brought this.” Chase pulls off the lid and steam rises into the warm air around us.

  “Are those…”

  “Chicken wings? They are. I thought I’d torture myself even further by watching you gnaw on tiny chicken bones and licking honey barbecue off your fingers.”

  “Honey barbecue?” I ask, suddenly very, very excited for dinner. Chase essentially brought some of my favorite foods to our picnic tonight.

  “I pay attention, Gabs. At least when it comes to you,” he says, offering me the bowl to take the first wing.

  My mouth waters as the warm sauce coats my fingertips and I bring it to my lips. “So fucking good,” I moan, savoring the sweet and spiciness in the seasonings.

  “I did bring we
t naps,” he adds, tossing a handful of the small square packages onto the blanket beside us. Then he reaches for his own piece of chicken and digs in.

  The bugs are at a minimum as we continue to eat in silence. My eyes bounce between watching the boats on the lake and watching Chase lick barbecue sauce from his long fingers. I can understand his reaction when I did it because seeing his lips move and his mouth suck on his fingers pretty much has me wet and aching.

  “You okay over there?” he asks, glancing my way with a knowing smirk.

  “I’m fine,” I reply, sitting up straight and pretending to ignore the fact that I want to lay him out on the blanket and lick him from head to toe.

  “Sure you are,” he singsongs, drawing out the words and being all annoying.

  When I clean off my fingers, I reach for the fork and stab a piece of tomato, running it through the cottage cheese. “Here.”

  “No way. That looks nasty.”

  I gasp. “What? You can’t be serious!”

  “Tomatoes? The only thing that belongs on cottage cheese is applesauce, Gabs.”

  I can’t help but stare over at him, shocked. “Did you just say applesauce? What the hell did that cottage cheese do to you?”

  He shakes his head. “You can’t knock it until you try it. The applesauce is sweet and mixes perfectly with the cheese.”

  “Like us as roommates? My sweetness mixes with your slight bitterness?” I ask, laughing at my own joke. Chase just stares at me, though, with those all-seeing eyes.

  He finally cracks a smile. “Oh, sweet Gabrielle, I definitely can’t wait to taste your… sweetness.”

  My heart hammers in my chest and blood swooshes in my ears. His innuendo was received loud and clear, and considering my body is already humming from the slightest touch, I think it’s safe to say it’s approaching volcanic temperatures.

  I don’t know what possesses me, it must be the hormones, but I actually drop the fork and reach for a piece of fruit. Mimicking his actions from earlier, I take the fruit between my thumb and finger and hold it toward his mouth. Chase’s eyes lock on mine as he slowly lowers his head. My pulse pounds as his mouth wraps around the watermelon, and he sucks. Hard. My panties practically erupt into flames as his tongue slides against my finger, making lazy circles like he’s licking a popsicle, and then finally bites into the juicy fruit.

  “Best fruit ever,” he says as he reaches over and closes my jaw.

  Clearing my throat, I quickly shovel a few pieces of watermelon into my mouth so I don’t say or do anything that might further blur the “friends” line, not that I can see that line right now anyway. We’re so far over the friends’ line, it’s practically in another state.

  When the food is gone, Chase gets the empty containers packed back up and opens a few of the wet naps. We both clean up our hands and turn to face the falling sun. The temperature is slowly dropping, but it’s still a perfect evening. The goose bumps that pepper my skin aren’t really from the weather anyway. I’m certain they’re from the man sitting beside me and the fact that our arms have brushed against each other no less than three times in the last thirty seconds.

  “You may not believe this, but I wasn’t always the wild and carefree man you know and love,” he says, bumping his shoulder into mine.

  “Love might be a stretch. I’d love to maim you, if that’s what you mean,” I sass, making him laugh.

  “No, that’s not what I mean, Gabs. I was actually the responsible one growing up. My brother, Colton, was the wild child.”

  I glance at him, surprised to find him staring off at the sunset. His profile shows a gorgeous man lost in thought, with the weight of the world (or maybe his past) on his shoulders.

  “Believe it or not, I was a tad of a bookworm in school. I loved science and enrolled in chemistry my junior year of high school. My lab partner, Melissa, was kinda that sexy nerd type. Cute plastic glasses and bangs. Always carried around extra notebooks. Total hottie,” he adds, glancing my way and wearing his trademark smirk. “She couldn’t resist my charms either, Gabs.”

  “So she wanted to dip you in mayonnaise and throw you in the tiger cage at the zoo too?” I quip, hiding my smile behind mock surprise.

  “Don’t make this story about your weird sexual fantasies involving me, Gabs. We can get to the mayo foreplay later. Anyway, back to my story. So Melissa and I dated. We were together the rest of our high school careers. In fact, we enrolled in college together. We both got in to State, since our grades were so damn awesome on the account of us both being crazy smart, and we were making plans. Freshmen were required to stay in the dorms, but we were only a building apart. It wasn’t bad,” he says, turning back and watching the boats on the water.

  “Something tells me it ended up being bad,” I deduce from the way he left it hanging.

  “You would be right, smart Gabby. About halfway through our freshman year, she started to pull back. I mean, we had everything mapped out. The apartment we were going to get sophomore year so we could get out of the dorms and live together. I was saving for the ring I was going to slip on her finger. We just knew we were going to defy the odds, you know? First-love relationships never work out. It’s too hard to go to college and date seriously. Don’t marry the first girl to see you naked. I had heard it all, but I knew we had what it would take to make it work.”

  Chase doesn’t continue right away, but I don’t push. I’m certain he’s not done with the story, so I just wait him out, looking out across the lake and thinking about the girl he once loved. I don’t like her, of course, but that’s because she was clearly an idiot. I mean, what kinda girl lets a boy like Chase go? He obviously adored her and was ready to spend the rest of his life with her. I’ve felt what he’s packing below the belt press against me a few times, so I know it can’t be because he’s bad in bed. Not that I know if he is or not, but something tells me Chase Callahan knows a thing or two about pleasing a woman.

  “Anyway, Melissa started to hang out more with her roommate, who was pledging a sorority. She was trying to convince Melissa to pledge too. Our Saturday night study sessions were replaced by her going to hang out at the sorority house with the girls, and yes, guys.

  “One Sunday morning, I went to her dorm room to pick her up for breakfast, and I met her in the hallway. She was just getting home. She could barely meet my eyes, the guilt written all over her face in Sharpie. I followed her into her room, not even caring that her roommate was sleeping like five feet away, and asked her what was going on. She told me she wasn’t interested in having a steady boyfriend anymore, that she was missing out on a big part of her youth. She wanted to have fun and party, to drink and flirt. She asked if we could take a little break, but I knew what that meant. I knew that it was the end of our relationship.”

  I reach over and grab his hand, offering as much silent support as I can muster. Our fingers link easily; it’s both comfortable and familiar. We’ve only touched this way a handful of times in the last week, but with each caress, each touch, it becomes a bit more real.

  “So that’s when the new and improved Chase Callahan was born. I stopped caring about the future and decided to live in the now. Turns out, I’m pretty much a ladies’ man, Gabs, and the ladies just loved me,” he adds with a wink.

  “I just bet they did,” I retort, shaking my head and glancing his way. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

  Chase shrugs. “It was bound to happen sometime, right? No one really finds the one they’re supposed to spend the rest of their life with when they’re seventeen. Besides, that’s when I met Harrison, and eventually, Gwen. They couldn’t resist my charm either.”

  “I’m sure they couldn’t,” I reply flatly.

  “Ehh, my grades were turning to shit and Harrison was in my study group. We were in most of the same classes since we were both majoring in kinesiology. He kinda helped keep me on track.”

  “Now that I see.”

  “What can I say, I’m like a puppy. Once you meet
me, you want to keep me.”

  “Or like gonorrhea. Once you’ve come in contact, you spend the rest of your life itching and getting shots to cope.”

  Chase laughs. “You just compared me to an STD?”

  I shrug. “If the shoe fits….”

  “Ouch, Gabs. And here I was, spilling my guts to you and the bullfrogs and you compare me to a venereal disease.”

  “I’m sure you have plenty of ego to pad your fall,” I tease, glancing his way once more. There’s something in his eyes that I can’t dissect. He opened up about his past, about how he became the man he is today. He was candid and real, and if I’m being honest with myself, I think I like him that much more now.

  “I was a wild guy for a while, Gabs. I’m not going to lie. I didn’t date much, but never lacked for company,” he says, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Just the thought of Chase with a line of women in tow sets every jealous bone I have in my body on high alert.

  I don’t like the feeling.

  Not at all.

  He’s not saying it to be conceited or trite. He’s giving me the facts and letting me come to my own conclusion. Not one based off hearsay, but one where I hear it from him.

  “I had fun for a while, but then, I decided I most definitely wanted you.”

  My lungs seize in my chest. “Me?”

  Adjusting his position so that he’s sitting directly in front of me again, he moves in close. I can smell his familiar shampoo and the cleanliness of his body wash. “You,” he confirms, turning our hands so that he’s holding mine palm up. “Harrison and Gwen were in trouble and separated. I was trying to ignore the fact that you were dating that weird accountant who always smelled like cheese puffs.” I crack a smile at that one because he’s not lying. Gus really did smell like cheese puffs. “I was going out, but I was getting tired of the girls who just flung themselves at me. I wanted more.

  “I wanted you.”

  I must blink a dozen times before my mouth finally works. “But you hated me.”