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It was hard to watch him suffer, so I decided to try nudging him a little. Maybe just enough to bring him out of whatever was going on in his head.
Reaching for his shoulder, I gently tapped. “Chase?”
I almost jumped off the bed when he abruptly bolted upright.
He seemed confused at first. “What? What? Are you okay?” He was breathing heavy, his chest heaving.
With my hand still clutched over my rapidly beating heart, I said, “Yes! Yes…I’m fine. I think you were having a nightmare.”
Chase raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
Appeased, he blew out a deep breath and slipped from the bed, heading to the bathroom. He stayed in there a long time before the door opened again. The bed dipped when he returned, but he didn’t immediately lie down. Instead, he sat on the edge of the mattress with his elbows on his knees, head hanging low, and his back to me.
I reached out and touched his bare skin. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really. I’ve just started having them again. Hadn’t had one in a few years before that. Not that I was aware of anyway.”
“Are they…about your fiancée?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. My brother had them for a while after the break-in. I don’t want to push, but…but maybe it will help if you talk about it.”
Chase was quiet for a long moment. “I finally got you into my bed. The last thing I want to do is talk to you about another woman while we’re in it.”
I sat up and crawled to where he was sitting. Wearing only the panties I’d put on while he was in the bathroom, I straddled him from behind, wrapping my arms around his waist. My cheek pressed to his shoulder, and my bare breasts smooshed against his back. He still smelled so good—woodsy with a delicious masculinity.
“We’re not in your bed,” I told him. “We’re in my hotel room.”
“There’s no room for anyone else when it’s me, you, and any bed.”
My arms squeezed around his waist. “Well, I’m here if you want to talk.”
Chase twisted his body to face me. One large hand wrapped around my throat while his thumb stroked the hollow of my neck. He leaned in to run his tongue over a pulsating vein. “I don’t want to talk.”
“But…” I tried to argue, but his lips were already at my ear.
“Shh,” he whispered. “No talking. My mouth has other plans.”
Before I’d realized he was moving, he dropped to his knees and pulled my ass to the edge of the bed. What he did with his mouth after that was far better than talking anyway.
***
We arrived at the focus group ahead of schedule and worked together setting up the display. Earlier, we’d eaten eggs and fruit naked in bed while discussing some questions I’d been considering adding to the moderator’s list.
Elaine came to greet us, and even though I’d been the one to give her the list of things we’d decided to change, she still addressed her questions to Chase.
“What do you think about modifying question eleven to make it a yes-no response and then having the moderator talk about the question in group discussion to get oral feedback?”
I loved that Chase directed her to me for an answer. “Whatever Reese thinks. She’s the boss. Only brought me to carry her bags.”
While we worked through finalizing the changes, Chase’s cell rang, and he excused himself, leaving just Elaine and me in the room.
“Can I ask you a personal question, Reese?” she said.
“Umm…sure.”
“Are you seeing anyone?”
I had no idea how to answer. I mean, was I seeing someone? Chase and I had had sex three times since last night, but we hadn’t exactly put a label on it.
“Sort of. I mean…I recently met someone.”
“So it’s not serious?”
“It’s still very new.”
“Well…my brother just moved to New York, and I was hoping it would be okay to give him your number. Maybe let him buy you a drink or something? I don’t usually fix people up, but I think you two would get along.”
Luckily, the moderator came in and interrupted Elaine’s attempt at matchmaking. The participants for the focus groups had started arriving, and things got busy after that. I spent all morning on the other side of the one-way glass, listening, watching, and taking notes. Chase alternated between business phone calls, catching up on emails, and taking in bits and pieces of the study. At one point we were alone in the room, and I sat on a stool near the window.
Chase walked up behind me and cupped one of my breasts. Kneading it, he said, “I love one-way mirrors.”
I elbowed him. “Stop it. Someone might walk in.”
He wound my hair around his hand and tugged my head back to expose my neck. I’d noticed that seemed to be his thing. It was also fast becoming my thing, too. “I’ll lock the door.”
