Page 22 of Under the Radar

I chuckled. “Working with the upholstery side of restorations has helped. Customers are very particular about the colors.”

“Okay, we’ll look at that one and this one in the light tomorrow and decide. I’ll pick up the paint after my last shift.” She stood close, the heat of her soaking into my skin. “I get a weekend off. That doesn’t happen much.” She looped her arm around my waist, leaning her head on my shoulder. “I love this house, Chase. I’m so happy to be here.” She paused. “With you.”

I pressed a kiss to her head. “I like having you here.”

She looked up, her eyes wide and shining. “Yeah?”

I turned, facing her fully. I pulled her closer. “Yeah.”

I wanted to kiss her with everything in me. Know what it felt like to have her lips move with mine. Taste her. I’d been fantasizing about that since I’d first met her.

I began to lower my head when my phone rang. It startled us both, and we pulled apart. We stared, realizing what had been about to happen. Her breathing was fast. My pulse raced. My phone rang again, and I pulled it from my pocket, answering it.

“Charly,” I almost growled into the phone.

“Chase. I hear there is painting this weekend.”

I stepped back, running a hand through my hair, trying not to sound upset. “Yes, we’re painting.”

“I’m coming. So is Gabby. The boys have the kids. They both suck at painting. I excel. We can do the living room and your room. Get it all done.”

“Um.” I was about to protest when I saw the happiness on Hannah’s face. She picked up a pile of samples, pulling out the one I had mentioned I liked and waving it. I had to smile.

“Sure, Charly. Many hands and all that.”

“Awesome. We’ll talk tomorrow!”

I hung up and shrugged. “I guess it’s turning into a party.”

“Great!”

For a moment, neither of us said anything. She smiled sadly and lifted a shoulder as if silently acknowledging the lost moment. “I’m going to head to bed.”

I nodded. “Night, Hannah.”

“Night, Chase.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Chase

I stayed in my room in the morning, listening to Hannah move around and get ready for work. She was quiet, the sounds muffled. I smelled the scent of coffee and heard the front door click locked behind her. She’d had another nightmare in the night, and I’d gone in and soothed her again. I wanted to ask her about them, except she didn’t seem to recall having them in the morning or the fact that I’d gone into her room to comfort her. I wasn’t sure how she was going to feel about that. Our almost-kiss troubled me. I wanted to kiss her, and I was certain if I had last night, she would have kissed me back. How far things would have gone, I had no idea, but in the dull light of the morning without lust or her scent in my nose, I wondered if it was a good idea to pursue a different relationship with her. We were close in age, her twenty-eight compared to my thirty. But she was a cop, and I had a record. How would she feel about that? I knew I had to tell her, but I was worried. I would hate to lose her as a friend and roommate. It hadn’t been a long time yet, but still, I felt different when I walked in the door. If she left, I would go back to being alone, and the thought didn’t sit well. If we were just friends and I was her landlord, I didn’t have to divulge my past.

Except, my omission felt like a lie. And given how closely my past was linked with Charly and Maxx, she would find out.

I scrubbed my face in vexation. I had no idea what to do.

But I knew one person who would tell me.

And her name was Charly.

* * *

Charly poured us a coffee and looked at me across the table. “What’s up?”

“I almost kissed Hannah last night.”

“Kissed, like you did me this morning?”