Page 7 of Chasing Forever

That night, she’d been sleeping soundly when suddenly she sat upright. An idea had presented itself, startling her since it hadn’t happened in so long. It took her a moment to get her bearings. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, she saw it was three thirty in the morning, and she remembered she was in Hawaii.

Then she reached over for a notepad and pen and realized she hadn’t placed any there. Torn between feeling irritated and invigorated, she shoved off the covers and climbed out of bed. She immediately reached for her robe, though she didn’t even need it. It was still warm out, unlike at home, where the temperatures would be hovering in the teens. Padding out of the bedroom, she went into the living room, where she’d left all her writing supplies. She’d planned to grab a notepad and pen and go right back to the bedroom, but then she heard a strange noise coming from next door. Is Chase awake too?

She stilled for a moment, thinking she might have imagined it, but then she heard it again. Tiptoeing across the living room, she went into the kitchen, which abutted his unit. She quietly took out a glass from the cupboard, put the opening to the wall, and pressed her ear against the bottom of it. She heard music and Chase’s voice as he sang along.

Seriously? He was listening to rock and roll and singing at three thirty in the morning? Didn’t he realize some people were trying to sleep? (Or at least they were supposed to be.)

Since she’d gone this far, she listened a while longer until she identified the song. It was Whitesnake singing “Here I Go Again,” and she only knew that because Quinn was a fan of eighties rock.

Her mind immediately started whirring. Why had he chosen that song? It had a lonely, melancholy vibe to it. Was that how Chase felt? What was his reason for being here, and why wasn’t he asleep? Setting the glass down, she decided to mull it over in bed, though she liked listening to him. His voice was deep and soothing, if not completely on key.

Then she imagined his deep, soothing voice whispering in her ear, or in her book heroine’s ear, and she shivered. That did it! She needed to write down her ideas, and tomorrow morning she’d attempt to write an outline or maybe even the first chapter.

It almost felt like he’d been singing the song to her, but instead of interpreting it as a lonely lament, she found it inspiring. “Here I go again. My writer’s juices are flowing. Thanks, Chase,” she whispered and padded back to bed.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Chase slept in since he’d been up half the night. It would take a while to adjust to Hawaii time, but that was a minor sacrifice. His sister, Miranda, had texted him a selfie of her scraping the ice off her windshield that morning, so he had nothing to complain about. Besides, this was the day he was going to try to get his mojo back.

He dug through his suitcase for a different pair of swim trunks than he’d worn the day before. It wasn’t a matter of fashion but necessity since he’d forgotten to hang up his black ones and they were lying in a damp pile on the bathroom floor.

“Just because you’re on vacation, it doesn’t mean you have to be a slob,” he admonished himself as he draped the trunks over the shower door to dry.

He hung around the condo until early afternoon, when he figured there’d be a good chance of running into Kelsey and Tina at the pool.

He slipped on his shades and slides, slung a towel over his arm, grabbed his book (a new thriller he’d been dying to read), and stepped outside. Instead of rushing to the pool, he paused for a moment and just breathed. The air was warm but not hot, and the ocean spread out before him, dazzling in the sun. Hawaii was showing off again, and he was about to do the same.

But before he stepped off the patio, he heard a familiar sound coming from next door. Thinking he might have imagined it, he stayed very still and listened, a smile spreading across his face.

Callie likes Whitesnake too? She was listening to “Here I Go Again,” the same song he’d been listening to last night when he couldn’t sleep. Bizarre! He’d never have pegged her as someone who’d like rock music. She seemed more like an Ed Sheeran or Michael Bublé fan—something softer and sweeter.

He shook his head as he walked away, thinking, You never really know people until you actually know them, and even then, they surprise you. An image of Cass and Patrick came to mind, and he bristled. Dammit! He thought he’d be over it by now, but bad memories had a way of sneaking up on you.

“Shake it off,” he mumbled as he approached the pool gate.

Letting himself in, he glanced around and realized he practically had the place to himself. There was a young family of four in the pool and an older woman reading on one of the lounge chairs, but no sign of Kelsey and Tina.

He hated to admit it, but he didn’t really mind. He’d be perfectly content reading until they showed up, and even if they didn’t, he’d still be okay. There were plenty of things to do in Hawaii besides chasing women in bikinis, though he’d never tell his buddies that. He’d let them think he was getting some action on vacation, even if it only amounted to the self-provided kind.

He took a chair with an unobstructed view of the pool gate and settled in. Twenty minutes later, he was immersed in his novel when he heard a woman giggling, and he glanced up to see Kelsey and Tina entering the pool area.

Scanning the pool deck, their eyes landed on him, and they smiled and waved. They were both hot in an obvious, showy sort of way, especially Kelsey, with her long chestnut brown hair, curvy body, and seductive smile. Tina reminded him a little too much of Cass, with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin, but he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Cass right now.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” he said as they approached.

“Hi!” Kelsey said, and Tina just smiled and nodded.

“Care to join me?”

“We’d love to!”

Obviously, Kelsey was the spokesperson for the team, and Tina seemed to go along with whatever she said. Not that it really mattered, but he preferred a woman with a little more backbone.

They took chairs on either side of him and laid out their towels. They were both wearing cover-ups, though the term was misleading. Kelsey’s was of the mesh variety, and he could see her bright yellow bikini through the material. He also spotted a small butterfly tattoo on her right hip and stared at it for a moment.

He wasn’t really a fan of ink, especially on women. A woman’s body was so naturally beautiful that he hated to see it marred, particularly when it had been done on purpose. Thinking of a woman’s body, with its soft, smooth skin, reminded him that he hadn’t touched one in a while. If he got the opportunity, he hoped he’d remember what to do. You idiot! It hasn’t been that long!

Tina’s cover-up looked like an oversized T-shirt that she slipped over her head with ease, like it didn’t bother her at all to undress in public. Today she was wearing a blue bikini with a top that resembled a push-up bra. He hadn’t noticed her breasts the other day, but now they were spilling over the top. Had she worn it for his benefit? He doubted it. These women were on vacation, and they obviously had an agenda. If not him, it would be some other guy. If his friend Eric were there, he’d probably call Chase a “lucky bastard.”