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“Nice butterfly, guys” Brianna remarked as Chase took the other end of the towel and dried off.
Brianna gave Rylan his towel and he accepted it. “Thanks, Bri.” He jerked his gaze to Mona. “What’s new?”
Mona twirled around. “She’s finally wearing that bathing suit I got her last year,” Pierce said. He rolled his eyes. “That’s probably why she decided to come here with me.”
Chase nodded to Pierce and Mona, and lifted my chin up to give me a quick kiss. Pierce diverted his focus back to Joel. Chase brought me down on his chair with him. Arms with hints of gold in them surrounded my chest, his sturdy chest cool against my back.
***
“When are you gonna come to the house for breakfast or dinner?” I asked Pierce as we strolled up the long trail behind everyone that led to the parking lot.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I talked to Nancy before Mona and I left her house. I’ll be there next week for dinner.”
I let out a rush of air. “She hasn’t been the same without you home.”
Pierce squared his shoulders. “Noodles, I know Mom wants me to move back home, but Dad and I will get into a real fight. And I am tight that Cassidy doesn’t have to answer for her behavior. Say Chase had been dumb enough to mess with her—why wouldn’t she face consequences, like Chase did for supposedly fucking around in their house?”
“Because she’s their daughter,” I said, strongly disliking their names and the word “fucking” in the same hypothetical scenario.
His face burned with exasperation. “When Mona and I hooked up in their house when we were kids, I had to clean the neighbor’s house and mow their lawn for three months. And no one can miss that house with the huge-ass water fountain in front of it when you enter our community.” He sighed heavily. “Cassidy can do all sorts of wrong, but I have to be noble? I’ve brushed it under the rug, but Dad played my boy. Dad has told me to think before I act, but he failed to do just that.”
I completely understood where Pierce was coming from. I titled my head sympathetically and Pierce gave me a half-hug. We resumed walking again. “Are you and Chase doing okay?”
I nodded. “How about you, Porkchop?”
Impatiently, Mona tapped her foot loudly. An annoyed, conflicted look flitted over Pierce’s face. Brianna rolled her eyes as she and Gavin got into her car. A minute later, she drove behind Rylan and Joel’s cars. With a scowl, Pierce stood stock-still. Mona mouthed “sorry.” As I left Pierce’s side, and the question hung in the air, I trotted over to Chase, who lured me with the heat in his eyes. My disquiet began to melt away. Pierce strode towards Mona, or his Mustang.
***
The laptop and the desk lamp were the first objects I noticed when Chase brought me into his guestroom. I hadn’t seen the guestroom he used at Uncle Anton and Aunt Deborah’s before he’d left, so I didn’t know if he was a tidy person in general. I’d been neater since staying in my guestroom, because it wasn’t really my room, and Chase may have kept this space spotless for the same reason. Brianna and Gavin weren’t here yet, and I pondered what could happen tonight. His twin bed looked like it was too short and narrow for his six-three frame. No object was out of place. The wooden floor had been polished recently.
I took off my tunic and hung it up in front of his closet to keep it with the orderly appearance of this room. Chase came inside and my eyes darted from his broad, welcoming smile to the morir soñados he had in his hands.
“Need me to put on the fan?” he asked as I reached for my glass.
I shook my head, swigging some of my beverage, and Chase set his drink by the night table and sat down on the bed.
A shiver ran through me as his gaze darkened and he angled his head at the bed. My lower stomach tightened, as I recalled the thrill of possibly being caught in the act with Chase in broad daylight at the parking lot.
I complied and when I laid a side of my body against his, I heard him sip his drink. He settled his other hand on my buttock and I slid my hand underneath his shirt, surprised to feel barely any hairs this time. An ache flared between my legs.
I raised my head. “What’s your last name?”
Frowning, he answered, “Lovell.” His features smoothed. “Pierce didn’t tell you?” He sounded surprised.
I nestled my head against his shoulder again. “It never came up.”
“And you didn’t try to find that info in HR?”
“Records for new employees are computerized. The new system tracks what every employee does, and that was enough incentive for me not to get nosy. Only Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Adler have access to the file cabinets.”
I reached for my glass and gulped most of it down. My heart pounded and I heard the blood rushing past my eardrums. “You didn’t think I’d say yes to bringing you back here, did you?”
I laughed nervously. “Was it obvious that I thought you’d say no?” When Chase ha driven a mile from the beach, I’d wondered if I could come with him to Brianna and Gavin’s, and the next thing I knew I’d suddenly asked him without any real consideration to the potential implications. And he understood that I hadn’t wanted to stay in the living room or the kitchen this time. I wanted to be with him in his guestroom.
“No, babe,” he said. “I am surprised that I said yes.” He fell silent for a beat. “This morir soñado is cooling me down.”
The warmth of his big, hard body, coupled with the tenderness I saw in his hazel eyes, overwhelmed me. “When you swim, you look good, so free. It does something for you.”
