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“Oh my God! Were you okay?”
“Yes. Thankfully, the night shift was sorting out towels, so I had about six layers of towels to break my fall.”
“That’s insane,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “Who does that?”
“This guy,” Chase said, pointing his thumb toward himself, grinning.
“All right, well noted. I’m watching you,” I said, pointing to the drink in his hand. “I can’t have you incapacitated on me.”
“You don’t have to worry about that…” his voice dropped low and husky.
A chill swept over my skin. “That’s very, very good news. I’m kind of getting used to having you around.”
Chase leaned in, the sweet smell of his drink drifting over to me. My eyes fluttered from his eyes to his lips and then back again. He brushed his lips against mine, but before I could fully melt into him, he pulled back, his eyes wide with alarm. He cleared his throat and shook his head, dazed. “I’m so—shit. Melissa, I’m sorry. That was…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, I—” My lips were still tingling from his near kiss. It was just enough to make my thighs clench and crave him even more.
“Melissa, I want to make something clear here,” Chase paused to clear his throat again. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about my intentions with you.”
“Intentions?” I repeated, wrinkling my nose at the word. It sounded too formal. Stuffy. Old fashioned.
Chase looked down into his drink before meeting my eyes. “I like you. A lot. But I don’t want to cross any lines. You have a lot going on and I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”
Trouble? All I could think about these days was getting into trouble with Chase. It was better than the alternatives…
“Right.” I sighed. “No, I get it. We’re just having fun. Well, fun might be the wrong word…making the best of a bad situation?”
Chase smiled, but it was tight and controlled, not the natural, easy going smirk I’d become addicted to.
I drank deeply from my margarita glass, downing half of the sweet mixture in one chug. Chase eyed me but didn’t say anything. He sipped from his own drink and we wandered back outside to the patio just in time to catch the last of the sunset.
12
Melissa
“Damn! That batch was more tequila than anything else!” I gasped, throwing back the second margarita. Or was it the third? I’d lost track.
Chase laughed. “Confession? We ran out of margarita mix a while ago.”
“What?” I hoisted my glass and looked up at the foamy remnants clinging to the bottom.
“I’ve been mixing mostly tequila and ice…” Chase grinned and leaned close, like it was a secret.
I laughed. “Well, that explains the bluzz.”
“Bluzz?” He arched a brow and I cracked up at the expression.
“Buzz,” I repeated, untangling my tongue that felt thick.
“I think someone’s a little tipsy,” he challenged, grinning widely.
I tried to set my lips, to give him a serious glare, but I couldn’t keep a straight face.
“Well, if I am, it’s all your fault. That’s what happens when you’re eating tequila snow cones!”
Chase laughed softly. “Fair enough.”
“It’s a good thing you told me your intentions are pure, or I’d have to wonder.” I smiled but it faded. I was still wrestling with his statement in the back of my mind. I’d been distracted by the light conversation and the margaritas, but it bothered me that he thought he needed to protect me.
He’d been hired to protect my body. Not my heart.
That was my job. I’d done a pretty good job of patching it up after Henry smashed it and had been keeping it under lock and key ever since. I didn’t want Chase anywhere near my heart. But my body…that was an entirely different story.
I definitely wanted him near my body.
I reapplied my smile and walked my fingers up his chest. “What if I told you that my intentions weren’t all that great?”
The question hung between us for a long moment, our faces an inch apart, as I popped up on my toes to get within a whisper of his lips.
“Melissa, I—”
I set my glass on the table and brought my free hand to join the other, flattening them both against his firm chest. God, he felt good. Solid. Warm. The strength of his thick, corded muscles obvious through his shirt. I smiled up at him as his heart pounded against my hand. “I’m not looking for a relationship, Chase. Trust me. That’s the last thing on my mind. I just want to have some fun.”
Chase dropped his lips to mine but stopped short.
I placed a finger on his lips and tapped against them once. With a smile, I announced, “I’m going to take a bath…”
Leaving him wondering, I abruptly turned and stalked back inside the house through the open sliding door, letting my hips swing just for him.
