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“McCormick.”
“Miss Addison McCormick,” he starts again. “I’m sorry I was rude when we first met, and I’m sorry I left you behind when you were scared. I can assure you that won’t happen again. Now”—his eyebrows wiggle—“you ready to get out of here?”
I bite my lip, mulling over his question. I turn to find Olivia still engrossed in conversation with Drake. She’s belly laughing, and he’s got a smug look on his face.
I’m surprised at how quickly she warmed up to him after their tension yesterday morning, but I guess him playing knight in shining armor did the trick. It only took a few shots for her to loosen up tonight, and now she’s hanging on to his every word like a love-sick teenager.
I decide to send her a quick text to let her know we’re heading out, then I send him a big smile. “Let’s go.”
He leads the way, opening the door for me and placing his hand on my lower back as we head outside. The warmth of his big palm spreads over me, a delicious contrast to the cool night air.
I take in a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the mountains mixed with his spicy male scent. The combination stings my nostrils in the best possible way.
“It’s amazing here,” I tell him. “I feel like I can breathe for the first time in years. I’ve been all over the world, and I still didn’t know this is what fresh air should smell like.”
“That’s me,” he says, pointing to where his truck sits in the parking lot. “Where are you from?”
“Los Angeles,” I say simply.
“Ah, yesterday makes sense, then.” He nods and says quietly, “City girl.” I raise my eyebrows and he chuckles. “Never said it was a bad thing.”
He helps me up into his truck, surprising me with this gentlemanly side.
As he turns to walk away, I grab for his arm, turning him back toward me. “Wait. Did you drink?”
I say a quick prayer to whatever god might be orchestrating this evening that the answer is no. The last thing I want to do is leave the comfort of his big truck, which smells so wonderfully like him, for the back of a cab that smells like vomit and old man farts. And maybe I’m not in a rush to lose his company.
“Just one beer. Scouts’ honor.” He raises three fingers in salute. “Drake and I have a business meeting in the morning that I’d rather be sober for.”
I remember the drinks Drake was indulging in just a few minutes ago. “Does he know that?”
Chase laughs and shakes his head. “Drake’s an enigma—no hangovers. He’ll wake up in the morning as bright as a spring chicken.”
He shuts my door and walks around the front of the truck, and I toss around his use of ‘spring chicken.’ He settles in, crossing his arms on the steering wheel and giving me a once-over. All thoughts of seasons and poultry fly from my brain.
“Well, Addison from Los Angeles, you ready to see something you’ll never forget?”
This man. Is he for real?
“That’s a bit cocky, don’t you think?”
His laugh is deep and scratchy, and it shoots tingles through my body.
We spend the ride in silence with the windows rolled down. The tequila still has me buzzed, and my heated body feels good in the breeze. My hair is whipping around, a tangled mess in the wind, but I don’t make any move to hold it back. I can’t remember a recent time where I’ve felt so alive.
The thought is depressing, so I push it aside. I’m not going to allow anything to ruin this carefree night.
After pulling up next to the cabins and parking, he turns toward me. “I’m going to go inside and grab a few things. You okay in here?” He leans toward me, his closeness and devilish grin catching me off guard.
“Yep, and I won’t even snoop in your glove box,” I reply smugly.
If I thought broody Chase was gorgeous, grinning Chase is enough to make a woman combust. It takes everything in me not to lunge over the center console and lock my lips on his.
“Oh, the glove box is safe. It’s the console you want to stay out of.” He pulls away so quickly that I’m left reeling.
When he disappears inside the cabin, I shake out my arms and crack my knuckles, hoping to release some of the nervous tension that’s built up inside me. A quick look at the dashboard tells me it’s only 8:03. The sky has just started to darken, and I look out over the trees as the sun starts its journey beyond them.
My mind is wandering, picturing Chase’s smiling face, fantasizing about what his lips might feel like pressed to mine—
