“Thirty minutes or the pizza’s free,” Chase looks up from his phone.
Why did I come here?
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought being in his space, learning more about the good man he is, would reaffirm my decision to call it quits. No one wants to see the good guy go down as collateral damage. But after being here and seeing his neat little place with his tiny Christmas tree and pictures of his family lining his bookshelves, my plan has backfired.
I’m sitting ramrod straight on the edge of his couch with my heart in my throat.
When I blink out of my daze, he’s staring at me and looking totally ravishing. He narrows his gaze, and I make the mistake of letting my eyes drift to his lips. Now all I can think about is how he tasted like mint and warm coffee.
I tug at the collar of my coat. “Do you have anything to drink?”
Chase flashes me a questioning smile as he shoves his phone in his back pocket and walks over to the fridge, ducking his head inside. “Yeah, I just went to the supermarket last night. Let’s see, I’ve got water, beer, wine, and an array of berry-flavored juices…” He peeks up over the refrigerator door with his big adorable eyes.
Why am I doing this to myself? And why can’t I stop thinking about the roughness of his beard on my lips…and on my thighs?
Stop.
“Hmm. Let me take a look.” I pad over and peek inside, but the red and green packaging of a certain favorite holiday candy snags my attention. “Is that…”
“Oh.”
“No, no. Did you go out and buy the ingredients for the M&M Christmas cookies and a bag of the peppermint nougat?” I cannot close my mouth.
He’s not going to make this easy.
Chase lowers his chin, but he can’t hide his smile.
“You are so busted. Did you plan this? Were you secretly luring me here to your house, acting all sweet and innocent?” I tip up his chin, so he has to look at me. “You are not sweet and innocent Chase Campbell.”
We’re both laughing as he pulls out the ingredients and stacks them on the kitchen counter. The pizza will be here in like twenty minutes, but now that I know there are Christmas treats, what kind of person doesn’t drop everything to make them?
“The baking sheets are in that bottom drawer beneath the oven.” He gives me a sexy wink, and I feel my willpower waning.
I don’t stand a chance against those guilty, sexy eyes with that rough and tumble beard. “What should I set the oven to?”
It takes us less than five minutes to get the mixing bowls, oil spray, and aluminum foil all lined up. Seamlessly, we move around each other in comfortable silence. Chase lines the baking sheets while I pour the M&Ms into the bowl with ready-made sugar cookie dough. I spray, he kneads—and boy does he do it well.
The hard muscles of his forearms flex and bulge. He does this ridiculously sexy lip-biting thing. “So, I wanted to ask you something,” he says, using his strong fingers to work the dough.
“Yeah?”
He hands me an ice cream scoop and I start spacing out the cookie balls on the baking sheet.
“Back there at the office when we were leaving, you seemed a little—"
“I know. I’m so sorry. It really wasn’t about you,” I say, knowing it’s probably too much to ask for him to drop the subject.
He nods, and he’s kind enough not to say anything, but the questions in his silence blare too loud.
“Two years ago, my younger sister…” I start, but the words die off.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s just, you seemed almost guarded like you were afraid. I never want to make anyone feel that way.”
A few seconds go by. Chase doesn’t force the conversation, but there’s something so unassuming about his tone and his sweet concern. I want to tell him and lift the weight from my chest.
“She went on a date with some guy she met on one of those low-key, sketchy match sites—it got shut down a few months later, but at the time it had been popular. Like we’ve seen too many times at work, of course, he didn’t look anything like the picture. Go figure.” I fish a leftover green M&M from the bag and pop it in my mouth. “Anyway, she decided to give him a chance and stay for the date because they had really good rapport online, you know?”
“Right.”
The oven beeps indicating the oven is the right temperature. Chase quickly washes and dries his hands. “I’m listening,” he says as he slides the cookie sheet into the oven and sets the timer.
“Long story short, in person, the conversation ended up being just as shitty as his fake picture. So, she excused herself to the restroom to call me, right? But while I’m on the phone with her, he enters the women’s restroom and proceeds to force himself on her while I’m freaking out on the phone.”
Chase’s shoulders tense as he pivots to me, searching my eyes, but he doesn’t interrupt. We’re both leaning against the edge of the sink facing each other.
“Luckily, another woman came in behind him, which distracted him long enough for my sister to knee him in his junk and escape. But all I ever think about is what if that woman hadn’t showed up? What if he’d had his way with her?”
My throat clenches at the thought. It still feels like a knife to my heart. My sister was assaulted, and I was helpless to do anything. The same fear flares in my gut leaving me raw with emotion.
With a warm and welcoming smile, Chase opens his arms. “Bring it in.”
I laugh through my tears.
It’s such a strange sensation because I don’t hesitate or come up with a million reasons why not to. I sink into his embrace, resting my cheek to his hard chest. I’m wrapped in his clean, warm scent, and it feels better than I remembered. We don’t say anything, we just stand there with his arms banded around me.
He peppers soft kisses in my hair slowly lulling the wretched memory back to the dark corners of my mind.
When my tears subside, the urge to explain overwhelms me.
“She’s why I’m at Lovestruck,” I explain. “It’s not just women either, everyone is vulnerable. It’s why I want to introduce more safety features on the app, whether it’s enabling location, adding distress alarms, or even a button to notify emergency contacts. We have to be purposeful about the real dangers people face when they meet up. We can’t possibly know everything there is to know about our users.”
I pull back from his embrace and register the empathy in his beautiful blue eyes. “I get it,” he whispers sweetly, but it’s his heated stare that electrifies me.
His gaze drifts from my eyes to my lips, lingering for a dizzying beat. Desire radiates between us sending heat curling down my spine. My breath catches.
Then the doorbell rings, saving me from myself.
He closes his eyes for a second, letting his shoulders sag at his sides. “Hold that thought. Pizza’s here.”
As Chase takes wide strides to the front door and digs his hand in his back pocket for his wallet, I blow out a relieved sigh. I bury my face in my hands. My heart pounds against my chest because I know I’m fighting a losing battle. Now that I know Chase isn’t a player, my reservations are more about him getting hurt in the fallout if Spencer ever learns the truth about us. Also, I shouldn’t like him as much as I do.
If I had any sense, I’d leave now.
We’re both two slices in when Riley plops back on the couch and sighs. “I’m full.” She laughs and groans. “I should’ve gone home first and changed my clothes because these pants and Italian food don’t mix.”
“So, what I’m hearing you say is, no Christmas cookies for you.” I flash her a playful grin. I love this easy banter, but I wish we could go back to the moment right before the doorbell rang.
Something changed…shifted. For a few minutes, I got to see behind her carefully constructed walls. She let me in.
Riley sucks her teeth, slouching into the crease of the couch. “Oh, I may have to lose a button, but I will not be passing up on dessert.”
On the television, sharp piercing music plays as the zombies of Final Tombs close in on the heroine. Riley is curled up behind a throw pillow she’s been using to shield her eyes, but she just looks so uncomfortable.
I take a bite out of another slice and stand to take her empty plate, flashing her a quick smile. “Want some sweats and a t-shirt?” I ask as I walk away into the kitchen.
Shit.
It’s just a simple gesture, but immediately I wonder if I shouldn’t have offered. After everything she told me about her sister, I don’t want to assume anything.
Riley doesn’t answer right away. It’s silent save for the heavy breathing of zombies, but then she surprises me when she says, “Sure.”
I glance over at her and there’s apprehension and questions in her eyes I’m not sure I can answer. How did we get here? Are we really doing this? Is any of it real? I want to tell her I’ve been here all along waiting for her to notice me, that I take the long way around to my desk just to see her eyes, and how beautiful I think she is no matter how she wears her hair or which black suit she chooses.
Instead, I fill a plate with cookies, set them on the coffee table, and go to grab clothes for her, eager to put some space between us so I can think straight.
A few minutes later, Riley questions me from the bathroom while she changes. “So, what’s your story Chase? What are you doing at Lovestruck?” Riley asks. “Web development and IT are like the most sought-after fields.”
Pointing the remote at the television, I lower the volume so I can hear her. “It’s a good gig. Pays well… Also, I get to leave work at work.”
The bathroom door creaks open and Riley walks out, drowning in my clothes. Fuck. The way the fabric hangs off her lean curves, breasts, and her ass... My dick twitches.
“Better?”
“Oh my gosh, yes. I can breathe.” She’s glowing and radiant as she gives me a twirl before plopping down next to me on the couch. “About the job, if those are your reasons, you’re obviously not challenging yourself. I mean, what drives you every day?”
She twists to face me, curling her knees to her chest, but she doesn’t speak. She’s waiting for me to fill in the unspoken blanks.
“Fine.” I close my eyes and let my head rest on the back of the couch. “It’s nothing as horrific as what your sister went through, but, don’t laugh… I wanted to be in an environment where I could learn about love.”
I peek over at Riley. Her brows furrow, but her expression is more curious than anything.
“My parents were married forty years before my mom died of pneumonia—complications with cystic fibrosis. My brother, Todd, seems to have found his person, and I mean, I’ve dated, but it always feels superficial, slightly like an interview.” I laugh. “This is going to sound really cliché, but I want to know about “the real thing.” Lovestruck just felt like a place close to home to find some insight.”
When Riley doesn’t immediately say anything, I tilt my head to the side again to look at her. She bites her lower lip, and her eyes are misted over.
“There’s nothing cliché about anything you just said. It’s beautiful.”
Then, Riley lowers her legs, crawls over to me, and straddles me. My breath hitches at the feel of her. Silence stretches between us for a beat before I slowly, carefully, sit upright. Our faces are a breath apart as she levels me with a pleading stare. I know she needs to make the first move, so I wait.
Desperately.
My skin tingles. Every inch of my body throbs and aches with the need to feel her touch.
Please let this be real.
My heart knocks around in my chest. The anticipation is killing me. I don’t mind handing over the reins as long as it’s Riley who’s wielding them.
“Put your hands on me, Chase.” Her breaths come fast and shallow, and I feel her fighting it.
I slide my hands under ass, centering her over the hard proof of how much she turns me on. Even though she feels like a dream, everything about this moment is real. She’s flush against my chest, and still I wait. “Tell me what you want,” I whisper.
“I want you to kiss me,” she says, and I feel so privileged that she wants me, too.
I comply slowly. The kiss is sensual and sweeping with, exploring tongues and roaming hands. There’s a sweetness and lightness that sends warmth surging through me. I like Riley, but I could so easily love her.
We’re being so careful with each other’s hearts. We’re mindful of every amazing nip and painstakingly slow lick.
My pulse quickens as desire percolates between us. I’m lost in her warm vanilla scent. A growl pries its way out of me.
She moans and I tighten my grip on her ass in response.
“I want this,” she says between kisses. Her tone is low, breathy, and almost sheepish, like she’s saying it to herself.
I scoot to the edge of the couch and stand upright holding her, “Are you sure about this?”
Her answering kiss is all the permission I need. In quick strides, I carry her with her body molded to mine to my room and lay her onto the bed. The blankets shroud around her as I slowly glide the sweatpants off her one leg at a time before lifting the T-shirt up over her head. The sight of her bright-red bra and panties set coaxes a growl from me. Every inch of her rich, dark skin is smooth and flawless and begging to be touched.
My breath catches at the masterpiece of feminine curves and shadows. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
Heat pools in her hooded eyes.
As if the sight of her pliant body lying in my bed wasn’t enough, she dips a finger in her mouth and begins sucking it as she tugs at the waistband of her panties, slowly dragging them over her hips.
I step backward to get a condom from my nightstand, too afraid if I turn away, she’ll be gone when I look back. It feels like a dream to have Riley in my bed. I’m blindsided with lust as I remove my shirt and pants, aching to be inside her.
As she shimmies free from her panties and lets her knees hang open, I have to hold my breath not to come. My breaths come fast and shallow as I kick off my boxers and roll on the condom in supersonic speed.
A ghost of a smile plays on her lips.
“Don’t make me laugh right now,” I say. “If I even sneeze, I’m going to come.”
The sweet, musical laugh Riley lets out echoes off the walls. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” She’s biting back a grin and my heart skitters.
I close my eyes. “Just be cool. Just let me think about football or polar bears or something.”
Riley doesn’t hold back this time, she’s bent over with laughter. “Come here, you fool.”
“Please stop laughing. Do you have any idea how sexy your laugh is?” I feel her warm laugh all over my skin. “Not to mention, this is sort of embarrassing.”
The next thing I know Riley’s yanking me down on top of her, planting kisses all over my face. She reaches between us and encircles her hand around me, stroking for a few seconds before centering me against her sex.
As I grip her hips and bury myself inside her, her slick folds open around me, and every sensation in my body heightens. A shiver of pleasure washes over my skin, and every nerve ending stirs and tingles. The feel of her sweet, hot sex taking me whole only makes me crave her more. I lick my lips and close my eyes. A shift near my heart echoes of the longing whispering through me.
I’ve dated and tried other women on for size, but the fit was always wrong. Riley and I have only been playing these roles for a couple of weeks, and I’m already anchored in her space, grounded by her presence. How can she feel this good? How did I get this lucky?
The sweet whimper that spills from Riley’s full pillowy lips pulls my insides low and tight. It’s imperative for me to taste her moan and feel her lips crushed beneath mine as I move inside her. I vary my strokes from hard and fast to slow, then glide out to the tip. We’re both breathless, and our rhythm in sync. Again. Fast, slow, thrust hard and deep. Pull out to the tip only to do it all over again.
Riley moans and arches her back, baring her throat to me. I glide my tongue down the delicate column of her neck to the swells of her breasts, licking and sucking until her nipples are hard in my mouth. She clenches her thighs around me. Her hands are on my neck and in my hair, her hips winding me up as I plunge deeper. She opens wider, and I pump harder, faster until her muscles go taut. Her lips part, and her body is wracked with shivers and quakes. She gasps for air, falling fast and taking me with her.
As we lie there, our chests rising and falling in succession, I still don’t know how we got here or if any of it is real, but I can’t help but feel, maybe, just maybe, this time she let go.