Chapter 9

 

If it were possible to float away, Bex had no doubt that she would be flying amongst the clouds. All of the drama that had been weighing her down, making her question every decision she ever made, didn’t matter. Everything that had happened had brought her here to Chase.

He held onto her, their breaths coming fast and hard as she came down from the best orgasm she’d ever had. Her body trembled with aftershocks, and when he moved beneath her, her nerve endings sprung back to life, and she shook at the intensity.

“I need a minute,” she said against his shoulder.

His laughter flowed through her like a sweet embrace. “Take your time.”

She closed her eyes, letting her body relax against his, loving the feel of his warmth mixing with her own. Loved the way their chests rose and fell together as they tried to catch their breaths.

Finally, she pulled back and met his eyes. “That was wow,” she said.

He lifted his hand, tucking her hair behind her ear. “My thoughts exactly.” He placed a chaste kiss to her lips then helped her snap her bra back into place.

His finger slid across the top of her breast, a smile tilting at the edge of his lips as he bent down and grabbed her shirt. He pulled it over her head, and she slipped her arms through the sleeves.

People dressed her all the time for photo shoots and when she was on set, but this was different. There was an intimacy about the way Chase did it.

With a kiss to her nose, he helped her off of him and she pulled her pants back into place while he took care of himself.

“I didn’t think this through very well,” she said, and he turned to her with horror in his eyes. His dark gaze raked over her like he was looking for regret.

“Oh no.” She laughed. “I just mean you zapped all the energy out of me and we still have to hike back down.” She looked out at the great expanse of land and then down. It was going to be quite the trek.

He walked over to her and bent, pointing to his back. “Hop on,” he said.

“I’m not making you carry me.”

“You probably weigh as much as my gear.”

She imagined him in his gear, running into a fire; the thought equally terrified her and thrilled her. The reminder of his strong muscles beneath her hands as he thrust into her sent another shudder through her body. She wanted to strip him bare, admire the hard ridges of his chest, drag her fingers up and over the taut skin and sculpted muscles.

What they just shared was amazing, but she wanted even more. She wanted him completely naked, skin to skin, with no barriers keeping her from touching and seeing every inch of him.

“You getting on?” he asked, still knelt in front of her.

She draped her arms over his shoulders, linking them around his neck. He pushed up from the ground, and she wrapped her legs around him. He moved effortlessly as he walked over to his backpack and scooped it up.

“I can hold that,” she said, feeling like it was the least she could do even if technically he was still bearing a brunt of the weight.

He held it out to her, and she slipped it through her arms one at a time.

“You ready?” he asked, glancing up at her, the dark gray of his eyes sparkling in the midday sun.

“Considering I just have to hold on for the ride, I’m ready whenever you are.” He turned from the view. “Wait!” she said. “I just want to look one more time.” He shifted back around and she gazed out across the horizon, committing the breathtaking view to memory. She knew when she was back in Hollywood and life was getting to be too much she would close her eyes and remember this place. Every tree, every speck of blue skies, the smell of wood and pine and the sound of birds chirping all around them… But most of all she would remember Chase and the way he consumed her like no one else ever had.

After a minute she nuzzled her head against his neck, taking in his masculine scent. “Okay. I’m ready now.”

Chase started down the trail, and she held on tightly—not that she really had to; he had a strong grip on her. She loved being pressed against him. As he walked she could feel his muscles flexing beneath her, pulling his skin tight with each movement.

“Did you expect that was going to happen?” he asked.

“I should ask you. You’re the one who had the condom.”

He smirked. “That was not why I had that.”

“Is that so?” She had a million scenarios run through her head, but they all led back to another girl. She knew he had a life before as she had one before him, but to think of him sharing what they just did with anyone else stung a little.

“Okay, this is super embarrassing,” he finally said. “My sister put it there.”

Bex didn’t even know how to react to that except to laugh. “Your sister?”

“Brooke is well… she’s Brooke.”

“Younger or older?”

“Younger by two years… and a royal pain in my ass.”

“I like her already.”

“She’s not super easy to get along with. She likes to put her nose where it doesn’t belong. She is honest to a fault, doesn’t know how to bite her tongue in any given situation, and she can be very manipulative. But beneath all that she has a good heart, and I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through the first few years after my mom died without her. We look out for each other.”

“Which is why she’s putting condoms in your wallet?”

“She told me she’s not ready to be an aunt.”

A loud laugh burst from Bex’s mouth. “That’s too funny.”

“It’s all about Brooke.”

“So… she knows about me?” Bex asked. Chase might’ve been clueless about who she was, but from what it sounded like, Brooke wouldn’t be as in the dark about pop culture.

“She actually put it in there a few months ago. I didn’t tell her about us, but she figured it out on her own. Let’s just say you were spotted when you stopped by the firehouse. Small town and all—word travels fast.”

“I’m used to that,” Bex said. “I do one stupid thing and the next day my phone explodes with calls and notifications. My face plastered across every gossip site with the most unflattering picture imaginable. The entire world knows when I mess up and then they’re reminded of every time before that.”

“I doubt there are any unflattering pictures of you,” he said and the sweet tone of his voice caused heat to bloom in her cheeks.

“You’d be surprised.”

“Luckily, the people here aren’t so judgmental. They just like to know what’s going on.”

“Did she tell you anything? I mean about me and what’s in the news?”

“She mentioned a few things,” he admitted.

Bex went silent. She couldn’t even run away to the middle of nowhere and hide from the chaos that was her life. People still knew about her, about the bad press and the horrible week that led up to her taking off. The fact that Chase still wanted to spend time with her made her like him that much more.

She’d made some horrible mistakes, and she didn’t get to keep those to herself. Anything he wanted to know about her he could find with a simple internet search. Yet, even with his sister telling him bits and pieces, he still didn’t look into her. If he had, he was a really good liar.

He came to a stop and eased her off of him, bringing her around to face him. “It doesn’t make me think any less of you,” he said. “People make mistakes all the time. You can’t be defined by them.”

“Thank you for looking at me and not seeing my faults, but you have to know those stories, whatever she told you, they’re not all true. Well, they are, but they’re not. It’s just a big mess.”

“You don’t have to tell me about any of it if you don’t want to.”

She glanced up, catching his eyes dark with what looked like raw understanding and she didn’t want to hide anymore. “I want to, but it’s a long story.”

His lip tilted upward. “Lucky for you, we still have a while before we get back to the truck.”

She nodded but standing there staring at him, so full of empathy, she started to feel uneasy. Once she opened up and exposed her true colors, she was afraid he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. He said her mistakes didn’t define her, but he lived a carefree life and didn’t need to be weighed down by her drama. It was more than just what she did or didn’t do; it was who she was. Her life was a complicated tangle of webs, and most days she couldn’t find her way out.

“Hey,” he said, “come here.” He took her hand and led her toward a tree that had fallen and become part of the terrain. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. His thumb brushed the apple of her cheek as he cupped her face. “It’s just me,” he said, his words filled with tender comfort.

She searched for the right words to start. “It’s…I mean I…” The words disappeared every time they reached her lips. No matter how badly she wanted to tell him the truth about her, she was afraid of how naïve she would sound.

He took her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles before linking his fingers through hers. The gentle reassurance and the warm comfort of his touch was the push she needed.

She started at the beginning, telling him about the accident and how it led to her arrest. She told him about the awful pictures that she naively took a few years ago not thinking they’d ever wind up anywhere other than her ex’s phone. Then she told him about Calla Lily and her suspicions. Every little detail she never had the guts to admit poured out of her.

“I know you must think I’m an idiot,” she finally said.

His eyebrows rose, and he shook his head. “Absolutely not. You trusted the wrong people that doesn’t make you an idiot. Far from it. Maybe it makes you too trusting, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Except when it gets me into a complicated mess and forces me to go off the grid and hide out in a tiny home.”

“If that never happened then I never would have met you. So while you think it’s a misfortune I’m going to consider it a godsend.”

“What are you going to do about Calla Lily? Is that really her name?”

“It is.” Her parents named her that because the flower represented purity. If they’d only saw into the future and witnessed the irony they may have thought twice. “And I have no idea. I have no actual proof; it’s just something in my gut that’s telling me she was involved.”

“Your gut is usually your best ally. You should trust it.”

“I know you’re right. And I also know I can’t hide out here forever.”

“Why not?” Chase asked the edge of his lips quirking slightly, his hands tightening around her waist.

She put her hand on his face and smiled. “I wish I could.”

His fingers linked through hers, and he dipped his head, pressing a kiss to her lips. He pulled back slowly, resting his forehead against hers. Their breaths mixed together, silence roaring in her ears as she reveled in this moment away from the crazy world she ran away from.

“I’m going to have to face it eventually, but until then…” She kissed him this time as a desperate need consumed her. She turned in his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing against his growing erection.

His hands settled beneath her thighs, and he stood up.

She let out a squeak as he began to walk down the path. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“That was my only condom,” he said, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her bottom.

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry. I have more in the glove box.”

“Oh!”