“No. But that’s not the point.” Ava stepped forward, fully intended to invite herself inside, but Chase blocked her path. No one, his sister included, was going to stop him from kissing Laurel tonight.No one. “You have a date in there or something?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Ava raised her eyebrows at him. “Who?”
“My wife.” It felt good to say that.Reallygood. So good his smile stretched his cheeks. “I assume that’s why you’re here?”
“Yeah, but—”
“I love you, dear sister. But you will have to come back another time. Tonight, I’m busy.”
Ava moved her lips a few times, as if she were trying to get words to come out. But after a few attempts, she clamped them shut and simply stared at him.
“I know what I’m doing, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Chase said.
“I wish I believed you.”
“If I get hurt again, it’s my own fault.”
Ava nodded, reluctance heavy in her expression. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Try answering your phone when I do.”
He could argue that he was busy working, or hurry back to the woman waiting inside. Chase closed the door the moment she turned to leave. A quick scan of the kitchen, living area, and dining room meant Laurel was likely still upstairs.
The absence of clicking claws suggested Zeus was too.
Chase took the stairs two at a time, catching Laurel outside the nursery. The door was open a crack, and Zeus wagged his tail with what Chase could only assume was pride. As if he wanted to show Laurel the door he had bested. “Hey,” he said, stopping Laurel with her hand on the knob. Another night he could show her the crib. Tonight was not that night.
“Who was at the door?”
“Ava.”
“Is she downstairs?”
Chase closed the distance between them in two quick strides, reaching for Laurel’s hand. He tugged her away from the door, backing her up against the wall. Propping his hand beside her cheek. “I told her we were busy.” He didn’t wait for a response before he swooped his free hand beneath her cheek and drew her lips to his with a gentle, testing brush.
His entire body shivered as her soft lips pressed harder into his and her fingers dug into the back of his neck.
Five years of longing and heartache poured into the deepening kiss, promising Chase that he’d never stopped loving her. In her surrender, he thought he felt the same from her. They’d always had a deeply close connection. The ability to sense what the other was feeling. A connection that was mending and strengthening with each second their lips were joined.
“Stay with me, Laurel,” Chase pleaded in a whisper, locking his heated gaze with her own. “I miss mywife.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“Haylee needs me. Melly too. You know that. I-I should go.”
Chase pushed off from the wall, undeniably disappointed. But a sense of hope he hadn’t felt before had blossomed. He still had four full days to convince her fate was giving them a second chance, and he wasn’t giving up without pulling out all the stops. “C’mon then. I’ll take you home.”
Chapter Seven
Laurel
Laurel woke at four twenty-eight in the morning to Melly screaming. But it wasn’t why she woke up irritated. Oh no, that honor belonged to one Chase Monroe. How dare he kiss her until her toes curled and her body went limp! How dare he make herfeelthings she swore she’d never feel again.
She pushed herself out of bed to check on Haylee. Some early mornings Laurel found her sister smiling, rocking Melly in the wooden rocker their grandfather had made before Marc was born. Other times, she found her poor sister drowning in a pool of overwhelmed tears.
“Want me to take her?” Laurel offered when she spotted the shine on Haylee’s cheeks.
