He looked charmingly flustered. “Found this in the closet. I didn’t bring in a change of clothes, so it was this or just the bath towel around my waist.”
“Ah. Good choice.” Her voice sounded thin and tight, even to herself.
She cleared her throat as she turned back to the stove. “The soup’s almost hot enough. Do you like cream or sugar in your coffee? I feel like I should know that, but I don’t. It’s decaf— I figured we shouldn’t drink caffeine this late if we want to sleep well tonight.”
She jumped at the sound of his voice, much closer behind her than she’d anticipated. “Black’s fine. I think I could almost eat a horse. Guess I should’ve bought more croissants.”
Harper huffed out a laugh. “Who knew we’d need more croissant fortification tonight? We should be sitting in front of a roaring fire at the lake house, stuffing ourselves with my mom’s cooking.”
Chase picked up the coffee, taking a sip. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get us there tonight.”
She whirled to face him. “It’s not your fault! You don’t need to apologize. It was just bad luck.”
He gave her a soft smile. “This isn’t so bad. In fact, I’m feeling pretty lucky right now.”
Her ridiculous heart pounded as she tried to interpret his meaning, but she was afraid to ask. Turning back to the stove, she stirred the soup to give herself something to do with her hands.
They just had to get through dinner, then they could go to sleep and check on the tire in the morning.
CHAPTER 5
Chase was intimatelyaware of the fit on the bathrobe as he sat on a barstool, eating the soup Harper had warmed through. It was far too small in the chest, so there was a gap above the belt.
That wasn’t the issue, though. The real problem was that the damned thing didn’t provide nearly enough coveragebelowthe belt. He found himself messing with it throughout the meal, thankful that Harper had opted to stand on the other side of the kitchen island to eat.
It didn’t help that just being around her was making him hard. He’d thought his handiwork in the shower would eradicate the possibility of springing another boner this evening, but no such luck.
Dinner was a mostly silent affair, which was frustrating after their rapport in the car. He took advantage of the time to look up the cabin’s listing and officially book it, assuaging his guilt at breaking in and using it without permission.
Thankfully, the cabin hadn’t been rented for Thanksgiving as it was a smaller listing in a more remote location, and the current weather wasn’t ideal for fishing.
That done, he drummed his fingers on the countertop as he pondered their situation. Perhaps there was something he could do to help them regain their earlier equilibrium.
But first, he had to do something about his state of dress. He went to gather his wet clothes from the bathroom floor, only to find they’d vanished.
He went back out to the living room, his brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” Harper was watching him, a look of concern on her lovely face.
“I was going to throw my clothes in the washing machine. Did you move them?”
Harper’s cheeks turned pink, and she busied herself rinsing out the now empty soup pan. “Oh, I did that earlier. They should be about ready to go in the dryer.”
A warmth at her thoughtfulness glimmered in his chest. He drew closer to see her face. “You didn’t need to do that, but I appreciate it. Thank you.” His voice was rougher than he’d intended, and her eyes widened as her gaze shot to his before dropping again to the sink.
“It was no trouble.”
Chase wasn’t going to let her get away with that. He put two fingers under her cute, pointed chin and gently tilted her face so he could look her in the eyes. “Maybe not, but it was kind of you, and I’m thankful. And since it’s Thanksgiving weekend, I’m thanking you.”
Her blush deepened, but the corners of her mouth turned up in a sweet, soft smile. “You’re welcome.”
He swore he could feel her eyes on his back as he went to move his clothes to the dryer.
Harper watched Chase go,the ridiculous pink bathrobe hanging only a few inches past the bottom of his ass. Was she hoping the robe might ride up? Wild horses could not make her admit it.
But when he glanced over his shoulder and caught her lowered gaze, her eyes shot back up to find him wearing a knowing grin before he faced forward again.
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. By the time she finished the few dishes they’d dirtied with their dinner, Chase was back.
