His cheeks burned hotter than the sun outside at her grin of pure happiness. “Yeah, honestly.” Chase cleared his throat with a fake cough then averted his attention to the bags still resting near the doorway. “Anyway. Forget what I said about your bags, there’s nothing wrong with being prepared. Shit happens all the time, right?”
“Yes it does,” she agreed. “And we’ll be ready for it.”
He’dhave to be ready for it, Chase thought. If anyone he knew realized who Larke was, what she meant to him… There were just too many well-meaning idiots in their neo-Confederate movement who might think they were doing him a favor.
Schooling his concerns, Chase slapped a smile on his lips. It wasn’t entirely fake because being near Larke, in general, made him feel relaxed.
“Is this your home away from home?” She was staring out of a large window overlooking the lake. “Do you come here often?”
Chase joined her, holding the curtain away from the glass. “It’s supposed to be. I bought it last year. Only been here like twice, though. There’s a lot of hunting ground. Not like over at Lee’s Fortress. Most of the woodland was cut down to make room for new houses.
She turned to him, an almost horrified and hurt expression on her face. He wished he’d kept his mouth close. “You guys have a lot of members, don’t you?”
“We have enough.” He silently cursed himself for putting that look on her face. He schooled his features again, refusing to give her the details she obviously wanted. Details that would only cause more pain. “I got this place to get away and do some proper hunting.”
Not wanting her mind to stay focused on his earlier comment, Chase led her from the window and showed her the rest of the house. The two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and the patio the woodlands. When Larke sighed and mentioned how much she’d love to live somewhere out in the middle of nature, his chest hurt.
She was a lot like himself. Her words reminded him once again, how so many of the things he’d been told about people different from himself didn’t add up. After he’d shown her the entire house, Chase threw on a long-sleeved shirt before heading to the supermarket with Larke. Another first. Grocery shopping with a girl. His girl.
“Those are interesting ingredients,” she said, as he placed bottles of spices into the shopping cart. Most of them he’d never heard of or used before. He glanced at his phone, double-checking the ingredient list.
“I know.” He pretended to ignore her curiosity. “I’m not telling you what I’m going to cook. You can quit fishing for info.”
She let out an exaggerated sigh of annoyance. As they strolled down the aisle it was hard not to notice all the people around them. Couples walking together and talking. Like him and Larke. It all seemed so normal. Here, it was okay for them to pretend normalcy. He was a regular guy out with his girl. Sure, there were a few stares, which probably came because they seemed so mismatched. With him looking like a mean son of a bitch and Larke so damn sweet and friendly. But still, this was a feeling he wished they could have all the time. The two of them, no race bullshit in between. No pressure of fulfilling a role or having people he was starting to care less and less about, depend on him to lead them into a future he was beginning to despise.
Back at the house, Chase’s nerves started to screw with him. Not because he was alone with her again. That he loved. His nerves were going insane because of guilt. His need to show her how sorry he was. Pay Larke back for everything she’d done for him. Asking him to stay at her place the other night because she remembered something he’d told her so long ago and cared. Thinking about him all the time, in ways no one else had ever done.
Chase shook his head.And she’s supposed to be the enemy. Everything wrong with this country. Sub-human.“Fucking bullshit.”
“Putting the drinks in the freezer’s bullshit?”
Chase blinked, realizing he’d spoken out loud. Larke was standing by the refrigerator holding two plastic bottles in her hand and gaping at him.
“No,” he said. He tried to recall what she’d said to him but drew a blank. “Did you say something?”
“I wanted to know which drink I should put in the freezer so it gets cold really fast. Cola or the fruit punch?”
“Both. They’ll fit.”
She popped the bottles in to cool then turned to face him, her eyes filled with concern. “You zoned out, didn’t you? Is it anything you want to talk about?”
“Not now,” he murmured. Chase closed his arms around her, desperate for the feel of her touch, like an anchor grounding him to the only reality he wanted. And she understood! Larke laid her head against his chest until the angry thoughts and frustration retreated into the darkest corners of his mind. That was the placed he hid all thoughts that had nothing to do with the here and now. Like his future with her. That took up the largest part of his mental hideaway, which he was closing off for the night. Nothing but the here and now with his girl for as long as they stayed tucked away by the lake.
Holding her at arm’s length, he smiled. “All right. Go catch up on your book. Relax. Do whatever, as long as you stay out of the kitchen until I tell you to come.”
“Or until the fire alarm goes off?” Her lips twitched.
He narrowed his eyes, pretending anger. “You doubting me?”
“As a matter of fact, yes!” Larke placed a hand on her hip. “I’m a little worried since you were looking at some of those spices, reading off the names like it was a foreign language or something.”
“Real funny. All right, tell me when was the last time you cooked with cardamom, or whatever it’s called.”
“Last week,” she shot back. Her lips twitched even more. “I’m lying. You’re right. I’ll leave you to cook while I watch something on my laptop in the bedroom.” Halfway across the room, she glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes twinkled playfully as she said, “If that alarm goes off, I’m grabbing my bag and your hand then we’re getting the hell out of here, okay?”
“First alarm is a warning the food might be burnt. Second one, you can grab the bag.”
She laughed. “Deal.”
