Except, now there was no way I could focus on what was in front of me, when to the side of me all I could see was the blur of Chase walking closer. Seriously, was he walking in slow motion? My heart had pulses all over my body. I slunk down ever so slightly into the couch, pulling the blanket up higher as he settled back down on the couch next to me. His arm and leg brushed against mine, sending fire racing from my head to my fingertips.
My gaze was fixed on the movie, even when I felt him turn and look at me. I couldn’t look. I couldn’t acknowledge it. Him. He stared blatantly, for so long that my mouth betrayed me, and even my attempt to bite my lip couldn’t keep the smile from forming; along with two heated spots of color in my cheeks, and my rapidly beating heart.
I felt his smile before he turned his attention back to the TV.
A few moments later, my blanket was being tugged across my lap.
Glancing over, he gave me a charming grin. “I’m cold.”
All thoughts fled as he entered my space. I was helpless to stop him. My heartbeat trumpeted in my ears. The movie forgotten. Had there ever been any other thoughts in my head before now? This was Chase Riley. How could I let this happen? It wasn’t supposed to be Chase, but I only had thoughts of him. He had moved past my defensive barrier, and before I realized what had happened, the enemy had invaded. The blanket was protecting my space. Protectingme. Protecting my hands from being held, my body from being touched, and my heart from being broken. Attraction was one thing—a relationship was another. I had just let him in, and my stupid body was reacting to him—just like I was afraid of.
I shifted toward him, when I should have moved away. When our hands brushed across each other under the blanket, I didn’t pull back. When his fingers reached out to grab my hand, I let him.
For a long while, he held my hand under the warm blanket. He stroked my palm and played with the rings on my fingers—and it felt amazing. For my part, the fuss and resistance I had initially felt to offer, dissipated like the smoke in the warm fire blazing before us. My head found its way to his shoulder and after a moment, he released my hand and put his arm around me. I curled into his warm body, my head on his chest, and my fingers splayed across his shirt.
The plight of George Bailey was long forgotten as I closed my eyes and relished the embrace.
I awoke sometime into the night. My neck felt stiff as I tried to get my barring. This was the third time in two days I had fallen asleep on Chase. Either he was extremely boring or extremely comfortable. Unfortunately, my heart knew exactly which answer it was. The fire had cooled to embers, the glow of the TV the only light in the room. Underneath my head, Chase’s chest rose and fell in a deep rhythm, clearly asleep. There was something so cozy—so lovely about falling asleep with someone. As much as I wanted to stay in this embrace and fall back asleep, the two cups of hot chocolate had taken its toll.
As gently as I could manage, I uncurled myself from his arms and removed my hand from his grasp on his chest. I left his side and padded toward the bathroom, shivering at my loss of body heat. I used the restroom, brushed my teeth, and splashed a bit of water on my face before opening the door, pausing in the hallway. It was so tempting to go back to the couch and snuggle back into Chase’s embrace, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. Nothing good would come of that. Falling asleep innocently was one thing, putting myself back out there on purpose was something else entirely. Just as I turned to go into my room, a movement in the dark caught my eye.
Chase was walking towards me, his steady eyes on mine as he moved closer, the sliver of light from the bathroom illuminating our shadows. At his soft, panther-like approach, my instinct had me taking a step backward, bumping into the wall.
He stopped a breath away from me, the heat from his body warming mine, though we weren’t yet touching. When I shyly lifted my face toward his, soft brown eyes met mine. He lifted a hand and brushed a piece of hair behind my ear, his fingers leaving a trail of heat across my skin. My breath hitched. And then he reached for me. One of his hands found my cheek, while the other wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him. My arms found their way home on his shoulders, while my hands found his hair. Then his lips were on mine—softly at first. He pulled back to look at me.
Finding no discouragement from me, he kissed me again. This time, the shy meeting of our lips had passed, deepening to something heated. His mouth moved intensely against mine—darting, clinging, tasting. He pressed me closer. His mouth left mine as he trailed tiny kisses across my jaw before returning to taste my lips again. As for me, I clung to him—my fingers in his hair—and desperately wished for the kisses to never end.
Twice he pulled back, as if to stop, but a glance at me and our resistance would crumble all over again. He gently pushed me back against the wall with his body. His lips took advantage of my gasp, while his hands held my neck and caressed my face, moving my head to whatever angle would satisfy. Finally, he stepped back, holding me against the wall with one hand as he moved his body away from me.
“You need to stay over there, if you don’t want me to pull you in over here.” He motioned to his doorway and I bit back a smile, even as I flushed, grateful for the dark hallway.
Nearly out of breath, I walked backward toward my room, smiling at him the whole time. “Goodnight, Chase.”
His eyes were soft and his voice, a bit huskier than before, said, “goodnight, Penny.”
I stopped. Oh, he had said my name before, but never likethat. Chills raced down my spine and my stomach tied into knots. The good kind of knots.
Theverygood kind.
“Hold on,” I whispered, as I walked back to him, fast and sure. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to reach his willing lips. Passion ignited like a flaming arrow between us. His arms banded around my waist as he lifted me up off the ground. Our lips clung and parted together in wild fury for minutes, hours, seconds… I had no idea of the time. When our fire finally slowed to something sweet and tender, I pulled my lips from his, while my feet found solid ground once more.
His eyebrows rose as he kissed me across the lips once more. “Remind me to call you Penny from here on out.”
I smiled up at him while he tucked my hair behind my ear. “That’s a dangerous game to play.”
I pulled out of his embrace and walked backward toward my room, laughing as his grip on my hand tightened and refused to let go of mine. He trailed along after me, but before he could enter my room, I tugged my hand from his grasp.
“Goodnight, Chase!”
He grinned roguishly and stepped back, but as I turned around and entered my room, I felt a light smack on my butt.
I turned around in shock, but he only laughed and said, “if you only knew how long I wanted to do that. ‘Night, Blister.”
I closed the door, a smile permanently emblazoned across my face.
While sleep was still averylong time coming, my dreams were filled with sweetness.
Chapter 10
