“Always.”
Dinner was not fun. She should have known what would happen. Small town with internet access equaled rampant speculation. Not everyone was polite enough to keep it to themselves either.
It started with a couple of young women boldly introducing themselves to Chase and gushing over him and his ad campaign with Kelly Boots. Chase was nice and too polite to tell them to get lost. They showed every sign of staying until forced to leave. Finally, he looked at Ella with a ‘help me’ expression that almost made her laugh.
“Ladies, I’m sure Chase will be happy to send you an autographed picture. Why don’t you give your addresses to the hostess and we’ll make sure to pick them up on our way out? Right now, it’s time for our dinner. I’m sure you understand.”
“I had no idea you were so adept at getting rid of people politely,” Chase said when they finally reached their table.
“One of us has to learn how with you being ‘that sexy Kelly Boots man.’”
“Ha-ha. I didn’t realize what a pain that was going to be when I agreed to it. It’s not like I’ve never sponsored a product before.”
“One as big as Kelly Boots?”
“Well, no. But some pretty big ones.” He shrugged. “But it’s a lot of money and we always need money for the ranch.”
Ella thought things had settled down but she hadn’t counted on the paparazzi getting wind of Gina’s blog and the picture. They stepped outside after dinner and were immediately hit with microphones in their faces and flashes nearly blinding them. Their words were a jumble of voices but eventually one managed to shout clearly: “Chase, what’s the real story with Gina? Are you two an item? And what will Gina think of you being with another woman?”
“Gina and I are not together,” Chase said bluntly.
“What about that kiss?”
Ella could feel Chase’s frustration. Honestly, she was annoyed as hell too. “That kiss?” he asked. “That was nothing.” He turned to Ella, smiled at her with a devilish glint in his eyes, yanked her close and laid a scorching kiss on her. Surprised at first, she didn’t respond, then figured, what the hell, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
When he finally turned her loose there was a lot of clapping and whistling. “Nowthat,” Chase said, managing to quiet them, “ladies and gentlemen, was a kiss.” He grabbed Ella’s hand, pushed through the crowd and reached his truck. He let her in her side, then went around to his.
“You know that’s going to cause a big ruckus, right?” Ella asked.
Chase shot her a glance. “Yeah. That was the point. Do you mind?”
Did she mind that he claimed her in front of the paparazzi so that it would be all over the papers and internet in hours? “Ordinarily I’d be annoyed at Neanderthal tactics, but in this case, hell no, I don’t mind.”
He grinned, leaned over and kissed her again.
