Chase grinned, despite his surprise that she would be ready to jump to that after the emotions of the past night. “You sure, Red? What if I leave the toilet seat up or dirty socks everywhere?” He was teasing but also wanted to give her an opening to back off just in case. Even though every cell in his body was screaming YES to her statement.
Reagan simply rolled her eyes in response. “Chase, socks and a toilet seat are not deal breakers. I do plenty of annoying things too you know.”
Chase rolled her onto her back so he could hold himself above her. “Nah, pretty sure there’s nothing you could do to annoy me, babe.” He leaned down and kissed her deeply. “I would love to be able to kiss you goodnight in our bed and wake up next to you every morning. And I promise, no dirty socks.”
Reagan beamed, then pushed at his shoulders, forcing him to roll over. She straddled his hips and fixed him with a look of pure seduction.
“Let’s see what other perks of being together every day we can find…”
Chase’s laugh in response was cut off by a moan when she leaned down, took his cock in her mouth, and proceeded to show him over and over again just how damn lucky he was.
Epilogue
“Chase, hurry up or we’ll be late! Everyone is meeting at the pub at two,” Reagan called out to the sexy man who was still in their bathroom getting ready. She was slowly getting used to sharing her apartment with him, seeing his instruments all over the place, beer next to wine in her fridge. Today, they were meeting up with their friends at The Lucky Strike to celebrate two momentous occasions. Not only had it been two years that the pub had been open and operating as a stand-out success, but Reagan was just a week away from going live on her own dream.
After several months working with Lucy to get the custom brownie business up and running, Reagan could hardly believe the time had come to start making money, doing what she loved. Lucy’s business savvy, combined with Reagan’s baking talent, was a winning combination. Their website was already showing plenty of traffic and both women, as well as their friends, had been handing out business cards like crazy. Reagan had started selling her brownies at farmers markets and they’d been so popular that they had decided against a storefront for now. Markets and custom orders could be fulfilled by operating out of a home office at Lucy’s townhouse and rented kitchen space. Lucy was a quick study in the kitchen and was excited to help Reagan out with the baking if the need arose.
Chase walked out of the bathroom with a grin. “Sorry, Red. I’m ready, let’s go.”
He pressed a kiss to the side of her head as he grabbed his keys off the counter and Reagan felt a wave of happiness crash over her as it often did in these simple, everyday moments of intimacy. A kiss on the head, folding laundry together, cooking meals for each other, all of it felt so perfectly right.
* * *
A short while later they arrived at the pub. Everyone else was already there, spilling out of one of the large booths in the back. Jake and Ryan had made certain they had enough staff on hand so that they could both relax and enjoy the afternoon with their friends. Ryan’s brother Noah was there, as well as Melanie. Everyone had a deep connection to the pub, and to each other, making for a tight knit group.
Anna waved them over, and quickly seats were found for Chase and Reagan.
“Dude, you think just because you’re some washed-up former rock star you can justify being late for everything? What kept you two?” Ryan called out teasingly, before Noah punched him in the shoulder.
“What do you THINK kept them?” Noah replied, with a roll of his eyes, “Probably the same damn thing that is always making you and Anna late for dinner with Mom.” The table erupted with laughter, but none of the couples could deny that their love for each other had certainly made them late for various things.
Melanie shook her head and smirked. “See, this is why I don’t do relationships anymore. Nothing drives me crazier than being late for stuff. Having a boyfriend would cramp my style.”
Callie rolled her eyes at her colleague, and friend. “Oh, Mel, nothing could cramp your style. You’re one of a kind. Besides, if the reason for being late is tempting enough…” Callie shrugged as her words trailed off, the twinkle in her eyes showing how she really felt. “Am I right, Reags?”
Reagan laughed. “Yeah, pretty much!” Then she grabbed Chase by the chin and turned him toward her so she could kiss him deeply, vaguely hearing the hoots of approval from their friends. When they broke apart, Reagan turned to everyone and grinned. Chase barked out a laugh and pulled her in to his side. This was what it was all about, being with the man she adored, surrounded by her closest friends.
“Don’t get me wrong, Reags, I’m thrilled you and Chase are together. Even if we are all secretly mad that none of us figured out who he was. But watching all of you fall head over heels is as close to love as I want to get, thank you very much,” Melanie stated firmly, snapping Reagan out of her thoughts. She knew Melanie had her reasons for being so cynical about love, but it still made her sad to think of the vivacious woman never opening up to someone again.
“Aww, Mel, you’re never going to make my dream come true and be more than just my biking buddy? I make a pretty good boyfriend you know,” Noah teased. Reagan looked at him closely and couldn’t help but wonder if there was a degree of truth to his words. She knew Melanie and Noah often went on long distance bike rides together, they were the only two from their group that enjoyed that type of crazy endurance exercise. But maybe there was more to their friendship; or at the very least that one or both of them wanted something more.
“Ha ha, biker boy,” Melanie shot back, “the only thing you’re good at is drafting me on the road.”
The group all laughed and teased Noah about that, and for a while the conversation moved away from love and on to lighter things. Reagan watched Noah and Melanie and noticed subtle things about how they interacted with each other. Like how he sat across from her, and how her eyes often darted to him when he wasn’t looking. After spending a year doing something similar with Chase, minus the pre-existing friendship that Noah and Mel had, she was familiar with the signs of a budding attraction that neither person was ready to admit to.
Reagan settled back in the booth, tucked in underneath Chase’s arm. The conversation flowed around her, and she was quite content to just enjoy the moment. As she glanced around the pub that had brought so much happiness and love into her life, she noticed an older woman, who looked quite out of place, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, speaking with the bartender. She watched as the woman seemed to ask a question, then the bartender pointed over to their table. “That’s strange,” she muttered under her breath.
“Hmm, babe? What’s strange?” Of course, Chase had heard her.
“That woman who’s walking over here, she doesn’t look like she belongs in bar, does she?”
Chase just shrugged. “I don’t know, we do get a lot of office types, but normally after work hours.”
A minute later, the woman came to a stop at their table, and looked at them all with a pointed stare.
“Is Noah Carlisle here?” she asked.
Noah stood up. “That’s me. How can I help?”
