Page 56 of Under the Radar

He grinned. “I’ve never bought flowers before. See how perfect we are for each other?”

“I don’t think we have a vase.”

He laughed. “I have one. Charly gave it to Brett and me and told us every house had to have a vase. We kept it to appease her, but we never used it.” He opened a cupboard and pulled out the large clear container. “It’s a bit dusty. I used to use it for coins for a while, but she gave me shit.”

I laughed and rinsed it out, putting the flowers in it. “Oh, they are so lovely.” I set them on the table. “Look, how beautiful, Chase.”

“I am,” he said, but when I looked at him, his gaze wasn’t on the flowers. It was on me. He touched my cheek. “The most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

“Chase,” I murmured, awed by the intensity of his gaze.

“I want to kiss you.”

“I’ll kiss you right back.”

“Yeah? I can?”

“You never have to ask.”

He tugged me into his arms, his mouth covering mine. The kiss was sweet and sexy. Our mouths moved together, our tongues meeting and gliding. It was a kiss of hello and thank you. One that said I missed you and I’m glad you’re here with me. He held my face between his hands, stroking his thumb in small circles on my cheeks. When he eased back, he stopped and kissed my forehead, then the end of my nose.

“I’m going to kiss you like that every day when I get home.”

“I won’t object.”

“Can we have the tacos now? I’m starved.”

I laughed. “Yes.”

* * *

Chase sat back, pushing away his plate. “Those were incredible.”

I grinned. “Really? You only ate six. I thought maybe you didn’t like them.”

He laughed, taking a drink of his water. “I’ve never had them with the cheese sauce before.”

“I like queso.”

“And you made it?”

“Yes. It’s easy and tastes way better than the crap you get in a jar.”

“I agree.”

He stretched and smiled at me as I finished my taco, wiping my fingers. “How was the garage?”

“Busy. Maxx signed a deal a couple of months ago with a new company in Lomand. Delivery fleet. They handle all the shipments in about a three-hundred-mile range. We do the maintenance on the trucks. That extension he made to the garage is a boon for us since it can handle the bigger vehicles. Huge boost to the business. We have trucks scheduled all the time now. Maxx even hired a couple extra mechanics who do nothing but work on their fleet. Keeps the garage extra busy. Being commercial, they need a lot of maintenance paperwork. So, I’m constantly trying to keep up with that, as well as the rest of the front office stuff and do some of my upholstery gig.”

“Sounds like you need help.”

“Some days. It’s easier when Brett is around, but when he is gone, Charly or Gabby pitches in, which helps. But they are pretty busy with the kids. Dom steps in, but he admits he hates the paperwork and computers. His talent is under the hood. So I do the best I can. When I get behind, I ask for help.” He took another sip of water. “Maxx would hire someone if I asked, but so far, I’m okay.”

“Good.”

“You go back to work tomorrow.”

“Yes.” I sighed. “My days off go by fast.”