Page 28 of Chasing Forever

“A divorce attorney? Seriously? Of all the possible careers he could have, my romantic hero is a divorce attorney?”

Talk about opposite ends of a spectrum! How could a divorce attorney be a romantic lead when he spent his days helping couples break up? Did he believe in happily ever after? How could he after all he’d seen?

No wonder he was second-guessing his career choice. But why hadn’t he told her? Was he ashamed or embarrassed? Had he been afraid it would turn her off? It wasn’t the most appealing profession, but it could be worse. He could have been a stripper or a male escort… Hmm…not a bad idea for a future book.

Callie shook her head to clear her runaway thoughts. She had a bad habit of thinking beyond the book she was currently working on, which in this case was a good sign. It had been months since she’d been this immersed in a project. Her grandmother had known exactly what she needed, and she smiled at the thought of it.

She’d needed to escape her everyday life and gain a fresh perspective, and it was working. Discovering that Chase was a divorce attorney was a minor setback and could easily be remedied. Her book hero didn’t have to be exactly like him. She could make him specialize in some other area of the law, but what? She didn’t know enough about the profession to come up with an immediate solution. However, there was nothing to prevent her from picking Chase’s brain on the subject.

Of course, she’d have to do so without arousing his suspicion that she knew what kind of lawyer he was. She’d simply act interested in the types of law that his practice specialized in, which would serve two purposes. One, it would give her more details for her book, and two, it might make him open up more.

She pretended that the first reason was more important than the second. But as she lay there trying to sleep, she thought more about Chase the man than Chase the book hero. Why was that?

She awoke the next morning with the sun streaming in through the slats of the blinds. When she got out of bed, she immediately opened them to see that the perfect Hawaii weather had returned. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and if anything, the rain had only made the colors seem brighter.

While she was standing there, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head in that direction. It was Chase, jogging on the path that ran behind the condos and down to the beach, only he was heading in her direction.

She should have stepped back but decided not to. She had every right to be looking out the window at the gorgeous scenery—him included. Even if he saw her, she’d just smile and wave like a friendly neighbor would do.

As he came closer, he glanced over, but he was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn’t be sure he’d seen her. He kept jogging, but he slowed down and then stopped in front of her window.

She started to raise her hand to wave, but he’d turned his back to her and bent down to tighten his shoelace.

“Wow,” she mumbled and then swallowed hard. The man looked gorgeous from every angle, including this one.

“I bet the other lawyers in your office secretly hate you. Except the women,” she muttered.

He slowly stood up and then performed a series of stretches. First, he tilted his head from side to side, and then he rolled his shoulders back a few times. Next, he punched his hands on his hips and twisted at the waist.

She watched every move, wondering if he went through this routine every time. It seemed like a shame not to watch. “If only you’d take off your shirt…and now he’s doing it.”

Still facing away, he slowly raised the hem of his T-shirt, revealing one inch of tanned, glistening skin at a time.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was giving me a show!” But she doubted he’d even seen her.

She admired him from the ground up—his muscular calves, tight buns, and tapered waist. His back muscles flexed as he whipped the shirt over his head and draped it over one arm.

While she was standing there gawking, she remembered writing a similar scene in one of her books. She’d written quite a few, so it was getting harder to remember which one. She smiled at the memory, and then Chase turned around.

She was caught! But rather than pretend like she hadn’t seen him, she lifted her arm and waved, even though inwardly she was cringing. He waved back and then held up his index finger as if asking her to wait.

Wait for what? I’m in my pajamas! But Chase was walking straight toward her, and she felt trapped. The master bedroom was right next to the living room, and each had a sliding glass door with access to the patio. As he came closer, he motioned for her to step outside.

She glanced down at her pajamas and back up at his smiling face. They weren’t anything special—just a two-piece knit set in pale blue that resembled a T-shirt and shorts. Still, she wasn’t used to parading around in her pajamas in front of a stranger.

Only, Chase wasn’t looking at her like a stranger at all. He perused her body from her bare toes to her bedhead until his gaze landed somewhere in the middle.

She turned away and scrambled to find her robe, but then she remembered she’d left it in the bathroom. He’d stepped onto her patio now, so she grabbed the flimsy crocheted blanket that was lying at the end of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.

The blanket was more decorative than useful, but it would have to do. It was fine for her muse to show off his body, but she hadn’t planned on doing the same.

Adopting a nonchalant air, she unlocked the patio door, slid it open, and stepped outside to greet him.

“You’re up early,” she said a little too loudly.

“I went for a run.”

“I see that.” Keep your eyes on his.