Page 68

Slipping behind the bar, I locate the beer fridge pretty easily. Just as I’m pulling a bottle out, my stomach growls and I glance behind me to the set of stainless steel swinging doors like you would find in a restaurant. I remember Ali saying something about a kitchen back here and I peek through the circular window, smiling when I see the stove. Pushing it open, I slink inside and pull open the large professional grade fridge, perusing the contents.

“Hungry?” a raspy voice asks from behind me and I jump as goose bumps race across my skin.

“A little,” I retort, spinning around and pressing my back up against the fridge. “Are you going to feed me?”

Chance smirks, a hungry look in his captivating eyes and I suck in a breath as he takes a slow deliberate step toward me and then another. He doesn’t touch me, but our bodies are a fraction of an inch apart and I can feel his body heat seeping through my clothes. Why does that feel so damn good?

“No, I had something a little different in mind.”

Crap.

Am I really going to do this? I’ve been so good at avoiding him and I could totally screw it all up by sleeping with him tonight but my body aches with need and my dreams have been filled with him every night. The way he looks at me and the way my body reacts around him makes my feelings so much deeper than they should be, than they have any right to be, and if I’m being perfectly honest, it scares me. With each passing day, I can hear him pounding at the walls guarding my heart but my mind drifts to Ali and the blissed out look on her face anytime she’s around Logan or someone even mentions his name. I want it so badly that I feel a twinge in my chest, urging me to take a chance for the first time in twelve years.

“We shouldn’t,” I whisper and he tilts his head to the side, studying me with a little scowl I find adorable.

“And why’s that?”

I place my hands on his chest, contradicting every word that’s coming out of my mouth. “You already know why, Chance. This is getting messy and I can’t do messy.”

“And what if we stop making it messy?” he asks and I shake my head, closing my eyes because it hurts too much to look at him right now.

“What would that look like?”

Reaching up, he gently cups my cheek, brushing his thumb down to my jaw and my whole body aches for more as I pry my eyes open and look up at him. “What Logan and Ali have.”

“I… can’t do that.”

“Who hurt you, Princess?” he asks for the second time and I jerk away from him, but he doesn’t let me go, holding me close and even as I fight, I want to give into him.

“You don’t know me, Chance.”

He laughs, shaking his head as he stares down at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper, pressing my forehead against his chest. There is a part of me that’s clinging to that notion but if I’m forced to think about it then no, I don’t really believe that. Chance knows the real me, he always has.

“Please,” he pleads and I pull away to meet his gaze. “Give us a chance. I’m fucking crazy about you and I don’t want to walk away from this.”

Before I can react, he leans down and presses his lips to mine. My body goes lax against him at the first touch of his lips and I sigh as I grip his forearm. It’s gentle but so tender and I can feel everything from him as he shows me all the things he can’t say. His other hand comes up, framing my face between his palms as he pulls back and searches my eyes for a moment. Tears sting my eyes and I jerk my face out of his grip as I stare at the floor.

“What are you doing to me?” I mutter, closing my eyes to fend off the water works. I try to wiggle away from him, but he pulls me closer, forcing me to face this and I feel something breaking inside me.

“Look at me,” he whispers and despite my inner protests, I pull my head back and meet his gaze. I’m stripped bare, all my pain laid out in front of him as my walls come crashing down all around me and he pulls me closer. “Just let me in, baby.”

“I can’t,” I croak, the first tear spilling down my cheek and he shakes his head.

“You can. Just let me in, Carly.”

“You don’t understand. It’s not that easy. Don’t you think I want to let you in? I want all the same things you do but I can’t. This is all I can ever be for you and you deserve better than half a person.”

He grabs the back of my neck, keeping my eyes on his as determination flashes in his gaze. “You are not and you have never been half a person. I’ll consider myself so damn lucky for everyday you allow me to be in your life, so I never want to hear you say shit like that again.”

Sucking in a choppy breath, I study him but all I can see in his eyes is complete sincerity. How can he possibly mean that? “I don’t know how to be any other way.”

“I’m not asking you to be any different. I want you, just the way you are.”

I shake my head, fighting against how right everything he says feels. “I don’t know how to be in a relationship. You won’t want me when all I do is push you away because I have no idea how to do this.”

“It hasn’t sent me runnin’ yet, has it?”