Here Comes Trouble (30 page)

Within the next nanosecond, he’d spun them around and had her perched on the edge of the entryway table. The table wasn’t very big and barely managed to hold her. She had to scoot to the very edge and hold onto Chase’s shoulders. The sneaky bastard had probably done that on purpose. Once he had her comfortably situated, his mouth left hers and traveled down her neck. She willingly tilted her head to one side so he had the most access possible. His hot tongue left a deliciously wet trail from her ear to her collarbone. How did he know just the right spots to spark lights dancing behind her eyelids? After their first time together, he’d already memorized all her erogenous zones and how to work them
just
right. And apparently she had a lot of them. More than she ever thought possible. The man ought to be awarded a master’s degree in the art of pleasuring women.

She attempted to return the favor by grabbing two fistfuls of his shirt and pulling the hem out of his pants. Once she had the shirt free, she ran her hands underneath, up to his chest. He really did have the most amazingly fantastic pecs; sculpted and smooth but with a soft, thin layer of hair that tickled her fingertips. Her favorite thing had been to lay her cheek over the hair and savor the feel of it against her skin. She circled her index fingers around his nipples and smiled when the points puckered.

Chase tore his mouth off her neck and stepped out of her reach. “You infuriate me,” he said on a growl, then yanked her shirt over her head.

He
infuriated
her
? Lacy couldn’t make sense of her thoughts when he touched her.

Once her shirt hit the floor, his masterful hands grabbed the ends of her shorts, slid them down her legs then tossed them aside with an impatient flick of his wrist. No way did she want to be the only one clothed; plus, she really loved a naked Chase. Without bothering with the buttons, Lacy shoved the shirt up his chest, and then ripped over his head. Then, with shaky hands, she undid his slacks and pushed them down his legs. His penis, magnificently long and thick, pointed directly at her. Unable to wait a second longer, she wrapped one hand around him and squeezed.
That
got his attention. A deep chest groan vibrated up through his throat and his eyelids dropped closed. Just to torture him a bit more, she glided her hand over the silky skin of his shaft. The memory of this powerful muscle inside her sent the same shivers through her that went through Chase. Just as she got a good rhythm going, Chase shoved her hand away and grabbed her hips with his hands.

A startled gasp left her lips when he pulled her almost off the table and entered her with one long, deep stroke.

“Chase, the bed –”

“Too far,” he said when he withdrew and slammed himself back in.

Her panting turned into a cry when his pelvis bumped up against hers, creating a breathtaking friction against her sweet spot. The rickety table wobbled beneath the force of Chase’s powerful hips. Lacy felt incredibly vulnerable hanging halfway off the table with the only thing holding her up was where the two of them joined. To remedy that she braced one hand behind her and wound the other around his neck. After a few slow but enthusiastic pumps, Chase’s pace grew faster and more vigorous. Lacy lifted her hips in perfect synchronization to his then dropped her head back let out a low cry when the base of his shaft hit
just
the right spot. He took advantage of her exposed neck and placed open-mouth kisses just below her ear. Warm, swift breath fanned across her skin when he rammed against her with enough force for her elbow to buckle. The unexpected loss of support startled her enough to have her sliding the rest of the way off the table. Lacy had no idea how he did it, but somehow Chase managed to react quickly enough to keep her from falling on her bare ass.

With the skill of an acrobat, he held her up while managing to stay inside her. She sucked in a shallow breath, when his arm pulled her hips closer to his. The strange move he pulled to keep them joined was almost like having an out of body experience; he actually moved deeper into her. Her head dropped to his shoulder and she moaned against his skin. The next thing she felt was the wood floor on her back when Chase lowered the two of them to the floor. He shoved her legs farther apart with his knees and she took the invitation to lock her ankles around his lower back. Once they had a comfortable position established, his hips resumed their pumping. After about four hard, deep pumps, Lacy’s inner muscles started contracting as her orgasm broadsided her with the force of a category five hurricane. Her fingernails scored into the steel-like muscles of his shoulders and her eyes drifted shut. The feel of his iron thickness dragging against her sensitive, clenching flesh had her letting out a high-pitch cry. The pleasure of it all was almost too much for her take. For a second, Lacy thought she might have actually blacked out.

Immediately following her orgasm, every muscle in Chase’s body coiled tight like a snake then he groaned low and deep against her throat.

Sixteen

“Do you really think I made a mistake firing Becky Lynn?”

Three days after their confrontation in the front hall of her house, they were still discussing this. “Yes.” Lacy didn’t look up from the drawing in her lap. Her pencil curved over the paper with a deliberate slowness as she tried to recreate a photo of a full-grown bull moose she’d taken at Yellowstone years ago. So far she’d gone through two versions of the photo before scrapping the drawings. Problem? Chase kept distracting her.

“Tell me why,” the man sitting at the foot of the bed demanded of her.

A weary sigh flowed out of her. She dropped her pencil to the paper and lifted her attention to him. “Because she’s a kid who made a mistake and I think she deserves a second chance. Don’t you?”

He pulled the last piece of combination pizza out of the box and shoved it in his mouth. The man could put down food like a dang horse. “Thievery isn’t tolerated at McDermott’s,” he answered after swallowing. “Do you have any idea what my father would say if he found out I didn’t fire the person who’d been stealing from us?”

“I really don’t think Becky Lynn is that person. She ate a dinner roll for crying out loud.”

“And then proceeded to shove three more in her pants pockets.”

Okay so that part was a little more difficult to explain. Surely the girl had a good explanation for that?

“What did she say when you confronted her?”

Chase shoved the last bite of pizza in his mouth. “Are you going to eat these?” He gestured to the two pizza crusts on her discarded paper plate. Lacy shook her head no. “Becky Lynn is pregnant.”

She slowly lifted her eyes to him just as he crammed half the crust in his mouth. “I know.”

Chase licked his fingers and grabbed the last crust. “You know?” When she didn’t respond, he shook his head. “Apparently she was feeling extra nauseated and needed something to eat before she threw up all over the dining room. According to her it was a one-time thing.”

“I still have a hard time believing it. She’s what, nineteen?”

“Twenty.”

She shook her head. “Exactly why you should give her another chance.”

One of Chases’ thick brows flew up his forehead. “What kind of example would I be setting if I brought her back after she stole?”

“No one would have to know.” She set aside her drawing and stacked her feet in Chase’s lap. “Becky Lynn was one of your best waitresses. I know she made a bad judgment call, but I really think you should give her one more chance. If she messes up again then fire her. For heaven’s sake, Chase the girl is pregnant. Don’t add unemployed to her list of troubles.”

“Her pregnancy isn’t my problem,” he said as he wrapped a hand around her ankle and pulled her foot to the center of his lap. Her heel rested on the manly part of him, which was covered by a pair of soft gray boxers. Neither one of them had bothered with much clothing since forcing themselves out of bed long enough to order a pizza. Chase had hastily pulled on his underwear for no other reason than to keep the delivery boy from reporting Chase for indecent exposure. The closest thing to his bed had been the tank top Chase had thrown on the floor. After digging her underwear from the depths of the sheets, she pulled the top on in time for the pizza box to be dropped on the center of the bed. For the past half hour the two of them munched on pizza and shot the breeze about odds and ends topics. She refused to listen to her stomach and had unwisely shoved two pieces of pizza in her mouth. Her insides had been turning over on themselves ever since.

“Okay, I know you’re not that insensitive,” she said, returning to the subject at hand. Hey, he asked for her honest opinion. Lacy had never been one to sugar coat her feelings.

“Maybe I am,” he said with a wicked tilt of his mouth.

She settled deeper in the sheets and leaned her head against the backboard. “You’re a closet sensitive, Chase.” When his blue eyes narrowed she giggled. “You pretend to be tough, but on the inside you’re all mush. Ow,” she complained when he pinched her baby toe. “You can deny all you want but I see right through you.”

“See, I don’t think you’re thinking clearly.”

The grin remained on her face when he skimmed his thumb along the arch of her foot. “I can’t imagine why.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Depends on where you plan on going with this.” The man had never-ending stamina. Lacy had barely been able to keep up when he’d roused her from a light slumber and turned her over on her stomach. Sleep was something she valued above anything else. When Chase’s hands floated to her hips and lifted them, Lacy had only been able to sigh in contentment. The groan he let loose in her ear had traveled through her nerve endings down to where their bodies joined. Lacy had never experienced anything like that. Being taken from behind while Chase buried his face in her neck had made for an intensely erotic orgasm; one that had left her unable handle anymore for a least a few hours. He’d taken pity on her by letting her grab another hour of sleep before ordering late night pizza. While she thought food would calm her stomach down, all that grease had left her feeling…odd.

The man seated at the foot of her bed sensed her stomach issues and grabbed a bottle of Tums from his bathroom. They’d helped enough to the point where she’d been able to settle back in bed comfortably.

“I think you’ve had enough for one night,” he concluded when her eyelids grew droopy.

“I think I probably agree with you.”

Several hours later, the room was draped with the inky blackness of a moonless night. Lacy had drifted in and out of sleep for Lord only knew how long. Chase shifted and turned over just as many times as her, leaving the sheets a tangled mess around their legs. After settling in a semi-comfortable position on her side, Lacy blinked into the darkness and willed sleep to take her tired body. Just as her eyelids swept down over her eyes, Chase shifted again and folded one arm behind his head. A soft sigh filled the quiet space of his room.

“What’s wrong?” she asked when she realized he joined her in non-slumber land.

“Just thinking.”

She rolled onto her back next to him and stared at the ceiling. “Don’t stress over the Becky Lynn situation. You were right about setting an example to the employees.”

“I wasn’t thinking about Becky Lynn.”

She turned her head on the pillow and glanced at his handsome profile. “What’s got you so restless then?”

He was silent for a moment before answering. “Something I’ve been keeping to myself for a long time.”

Uh oh
. Things that were intentionally buried were never good topics of conversation. Certain unsettling events in a person’s life where usually left un-discussed for a reason. Lacy ought to know. She had very good one named Dennis Taylor.

Not even a hair on Chase’s body moved. His ocean-blue eyes bore into the ceiling as though looking directly at whatever plagued his mind. A sudden heaviness had settled over the two of them, making the skin on her back of her neck itch.

“What is it?” she finally asked.

“My college girlfriend.”

A thick, tense pregnant pause filled the air around them. His college girlfriend? Was he serious? Didn’t he know that mentioning a woman, especially an old flame, while in bed with another one was enough to have his naked ass kicked out the door? The man certainly had balls, she’d give him that. But why now? Why, after how many years after the fact, would he be thinking about some girl he dated in school?

“I’m not reminiscing about good times, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he reassured her after he took his attention off the ceiling and placed it on her.

“Of course not.” She tried not sounding flippant but failed.

He rolled onto his side and slid some hair over her shoulder. “We dated for little over a year and were thinking about getting an apartment together off campus.”

An unwanted burning sensation developed in her chest. Lacy tried to tell herself it was more heartburn but even she wasn’t that delusional. “Don’t need to hear all the details.”

“Jealousy is very becoming on you, Miss Taylor.” He flicked her nose.

She swatted his hand away. “Go on with your story.”

“Are you sure?” The uncertainty in his voice sent her heart all aflutter. No way in heck could she fall in love with him. Her sanity couldn’t afford that sort of head over heels tumble.