Wild Wyoming Nights (9 page)

She walked to his side with the sandwich and some chips on a plate, setting it down in front of him along with a glass of milk. “Let’s talk about that, shall we? I had an idea. I don’t have anything holding me at my house at the moment, so why don’t I just stay here with you?”

Chapter Seven

A pin drop would have been loud in the silence enveloping them. When Chase’s gaze shot up to meet hers, and he thought for sure his jaw just about hit the table. He shook his head. “That’s impossible. You can’t stay here with me.”

“Why-ever not? You have more than one bedroom, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“But nothing. You can’t get around without the crutches until they put the walking cast on in a few days. It’s impossible for you to cook, clean, do laundry and feed the animals twice a day on crutches. It’s the logical thing to do.”

Abby’s take-charge attitude fascinated him, but at the same time infuriated him. She had taken over his life and his house in the few days that he had known her, making him wonder how he managed without her for the last two years.

She’s lost her mind. Stay here? No way!
She just didn’t get it. Didn’t she understand his attraction to her bordered on insane and if he had the chance, he would have her in his bed in a heartbeat?

“You can’t stay here, Abby.”

“I don’t understand.” She walked back into the kitchen to make her own sandwich as she continued to try to convince him. “I can stay in the other bedroom and make sure the animals are fed, keep the house picked up, no big deal. We can be like roommates.”

Chase rose from his chair. Roommates? She can’t be serious?
Friends with benefits, maybe, but roommates, not in this lifetime.

Her back was to him when he hobbled up behind her. He had to convince her that staying here with him was a completely insane idea.

Abby turned when he reached her with a surprised look in her eyes and a soft, “Oh”.

He pinned her against the counter with his body and his lips hovered a mere hairsbreadth away. “You can’t stay here.”

Giving into the roar of desire in his ears, his mouth touched hers light as a feather, until he felt the softness of her lips. He hadn’t been with anyone since Krista died, and his body screamed for release. With a tortured groan, he increased the pressure and a soft moan rose to her lips as she yielded to him. His thumb slid along her jaw until he could tangle his hand in the hair at the nape of her neck. Their mouths fit together like two puzzle pieces and when she accepted the kiss, he was lost.

Her hands slid up his chest and around his neck as she pushed her breasts against him. He couldn’t stop the desire rushing between them with increasing speed, even if he wanted to. His body craved her touch. He needed her like he had to have air to survive.

Wrapping his arms around her back, he pulled her closer, and pushed his rock hard erection against her belly. She moaned softly into his mouth while his tongue danced with hers.
 

He finally lifted his mouth and opened his eyes. He pressed his forehead against hers and framed her face with his palms as their ragged breaths mingled in the air between them. The look on her face screamed of unreleased passion. Her eyelids had that heavy look and her pupils were dilated. With every unsteady breath, her pebble hard nipples poked against his chest and he almost threw caution to the wind and fucked her right there on the kitchen counter. A shudder rolled down his back as he fought for control.

“Now you know why you can’t stay here. I wouldn’t be able to keep from taking you to my bed if you did. I can hardly keep my hands off you as it is.”

“I…”

His thumb swept across her lips, effectively silencing her words. “You can use my truck, come and go as you need to so the animals are fed, but you can’t stay here.”

Chase sighed and stepped back, breaking the contact of their bodies.

She sucked in an unsteady breath and slipped away from his side. He didn’t turn around, but the jingle of keys sounded loud in the silence when she grabbed her purse. A moment later, the truck started in the driveway. With a heavy heart, he raked his finger through his hair, and returned to the cold lunch waiting for him.

* * * *

When Abby reached her house, she climbed out of the truck and ran inside, slamming the door behind her. Tears rolled down her cheeks when she thought of the man she’d just left behind. She threw herself down in her favorite chair, her heading dropping almost to her knees as she sobbed.

Why did I let him kiss me? I didn’t even let Christopher kiss me last night when he brought me home, so why Chase?
Her head snapped up.
Good God! Not only did I let him kiss me, but I kissed him back, tongue and all!

“Shit!”

The phone rang and she wiped the tears from her cheeks. She grabbed the receiver without checking the caller ID, but she wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear her mother’s voice on the other end.

“Abigail? Are you all right?”

Abby sniffed and wiped the tears with her fingertips. “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine.”

“You’ve been crying. Why?”

The tears came again in a heavy sob. “I’ve betrayed Josh, Mom.”

“How could you betray Joshua, Abby? He’s not there anymore.”

“I know that, but Chase…I let him kiss me and…I kissed him back. I feel like such a slut. I still have on Joshua’s ring and I let another man kiss me.” She curled her feet under her and wiped at the tears lingering on her cheeks.

“Maybe it’s time to take the ring off.”

She shook her head. “No! I can’t.”

“Abigail, listen to me. You loved Joshua and a small part of your heart will always belong to him, but that doesn’t mean you can’t love someone else, too. You have to open your heart, sweetheart. There is room for more than one man there. Trust me, I know.”

Twisting the phone cord around her finger, she said, “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s what Chase wants, either. He was married, too, and lost his wife in a car accident two years ago.”

“Well, then, you have something in common, sweetie. You both need to learn to love again.”

Her mother always sounded so sure of what should happen, but she didn’t think she could move on with anyone besides Josh. Abby inhaled with a shaky breath. “I just don’t think I can.”

“Give it time. If he’s the right one, you’ll know.”

She sniffed again and wiped the remaining tears. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome sweetie. Tell Chase ‘hi’ for me.”

Abby laughed. “Of course. He already thinks I’m crazy because I told him about you warning me to check on him the other day.”

“Well, he’ll learn about me as time goes along. I’m not worried about it. You haven’t told him about your gift, have you?”

“No. I can’t do that. Not now, anyway. He would think I’d really lost my mind.” She paused and shifted in the chair. “I’ll talk to you later. I have some things to do around the house.”

“All right. I love you, Abigail.”

“I love you, too, Mom. Talk to you soon.”

For the rest of the day, she puttered around her house cleaning, doing her own laundry, and fixing herself something to eat.

When she completed her list of chores, she stood in her kitchen pressing her fingers to her lips when she remembered the pressure of Chase’s mouth on hers. No one had kissed her since Joshua did the last morning they’d been together and it felt strange. The two men were so different yet so very similar. Thoughts of her sexy neighbor raced across her mind more every hour, and the dream of Joshua hadn’t returned since she had met Chase. She didn’t think she was prepared to move on with someone else, not yet. Besides, he obviously didn’t want anything more than a physical relationship and that just wasn’t an option.

The diamond on her left hand sparkled in the light when she lifted her hand.

I’m just not ready.

She sighed before she tucked a strand of her behind her ear and set about making dinner. A soft smile played on her mouth a moment.
I’ll just fix dinner and take it over there. I need to feed the animals, anyway.

Abby whipped up some lasagna, garlic bread, and salad, packed it in his truck and drove to his house. She went to the barn first and fed the animals, but she knew he watched. She was sure he expected her to leave once the feeding was done, but that wasn’t her plan. She wasn’t about to let him bully her into leaving him alone. He needed her after all, right?

After driving the truck back to the house and parking it in the rear, she slid out of the driver’s side door, and grabbed the food from the seat. She almost dropped it when she turned and met Chase’s penetrating blue eyes as he stood in the doorway. Plastering a smile on her face, she shut the door with her hip and walked toward him.

“Dinner?” She reached his side and waited for him to make room so she could pass by. He moved aside, and she slid between him and doorframe.

Once she passed him, she headed for the kitchen and set everything on the counter. She felt the warmth of his body behind her even if she hadn’t heard him shuffle into the room and she shivered.

“Abby, what are you doing?”

“Feeding a friend.” She dished up the food as she heard his stomach growl behind her. “Will you quit scowling at me and sit down? You are obviously hungry if your stomach has any say in the matter.”

* * * *

Air rushed from between his lip when he exhaled. “I was just getting ready to make myself something. You know, I’ve taken pretty good care of myself for a few years now.”

Her gaze raked him from head to toe and a slow smile spread across her mouth. “Independent.
 
I remember.”

What am I going to do with her? She just doesn’t get it! Just seeing her, being in the same room with her is driving me insane! She’s not ready for any kind of relationship, strictly physical or otherwise. Hell, she’s still wearing her wedding ring.

Abby set the plate down in front of him when he sat in the chair at the table and his stomach growled again. A smirk lifted the corners her lips and he frowned.

The smell of her skin, the green of her eyes, the softness of her hair, it was all driving him crazy and she didn’t care. It had to be her plan to slowly drive him insane.

“If that frown stays on your face much longer, it’s going to stick that way. Didn’t your mother ever tell you that?”

She set her own plate on the table, and returned to kitchen for the glasses and silverware before she sat in the chair across from him.

They ate in silence for several minutes before he got the nerve to speak. “This is really good. I didn’t realize you could cook.”

One perfectly arched eyebrow rose over her stunning green eyes. “You would be surprised at what you
don’t
know about me, Chase, or don’t care to find out.”

Is she flirting with me? Well, hell! After I kissed the crap out of her earlier, who knows?

“I care way too much, that’s the problem,” he grumbled under his breath.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

Abby set her fork down and tented her fingers under her chin. “You know, this persona you have taken on isn’t going to send me screaming into the next county. I’m trying to be your friend, if that’s what you want, especially since I don’t have many here yet.”

“What about Christopher Bridges?” Chase grimaced when the words left his mouth.

Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “What about him?”

“You went out last night, didn’t you?”

“You know we did, Chase. You called me while we were at the restaurant.”

“Isn’t he your friend or whatever, too?”

 
Do I really want to know what they are? But if they are more than friends, why did she kiss me back earlier?

Abby frowned and shrugged. “I can have male friends. I had them in New York, and I can have them here, too. Believe it or not, you can have friends of the opposite sex without anything else involved.” She took a bite of her garlic bread. Once she swallowed, she said, “Besides, I need you to teach me some things.”

She hadn’t answered his question, but he would let it slide for now. The teach her thing had him intrigued.

I know some things I could probably teach her, but I’m sure that’s not what she had in mind.

“Like what?”

“About horses. I don’t know enough to be able to do what I want with them. You’ve probably been doing it your entire life.”

“That’s true.” He shrugged and stuck a fork full of lasagna in his mouth.

Abby’s eyes danced with excitement. “See! Then you can teach me what you know.”

“That could take a while.”

“I have nothing but time on my hands. The only commitment I have at the moment is to feed your horses since you don’t seem to want me around for anything else.”

Oh, if you only knew, Abigail.

 
“I never said I didn’t want you around, Abby.”