Chapter Seven
The sun was fading behind the horizon by the time Mia and Chase left the festival. Even though she didn’t want to show it, she knew her limping had grown more pronounced as the afternoon turned to night. Chase had planted her on a park bench and brought things to her, from street tacos to cotton candy to a stuffed unicorn she could barely wrap her arms around.
And all that time, he didn’t stop touching her—brushing her hair out of her eyes, rubbing her shoulder, guiding her with a hand in the small of her back. All innocent to the casual observer, nothing explicit about them.
But inside, she was going up in flames.
Her skin tingled in the wake of each delicate touch. Her nipples beaded, demanding attention too. And when he trailed his fingertips down her bare arm, she had to clench her thighs together.
He was driving her crazy.
“More popcorn?” He pointed to the food booth at the edge of walkway.
“Chase.” She lowered her head and looked at him over the top of her sunglasses. “If I eat anything else, I’m going to explode.”
“Oh, that would be bad. No exploding.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “At least not in public.”
Bastard.
But he left his hand in the small of her back, his thumb tracing little designs, and she had to grit her teeth against the rush of desire that flooded her system.
Yeah, if they were lucky, both of them would be exploding at some time tonight. Maybe more than once.
They broke free of the crowds, the number of people around them dwindling as everyone returned to their houses or got in their trucks to drive home. She’d handed off the unicorn to the little sister of one of her students at one point, freeing up an arm to slip it around Chase’s waist, and eased some of the strain off her aching ankle.
He frowned down at her. “You overdid it, didn’t you?”
“Maybe a little,” she admitted.
“Do I have to carry you the rest of the way?”
She looked around. “Don’t you dare.”
“Oh, I dare. I dare a lot.” He stopped abruptly. “I have an idea.” Then he stepped in front of her and waited.
“What am I supposed to do?”
He looked over his shoulder, frowning. “Piggyback ride, of course.”
She hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. Why the hell not? A minute later, her arms were around his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist. He held on and continued on down the sidewalk.
The strain on her ankle went away almost immediately, only to be replaced with another kind of pressure. With each step, her breasts brushed against his back, her nipples tingling at the movement. The clean, masculine scent of his shampoo teased at her nose. Heat gathered in her core.
She looked up, confused, as he stopped moving. To her surprise, they were already at her front door. Wordlessly, he held his hand out for her key. She dug in her pocket with one hand while basically strangling him with her other arm around his neck. He unlocked the door and carried her inside.
It was dark in the entryway, shadows spreading across the wood floor. Slowly, he lowered her, every inch of her body sliding down his back like some delicious form of torture. When her feet reached the floor, she stood there for a moment, her nose buried between his shoulder blades, drinking in his scent.
Then he turned and took her in his arms.
This kiss was slow and easy, exploring in a way they hadn’t had time for on the Ferris wheel. He stroked his tongue along hers, sliding his hands down her back to cup her ass. He pulled her closer, his prominent erection pressing into the vee between her legs. She shifted, making space for him, and rocked subtly forward.
He groaned into her mouth. Okay, not so subtle.
She opened to him eagerly as he backed her up to the front door. She heard the snick of the door latching behind her, and sent up a quick thank you to the gods of privacy that they’d managed to close out the rest of the world pretty much by accident.
Then he slid his palms under her thighs, urging her to wrap her legs around his waist again, but this time she was facing the right direction.
The hard length of his cock pressed right between her legs, adding a steady pressure to the throbbing want that centered there. He angled his hips forward, starting up a steady rhythm that made her moan deep in her throat.
She gripped him tighter with her legs, bad ankle hooked over good ankle, meeting him thrust for thrust until she thought she could come right there, dry-humping him against the front door.
Nope. She was not going to have her first orgasm with Chase while both of them were fully clothed.
“I think,” he said, pulling back and resting his forehead against hers, “we should take this upstairs.”
“I think,” she replied, chasing his lips with hers, “that’s a fabulous idea.”
Chase kissed her again, ignoring what they’d just agreed to, but she was enjoying it too much to complain.
She could feel the buzz of desire singing through her veins, her body practically vibrating with each touch, each caress.
Oh. No, wait. She slipped her hand down to cover Chase’s pocket. “Your phone is ringing,” she whispered.
“Voicemail,” he countered. He slid his hand up her body to cover her breast, his thumb teasing at the nipple through the thin fabric of her tank top.
Her head fell back against the wall with a thunk. “Voicemail is my favorite thing,” she agreed breathlessly.
The buzzing stopped. He traced circles around her nipple with his thumb, the rest of his hand cupping her breast.
The phone started buzzing again, startling them both. His hand stilled, and she full-on whimpered.
“Ignore it,” he whispered harshly. His hands spanned her waist, pushing her tank top up to let him touch her bare skin.
The phone stopped. They both sighed with relief.
It rang a third time.
“Dammit.” Chase stuck his hand in his pocket and fished out the phone. “This better be good,” he growled.
Mia watched as he answered the call, his expression switching from irritated to confused to shocked. He spoke in short sentences, mostly listening to the person on the other end of the call. Finally, he clicked the phone off and put it back in his pocket.
He stood there, staring into space.
“Chase?” She waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth to Chase. Is everything okay?”
“I—” He shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
“Who was on the phone?”
He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That was Jack Sheffer. He wants me to audition for a show.”
*
Chase watched as joy spread across Mia’s face. “That’s fantastic. I’m so happy for you.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you happy for you?”
“I’m not sure.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Uh, you just got invited to audition for…” She stopped. “Wait, what are you auditioning for? A movie? A TV show?”
“A play.” He shook his head. “An actual, live, onstage play.”
“I hear they still do those sometimes,” she said dryly, her eyes twinkling at him.
He tilted his head in acknowledgement. “True. But not me. I haven’t been inside a real honest to God theater since—”
“This afternoon?” She pushed his shoulder playfully. “Come on, it’s like riding a bike. You’ve been a rock star at our rehearsals. Just think how fun it’ll be doing a show of your own.”
A show of his own. He could feel his heartbeat accelerating, his breathing ratcheting up. “I haven’t acted onstage since high school,” he admitted.
“And you were amazing then. You’ll be amazing now. Look at all the experience you’ve gotten since then. Movies. TV shows. You’ll kill ’em.” Her enthusiasm wrapped around him like the warm summer air here in Sapphire Falls. Comforting and familiar. She’d always been his biggest fan.
If only he had as much confidence in himself.
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “It’s pretty short notice. It was nice of Jack to ask, but I think I’ll pass.”
“What?” She grabbed his hand and marched him down to the kitchen, her limp barely noticeable. She pulled a bottle of wine and a couple of beers out of the fridge. “Pick.”
He pointed at the beer bottles, so she popped the tops off and handed him one. Then she gestured at the table and ordered him to sit.
He sat. The beer was cold and refreshing. He took another pull and waited for her to talk.
It didn’t take long. “Who is Jack Sheffer?”
“He was one of the secondary directors on Far Horizons. Great guy, really talented. Loved working with him.”
“And how did he end up offering you a part in a play?”
He shook his head. “An audition, not a part. Not yet.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “Fine, he offered you an audition. How does he go from sci-fi television to live theater?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he did theater before?” He drank again. How was he almost done with the bottle already? “He always talked about starting a theater company someday. I guess he finally went through with it.”
“What’s the play about?”
Chase propped his elbow on the table, swinging the empty bottle between his fingers. Wordlessly, she reached out and replaced his empty bottle with her almost-full one. “He didn’t tell me much about it, but he promised to email me a copy of the script. I do know it’s a world premiere, new script from some up-and-coming playwright. Jack thinks I’d be perfect for the lead role. The producers require an audition though.”
She shrugged. “Not like you haven’t been through a ton of those in the past ten years. Piece of cake.”
It wasn’t though. “I’ve only had three auditions in the past six months,” he blurted out. “And I didn’t get a callback for any of them.”
“So? Maybe you weren’t right for the part. Sounds like Jack thinks you’re right for this one.”
Maybe. Maybe he just wasn’t any good. Maybe all anyone saw when they looked at him was Hugh Stone.
“He must really want you for the part, if he called you three times.”
“He’s been trying to get ahold of me for a few days, apparently. Thanks to the crappy cell service at my mom’s house, this is the first time he’s been able to get through. They’re on a time crunch and need to have the cast set by next week.”
“When do you have to go back?” Mia’s excitement was still there, but it was tempered by sadness. He could almost see her pushing down her own disappointment to be positive for him.
He didn’t deserve her.
“I don’t. At least not unless I get the part,” he said. “Jack told me I could email him an audition video, since I’m not in L.A. to audition in person.”
“For a stage play?” Mia looked skeptical. “Okay, I guess that could work. Do you have something prepared?”
“I thought I’d just send them my clip reel.”
Mia smacked him on the shoulder.
Chase rubbed it. “What was that for?”
“Don’t be an idiot.” She waved a hand in the air, dismissing his idea. “All your clips are from TV shows and movies, right?”
He nodded.
“This is for live theater, son. You need to show them what you can do on stage.”
“But I don’t have any stage performances to send him. And they want the audition by Friday.”
She rubbed her hands together with glee. “Perfect. Let’s get to work.”