CHAPTER ELEVEN
Chase
IT’S DAY FIVE POST-EMERSON KISS. It’s been two days since seeing her and Bella at Tiff’s, and my subsequent grilling from Bella. To be honest, it’s killing me. Not having any contact with her is harder than I thought. To clear my mind, I decide to change up my routine, and instead of going for a run this morning, I head to the lake for a swim. And as luck would have it, Emerson is there too. My eyes bug out of my head when I see her; she is wearing the sexiest black swimsuit I have ever seen.
After adjusting myself, I saunter over to her; I just can’t help myself. I have to talk to her so I invade her picnic. Her eyes lock on me, her mouth drops open in shock, and I smile at her. The closer I get, I notice her cheeks become flushed. She’s checking me out, I think to myself as I get closer to her. As I stand above her, I feel her eyes wander over me. I can feel her stare penetrating my naked chest and find myself grinning as I drop down next to her. Leaning back onto my arms, I stretch out my legs, crossing one foot over the other. Looking toward her, I notice her eyes roaming back up my legs. Staring intently at her, I smile.
“What the heck are you doing?” she says, sitting upright in shock that I would invade her picnic. As she sits up, my eyes roam over her again and they land on her boobs, her barely covered, sexy boobs. “Eyes up here, buddy,” she huffs.
“Well, my lil’ Spitfire, you shouldn’t have them on display if you don’t want people to look,” I say with a smug grin. Leaning over, I look into her cooler. “So, what’s for lunch?” I ask.
“Nothing for you, buddy,” she snaps, smacking my hand away from her cooler.
“My spitfire is fiery today.”
“Stop calling me spitfire.”
“Why? It suits you.”
“Whatevs.”
“Case in point.” My eyes rake over her body again. “So, what are you doing here on this fine Friday?”
“Well, I was trying to relax, but as usual, when I try, some arrogant ass keeps interrupting me.”
“Do you need me to take care of him for you?” I say, grinning at her. She can’t hold back a smirk, and I notice that she’s checking me out. “Like what you see?” I taunt, wriggling my eyebrows at her.
“Meh,” she cheekily replies. “I’ve seen better.”
“Well, personally, I have never seen a more stunning specimen,” I say, lifting my sunglasses up so she can see my eyes rake over her body. My eyes land on hers, and I notice that her breathing has become labored, and her nipples are now taut beneath the material of her suit. With a wink, I pick up her sunscreen and offer, “Would you like me to rub some sunscreen on you? Would be a shame to get sunburned.”
“I’m fine thanks, I can do it.” She snatches the bottle from my hands, flips open the cap, and squirts some into her hand. My eyes watch steadfastly as she rubs the lotion up and down her arm, across her chest and her hand dips under the material. My mouth waters as I watch her hands move across her skin.
She notices me watching her. Our eyes lock on one another, our stare penetrating deep inside each other. My tongue darts out and I lick my bottom lip. She inhales sharply and that snaps me back to reality.
“You are all covered now, Ms. James, but anytime you need them, me and my hands are available,” I say, wriggling my fingers at her. She swallows deeply and that’s when I decide it’s time to go. I need to leave before I do something that should not be done on the shore of Lake Nelson. Standing up, I gaze down at her. “Enjoy your day chilling out. I hope that arrogant ass stays away.
“One can only hope,” she firmly replies. “Bye, arrogant ass.”
“Later’s, my lil’ spitfire,” I say with a smirk, a flick of my fingers in a wave and a nod of my head.
Turning, I walk away from her. Looking over my shoulder, I notice that her eyes are glued to me. Once again, I wink at her and I notice that her cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink. As I continue on to my car, I think to myself, I knew she liked me. With a happy smile, I slide into my car and head into town and work.
* * **
Early on Saturday morning, as we agreed, I head over to Emerson’s place to work on the gardens. I’m not sure if I will be welcome or not, but I offered and I always keep my word. And after seeing her at the lake yesterday, I want to spend more time with her.
Climbing in my truck, I drive over to her place. As I’m walking up the path to the front door, my heart rate speeds up when I think to myself, What if she doesn’t want me here? Before I can finish that thought, the front door opens, and I’m met with a smiling Emerson. She’s breathtakingly beautiful today, she’s wearing denim cut off jeans, a black tank top, and straw hat; never has casual looked so sexy.
“Morning, Chase,” she says, smiling at me.
Stopping in my tracks, I return the smile and say, “Mornin’, Spitfire. Ready to tackle these gardens?”
“Let’s do this. And stop calling me Spitfire,” she retorts.
“Not gonna happen, now let’s get dirty and sweaty together and tackle these gardens.” She shakes her head as she breezes past me and down the side of the house. I’m assaulted by her scent. I quietly groan and think to myself, It’s going to be a long day, as I follow her around the back. My eyes are locked on her ass, her amazing ass, which I would love to squeeze right now. I glance up and freeze mid-step. “Holy shit. What the hell have you done here, woman?”
“Well, I started pulling and then I just kept pulling and pulling and wallah, clean slate.” She uses her hands animatedly as she says this and I can’t help but laugh.
“You’re gonna be the death of me, woman,” I mumble to myself as a walk further into the backyard. I glance around the yard, which is one big pile of clippings, trees, and shrubs. “Ems, I don’t think there’s one plant left in the ground. You’ve literally ripped up everything.”
“Well, yeah,” she says. “I wanted to start with a clean slate.”
“But we could have reused some of these plants. It’s going to cost a fortune to replant this yard.”
“Money isn’t an issue and I don’t want as many gardens. I also want to put in an outdoor area, maybe a fire pit too.”
Nodding my head, I can see what she has in mind. “That could work, but we won’t get it all done today.”
“No shit, Sherlock. I know I’m a girl, but I do have a brain.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” I quickly defend myself. “I just, never mind. Come on, let’s head over to the factory and I’ll borrow the big truck. It will make it easier to get everything that we need back here in one trip.”
“Thanks, Chase. I really appreciate your help.”
“Anytime, Ems, anytime.” When I say this, her face breaks out in a super big smile and I know that we will be fine…but we still need to talk about that kiss, about the kiss I haven’t stopped thinking about all week.
“You coming?” she yells.
“Yeah, sure, let’s go.”
Twelve hours later, the backyard is on its way to becoming a masterpiece. Emerson and I work together seamlessly and today has been fun. I’m sitting on her porch stairs as she heads inside to get us some knock off beers. “Here you go,” she says, handing me a cold one. Our fingers graze and it jolts something inside me. “Do you want to sit on the swing?”
“I didn’t want to get the cushions all dirty. I’m pretty filthy.”
“Don’t I know it,” I hear her mumble to herself, and I can’t help but smile at this.
“Sorry, what did you say?” I say with a grin, wondering what she is going to say.
“Don’t worry about it, we can sit there if you want, I don’t mind.” she says.
Nice save, I think to myself as I reach up and pull her toward me. She takes a seat on the step next to me. “Here is good,” I say, taking another sip of my beer. “We did good today. You and I make a good team.”
“Yeah, we do, don’t we?” she says with pride. Her eyes lock on mine and we stare intently at one another. She breaks the connection and stares down at her feet. “Thank you for all your help today. I would have been lost without you. I knew what I wanted, but I really had no idea how to execute it.”
“Happy to be of assistance.”
We both go quiet, as we sit next to one another and drink our beer in comfortable silence.
“Chase.” “Emerson.” We both say at the same time.
“You go.” Again we speak at the same time.
This time we both laugh before we pause and stare at one another. Her eyes are ablaze and I know exactly what I want to do when she begins to talk. “Chase, I, umm, I wa—”
I don’t give her a chance to finish. I lean over, cup her cheeks with my palms and kiss her. I press my lips against hers, close my eyes, and hope with everything that I have that she kisses me back. For what feels like forever, she’s frozen, she doesn’t move. Then, all of a sudden she’s kissing me back. Her hands cover mine and she squeezes them as she deepens our kiss. Her hands grip my cheeks and she pulls me closer to her. Somehow, without noticing, she is straddling my hips, our lips still fused, our tongues dancing erotically together. Her hands roam up my back and into my hair. She gently tugs on the ends as she nips my bottom lip before plunging her tongue back into my mouth. My arms are wrapped tightly around her and I’m not game to move them in case this perfect moment is broken.
After kissing for a while, it’s me who breaks the kiss. I rest my forehead against hers. We’re both panting. Out of breath. “Ems,” I whisper. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She nods her head. “Chase, I want this. All week I’ve played our last kiss over and over in my head. There’s something between us and I want to explore it, but I’m scared. So damn scared.”
Pulling back, I stare into her eyes. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it either, but what are you scared about, Ems?”
“Losing you. I lost Brian. I haven’t kissed anyone, or been with anyone since him. What if I lose you, too? And then there’s Brian, well not really, but I felt like I cheated on him last weekend and that’s why I freaked out.”
“I don’t know what to say about Brian, but I know that if I was him and no longer here, I’d want you to be happy. As for losing me, I’m not planning on going anywhere, Emerson. I’ll be here for as long as you’ll have me. In any way, shape, or form.” I place a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Ems, I was coasting along until you blew into town. You have breathed life back into me and I think I do the same for you.”
Her eyes glass up. “You make me feel alive too, Chase. I’m sorry for freaking out last weekend. This is a big step for me.”
“We can take it slow, I don’t mind at all. I just want you in my life and happy.”
“I want that too,” she says, before slamming her lips against mine again.