CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Emerson
WHAT THE HELL? ONE MINUTE I’m kissing Chase, about to ask him to come inside, and the next I’m standing on my front porch, alone. I’m left standing by myself, as I watch Chase drive away. Shaking my head, I turn around, unlock my front door, and go inside. Heading into the kitchen, I pour myself a big glass of wine and head back into the living room. Plonking down on the couch, I sip my wine and replay everything from tonight. I thought it was a great first date, and I was ready to take the next step when we got back to here, but then Chase froze and took off. Jumping up, I yell to the room, “Screw that!” Grabbing my car keys off the kitchen counter, I head outside, climb into my Mustang, and drive over to Chase’s place.
Pulling up, I race up his front stairs and bang on his door. “Chase Archibald—you open this door—right this minute.” I’m met with silence so I bang again. A light inside flicks on and Chase opens the door, wearing only a pair of navy boxer briefs. My eyes roam quickly over his body and I moan at the sight before me. Holy shit, his body is a masterpiece. Ripple after ripple form the best eight, yes, eight-pack that I have ever seen. My eyes eventually land on his, but he’s confused to see me. He opens his mouth to say something, but I raise my hand to silence him and jump in first. “What the hell, Archibald? You kiss me like my life depends on it, and then you leave me high and dry.” He’s staring at me open-mouthed and stunned. “I wanted nothing more than for you to take me inside and ravage me, instead you left me standing on my porch alone, all hot and bothered.” I place emphasis on the word alone.
“Ems…”
“Don’t Ems, me. What the hell?”
“I’m sorry. I froze. When you said my name, I thought you were having second thoughts. I know it’s your first time since Brian and I didn’t want to make it difficult for you. So, I left, I’m sorry,”
“Chase, I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
I step toward him and rest my palms on his chest, his heart is racing a million miles a minute, much like mine. “Chase, please,” I say before lifting up onto my tippy-toes to kiss him. He reaches forward and lifts me up. Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. He walks us inside and kicks the door closed. He takes us to his bedroom where we explore each other’s bodies. He worships my body from head to toe, several times, and just as the sun is coming up, we blissfully fall asleep in each other’s arms.
* * *
Lazily, I open my eyes. It takes me a few moments to get my bearings, and I realize that I’m in Chase’s bed. I’m currently tucked comfortably into his side. It’s perfect and I don’t think I’ve slept this well in a very long time. My bladder lets me know that I need to get up. Reluctantly, I untangle myself and I climb out of bed and make my way into the en suite. After emptying my bladder, I run my fingers through my hair and walk back into the room. Chase is sound asleep, the sheet covering his lower half, and I smile when I think about all the things we did last night.
Reaching down, I grab his shirt on the end of the bed and slip it on. Buttoning the shirt, I exit his room and walk down the hall into his kitchen. I stop mid-step when I see Judy and Jonathan in his kitchen. Jonathan is sitting at the table reading the morning paper and Judy is, by the smell of things, cooking pancakes. Jonathan sees me first and says, “Morning, Emerson.” Before he goes back to reading his paper, as if seeing me here is normal for a Sunday morning.
“Morning, Sweet Pea,” Judy says, with a grin. “Coffee?”
“Please.” I manage to squeak out, before I quickly sit at the table across from Jonathan. My cheeks darken in embarrassment when I realize that I’m wearing nothing but Chase’s shirt, nothing. I am beyond mortified at the moment. Chase saunters into the kitchen, a pair of sweatpants sitting low on his hips. My eyes roam his body; my cheeks darken when I remember what I did with my tongue and his abs last night. “Morning, Ma and Pa,” he says, as he walks over to me and kisses my cheek.
Jonathan says, “Morning, Son.” Before turning his attention back to the paper.
Judy says, “Morning, Chase.” She grabs a mug from the cabinet and begins making a coffee for me.
Chase sits next to me and huskily says with a wink, “Morning, babe. I panicked when I didn’t find you still in bed next to me. Then I smelled Ma’s pancakes and I knew you’d be out here. Sleep well?”
Judy places a coffee in front of me and smiles at us both. She kisses Chase on the forehead before turning back to the stove. “Where’s my coffee, Ma?” he says.
“You’ve got two legs and a heartbeat. Besides these are nearly ready, and while you’re up you can get the plates and place the syrup on the table.” He sits there staring at his mom open-mouthed, and I’m trying to stifle a laugh when Jonathan booms, “You heard your mother, hop to it.”
“I’m going. I’m going,” he says. I laugh and watch as he stands up and grabs the plates and cutlery and sets the table. He then makes himself a coffee and sits next to me again. As I sip my coffee, I look around at everyone and I find myself smiling. This is nice, I think to myself. I haven’t ever had a Saturday morning like this, and I hope that I get to again. I don’t realize that everyone is now sitting at the table until I hear Judy say, “Dig in.”
The four of us have breakfast together, chatting and laughing. Before I know it, Judy and Jonathan have left and it’s just Chase and me again. I realize that I’m still in his shirt, so I stand up and say, “I’d better go get changed and head off. I’ll leave you to your Saturday.”
Before I’ve taken two steps, Chase comes up behind me and pulls me into him. He nuzzles my neck and nibbles on my ear before whispering, “Or we can go back to bed and I can have my wicked way with you.”
Spinning around, I look up at him, kiss him on the nose, and walk backward away from him. Staring intently at him, I lift my hands, and with each step, I undo a button on the shirt I’m wearing. When I’m in the doorway to his bedroom, I slip it off my shoulders; it billows at my feet so I’m standing naked in front of him. Without saying a word, he stalks toward me, and scoops me into his arms, taking me to bed, where for the next few hours we get to know each other’s bodies…again and again.
* * *
Chase walks me to the door and says he will be over at three to pick me up for our afternoon at The Tav with Rooney and Talia. As soon as I’m inside, I lean against the front door and find myself smiling, genuinely smiling. Last night was magnificent. Pushing off the door, I head into my bathroom and begin running a bath. I need a good soak because I ache from head to toe. When I slip into the water, I replay parts of last night and find myself slightly aroused again. Sex with Brian was always great, but sex with Chase is different. It’s out of this world amazing, but he’s a different lover than Brian. Taking a breath, I sink under the water and think to myself that I’m lucky to have found two amazing men who both treat me wonderfully, each in their own respective ways.
When the water turns cold I hop out, and while I’m drying myself, I realize that for the first time when I think about Brian, I don’t get sad. I’m filled with joy and happiness at his memory. Flicking on Spotify, the first song to play is “Rock the World” by The Script. I take that as a sign from Brian that he’s okay with this. That he wants me to be happy with Chase. And I am happy with Chase, really, really happy.
I’m in the kitchen when I hear Chase pull up, and rather than wait for him to come inside, I race outside to meet him. He’s walking up the path, and when he’s in proximity to me, I launch myself at him. He catches me and I wrap my legs around his waist. Lowering my head down, I kiss him. We are in full view of my neighbors, but I don’t care. I attack his mouth as if I’d die without this kiss and it feels so good.
Breaking our connection, Chase looks up at me, his eyes are ablaze with lust, I’m pretty sure mine are the same. “You can kiss me hello like that anytime, Ems. But if we want to make it to The Tav, you need to hop down now, otherwise, we’ll be giving your neighbors a free show.” With a giggle, I lower myself down.
“Sorry, I’m just so happy at the moment and I think it’s all to do with you,” I shyly say.
“Ems, I’m over the moon happy too. Now, let’s go before I take you inside and ravage you, but I will say, I’m glad you are wearing a dress. Easy access,” he says, as his hand snakes up the back of my thigh and he squeezes my butt. “Ems, the first time I saw you, you were wearing a yellow sundress, and from that moment, I was under your spell.”
My heart soars hearing this and I seductively nuzzle his neck and whisper, “Do we really have to go?” My body quivers with desire. “Can’t we just head inside and have our own party, a very naked, sexy party. Just the two of us?” Breathing him in, my body shudders, lust bursting through my body. I’ve never been so turned on by a man’s scent before, but Chase’s scent does things to me that I’m sure are illegal in many countries.
“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes we have to go, Ems.” He groans when I nibble his jaw, my hand snaking down toward his fly, but he’s too quick. He grips my wrist before whispering, “But later your body is mine. All. Night. Long.”
I shudder when he says this and reluctantly I grumble, “Fine, let’s go.” As we walk to his truck, he laces our fingers together, and I clench my thighs together to dull the ache that he has created between my legs.
Ten minutes later, we pull up at The Tav. Chase and I link hands and we walk inside. Immediately, Chase spots Rooney and Talia in the back. They are deep in conversation with someone and they all turn to face us when Chase waves. I pause mid-step when I realize who Rooney is chatting to; the last person in the world I expected to see here. “Shez, what are you doing here?” I say.
“Hey, Emerson,” she says before she looks toward Chase and smiles. “Chase, long time, no see.”
In unison, we both look at each other and ask, “How do you know Sheridan?”
I’m in complete shock right now. I’ve been avoiding Sheridan’s calls for weeks now. I know I should have called her back the other day, but I’m not ready to face it yet. Sheridan interrupts my thoughts. “Emerson, Chase and I went to CU together. Chase, I met Emerson in New York. She’s been avoiding me so I decided to make a trip here. Thought I’d kill two birds with one stone: see Emerson and catch up with you. And who knew that I’d find the two of you together? I never would have expected that, but now that I think about it, I can totally see you guys together.”
“What a small world,” Chase says.
We all grab a drink from the bar and as we walk over to a booth, Chase wraps his arm around me and pulls me into his side. Normally I’d happily wrap my arm around him too, but at the moment I’m shocked. Not that Chase knows Shez, but that she’s here, in Nels Cove. I’m finally going to have to face up to what I ran away from, but I’m not ready to deal with it, not when I’ve only just found me again.