Cowboy Take Me Away (10 page)

Hope rose, dropping her feet over the side of the bed and wiggling her toes into the thick carpet before stretching her arms out again and padding quietly down the hall to peek into her son's room. She nudged the door a little and saw him lying sprawled across the covers, one of his legs hanging off the side. She stood awhile, just staring at her little man. He deserved to have a father in his life, to have the kind of idyllic childhood she'd had. She was the one who'd made the decisions, yet it was he who'd suffered, even if he didn't realize that yet. He'd liked his stepdad, but it wasn't the same as having his biological father in his life.

Hope walked quietly back to her room and stripped down, jumping in the adjoining shower. She rinsed her hair and washed it, then lathered her body and washed all the suds off. She ran one hand across her breasts, caressing them, her nipples hard nubs, the water warm and inviting against her skin. When Chase had touched her there …
Enough!
Hope flung her hand out and turned the faucet off, water dripping off her as she stood blinking droplets from her lashes. What she'd done with Chase was as much a mistake last night as it had been five years ago, and the last thing she needed was to start fantasizing about him in the shower.

She dried herself, dressed in jeans and a tank, and applied some makeup, leaving her long hair wet and twisting it up into a knot. She'd dry it after breakfast—if she was lucky she might get to have a coffee and read the news on her iPad before Harrison even woke up. Usually he was snuggled in her bed already, but he'd obviously stayed up late having fun with the sitter and instead of calling out to her at two a.m. had kept on snoozing.

Hope flicked her coffee machine on and opened the pantry, frowning when she realized it was virtually empty. Harrison would eat his Froot Loops like usual, but … She leaned back, listening. She was sure she'd heard something.

Knock, knock, knock
. It sounded out again. She headed into the hall, pleased that she had a peephole that she could peer through before opening her door. No one ever just swung past her place for the hell of it, because she'd only just moved here, and definitely not at this time of the morning.

She stood on tiptoe and peered through, expecting to find a salesman or a pesky neighbor. But it wasn't a neighbor. It was Chase.

Hope ran her hands down over her jeans, palms instantly sweaty. What the hell was he doing on her doorstep?

“Chase?” she said as she swung open the door.

He raised two paper bags and gave her his butter-wouldn't-melt smile. “You're either going to kill me for knocking on your door this early, or thank me for bringing breakfast.”

Hope leaned against the door, finding it impossible not to return Chase's infectious grin. “It just so happens I've been staring into the pantry, willing some food to materialize. So you're in luck.”

He chuckled and took a step forward. “So does that mean I can come in?”

She leaned back and waved her hand down the hall. “So long as you don't mind the mess.”

Hope shut the door behind Chase and watched as he sauntered slowly into the kitchen. He was wearing the same jeans he'd had on the night before, a dark pair that made it more than obvious how good his butt was, paired with scuffed boots and a fresh T-shirt. Damn him for looking so good so early.

“So what are you still doing in town?”

“I stayed at Nate's apartment,” he said, setting the bags down on the counter and turning slowly, checking the place out. “Then I woke up early and felt like an asshole for what went down last night, so I thought I'd come here before heading home.”

“So you came bearing gifts?” she asked, reaching for one of the bags to see what it had inside.

“Yeah, something like that,” he said. “I just…” Chase spread his palms out on the counter and leveled his gaze on her, his dark eyes like a storm cloud drawing her closer to danger. Everything about him was so impossible to pull away from, his eyes as magnetic as the rest of his damn body.

“Mmmm, cream cheese and jam. My favorite,” Hope announced, ripping open the bag and taking a bite. She swallowed as Chase watched her, dabbing the corner of her mouth and feeling more than a touch guilty. “Oh my God, please tell me this one was mine?”

He laughed. “I still remember what you like,” he said. “Jam and extra cream cheese for you, bacon for me, and one with just cream cheese in case your son wants something, too.”

Hope stared back at him, her bagel still in one hand, a napkin in the other. Suddenly it was like she was attempting to swallow a small rock when she tried to chew and digest another bite.

“I guess we did eat breakfast together a lot,” she managed, avoiding the fact he'd brought something for Harrison.

“Are you kidding?” he said, ripping his bag open at the same time as he made himself comfortable on a barstool. “Half the time we were eating breakfast before we'd even been to bed after a big night.”

She chuckled, the feeling of nostalgia passing as she remembered their early years at college. “You're referring to the nights when you hadn't taken some gorgeous leggy blonde back to your dorm, right?”

He frowned, eyebrows drawing together. “Hey, I didn't discriminate. There's nothing wrong with a beautiful brunette.”

“Seriously though, you definitely had a thing for blondes.”

His frown faded, his expression more serious. “Maybe I was trying to compensate for not being able to have the blonde I really wanted.”

If she'd been trying to swallow stones before, now she was trying to swallow rocks. “Coffee,” she muttered, realizing her machine was still on. Just her luck she'd have burned the motor out leaving it on so long with not enough water in it, and these days it wasn't like she could just go out and buy another one. “You still take it black with sugar?”

She heard him move behind her, his boots scuffing against her wooden floor.

“I'll always feel like a shit for ruining our friendship that night, Hope, but it wasn't like I hadn't wanted it for a long time.”

She tried to ignore him, focused on the coffee machine, on filling it up with water and setting both cups on the tray. They'd gone over this last night, talked around what had happened, and it wasn't something she wanted to discuss when she was sober. She'd done her best to block out that night, to push away her guilt, but with Chase standing behind her, his feelings on the matter more than clear, it wasn't exactly easy.

Hope froze. Chase's hands touched her shoulders, his palms firm as his thumbs locked at the top of her back. His touch was light yet firm, making her want to lean into him and relax at the same time as wanting to escape his hold and run.

“Seeing you again, it's brought everything back,” Chase said, his voice gruff as he leaned in. His breath was hot against her neck, his hand moving to gently scoop up her hair and brush it to one side so her bare skin was exposed. Goose pimples rippled across her entire body, her fingers barely functioning as she tried to continue making the coffee.

“Things have changed,” Hope murmured, trying to stay focused, to not be swayed by Chase's touch. If he knew the truth he wouldn't be saying any of this to her. “I've changed.”

“Yeah, but this hasn't,” he insisted, his mouth closing over her neck, lips so smooth, so delicate against her that her knees were in danger of buckling. “Nothing about how much I want you has changed. Just now we don't have to worry about screwing up our friendship. We already did that.”

Hope reached to flick the switch on the machine. Her brain was telling her to be sensible, but she couldn't. Instead she wavered, let her body take over, resting back ever so slightly against Chase, his chest firm against her back, his frame big and comforting as he slid his hands slowly over her shoulders and down her arms, drawing her back.

“Mom?”

Hope leaped forward, smashing her hip into the counter she moved so fast. “Harrison!” She as good as shoved Chase on her way past to get to her boy, her heart swelling as she saw him standing there in the middle of the kitchen, hair sticking up in every which direction, his teddy clutched tight against his chest as he stared at the strange man in the house.

Hope bent and placed a smacking kiss on his forehead before scooping him up into her arms. Her blood still felt like it was on fire and pumping around her body at a rapid pace, her body screaming out to her that the man she wanted was still so close, but she stayed focused on her son. When he was with her, nothing else mattered—not even Chase King. She was a mom and that was just the way it had to be.

“Sorry, sweetheart, I was just about to come back up and check on you.”

“Who's that?” he asked, peering over her shoulder as she cuddled him.

Hope turned slowly, taking a deep breath and holding Harrison even tighter. His legs were looped around her waist and he leaned back to get a better look at Chase when she faced him. This was a moment she'd never imagined, not in a million years.

Harrison, this is your dad.
That's what she should have been saying. Only she'd planned on keeping this a secret forever, or maybe she just hadn't accepted that this was something she had to face one day. Instead she took a deep breath and forced a smile, her heart starting its rapid beat.

“Sweetheart, this is mommy's friend Chase. Chase, this is Harrison.”

“Harris,” her son said, wriggling to get down. “Only Mom calls me Harrison.”

Hope forced her breath out, her lungs constricted enough without forgetting to exhale. The sensible part of her knew that there was no way Chase would put two and two together, that all he'd see was a cute kid and not even think about who his father might be. As far as he was concerned she'd had a husband, and he was the dad. But another little part of her wondered if he might see the resemblance, if the deep brown eyes mirroring his would set off something inside him that told him the truth.

She watched, helpless, as Harrison took a couple of steps closer to Chase, his teddy tucked firmly under one arm now as he sized up the man in front of him.

“Hey, Harris,” Chase said, dropping to his haunches and holding out his hand. “I'm a friend of your mom's from way back when she was at college studying to be a veterinarian.”

Harrison eyed him, not taking his hand but watching him anyway.

“How about a high five instead?” Chase asked, holding up his hand and grinning when Harrison touched palms with him.

“Why were you touching my mom before?” Harrison asked.

Hope clamped a hand over her mouth, meeting Chase's gaze as they both tried not to laugh. She could see that he was finding keeping a straight face even harder than she was.

“That's a great question, buddy,” he said, still staying at eye level with Harrison, facing his accuser. “You're pretty protective over your mom, huh?”

Harrison nodded and she moved closer to her son, dropping a hand to his shoulder.

“Chase used to be Mommy's best friend,” she told him, letting Chase off the hook. “He was trying to help me with the, ah, coffee machine.” She didn't like lying to her son, but it wasn't like she had another option right now. Besides, if she was honest with herself, she'd been lying to him all his life where Chase was concerned.

“How about I make that coffee,” Chase said, clearing his throat and rising. His eyes were dancing with humor, the corner of his mouth tilting upward just enough to make his dimple crease. “Black?” he asked her.

Hope dropped a kiss into Harrison's hair, inhaling the sweet smell of his shampoo as she took a deep breath. “Please,” she murmured.

Never in a million years had she expected to end up in Texas again, with Chase King standing at her coffee machine, in her kitchen, and her son wriggling out of her grasp to clamber up onto a barstool to watch him.

“Oh yum, bagels!” Harrison announced, not noticing the box of Froot Loops and bowl she'd put out already for him. He also didn't seem to notice it already had a bite out of it when he reached for Chase's discarded bacon and cream cheese one, tucking straight into it.

“Sorry,” Hope whispered when Chase turned around.

He just laughed. “Don't sweat it, I'll just have the plain one.”

If only she could just relax instead of being a jangling ball of nerves, but the simple fact that they liked the same bagels only made her feel worse than she already did.

“Was my mom out with you last night?” Harrison asked as he munched, almost impossible to understand. She wasn't going to call him out on talking with his mouth full, he'd only get embarrassed and he was having fun chatting.

“Yeah, she was,” Chase replied, turning around again and putting her coffee on the counter.

She mouthed
thank you
as she slid it down toward her. He grinned back, way too at ease in her kitchen for her to be comfortable.

“Can I go with you next time?”

“Harrison,” she interrupted before Chase had a chance to answer, “how about you and I go out for pizza tonight? It just so happens I've heard about a great place.”

“We've only just moved here, you know,” her son announced, completely ignoring her, all his attention on Chase. “We come from Canada, but Mom got a new job here.”

“You've got a lot to say, little man,” Chase said with a chuckle as he turned again, this time with his coffee cup in his hands. “I think you and I are gonna be good friends.”

Hope's heart started its rapid-pounding-then-stutter thing, making her feel sick to her stomach. Taking the job here had been a no-brainer, but ending up reconnected with Chase was just downright dangerous. She took a sip of her coffee, grimacing as it burned the tip of her tongue.

She needed to get Chase out of her house, and, like the big bad wolf he was, not let him back in.