Paris, the men were sexy of their own right but also pretty comfortable with their feminine side. Addison had missed the über males from home—the ones that hung around her older brothers and worked with her daddy’s race horses and muscle cars.
She tucked an errant curl behind her ear and wished for a hair tie. She’d forgotten how heavy her hair felt in the southern Indiana humidity. Yet, she’d missed the heaviness of the air, the way it made her feel grounded, part of the earth.
“Thanks for taking care of the ’Vette while I was gone,” she said, thinking, safe topics only . She shouldn’t have followed him out here. She’d come home with a simple goal of avoiding scandal and slipping away before Chase could ask questions. How did she think a private chat by the water would get her there?
Chase looked at her, brow raised. “I thought you’d have preferred if I torched the thing.”
She swallowed hard. The car had been a high school graduation gift from her father. Everyone in town had smiled and commented on how it matched her personality. She’d hated it. What the hell did she need with a hot pink Corvette? “You always did understand me better than anyone else.”
“Maybe no one else understood you because you ran off to Paris before they had a chance.”
She winced.
“When are you leaving?”
The question took her by surprise. His voice was gruff, like each syllable had been dragged through the gravel at the bottom of the rocky creek bed then resurfaced, desperate for air. The sound made something ragged break loose in her chest, reminding her she couldn’t keep living her life the way she had been, running from everything and never to anything, wandering through life while her heart stayed in Decadence Creek.
She looked at her hands, realized she’d been wringing them in her lap. “I go back to Paris tomorrow night,” she said, stamping down the dread that rose when she thought of the monotony ahead of her. Photocopies. Answering phones. Arranging lunches. Not exactly the high profile fashion career she let the people of Decadence Creek imagine. “The job calls and there’s a show coming up.”
Chase kept his eyes on the river and gave a sharp nod. “Sounds like you’ve gotten everything you ever wanted.”
Not everything . “Right.”
He speared his fingers into his thick, tousled dark hair. “The way you left...”
She bit her lip.
“Real shitty,” he said, “leaving like that.”
She nodded.
“That night—” He swallowed hard as if the words were a large dose of bitter medicine. “—I had no idea you’d be gone the next day.”
Me either . “It’s complicated,” she whispered.
His jaw worked for a moment, like he was testing out words and tossing them out as unsatisfactory. “You could have told me.”
And have him talk her out of it? “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” A breeze blew off the water and she hugged herself against the chill, rubbing her arms. She was stupid to follow him out here. Stupid to think he would understand she had once needed him, more than anyone, to accept her when she’d offered herself. Even—especially—if she’d only been offering one night.
She pushed herself off the ground and turned toward the barn.
She had taken two steps when his hand on her wrist stopped her. His hot, work-roughened fingers skimmed over her skin as they traced an invisible path to her shoulder. Her breath caught as he turned her.
He cupped her chin in his hands and lowered his head until his mouth waited inches above hers. He froze above her for a moment. Their eyes locked as their breath mingled.
She tried to read him, see the thoughts he hid behind eyes the color of dark chocolate. Then his gaze dropped to her lips and she stopped breathing.
“Goodbye, Chase,” she said, but he didn’t release her and she didn’t try to move.
“You do know the word,” he said softly, but then his lips were on hers. One hand slid into her hair and the other
She tucked an errant curl behind her ear and wished for a hair tie. She’d forgotten how heavy her hair felt in the southern Indiana humidity. Yet, she’d missed the heaviness of the air, the way it made her feel grounded, part of the earth.
“Thanks for taking care of the ’Vette while I was gone,” she said, thinking, safe topics only . She shouldn’t have followed him out here. She’d come home with a simple goal of avoiding scandal and slipping away before Chase could ask questions. How did she think a private chat by the water would get her there?
Chase looked at her, brow raised. “I thought you’d have preferred if I torched the thing.”
She swallowed hard. The car had been a high school graduation gift from her father. Everyone in town had smiled and commented on how it matched her personality. She’d hated it. What the hell did she need with a hot pink Corvette? “You always did understand me better than anyone else.”
“Maybe no one else understood you because you ran off to Paris before they had a chance.”
She winced.
“When are you leaving?”
The question took her by surprise. His voice was gruff, like each syllable had been dragged through the gravel at the bottom of the rocky creek bed then resurfaced, desperate for air. The sound made something ragged break loose in her chest, reminding her she couldn’t keep living her life the way she had been, running from everything and never to anything, wandering through life while her heart stayed in Decadence Creek.
She looked at her hands, realized she’d been wringing them in her lap. “I go back to Paris tomorrow night,” she said, stamping down the dread that rose when she thought of the monotony ahead of her. Photocopies. Answering phones. Arranging lunches. Not exactly the high profile fashion career she let the people of Decadence Creek imagine. “The job calls and there’s a show coming up.”
Chase kept his eyes on the river and gave a sharp nod. “Sounds like you’ve gotten everything you ever wanted.”
Not everything . “Right.”
He speared his fingers into his thick, tousled dark hair. “The way you left...”
She bit her lip.
“Real shitty,” he said, “leaving like that.”
She nodded.
“That night—” He swallowed hard as if the words were a large dose of bitter medicine. “—I had no idea you’d be gone the next day.”
Me either . “It’s complicated,” she whispered.
His jaw worked for a moment, like he was testing out words and tossing them out as unsatisfactory. “You could have told me.”
And have him talk her out of it? “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” A breeze blew off the water and she hugged herself against the chill, rubbing her arms. She was stupid to follow him out here. Stupid to think he would understand she had once needed him, more than anyone, to accept her when she’d offered herself. Even—especially—if she’d only been offering one night.
She pushed herself off the ground and turned toward the barn.
She had taken two steps when his hand on her wrist stopped her. His hot, work-roughened fingers skimmed over her skin as they traced an invisible path to her shoulder. Her breath caught as he turned her.
He cupped her chin in his hands and lowered his head until his mouth waited inches above hers. He froze above her for a moment. Their eyes locked as their breath mingled.
She tried to read him, see the thoughts he hid behind eyes the color of dark chocolate. Then his gaze dropped to her lips and she stopped breathing.
“Goodbye, Chase,” she said, but he didn’t release her and she didn’t try to move.
“You do know the word,” he said softly, but then his lips were on hers. One hand slid into her hair and the other
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