The Chase Begins (Now Published so Sample Only)

Chapter 8

© 2013 Sandra Corton

Chapter 8

They were at the baggage claim with Chase standing calmly, while she was a nervous wreck. Every minute that ticked closer to being anywhere near his parents, edged her anxiety on. This was just too much for her to handle.

"Ah, one bag down." Chase said decisively, as he quickly snatched her suitcase.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Chase Montgomery coming back home." A delicate female voice said from behind them. He turned to see his first love Amber smiling straight at him.

"Hey, Amber, were you on the same flight?" Chase pulled her in for a brief hug, before looking back to where Brianna stood only to find her gone. He cursed under his breath knowing that she couldn't have gone too far.

"Yeah, I'm just coming home for the weekend," Amber babbled on until she noticed him barely looking at her. "Is everything alright?" She distracted him from his quick visual search for Brianna.

"Of course, I just don't want to miss my bag." He gestured to the carousal.

"We should catch up while we are both here for the weekend." She suggested with a hopeful look.

"I'm flying back early on Sunday, so I probably won't have enough time. Maybe my next visit." He said with a shrug, and she nodded, but seemed rather disappointed.

Brianna watched the exchange from where she stood, trying not to completely lose her cool. The woman was beautiful with chestnut hair and a svelte body. She had one of those faces that was stunningly beautiful with crystal blue eyes to accentuate her features even more.

Brianna felt jealous, she realised with a gasp. She was jealous of the stunning woman who seemed to know Chase very well. She envied the casual intimacy that they seemed to have between them. Things like this only made her see how difficult life would be if they were together. There would always be more beautiful women than she was, and they would always be throwing themselves at him.

"Are you going to hide behind that tree all day, or should we go?" Chase asked with a grin, making her jump and her face flush at the same time.

"Hide." She answered simply, which made him roll his eyes.

"C'mon, Buttercup, you are not getting out of this." He informed her, as he unclasped one of her tightly held fists, and wrapped his warm hand around her freezing one. He tugged on her hand, but she remained rooted to the spot.

"No." She said on a whimper, and he stopped to look back at her.

He dropped his bag at his feet, as he finally noticed her panicked face. Maybe he had pushed her into this too quickly.

He felt like the world's biggest arsehole for making her feel this stressed. He just wasn't sure how to reassure her that this wouldn't be as horrible as she imagined. He cupped his hands around her face, and tilted her stricken face up, so that she had to look at him.

"I would never do anything to harm you, Buttercup. Ever. You need to trust me about this." He assured her gently, and she bit her lip not sure what to do.

She wanted to trust that this would all work out perfectly well, but she knew from experience what usually happened. Then again, she was here, miles from home, so what else could she do but meet his parents? He had her trapped in a situation that she had never asked for, and there wasn't a lot that she could do to change it. It looked like she just had to suck it up and deal with this the best way she could.