Divorced, Desperate, and Delicious

Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-four

Chase fought back the desire to follow Lacy and force her to admit the truth. She’d thought he’d left and she’d been crying, which meant that whether she liked it or not, she cared. He didn’t go after her.

Closing his eyes, he tried to calm the panic still buzzing inside his chest. Five minutes ago, he’d been prepared to come in, grab his things and leave. But then it hit him; leaving wouldn’t stop Zeke from coming back. And if Zeke returned and Lacy, with her inability to lie, wasn’t able to convince him she hadn’t seen Chase, then Zeke might hurt her. Leaving or staying, Chase had already put Lacy in danger. If he stayed, at least he’d be around to protect her.

So he would stay. But he had to keep his head. He couldn’t make her promises. Hell, no. This wasn’t casual, but where would it lead? What could he offer her? If something didn’t turn around, Chase Kelly was either going to have to decide to make a run for it or turn himself in. If he did that, there was a very good chance that he’d be doing time. Either way, he didn’t want to take Lacy down with him.

So now, no matter how much he wanted to tell her what he felt, he couldn’t—not until he knew what the future held.

* * *

Lacy was still awake when, almost an hour later, Chase slipped into bed beside her. She didn’t speak, and neither did he. Seconds ticked by like those of a clock low on batteries. She drew in a deep breath and caught his scent—an outdoors-type of aroma of wind and trees. His own inhalation followed hers and filled the dark room with a strange type of anticipation of what would happen next. Not just in the next few minutes, but regarding the next step of the relationship.

She felt him roll onto his side. The gentle sway of the mattress had her chest aching. He’d be gone soon. There would be no one making her mattress dip. Sure, the cats and Fabio, but they didn’t count.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked.

“No,” she mumbled, but swore she wouldn’t cry or beg him to never leave. She’d gone into this knowing it wasn’t permanent, a lesson in sex without commitment. And Chase Kelly had sure as heck given her a crash course in sex. It was the sex without commitment clause that had caused the hiccup.

“Me, either.” He brushed his nose against her cheek. “Can you think of—“ his tongue dipped inside her ear “—anything that might help us sleep?”

“We could play chess,” she said. “That always puts me to sleep.”

“Did you say, ‘play with your chest’?” His hand whispered up under her shirt. His words, naughty and seductive, filled her ear. “I can do that.”

Her nipples reacted instantly, pebbling against the soft pass of his warm palm. Oh, God, she loved his hands. She closed her eyes and tried not to moan aloud. “We’re behaving like a couple of rabbits, you know?”

He laughed. “Are you suggesting a new position?”

“I don’t know.” She pressed her cheek onto the down pillow to look at him. Even in the dark, she could see his green eyes and melt-me grin. “How do rabbits do it?”

“Rabbit-style,” he whispered, and kissed the corner of her lips. “Don’t tell me you’ve never done it rabbit-style?” Then he pulled back. “Wait a minute.” His hand moved out of her shirt and he bounced off the bed.

She raised her shoulders and watched him leave the bedroom. “Wait for what?” she asked the empty room.

He must have switched on a light, because a warm glow chased the darkness from the hall. Then she heard the spray of the shower in her hall bath turn on. Had he decided to take a cold shower in lieu of finishing what he’d started?