© 2013 Sandra Corton
Chapter 14
Her head throbbed, her mouth tasted foul and her eyes were hard to force open. Floral curtains she didn't recognise opened to a view that looked vaguely familiar. She let of a tortured sound as she moved the tiniest bit while trying to figure out where she was. Her stomach heaved threatening an expulsion so she stayed as still as she could.
"Morning Buttercup, how are you doing?" A voice rumbled from nearby.
"Bad." She answered croakily without moving as dizziness took over her for a moment.
"You need to have more fluids." The deep voice said again but in the next instant whatever she was lying on moved as did her stomach.
"Oh no!" She muttered as she dragged her hand to her mouth.
"It's okay here."
She felt a cool something pushed into her hands. She was able to squint her eyes to realise it was a metal bucket of some sort. Thankfully her stomach contents settled briefly as she ascertained the mouth of the bucket. The roiling nausea began again and this time her stomach contents were determined to be released.
"Ugh so sick." She grumbled to herself.
"Do you feel any better?" Chase asked as he leaned over to wipe her mouth with a fresh tissue.
"No." She mumbled.
"Come lean on me, you need to have some water and tablets." He said as he propped her against him.
He leaned over to get the items he had left on the bedside table. She let out an involuntary moan as he placed them into her shaky hands. She managed to swallow the tablets without too much drama and the water felt refreshing in her mouth.
She gingerly lay back down on the bed after that. His mobile phone vibrated on the table near to the bed and he carefully got up to reach it. The disruption sent Brianna's head into a spin while her stomach heaved again.
"Andy what are you ringing for?" Chase accused which was all Brianna heard as her concentration was taken by the dizziness that overwhelmed her.
The pounding in her head increased as Chase began yelling into the phone. She tried to sit up and make sure everything was alright. With a horrible noise she went back to being prone and tried to focus around feeling so unwell.
She decided this was the worst she had ever felt in her life. No sickness had dragged her under as badly as whatever concoction Andy had made for her last night.
"Well Buttercup it seems you can't just yell at Andy when you feel better." Chase said as he sat carefully on the edge of the bed.
"Huh?" Brianna forced her eyes open but quickly closed them as the world spun for her yet again.
"Andy only put one shot in your drink but Lindsay apparently added more when the other two weren't looking. Andy knew one shot would be too much for you so she's been feeling bad about it all night." Chase explained to her.
"Serves her right." Brianna grumbled making Chase laugh.
"She feels even worse since she talked to me and I told her how sick you are."
"Good." Brianna said through gritted teeth as he head throbbed intensely for a moment. "Sleeping now."
She laid her head ever so carefully back on the pillow and he watched as her face eased back into sleep. He grabbed the wine bucket off her that the owners of the hotel had given him. He grimaced at the contents before heading to the bathroom.
His phone vibrated again and he rolled his eyes to the ceiling as he went to answer it. Seeing his brother's name flash up on the screen just had him groaning. The last thing he wanted to do was argue with Will when Brianna was curled up so innocently on his bed.
"Hey Will I hope you're ringing up to apologise for being such a tool." Chase said before his brother could speak.
"Hah funny but no." Will answered snidely.
"Then what do you want? My girl is sick and I need to look after her." Chase told his brother who sighed.
"She's the problem Chase. Look I don't want to be a dick about this but she's no good for you." Will said seriously making Chase close his eyes and grit his teeth.
"Back of Will! For God's sake don't ruin this for me." Chase pleaded with his brother.
"Do you really think she's the one for you?" Will asked in amazement.
"Yes I do, so let this animosity you have towards her go. She's my girl." Chases voice softened as he gently pushed her hair back off her face.
"Fine. When are you on location and I'm not to be seen?" Will grumbled.
"I'll send you an email with all the details. If there's nothing else I've got better things to do" Chase answered.
"Chase?"
"What Will?" Chase said with a frown.
"Just be careful okay. I don't think she is what you expect her to be."
"Bye William!" Chase said in exasperation.
He hung up the phone wanting to throw it across the room. Why couldn't his brother see Brianna the way he did? He glanced down at her again and knew quite simply that he would give up everything he had for her. She was becoming that important to him.
He lay with her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist gently, trying not to disturb her. She let out a mumble that made him smile. She had been talking in her sleep during the night and her thoughts provided interesting telling. He liked the fact that his name was mentioned a lot, not always complimentary but the positives outweighed the negatives easily. That was enough to give him encouragement.
She awoke again to find her throat dry and raw but her headache had thankfully lessened. She squinted against the light coming to blind her but managed to finally open her eyes fully. The bed was empty so with great care she pushed herself onto her elbows. She finally spotted Chase sitting at a desk with a laptop in front of him. Reading glasses sat on the edge of his nose making a studious image that Brianna admired.
"It's hard to believe that you're the same guy who flashed his naked butt in a movie." She told him the second before she slapped her hand over her mouth and blushed like crazy. She couldn't believe she had blurted that out!
"So that's what you girls were doing last night hey?" He looked over to her with a cheeky grin making the blush spread even more across her face. "How are you feeling?"
"Slightly better." She showed a tiny gap between two of her fingers as she held them up.
"Then have some more water and tablets. Hopefully they will help you feel even better." He gestured to the bedside table. She slowly turned to find a delicious looking glass of water and two tiny tablets. She gulped both down quickly and felt her thirst slackened a little.
"So just out of curiosity here, what did Teresa think of that movie?" Brianna asked unable to help herself as Chase refilled her glass and handed it back to her.
"She told me it was fine if I wanted to flash my nakedness to the world. Then she added that she was going to tell all her friends about it. She intended to have a big movie night, invite everyone she knew, which is basically the whole town to show off her son." Chase said with a roll of his eyes. Brianna couldn't help the laugh that escaped her until the headache pounded into her skull again.
"So that's not you?" She concluded and he sent her a wink.
"Yep that's not me."
"What do you know Lindsay was right." Brianna mumbled.
"Lindsay right, how?" Chase asked with a snort.
"She reckoned it was a body double. She really only said it to get a rise out of me I think." Brianna frowned as she tried to recall what was said.
"And did it work?" Chase raised an eyebrow at her which she couldn't help but smile at.
"Not for me but Andy and Macy argued over it for quite some time." He let out a grunt at her words and started packing away his laptop. She drank another glass and felt surprisingly better.
"I think I need a shower." She muttered as she pushed herself off the bed and wobbled her way towards the bathroom. "I haven't got anything clean." She stopped in the doorway with a grimace.
"Andy said she would drop you over some clean clothes later." Chase said as his gaze settled on her.
"But I want to get clean now!" She whined, scrunching up her face.
"Then by all means do. You can have a shirt of mine." He tossed an article of clothing at her that landed on her shoulder.
"But I need clean underwear." She grouched and then stopped as his eyes drifted the length of her body, heating her up. "Don't worry I'll be fine." She quickly ran in and slammed the door. She regretted it instantly when her head started throbbing again.
She felt so much better when she turned the shower off. As she dried herself she was finally able to take in everything around her. She was in Chase's hotel room! Panic hit her hard knowing that the owners sent their grandchild to her child care centre every day.
Now it was going to look like she spent the night here. How was she going to face them? Was this going to be her first ever walk of shame? She put her head in her hands and let out a groan.
"Buttercup are you alight in there?" Chase rapped on the door.
"No!" She called out.
She pulled on his shirt and had never felt more naked in her life. She may have been completely covered but the lack of underwear was making her feel incredibly uncomfortable. Now with the thoughts hammering her mind as hard as the headache, she wasn't sure what to do.
"What's wrong?" He asked his voice etched with concern.
"I'm in your hotel room." She answered as she leaned against the door not daring to come out.
"Yes and?" Chase asked her.
"And the owners put their grandchild in my care every week day." Brianna replied her voice rising.
"Right well that explains their reaction last night." Chase said knowingly. Brianna pulled the door open with her eyes going wide as his words registered.
"What do you mean?" She asked in a whisper.
"They were going to call the cops on me. They thought I spiked your drink and was dragging you back to take advantage of you." He sent her a saucy smile.
"Goodness gracious!" She whispered not quite sure what to say to him. "So what happened then?" She had a desperate need to know even though her face was squashed up as though she was in pain.
"I explained it was all evil Andy's doing. They then handed me a wine bucket the second before your vomit would have hit their clean floor." She closed her eyes on a groan. This was a disaster she wasn't going to be able to explain her way out of. "They understood Bree. There are not going to be any judgements made here. In fact that old couple were as sweet as pie to me after that."
"I can only imagine." Brianna replied dryly as she rubbed a hand over her wet hair.
"Of course if they walked into this room right now they might have very different thoughts to last night." He sent her that wicked grin that always seemed to curl her toes.
"Why?" She asked with a shake of her head.
"Because I know you're wearing my shirt without a stitch of anything else on under there." Her face blushed again at his heated words. "Gives me all kinds of ideas."
He stroked a hand along her bare arm which she quickly pulled away from. His eyes gleamed at her rather triumphantly and she had no idea what had caused that reaction in him. One step closer to her and she was engulfed in his earthy, masculine scent. This time when she felt dizzy she knew it had nothing to do with being sick; it was all from his presence.
"You told me something last night." He said as he skimmed his knuckles down her cheek.
"I did?" She mumbled with a frown as she combed back through her memories.
"Oh yes and it was a biggie."
He sent her a huge smile which instantly made her apprehensive. She knew she talked sometimes when she drank. Between that and it making her sleepy it was why she avoided drinking. Dread had her biting the inside of her cheek hard. Did she want to know what her mind set free to him of all people?
"Just tell me already, get it over with." She told him shortly.
"Sweetheart nothing would give me greater pleasure than knowing that you like me." His voice lowered humming along her veins with equal pleasure and trepidation.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to focus. What on God's green earth did she tell him? His fingers slipped into her hair making her feel a little fuzzy. Everything went out of focus as he scattered kisses across her face.
"Good golly." She mumbled and he let out a chuckle.
"I love that about you." He told her softly. "In fact I'm starting to love every tiny little thing you do."
His lips landed on hers brushing lightly before pulling away. She leaned into him and grabbed his shirt, needing another of his intoxicating kisses. Hearing his sweet words was more potent than anything she had ever heard. She crushed her lips against his, wrapping an arm around his neck while her fingers unclenched on his shirt to run over his chest.
His hands had a tight hold of her shirt on either side of her waist. That snapped her thoughts back to her. Naked under the shirt remember, her brain reminded her sarcastically. With a harsh intake of breath she pulled away from him.
"You've got to stop doing that." she muttered as much too herself as to him.
"Not from what you told me last night." Chase answered with a laugh as he stepped closer and let his lips slide down her throat.
"What....um....what exactly did I say?" She pushed the words out around the temptation that his lips and body offered her.
"Hmmm let me see, I think it was along the lines of 'I think I'm falling in love with you.'" He teased as she went still.
"No there is no way I said that." She muttered through a harsh breath.
"Yes you did." He tapped her nose with a finger as her face went pale and she felt a little of her nausea return.
"Oh fiddlesticks!" She cursed under her breath not daring to look at him.
Had she really gone and blurted out her feelings for him? He sure didn't look like he was joking. In fact he was looking at her kind of smitten. This couldn't be happening! Now she was destined for a broken heart for sure. She knew he wouldn't let up if he thought she even remotely returned a single feeling he might or might not have.
A knock at the door couldn't be more fortuitous or annoying. She frowned at it as Chase went to answer it. As soon as she recalled it could be Mr and Mrs Hamilton, who owned the hotel, she rushed into the bathroom with a squeak. Andy's voice wafted through the door igniting Brianna's anger at her friend so she hurried back out of hiding.
"I am so mad at you right now!" Brianna yelled at Andy who winced. Brianna let out a huff as she rubbed at her throbbing temples, yelling certainly hadn't helped her headache.
"I know and I'm really sorry." Andy said sincerely as she handed Brianna a change of clothes.
"Do you even know how sick I've been? I apparently vomited in front of Mr and Mrs Hamilton! Their grandchild goes to my centre Andy. Do you know how bad that looks? I don't even feel like you're my friend anymore. You used to actually care about me but recently...." Brianna trailed off unable to say anything else through her fury and sadness over the way her friend had treated her.
She stormed off to the bathroom to get changed and at least feel more comfortable. She brushed the angry tears from her eyes and tugged on her clothes. She had never been more grateful to see underwear than right at that moment. She composed her features, rubbed at her pounding skull and sucked in a breath.
"Bree I've been doing some dumb things and I'm sorry. I've got to stop listening to Lindsay's crazy ideas. Can you please come out and talk to me?" Andy pleaded through the door.
"Just go away Andy." Brianna said in a tired voice. Knowing her friend had been listening to Lindsay only saddened her more.
"Bree?"
"Go Andrea." Brianna ordered harshly and she finally heard her friend leave.
"You okay Buttercup?" Chase asked through the door.
"Yeah as I'll ever be." She muttered as she opened the door to face him.
"Well I guess we had better get going then." He gestured to his suitcase and duffle bag that was sitting next to the door.
"Alright but where exactly are you going?" She asked feeling a bit perturbed by what was going on.
"Home with you obviously." He said with a roll of his eyes and she backed away from him, thoughts of Andy's behaviour becoming a distant memory..
"Where did you get that idea from?" She forced the words out through the shock that gripped her. He dropped the bags he had picked up and turned back to her.
"The moment you told me you loved me is the moment I come camping on your doorstep." He sent a glimmer of his smile her way.
"Goodness gracious! Look Chase whatever I said last night, I was drunk and it doesn't mean anything." Brianna tried to insist but his grin only broadened.
"I know why Andy gave you a drink Buttercup. She said it's like truth serum to you. So no matter what you tell me now, I know you told me the truth." He said smugly and she let out a groan.
"That doesn't mean you can move into my house with me." She said with a stamp of her foot.
"Throwing a tantrum is not going to work, as cute as you look." He leaned over to drop a kiss on her lips which she fought against responding too. "C'mon Buttercup you know you want to." He teased which only had her closing her eyes.
"No I don't." She tried to insist.
"Are we really going back down this road?" He asked with a raised brow.
"I never knew we even got off that road." She muttered in response.
He shook his head at her wryly as he approached her. She sent him a disconcerted look right before a squeal escaped her lips when he scooped down to pick her up. He walked across the room holding her tenderly until he deposited her on the desk he had been working at.
"Right I'm about to bear my soul here so I hope you're ready for it." He said looking at her with a soft smile.
"And what's that got to do with me sitting here?" She asked tipping her head to look up at him.
"Oh that's just a view I've been imagining all day while I've been watching you sleep." At that his grin turned naughty as his gaze wandered lazily along her figure. "It would be even better if I was sitting in that chair with you straddling me, but I'll take what I can get." He sighed dramatically while her mouth popped open and her body heated up.
"So what were you going to tell me?" She made herself question him as she tried to force his image from her mind.
She watched as he let out a puff of air before leaning into her, his face going serious. His large, warm hands rested against her hips on either side of her body as his figure towered over her. There was vulnerability in his expression that instantly softened her heart. She knew then he really was going to tell her something big.
"I believe it was last week when I told that you are a missing puzzle piece in my life. I wasn't joking about that Brianna. You seem to think that you're out there on a ledge all alone with how you feel about me, you couldn't be more wrong though.
"I'm falling for you just the same as your falling for me. I want to spend every second of the rest of my life with you. That's why for the time I've got left I'm moving in with you. Next week I'm going to be across the country somewhere. Not being able to see you or touch you is going to kill me inside. All I'm asking for is the rest of this week Buttercup, please?"
She was stunned by his words with no idea how to respond. Nobody had ever said such wonderful loving words to her and actually meant them. Deep inside her the love she felt for him opened a little more, glowed a little brighter. Give him a chance Bree, come on, her mind encouraged. She glanced up at him and knew from the earnest expression on his face that he was as serious as he could be.
"That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She whispered as she reached a shaking hand up to touch his cheek. He smiled softly and leaned into her hand.
"So is that a 'yes Chase you can move in with me?'" He asked with a cheeky little grin, his cocky mood restored.
"I guess it is." She whispered. "But don't think for one minute that means you can take advantage of the situation." She finished more sternly.
"Would I do that?" He asked innocently as he pushed her knees apart and stepped between them. She squeezed her eyes shut as his body pressed intimately against hers.
"Yes." She hissed through her teeth as his fingers slipped under her t-shirt.
"Don't you know it Buttercup!" He sent her a saucy wink as he stepped back out of her personal space.
He walked back to his bags by the door and held his hand out to her. A smile lit her face as she got down off the desk and went over to him, taking his offered hand. He said he was falling for her and she was finally beginning to believe him. Maybe it was time to stop fighting her feelings, to accept him and the love his eyes offered her freely.
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This story has now been published! At the moment it is available digitally through Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Scribd, iBooks, and Barnes and noble. The two bonus chapters that used to be on here are now included in the published version as well as the additional chapter that I wrote for the start of the story.
If you are interested in other stories of mine these are some of the titles:
Finally (now published)
How we began (now published)
A world of love (now published)
This supergirl has no powers (now published)
I met him on the balcony (now published)
Mystery Man Revealed (now published)
The girl who writes and the boy who likes her
The series of Reflection stories (there are 5)
A dragon for your thoughts (now published)
And I'm now writing: Summer love and all its follies
I hope you enjoy them too :)