Chapter 4
Chapter Four
CHASE
I just met my future wife.
I was calling it. Didn’t matter that she was technically already married.
She wasn’t wearing a ring. And the look on her face when Tessa mentioned it?
That was not the reaction of a happily married woman.
Fuck me sideways…
She was perfect.
Dark waves of hair spilled over her shoulders, glossy and thick—hair you wanted to get your hands tangled in.
Her skin—golden, warm, smooth—looked like it would taste like honey if I was privileged enough to press my lips to it.
And her eyes—Christ, her eyes—big, dark, assessing.
The kind of gaze that stripped a man bare, left him feeling like he’d just been diagnosed with something terminal.
She wasn’t just beautiful; she was a force. Smart, capable, untouchable. Except she wouldn’t be untouchable to me.
Because I’d decided—the moment I saw her sitting in that booth, with absolute certainty—that she was made for me.
She didn’t know it yet, but I’d make her see.
I’d kept one eye on her all night. I didn’t miss the way the vibe took a nosedive when Tessa sat down, but shit seemed to pick back up after Elena knocked back four shots of tequila.
Elena.
What a beautiful fucking name.
Elena Everton.
Sounded so damn good.
I shook off the daydream as I watched Tessa pull away from the curb, taking my future wife with her. It was cold as shit standing out on the sidewalk in the middle of December in front of Callaghan’s, and I wasn’t wearing a coat.
I’d run out here when I came back from the pisser and noticed they were no longer in their booth. Just in time to see Elena fall on her bony ass.
She looked too thin—not that it was right to judge any woman’s weight. But despite her beauty, her eyes had looked a bit sunken and sad.
Like she needed a big hug and a cheeseburger.
Instead, she had to settle for my daring rescue as I scooped her up from the sidewalk. She was light as a fucking feather and smelled like heaven.
Like trouble wrapped in vanilla and something dark—burnt sugar, maybe, like that time my mom left caramel melting on the stove just a second too long. That scent stuck in your head, clung to the backs of your eyes, settled in your lungs like a promise you didn’t fully understand yet.
It was warm, but not overly sweet. Clean, but not sterile. It was the kind of scent that belonged to a woman who didn’t chase, didn’t beg—who just existed, effortlessly drawing you in like gravity with a pulse.
And now that I’d breathed her in, I knew one thing for certain.
I’d never be the same.
I woke up feeling good for a change.
It was only nine in the morning, and I wasn’t hungover. Usually, I was passed out until about noon, waking up just in time to disappoint my entire family.
Again.
Last night, I’d been too busy watching Elena to tie one on.
And after Tessa drove away with her in the passenger seat, the night felt over.
So I went home and fucked my fist while thinking about the stunning, fierce woman who was too tiny to handle four shots of tequila and remain upright.
Annnnd, I’m hard again.
Living in my parents’ basement made daytime jerks a little risky, but the shower was always a safe space. I climbed out of bed, leaving the sheets rumpled and the comforter balled up on the floor. Must’ve been hot dreaming about Elena all night.
I scratched my chest while my dick tented my gym shorts.
My bare feet padded across the cold concrete floor toward the small basement bath.
It wasn’t much, but at least I had some semblance of privacy down here.
Being upstairs in the room next to Mom and Dad’s was just a wee bit too close for comfort at thirty-one years old.
Though, if I really wanted privacy, I could get my shit together, find a job, and rent an apartment. Should be easy enough, since even my little brother and sister managed to do it.
Fuck, but they had it easy.
They weren’t living in the shadow of their perfect twin brother.
I swung the shower nozzle toward hot as balls, because it was chilly as fuck down here.
By the time I’d washed my hair and soaped my body with the same bottle of suds—because, efficiency, right?—my dick was still hard.
“What’s one more tug to start the day?” I muttered as I wrapped my hand around my cock.
My mind immediately conjured long, dark hair and big, brown eyes peering up at me from her knees. But as quick as the vivid picture appeared, it shifted. Suddenly, I was on my knees for her, and fuck if it didn’t feel right.
I’d crawl for her.
Beg.
Plead.
Sell my soul to make her mine.
And I barely fucking knew her.
I stroked myself harder, faster, imagining the honey-smooth skin of her thighs draped across my shoulders as I feasted on her, making her come with just my tongue.
Was she loud when she came undone?
Would she scream for me?
With a few more pumps, I painted the shower wall with my cum and leaned my forehead against the shower surround.
Damn, I need to get my shit together.
There was no time like the present. I stepped out of the shower toward the small vanity, dripping all over the linoleum floor.
“But first”—I held up a finger to my reflection as I dried off my hair—”some exercise.”
I layered up before hopping into my beater of a truck and heading toward the Sable Point Resort and Spa. It was busy as hell this time of year with tourists traveling to northern Michigan to go skiing, snowmobiling, fat-tire biking.
Me? I was going boarding.
I hopped outta my truck near the lodge, hoping to grab a cup of joe before hitting the slopes.
I passed a couple of kids chasing each other around the lobby, still in their pajamas, and smiled to myself. It reminded me of growing up, chasing Jasper around the house with Elliot while Mom helped Charlie learn to walk and Dad worked out on the orchard with Papa.
At the small café in the lodge, I ordered my coffee black and a plain bagel with cream cheese. My order was up in no time flat, and the scalding hot coffee was sliding down my throat when I turned from the counter to head back outside.
Except I nearly choked on the liquid when dark hair piled in a messy bun on top of the head of my perfect woman appeared right in front of my eyes.
Holy hell. This is fate or some shit.
“H-hi.” Oh, fucking smooth, Chase. Jesus.
“Hello.” God, her voice was sultry, sexy. Or maybe it was just a little rough because she was clearly hungover.
Either way, my cock twitched in my pants. How many times would I need to get off to this woman to stop my dick from acting so desperate?
“How ya feeling this morning, Sweetness?”
She scowled and moved around me toward the counter. “Need coffee.”
I followed her like some sort of lost puppy. Fuck, I’d let her collar and leash me if she so pleased.
“Coffee. Black,” she ordered.
“Hey, me too!” I raised my cup to her, and she looked at me as though I was gum beneath her shoe.
I chuckled, and it came out a little nervous. Shit, when was the last time a woman made me nervous?
Elena paid for her coffee and took the offering from the barista with a muttered, “Thank you,” before she turned to look at me. “You’re still here?”
Damn, she was sassy. I liked it. A lot.
“I am. Wanna sit?”
She shrugged but stepped toward a booth in one corner of the café. I slid in opposite her, and it was so much like our encounter last night at Callaghan’s, I almost felt as though I was getting a second chance to get this right—without any pesky blondes to interrupt us.
“So, how do you know Tessa?” I asked.
She took a long sip of her coffee before answering. “We were assigned as roommates freshman year of college, and then lived together by choice for the last three years of undergrad. Never could get rid of her.”
I grinned.
“I hear you’re going into business with her,” Elena stated.
“Nuh-uh, not me.” I held up my hands. “That woman terrifies me”—that earned me a smile—“and I have nothing to do with the family business.”
“Why not?”
It was my turn to shrug. “Black sheep of the family and all that,” I said, waving off the topic. “How long are you in town?”
“One more night,” she said. “I have to be back at the hospital tomorrow night.”
“Nurse?”
“Doctor,” she said pointedly.
Doctor.
Hot. As. Fuck.
“Nice.” Nice? Really?
We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. I drummed my fingers on the table while she downed her coffee, perking up bit by bit. If I looked in the mirror, I wasn’t sure I’d recognize myself.
This woman had me so spun up.
“Hey, what are your plans for the day?” I asked, an idea sparking.
“Die a slow death thanks to tequila and a meddling best friend.”
“Nah, you’ll survive, Doc. You’re already looking better.”
She snorted.
“It’s okay,” I said. “You don’t need to tell me I look good. I already know you think I’m pretty.”
Yes! High five, me!
Elena blushed a bit, and the chubby I was sporting turned into a raging hard on.
“Do you ski?” I asked. “Or snowboard?”
“No. I come here for the coffee and the spa.”
“Do you wanna learn?”
Elena raised a brow, eyeing me skeptically. “Are you gonna teach me?”
I shrugged again, trying to play it cool while my heart raced at the prospect of spending more time with her. “Sure, why not?”
Elena’s perfect eyebrow arched higher, her lips quirking in a skeptical smirk. “Do you even know how to teach someone to ski?”
“Yeah, I taught my sister when she was little.” Charlie had been a natural, picking it up way faster than I had. “I prefer boarding, but we can ski.”
“What if I want to snowboard?” A glint of challenge sparked in her dark eyes.
My cock twitched at her defiance, her spine of steel. “It’s more difficult.”
She lifted her chin, fire flashing across her features. “I’m a Harvard-educated doctor. I think I can figure it out.”
The sass in her voice made me want to drop to my knees right there in the lodge café. Instead, I grinned at her feisty attitude. “Okay, Miss Sassy Pants Doctor. Let’s see what you got.”