Chapter 5
Chase was intimately aware of the fit on the bathrobe as he sat on a barstool, eating the soup Harper had warmed through. It was far too small in the chest, so there was a gap above the belt.
That wasn’t the issue, though. The real problem was that the damned thing didn’t provide nearly enough coverage below the belt. He found himself messing with it throughout the meal, thankful that Harper had opted to stand on the other side of the kitchen island to eat.
It didn’t help that just being around her was making him hard. He’d thought his handiwork in the shower would eradicate the possibility of springing another boner this evening, but no such luck.
Dinner was a mostly silent affair, which was frustrating after their rapport in the car. He took advantage of the time to look up the cabin’s listing and officially book it, assuaging his guilt at breaking in and using it without permission.
Thankfully, the cabin hadn’t been rented for Thanksgiving as it was a smaller listing in a more remote location, and the current weather wasn’t ideal for fishing.
That done, he drummed his fingers on the countertop as he pondered their situation. Perhaps there was something he could do to help them regain their earlier equilibrium.
But first, he had to do something about his state of dress. He went to gather his wet clothes from the bathroom floor, only to find they’d vanished.
He went back out to the living room, his brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” Harper was watching him, a look of concern on her lovely face.
“I was going to throw my clothes in the washing machine. Did you move them?”
Harper’s cheeks turned pink, and she busied herself rinsing out the now empty soup pan. “Oh, I did that earlier. They should be about ready to go in the dryer.”
A warmth at her thoughtfulness glimmered in his chest. He drew closer to see her face. “You didn’t need to do that, but I appreciate it. Thank you.” His voice was rougher than he’d intended, and her eyes widened as her gaze shot to his before dropping again to the sink.
“It was no trouble.”
Chase wasn’t going to let her get away with that. He put two fingers under her cute, pointed chin and gently tilted her face so he could look her in the eyes. “Maybe not, but it was kind of you, and I’m thankful. And since it’s Thanksgiving weekend, I’m thanking you.”
Her blush deepened, but the corners of her mouth turned up in a sweet, soft smile. “You’re welcome.”
He swore he could feel her eyes on his back as he went to move his clothes to the dryer.
Harper watched Chase go, the ridiculous pink bathrobe hanging only a few inches past the bottom of his ass. Was she hoping the robe might ride up? Wild horses could not make her admit it.
But when he glanced over his shoulder and caught her lowered gaze, her eyes shot back up to find him wearing a knowing grin before he faced forward again.
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. By the time she finished the few dishes they’d dirtied with their dinner, Chase was back.
“What are you wearing?” She burst out in laughter as she saw the pajama pants he now sported. Between their loud pattern and the fact that they ended a good six inches above his ankles, he could not have looked more ridiculous.
“Hey, they might not be pretty, but they’re warmer than no pants at all.” He grinned as she giggled helplessly. “I can see why someone abandoned them. I’m just glad they’re clean and stretchy.”
She wiped away a tear of hilarity as he came close. Her laugher came to an abrupt halt as she realized the loosened belt of his robe now allowed his brawny, muscular chest to be much more on display.
Chase’s chest had been an object of Harper’s lust for years, and it had become even more tantalizing once he turned pro.
She was mesmerized by the swirls of dark hair that were peppered over his pecs, the hair thinning as it ran down his abdomen and tapered to a single black trail that signaled the way to a good time.
Or so she imagined.
Harper cleared her throat, tearing her eyes away.
His voice seemed deeper when he spoke again. “It’s still pretty early. There are some games here, if you’d like to play something.”
He moved to the ottoman in front of the small L-shaped dark blue couch and lifted the top. “Ticket to Ride, Scattergories, Monopoly, Scrabble…”
“Scrabble.” Ticket to Ride and Monopoly would take far too long, and Scattergories required more brainpower than she was sure she had at the moment. Too much pressure with that ticking timer.
“You got it.” Chase grabbed the box, closed the lid of the ottoman, and set up the game board on top of it. The two of them chose their tiles and settled in to play.
Despite being tired from their travel and the ordeal of getting to the cabin, Harper’s competitive streak sparked to life, and she was ready to take Chase down. If only her tiles would cooperate.
H-I-G-H. “A whole eleven points, whoopdie doo,” she said as she added it to her column on the score sheet.
Chase added a T at the beginning and an S at the end, forming THIGHS and getting a double word bonus as he grinned at her, the bastard.
Harper played off the S to spell SIRE. Even with the triple letter on the E, it was a whopping seven points.
In turn, he added D and E at the beginning.
Her heart began a nervous patter as she stared at her tiles in disgust. The only word she could think of was ROT. A whole three points.
Harper’s mouth turned dry when she read the word Chase had formed off of ROT. EROTIC. “Sixteen points for me.” His smug grin was even wider.
Fine. That was how he wanted to play? She searched her tiles and the board, barely restraining a smirk as she played O-C-K off off a C, ending on a double word space. “Twenty four points, suck it, Connelly!”
There was a gleam in his eyes and he played off of the second C with L-I-T.
Harper stared at the word for a moment before shooting to her feet, her knees hitting the board and the tiles sliding off onto the floor. “Um, it’s getting late. I think we need to get some sleep.”
Chase nodded solemnly at her but his twinkling eyes gave away his amusement. “Probably a good idea. Tomorrow we’ll either be getting under way to Lake George, or we’ll need to get the rest of our things from the car.”
Somehow it hadn’t occurred to her that they might be beyond tonight. “You don’t think we’ll be stuck here another night, do you?”
He shrugged, looking completely unbothered by the prospect as he gathered tiles and put everything back in the Scrabble box. “Hard to tell. The snow was coming down pretty hard earlier, but if it warms up enough overnight, the roads might clear up enough for us to get through.”
Harper found she didn’t mind the thought of being here with Chase a little longer. Until she remembered her family was waiting, and hadn’t heard from them.