Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Noah
“Noah, sweetheart. I need your help.” Chase comes bursting through the door with two bunches of flowers. He stops short when he takes me in sitting and peering at my laptop.
“What are you doing?” he asks quietly.
“Erm, nothing.” I quickly shut the lid of the laptop and stand to give him my full attention.
“They look nice. What did you need my help with?” He doesn’t press me further but I can see the furrows on his forehead.
It’s alright for him, he has millions of pounds.
I need to earn my money and there’s no way I’m ever going to become dependent on him, apart from the terms of his investment of course.
I don’t want him to worry about me but I do need to keep working hard.
After a few more seconds of staring at me, he brandishes the flowers.
One is much larger than the other and rather showy.
“I need help deciding which one to take for your mom. This one is elegant, but rather small. I don’t want her to think I’m mean. But is this one over the top?”
I laugh, because his face is twisted in a grimace and he’s biting his bottom lip.
“Don’t laugh.” He almost whines, and I take a couple of steps to close the gap between us.
“Are you nervous?” I chuckle softly.
“I said don’t laugh,” he grinds out, which again sounds whiny but also very sexy. “I’ve never done this before. The whole ‘meet the parents’ thing.”
“What? Never?” I can’t keep the surprise from my voice.
“Never ever,” he sighs. I never thought I’d be the first anything for Chase but this does feel special.
“You know, seeing the great Chase Knightly flustered is kind of hot.” I cup both his cheeks with my hands and tease his lips with my teeth and tongue until he groans against my mouth.
He’s stuck holding the bunches of flowers and can’t move as I kiss down his jaw.
I run my hands down his chest and then hold his hips and pull him close as I breathe into the sweet spot between his neck and shoulder.
He almost vibrates as I press my body against his, and I can feel how hard he is, straining against his trousers.
“Sweetheart. If you don’t stop that, I won’t be responsible for what happens next, but these flowers will be ruined and we’ll end up being late.
” His rich voice sends tingles up my spine, and much as I’d like to see what would happen if I pushed him further, I don’t really want to arrive at my parents’ house late and looking like I’ve just had sex.
“We can save it until later,” I promise as I step away, and he groans about that too.
“Now I’ll be thinking about that all night.”
“Then it’ll take your mind off being nervous.” I giggle.
“Not if I spend all evening trying to hide a boner,” he grumbles. “Now help me with these flowers.”
I consider them both.
“My mum doesn’t really care for money so yeah, the big one might be a bit over the top. But her favourite colour is lilac, so if . . .” I pluck a few blooms out of the larger bouquet and poke them into the other bunch. “We do that, then it’s perfect.”
“Thank you.” He smiles and hands me the flowers for my mum while he disappears, hopefully to give the other bunch to Macy. He returns with a bottle of wine.
“I chose a bottle of rioja from Gran Amor. I presume that will be fine.”
“Actually, it’s a good choice. Did you know the vineyard is owned by the cousin of one of Rafe’s boyfriends?” I ask as we walk to the door and out to the car.
“I didn’t. All I know is Nate and Ru have been there. They told us about it during the dinner party at their house, so of course I bought a crate.”
While Grant drives us over to my parents’ house, I tell him as much as I can, which is only what Rafe has told me about Constantin and his cousin.
But it entertains Chase and stops him overthinking about meeting my parents.
Even so, as we stand on their doorstep I hear him take a deep nervous breath.
“Relax, darling, they’re just people,” I whisper as the door opens and my mum greets us with a big smile.
“Noah,” she says and opens her arms. I step into her embrace and allow myself to be engulfed in a full-on mum hug, which is the best. She releases me and steps towards Chase.
“And you must be Chase.”
“Yes ma’am. I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs Ellington. These are for you.” He holds out the flowers.
“Oooh, how lovely, and my favourite colour. And please, call me Nora.” She takes them with delight and he holds out his hand.
She ignores it and goes to hug him too. I watch in amusement as his eyes widen slightly before he submits.
I perhaps should’ve warned him my mum is a hugger, but honestly this is more fun.
“And I brought this as well.” He passes the bottle of wine over and my mum takes it, reading the label. I know with my parents’ friendship with Rafe’s, she’ll recognise it, and she nods approvingly.
“Thank you, come and meet Henry.” She leads us along the hallway and into the large lounge. My dad is over by the drinks cabinet. He comes forwards and shakes Chase’s hand and they introduce themselves. Mum gives dad the bottle of wine, and he too reads the label.
“Lucky choice or insider knowledge?” My dad quizzes him and I groan inwardly, but Chase turns on the charm.
“Recommended by some friends, but I didn’t know about the connections with the Aldersons until Noah mentioned it.”
My dad smiles and I heave a sigh. I wasn’t nervous as such, but there was still some anxiety. Chase said he’s never met parents before, and I haven’t ever brought anyone home. Not that I don’t think my parents will love him as much as I do.
Love.
The word bursts in my head and I get stuck, just staring at Chase talking with my father.
I can’t hear what they’re talking about.
All of my senses are narrowed on the gorgeous man before me.
I don’t know what love feels like, all I know is that I miss him like a limb if he’s not close by, and when he is, everything feels right.
And I can’t imagine feeling this way about anyone else.
Maybe I should ask Rafe, he should know.
A tugging on my arm breaks me out of my reverie and I push the word out of my head for now.
“C’mon, I need your help in the kitchen.” My mum links her arm through mine and pulls me out of the room.
“Well, he’s very handsome,” my mum says as soon as we’re in the kitchen and out of earshot.
“Muuuum!” I groan, but she just laughs and shrugs.
“Well, he is.”
I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised at her reaction, as he is a lot closer to her age than mine.
Probably only a couple of years. Okay, that is a thought I don’t need in my head.
Instead, I busy myself with helping her.
Not that she needs it, as she’s held a lot of dinner parties over the years.
Every so often I glance into the lounge, but my dad and Chase are still deep in conversation, so I don’t interrupt.
It doesn’t take long before we’re sitting down to dinner. Chase slides into the seat next to me.
“Alright?” I whisper and he nods, looking far more relaxed than he did when we first walked in.
“I like your parents,” he whispers back and reaches for my hand under the table.
“They like you too,” I reply, and he squeezes my hand before releasing it to take some bread my mum is offering him from a basket. We talk easily while we eat, and over the main course of Dover sole and Jersey royal new potatoes, dad asks me about the business.
“It’s going okay so far. Four of my previous clients are now signed with me, and I’m still hopeful the fifth will join me. And of course I have Chase. I have an assistant now as well. He’s already been a great help. But of course I need to find more, so tomorrow I’m going—”
Chase’s fork clatters on his plate, but it’s my dad I’m looking at and he’s frowning. It’s the same look Chase gave me earlier when I was just finishing off some marketing copy before we came here. He turns his attention to Chase and I follow his gaze.
“Sweetheart. Tomorrow is Sunday,” Chase says quietly to me.
“But—”
“You need to rest. You can’t work every day of the week.”
“I’m sure you did when you were starting out,” I protest.
“Yes, I did, and I burned out. It’s definitely one of the tips I’ll be putting in my book. About maintaining balance.”
“Okay.” After a second he picks up his fork again and turns his charm on my mum, complimenting her on the food.
I eat a few forkfuls of food but can feel my dad’s eyes boring into me.
When I look up, I expect the frown to still be in place, but his expression is softer and he smiles at me when I catch his eye.
I know they mean well, but they don’t understand, and despite what I said to Chase, I’ll find time to do some work tomorrow.
I want to finalise what I’m going to send to the publishers about his book.
Chase talks about my parents for all of the drive home.
He and my dad have many more mutual contacts than they thought, which makes sense.
So I just let him talk while I work through the publishing proposal in my head, though I can’t stop yawning.
Once we’re back at the house and in his bedroom, Chase pulls me towards him.
“That went well.” He presses a kiss to my jaw and I tilt my head to allow him better access as he works his way down my neck.
“It did. I told you there was nothing to be nervous about.” I squeak as he nips at my shoulder.
“Yes. Now, what about that promise you gave me before we left?” He licks over the mark his teeth made.
“Mmmm yes,” I reply, though I feel very drowsy.
“Get naked and into bed, I’ll be back in a very short minute.” He kisses my nose and disappears out of the room.
I toe off my shoes and drag my socks over my feet.
Standing up takes far too much energy so I sit on the side of the bed, my eyes getting heavier as I fumble with the buttons on my shirt.
The last thing I remember is thinking I’ll just close my eyes for a minute and then I can finish undressing before Chase returns.