Chapter 23
twenty-three
As soon as we reach The Yard, I spot them. Chase has his back to us, but I notice him first. He’s on one side of the picnic style table alone while Miles and another guy sit across from him. My eyes immediately snag on Chase’s broad shoulders pulling the material of his dark blue T-shirt, and another jolt of excitement runs through me because I get to see weekend Chase again.
Miles looks up as we walk into the large outdoor dining area filled with wooden tables and blue umbrellas. He flashes me a smile, but then slams both hands down on the table and yells, “You brought Amanda?!” with nothing short of elation.
Amanda skips toward him and Miles gets to his feet, colliding into her with a hug. “Bitch, where the hell have you been?” he says as he squeezes her tight.
They’re still locked together when I make my way to the table, and Chase looks up at me with a grin. “Well, hey there, beautiful.” He slides over to make room for me on the bench beside him, and I smile as I set my bag down and take a seat.
Miles finally releases Amanda long enough to pull away and look at her. “Did you go more platinum? ”
“Yeah!” she says with a smile. “Candace helped me with it about a week ago.”
Miles runs his fingers over the ends of her hair. “Love.” He glances my way. “You did this?”
“I did,” I say, happily clasping my hands under my chin and resting my elbows on the table.
Miles walks back around to his seat with Amanda sliding in next to him. “Good job, Stink.”
My smile widens. “Why, thank you.”
Chase smiles at Amanda as she takes a seat. “Nice to see you again.”
You’d think he just said something a lot more with the way she beams at him, but that’s part of his charm. “You too.”
Gesturing toward the man sitting on the other side of Miles, I ask, “And who do we have here?”
He’s tall. I can tell even though we’re all sitting. I only come up to Miles’s chest, and he looks to be about the same height. He has strawberry blonde hair with scattered freckles, and I hope this is the guy Miles has been so crazy about.
The guy holds out a hand to introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Elvis.”
Amanda does a double take. “Your name is Elvis?”
“He’s my accountant,” Miles says, like it will somehow explain.
Elvis lets out a laugh. “Would you stop?” Turning back to the rest of us, he adds, “I am not his accountant.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Miles puts his hand up to block out Elvis and loudly whispers, “He’s my lover.”
My eyes fly to Elvis. After what Miles mentioned about him needing a little more time, I figured he would look uncomfortable, but he just lets out a hearty laugh and says, “You’re stupid.” The adoration in his eyes suggests otherwise, though.
Miles looks over at Elvis. “You really should be my accountant. My finances are a mess. I hope you know what you’re getting into.”
Elvis shakes his head. “You don’t scare me.”
“He should,” I say with a laugh. Reaching my hand across the table, I introduce myself. “Candace.”
Elvis grins and takes my hand. “You and I need to talk.”
My smile widens. “We definitely do.” In a playful whisper, I add, “I know all his secrets.”
Miles looks between us. “I’m not sure how I feel about this.”
Ignoring his comment, my eyes jump between him and Chase. “So, how did you two end up here together?”
“Well,” Miles says, taking the lead. He gestures toward Elvis, and says, “We were on a date, minding our own business, when this hunk of a man walked up and asked if we’d ever consider adding a third. I, of course, said yes right away, but when I looked up and saw it was Daddy Chase, I was shocked. ”
Chase gives me a sideways glance, his lips turning upward. “I was getting takeout.”
Laughter bubbles in my throat. “Makes sense.”
He gives me that easy-going smile I love so much, and I’m overwhelmed by my need to kiss him. He’s here. Spending time with my best friend of his own free will. Seeing him put in the time to get to know someone so important to me has me wishing this was more. It’s something so small, but it’s hitting me too hard. If there weren’t so many people around, I’d probably climb him. But instead, I settle on resting my hand on his knee hidden beneath the table, showing my appreciation in a smaller way. It’s one of the first times I’ve made a move to touch him, and Chase’s eyes light with delight.
His acknowledgment heats my cheeks, and the feeling of his knee against my fingertips has my heart pounding. Even after he looks back at my friends to jump into the conversation, all I can think about is the way he just looked at me, and the fact that I’m still touching him.
It’s enough to make me pull my hand away.
Chase snatches my fingers under the table before they get too far, and firmly puts my hand back on his knee. He doesn’t say anything about it, and he doesn’t look at me, but he keeps me there, his hand resting on mine, before he lets go and folds his arms on the table.
No one notices our subtle exchange. Amanda asks Miles and Elvis how they met, and without missing a beat, Elvis jumps in and says, “We were both on Christian Mingle.”
Miles nods. “We were the only two with shirtless profile pics and knew it was meant to be.”
Laughter breaks out among the table, and the sound of Chase laughing next to me, while we’re surrounded by my friends, might be more addicting than anything else about him.
Elvis catches sight of the dwindling beer in front of Miles. “Another?” he asks, pointing to the glass.
“Please,” Miles says with a nod.
Chase turns to me. “Let me buy you a drink.”
I beam at him. “Okay.”
His mouth quirks as he stands. Before walking away from the table, he stops by Amanda. “Can I get you something, too?”
She smiles up at him. “Pinot Grigio would be great. Thank you.”
As soon as Chase and Elvis head toward the bar, I turn my attention to Miles. “Um, he’s funny.”
He lifts his chin. “I know.”
“And hot,” Amanda chimes in.
Miles lets out a laugh. “Amanda, you think everyone is hot.”
Her eyes widen. “Not true! I just happen to be sitting at a table with three exceptionally hot men who are all unavailable to me.”
“I mean, Chase technically isn’t unavailable.” My eyes drift up to meet hers.
“Oh, please.” Miles shakes his head. “That man adores you.”
I arch an eyebrow and say nothing.
“Don’t get me wrong, he might still be a fuckboy. But if he is, he’s a fuckboy who adores you.”
A breath of laughter leaves my lips. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
He flashes me his best smile. “Anytime.”
Amanda puts her hand on mine. “Just see how things go after the Christmas party. It’s less than a week away. If you’re really not sure where he stands, see what happens after Friday.”
Chase returns with our drinks a minute later, saying, “Ladies,” as he sets a glass of Chardonnay in front of me and hands Amanda her Pinot.
We thank him and Elvis slides back into his seat next to Miles.
“So, we know Elvis is an accountant, but what do you do for work?” Amanda asks Chase.
He takes a sip of his beer. “Nothing exciting.”
“I’m an accountant. ” Elvis emphasizes by putting a hand on his chest.
Chase smirks. “Okay. Maybe my job is a little more exciting than accounting, but not by much.” He turns his attention back to Amanda. “I work in advertising.”
Her eyes grow wide. “Ooh. Would we recognize any of your campaigns?”
He thinks for a moment. “Yeah, maybe. The one I did for Lexus has gotten a lot of airtime. ”
Amanda gapes at him. “The one with the woman who hates all the noise at the gas station?”
A humble smile stretches across his lips. “That would be the one.”
I know the exact commercial they’re talking about. A woman is pumping gas and everything around her is so loud. Someone blaring music, a toddler demanding something from his mother, construction and horns blaring in the distance. But when she gets into her car, everything goes quiet. It ends with words coming up on the screen that read, Find Your Serenity in a Lexus.
The ad always stood out to me because it was good. It had me wanting the peace and quiet of a Lexus even though there’s no way I could afford one.
I blink, looking over at Chase. “That commercial was your idea?”
“Yeah,” Chase says simply, like it’s nothing to gloat about. “It was fun, and it all worked out because they ended up cutting me a great deal on my car.”
“That’s amazing!” Amanda says with genuine excitement. “I feel like I know a famous person.”
Chase lets out another laugh with a shake of his head, but I can’t stop looking at him. Why did I never ask him about his job? About the work he’s done? I know I’ve been trying to keep him at a distance, but how could I have been so selfish to never even ask about his accomplishments? I’ve been talking to this man every day for over a week, and in a matter of minutes, Amanda connects with him on something he truly cares about. And in a matter of minutes, I feel like I wouldn’t deserve him even if he wanted this to be real.