6. Chase
6
CHASE
I climb up the porch steps carrying the pizza and the groceries, catching sight of Sienna through the window. She’s sitting cross-legged in front of the fire with Moose, petting him affectionately. Something about seeing her in my cabin makes my heart squeeze with longing. When she arrived this morning, I couldn’t wait for her to leave. Now, I’m dreading the moment she’ll say she’s going back to Denver.
This is why I don’t do relationships, I think to myself bitterly. To avoid this kind of fucking heartache.
I heave a sigh as I open my front door and head inside, setting everything down on the table.
“Hey,” Sienna says.
She smiles, but it looks a little forced.
“Hey. I got one cheese, one pepperoni.”
“Perfect.”
I feed Moose before sitting at the table. Sienna joins me, and together we tuck into our pizza. The atmosphere between us is strained, like we’re both lost in our own thoughts, but eventually Sienna says, “This is delicious.” She points at a smaller box beside the two open pizza boxes. “What’s that?”
“Cherry pie.”
She looks bemused. “From a pizza place?”
I chuckle. “Anywhere that sells food in Cherry Hollow sells cherry pie. It’s a town specialty. You won’t get a better cherry pie anywhere else in the world.”
“Is that why the town is called Cherry Hollow?” Sienna asks, grinning. “I like the idea of a town being named after pie.”
“Not exactly. It’s called Cherry Hollow because they’ve been growing cherries here ever since the place was founded. We have the biggest cherry orchard in the state right outside town.”
Sienna nods as she eats the last bite of her pizza. “That’s neat. I prefer my theory though. Somebody made a cherry pie so delicious that they just had to name a town after it.”
I smile at her. She looks so fucking adorable, chuckling at her own joke, her brown eyes twinkling.
“Well, I’ll cut you a piece and you can tell me if you’d name a town after it,” I say, heading to the kitchen to grab a knife and a couple of plates. I hand Sienna a generous slice of cherry pie and watch as she spoons a forkful into her mouth.
“Oh my god,” she says, her eyes widening as she swallows. “I would definitely name a town after this. I’d name a hundred towns after this.”
She’s right—it’s delicious, tart and sweet, and I immediately cut us both another slice.
“Not a great day for my diet,” Sienna says, shaking her head as she takes another bite. “But this is way too good to miss.”
I frown at her. “What are you dieting for?”
She pauses mid-bite, her cheeks pinkening. “Well…” she mumbles, gesturing down at herself, “I’m not exactly small, am I?”
Her words bug me. I hate the thought of this angel thinking she’s anything less than perfect. She’s thick and curvy and sexy as hell.
“You’re beautiful as you are,” I tell her firmly. “Don’t change a thing.”
Sienna’s eyebrows shoot up and she drops her fork. It clatters onto her plate as she stares at me.
“You think I’m beautiful?”
Fuck, this girl really has no idea what she does to me.
“Of course I do.”
She blinks at me, her cheeks redder than ever. “You don’t think I’m…too big?”
“No, I think you’re perfect as you are. Your curves are sexy as hell, Sienna. Eat all the cherry pie you want.”
I shouldn’t be admitting how attractive I think she is, but dammit, I can’t just sit back and say nothing. Sienna is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. She’s a fucking goddess, and I never want her to doubt it.
“Th-thanks, Chase,” she says, her voice a little shaky. “I…uh…I think you…you’re uh…you know…I think the same…”
“You think my curves are sexy too?”
She bursts out laughing. “No. I mean, yes, but not your curves…because you don’t have…oh, you know what I mean.” She shakes her head, looking adorably flustered. “Anyway, uh…so…uh, are you the only guy who lives out here in the forest?”
I go along with the sudden change of subject, but my mind is still thinking over what Sienna just said. Was she trying to say that she finds me sexy too? I find that hard to believe. She’s a pretty young twenty-something, and I’m a middle-aged grump with an unruly beard. I’m also a giant and look intimidating as hell to most people. Could a girl like Sienna really find a guy like me attractive?
“There are other guys out here too,” I say eventually, clearing my throat. “Good guys. We keep to ourselves mostly, but we’re always there to help each other out. That counts a lot in a small mountain town like this.”
Sienna nods and bites her lip, hesitating before she asks, “How come you decided to live in the woods? If that’s not too personal, I mean.”
I shrug. “I’m ex-military, like most of the guys out here. The lifestyle is intense. Some soldiers come back from that and miss the action. They become cops or firefighters, something that lets them keep on serving. Others come back and all they want is some peace. That’s why I moved out here after I left the army.”
Sienna is listening intently, her eyes fixed on me. “Did you move here recently?”
“No. Seven years ago now.”
Life in the military was chaotic and unpredictable, and after fifteen years of service, I was craving some stability. A solid, unchanging life, that’s what I wanted. No surprises, no drama, just the quiet woods and the simple routines of a lumberjack.
“I guess you’re happier now than you were in the military?” she asks.
“Yeah. I’m proud to have served, but that doesn’t mean I miss it.”
Sienna nods. “That makes sense. I’m glad you built a happier life for yourself.”
“Thanks.” I cock my head, considering her. “What about you, city girl? What’s life like in Denver?”
“If you’re back to calling me city girl then I’m going to start calling you Grumpy Forest Man again.”
My lips twitch into a smile. “Grumpy Forest Man is pretty accurate.”
“It definitely is.” Sienna grins at me teasingly, but her smile falters a little as she starts to answer my question. “I’m an editorial assistant for a publishing company.”
“Damn. Sounds impressive.”
She shrugs. “Not really. It’s an entry-level job. My older sister Megan is editor-in-chief—now that is impressive.”
“Do you want to be editor-in-chief one day?”
Sienna sighs. “I think that’s what my sister wants me to be.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She looks at me, her eyes wide and vulnerable. It reminds me of how damn young she is.
“I’m not sure I want to work in publishing at all,” Sienna says quietly, almost like she thinks her sister might be able to overhear us. “But Megan wants me to be a big success like her. She made sure I got this job, and honestly, she cares about it more than I do.”
“You don’t like the job?”
“No.” She sighs. “I really wish I did, for my sister’s sake, but I just don’t. It’s so demanding. The hours are crazy, and there’s just so much to do. I’m at the bottom of the ladder so I get handed all the work nobody else wants.” She runs a hand through her soft pink hair, frowning with agitation. “I’m grateful to Megan for getting me the job, and I know she only pushed me into it because she cares about me, but I just had to get away. That’s why I came out here. I had to escape, even if only for a few days. So when I found out my aunt left me the cabin in her will, I figured it would be a great place to clear my head.”
Damn.
I had no idea Sienna was under so much stress back in the city. I hate the idea of her being stuck in a job she doesn’t like, working all hours just to please her sister.
“What do you want to do?” I ask her. “If your sister wasn’t a factor and you could pick any job in the world, what would it be?”
Something flashes across her face, and I can see I’ve touched a nerve. She looks embarrassed. “I don’t know,” she says. “I guess that’s something I’ll have to figure out.”
But I can tell she’s lying. She has something in mind, something she wants to do, but she doesn’t want to open up about it. I’m curious as hell—I want to know everything about Sienna—but I don’t want to push her too hard and risk her closing up completely.
“I think I’m going to take a shower and head to bed,” she says, still looking flustered as she gets up from the table. “Thank you for buying dinner, Chase. And for letting me stay. And…well, thank you for everything.”
“Don’t mention it.” I push myself out of my chair. “I’ll show you where the guestroom is.”
“It’s okay, I know where it is.” Her eyes widen the second the words are out of her mouth. “I mean, uh…”
I smirk. Something tells me Sienna did a little exploring while I was out getting pizza.
“You know where it is, huh?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“You got me.” She looks adorably bashful, not meeting my gaze. “I’m sorry. I may have had a little snoop around while you were gone. Actually, it was a big snoop.”
I chuckle. “It’s fine. I told you to make yourself at home, Sienna. You can go wherever you want.”
She bites her lip and smiles at me sheepishly. “Thanks, Chase.”
As she passes the fireplace, she leans down to pet Moose before saying goodnight and disappearing into the guestroom. Once she’s gone, I sit on the couch and Moose jumps up beside me, curling up on the cushion next to mine. I stare at the fireplace, watching the flickering flames, heaving a deep sigh as I think about Sienna.
“We’re gonna miss her when she leaves,” I mutter as I stroke Moose’s soft fur. “Aren’t we, boy?”