“I’ve been running the deer paths along the river. I kind of ended up behind your parents’ barn. I didn’t realize it ran by your house before.”
“When Lisa and I were kids, we’d follow the river and see where we’d end up. Funny story, actually, the first time we made it all the way to The Mill House, your dad was there. I, uh, was always kind of scared of him. And that’s not a funny story at all. God, I’m awkward.”
I laugh and put my hands on her waist, well aware of my inability to stop touching her. “He kind of scared me too when I was a kid. Well, the few times I even saw him.”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“So, you’ve been to Summer Hill before.”
“Yeah, but the last time was ten years ago when I was fifteen.”
“I would have been thirteen then. Were you here long?”
“No. I came with my mom, who tried to drop me off with my dad for the summer so she could run off to Cabo with her then-boyfriend. I was here for a week before I left.”
Sierra wraps her arms around my shoulders, stepping in close. My cock starts to harden again from the innocent gesture. She affects me on every level.
She’s dangerous.
“You just left?”
“Yeah. I went home. I had friends there and bounced around for a few weeks until she came back. She didn’t even realize I was back early. I still think if I hadn’t come home on my own, she’d have never come back for me.” I let out a breath. I’ve never opened up like this about my past to anyone before. “But hey, it all worked out.”
She slowly moves her head back and forth, about to say something when a strangled screech comes from the woods.
“What the hell was that?”
“Most likely a coyote. Though there have been rumors about chupacabras.”
“You have coyotes and mountain lions here?”
The soft breeze blows Sierra’s silky hair around her face. “There hasn’t been a confirmed mountain lion sighting in years, but some of the farmers swear that’s what’s attacking their cattle.”
The same high-pitched howl echoes off the house again.
“It’s kind of creepy, especially if it’s not a coyote,” she admits. “Want to come in?”
“Yeah, I’ve never faced a chupacabra before.”
“Me neither and I don’t feel like it tonight. I have no weapons.”
I take her hand and follow her back inside. She shuts and locks the door behind us.
“What do you want to do?” she asks, and I can feel her discomfort.
I want to kiss her again, feel her breasts crush against me and push her up against the wall. I push my desire to the side. For her sake.
“I don’t care,” I start, and then spot a book laying on her coffee table. “Is that Unbroken?”
Sierra picks up the book. “Yeah. Perks of working in a bookstore. I get early copies. Have you read the others in the series?”
“Yeah. I actually preordered that one on my Kindle.”
Lust fills Sierra’s eyes for a moment. Her cheeks flush and her lips part. She glides over, fingers clutching the book. Then she shakes her head, and the want is gone. “It’s a good series. Emma Stark is a crazy good writer.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “The first movie was pretty good too.”
She hands me the book and we sit on the couch, discussing the similarities between the book and the movie. The air conditioner kicks on and Sierra shivers. I reach for a folded blanket on the arm of the couch and spread it out over her. She yawns and rests her head against my shoulder.
Remembering that she woke up hungover and is running on little sleep, I hook my arm around her and open the book.
“It’s signed?”
“Yeah, so don’t crack the spine,” she says with a smile. “You can read it if you want.” Her smile disappears. “Sorry I’m boring and lame. This is the worst date, I know.”
I kiss her forehead. “I’ve had worse.”
Chapter 13
Sierra
“Sierra.”
Someone nudges my arm and says my name again. I think. Maybe? Or am I dreaming. I’m tired and don’t want to get up. I’m warm and comfy laying on the couch with Chase’s body spooned around mine.
My eyes fly open.
Chase is with me.
I’m nuzzled up next to him, with my ass pressed firmly against his cock.
And it feels good.
“Sierra,” he says again, reaching over me and picking my phone up from the coffee table. “An alert for your security system just went off.”
“Huh? I don’t…I didn’t hear…” I blink and slowly push up. My brain is all hazy with sleep. I take the phone from him and squint in the dark. It wasn’t dark when I fell asleep. Chase sat with me, gently running his hand through my hair as he read. Falling asleep while he read probably made this the most boring first date in the history of dates, but there was something so nice about it. So comfortable.
I want to do it again.
I want this to be a routine.
I want more of Chase Henson.
“It’s my parents’ house.” I unlock my phone to see what’s going on. “They’re out of town and set it up for me to get the alerts. It’s probably just Marley setting off the motion detectors again. He does that a lot at night.”
“Marley? Is he the family ghost or something?”
I raise an eyebrow and look away from my phone at Chase. “He’s a parrot. The ghost is too sophisticated to set off the alarm. Plus, it stays in the attic.”
“You really have a ghost in the—never mind. So everything is okay over there?”
“Probably,” I say, seeing the cause of the alarm. “The motion sensor in the sunroom picked something up, and that’s where his cage is. He either threw something out of his cage or he got—shit.”
My phone buzzes in my hand and I reluctantly answer, talking to the person from the alarm system company. I give them the proper passwords and things seem okay, and then I tell them not to alert my parents—the homeowners—because they are out of town. Suddenly, I lose my credibility and the cops are on their way.
I rub my forehead and look at Chase. I don’t have a chance to say it before he disagrees.
“You’re still not a basket case.”
“That’s debatable,” I mumble and get up, missing the feel of his body against mine immediately. “I’m a boring, lame, basket case.”
“At least you’re good-looking,” he jokes. “Do you have to go to the house?”
“Yeah. I should check if Marley got out or not anyway.”
“Let me come with. In case it’s not the bird and it’s something else. Those chupacabras can be rather unpredictable, you know.”
“Ah, right. I do need a big, strong man to protect me.”
Chase is behind me, arms wrapping around my waist. I melt against him, eyes closing. I want to go back to the couch, but this time, instead of him being next to me, I want him on me. Kissing me. Touching me. Pushing inside me.