She pouts. “I won’t. I’ll take care of myself tonight.”
Heat nips at my skin. I take a slow, sobering breath. “Enjoy. Think of my hands.”
She groans and we kiss again, her tongue slipping along mine until I give in and take her mouth as hungrily as I can. I pour my lust into her. She sucks my tongue, teases me with what I could have and then I make myself let her go.
As much as I want her ….
“Soon,” I promise.
“That’s a compromise.” She sighs. “But thank you for talking to me about this.”
I stroke through her hair, remind her to lock the door, and head home. Chase is humming as he gets everything planned for tomorrow. I approach him and he looks up, then jumps.
“We need to get you a bell,” He grumbles.
“Valerie is very interested in you. Don’t minimize that,” I warn him.
His eyes flick to mine. “You were with her again?”
“To talk,” I clarify. “She is torn right now. Worried about jealousy making us violent toward each other. She wanted to talk it out with someone who wouldn’t bullshit or angle. She is looking forward to the date with you.”
Chase watches me for a long moment. “Thanks, Lief.”
“She cares about you, Chase. Don’t hurt her heart by hurting Hunter.” I dismiss myself after that to go take care of the hardness still pushing against my jeans.
Only Valerie does this to me.
I can’t let her go either.
VALERIE
Chase told me to pack a bag with everything, so I have a nice dress, a bikini, and lingerie. I’m not sure what else I could need. I shrug and throw heels into the bag too. Why not? Talking with Lief yesterday helped a lot.
I’m actually letting myself be excited about this adventure. And knowing Chase, itwillbe an adventure. Once I finish packing everything, I pull on a nice shirt that doesn’t hide my body, but doesn’t flaunt it and a nice white wrap skirt. I slide into nice sandals and brush through my hair before putting it in a side braid.
I could do better if I knew what we were doing, but a part of me is afraid to ask. What if he takes me to South America just for food or something? Just to get away from the paparazzi. No one would expect a trust fund baby in Belize and no one would care, right? So it’s not an impossible thought.
But I like the easier stuff, the things that don’t involve a ton of money. Because I’m me. I don’t want my men for their wallets. But maybe it would be nice to be spoiled a little more. The yacht was so nice, even though I’d never just assume or ask for it.
I’m just as happy staying in and eating pizza together or finding some place to own him in Ski Ball – because I absolutely would.
But before I can dig into that topic more and overthink it until I don’t want to go anywhere, there’s a knock on my door. I grab my phone, see updates from Chase, then open the door. He looks casual, in a t-shirt and jeans. I grin and grab my bag.
“I tried to grab what I thought we’d need,” I say.
He grins. “Always so prepared.”
He offers me a small box and for a second, I’m ready to swat him for getting me something expensive, but when I open it, I see cute goldfish earrings. I put them in my ears right away and Chase beams.
“Adorable.”
“Thanks for not calling goldfish sexy.” I giggle.
He takes my hand and we’re in his car quickly. He tells me all about how he got the paparazzi under control and I congratulate him, really pleased. I’m sure he doesn’t miss that it’s genuine.
When I finally focus on the road, I see we’re at an airport. I arch an eyebrow. “Chase?”
“We’re not leaving the U.S. I would have told you.”