Six
Watching Chase eat bordered on pornographic.
Or maybe Miriam didn’t get out much. She rested her top teeth on her bottom lip and watched as he moaned around another bite. Her mouth watered, not for the food, but for him. Hearing those familiar moans reminded her of the time they’d spent together. Naked. No holds barred.
Not why you came here,she reminded herself sternly.
Yet here she stood, a woman who’d been literally naked before him, and was at this moment metaphorically naked before him. He’d figured out—before she’d admitted it to herself—that she’d come here not only to give him a piece of her mind but also to give herself the comfort of knowing he’d had a home-cooked meal on Thanksgiving.
With one masculine hand, he cradled the red wine, swirled the liquid in the glass and took a sip. She watched his throat work while he swallowed, her own going dry. It was an erotic scene to take in for a woman who was currently not having sex with anyone but herself.
She balled her fist as a flutter of desire took flight between her thighs. Now she wanted wine, dammit. And maybe to touch him. Just once.
He heartily ate another scoop of his food, then pushed her wine glass closer to her. An offer.
An offer she wouldn’t accept.
Couldn’taccept.
She wasn’t unlike Little Red Riding Hood, having run to the wrong house for shelter. Only in this case, the Big Bad Wolf wasn’t dining on Red’s beloved grandmother but Miriam’s family’s home cooking.
An insistent niggling warned her that she could be next—and hadn’t this particular “wolf” already consumed her heart?
“So, I’m going to go.” She’d risk her gas tank running dry before she stayed another minute and found herself trapped with him.
When she grabbed her coat and stood, a warm hand grasped her much cooler one. Chase’s fingers stroked hers before lightly squeezing, his eyes studying her for a long moment, his fork hovering over his unfinished dinner.
Finally, he said, “I’ll see you out.”
“That’s not necessary.”
He did as he pleased and stood, his hand on her lower back as he walked with her. Outside, the wind pushed against the front door, causing the wood to creak. She and Chase exchanged glances. Had she waited too long?
“For the record, I don’t want you to leave.”
What she’d have given to hear those words on that airfield ten years ago.
“I’ll be all right.”
“You can’t know that.” He frowned out of either concern or anger, she couldn’t tell which. “How was the hill?”
She shrugged one shoulder and wouldn’t look him in the eye. His sloped driveway had been slick, but she’d made it... Barely. She wasn’t looking forward to going back down.
“Mimi—” His phone rang and he reached into his pocket. Whatever he’d been about to say to her hung in the air like the sexual tension that was once between them. It wasn’t here now, but something was. If she were being honest, she might describe it as sadness. Or hope. Funny how hard those two were to tell apart.
Chase’s side of the conversation was filled with one-or two-word responses giving her no idea who he was talking to or what about. “I see. Thank you. Yes.” Until the farewell. “You too, Emmett.”
“Emmett?” She knew that name... She narrowed her eyes, her mind seeking the particular storage cabinet for that nugget of information while Chase pocketed his phone. A second later she located the memory. “Your friend, Emmett? The one who had several torrid affairs here in Bigfork while you...”
She trailed off. While you just had the one with me.
Chase hadn’t been interested in multiple girls that summer. Remarkably, amidst a beach littered with tiny bikinis stuffed with big breasts and curvy hips, Miriam had caught his eye. With her plain brown hair and superslim physique, she hadn’t expected the tall, dark-haired, muscular specimen playing flip cup with his friends to notice her.
She and her friend Mandie had stood on the sidelines watching as, round after round, his side of the table won each game. He and Emmett would high-five and Chase would smile, all white teeth and tanned skin... She’d fallen in love the moment his eyes clashed with hers, but she’d never dreamed she’d get any nearer to him than the other side of that patch of sand.
“Yes, one and the same.” Chase interrupted the memory. The bright colorful summer vision receded into the neutrals of the mansion’s interior. His careful smile was a ghost of what it had been and hers was now much harder to earn.
“I’m glad you’re still friends.” She’d long ago lost touch with Mandie, her work friend when she’d been waiting tables at the Crab Shucker that summer. She hadn’t thought of Mandie in ages, but now Miriam wondered what became of her. Mandie had gone home with Emmett back then. Neither of them had any interest in a second night together, despite Mandie’s raving that he was the lay of the year. She advised Miriam not to get too caught up on that Texas boy, meaning Chase, but Miriam had been completely caught up.