Just Let Me Love You (Judge Me Not #3)(4)

Fuck.

I shudder, and Kay shakes me again. “Come on, Chase,” she says, irritated. “No one can sleep this soundly. Wake up.”

She’s aggravated, but her small hands feel so good on me. I’m reminded that Dreamland is illusory—things can change on a dime. But Kay, my Kay, offers real comfort.

I open my eyes and peer up at her porcelain face, her chestnut mane of hair flowing down her shoulders in waves.

I murmur what I’m thinking, “Beautiful.”

“Chase,” she says, sighing.

My eyes meet her caramel-colored gaze, and I mumble a sleepy, “Hey.”

“Hey, back at you,” she replies with a smile that warms me to no end.

“You came,” I croak out, my voice thick from sleep.

“Did you really think you could keep me away?” Kay asks. But then she pauses, contemplates, and adds, “Wait. Don’t answer that.”

“I’m a fool,” I say, reaching up and touching her face. “I should’ve known better.”

She covers my hand with hers. “You were only trying to protect me. I know that now.”

After giving her cheek a light caress—I always want to touch her—I drop my hand to my side. Sitting up, I rake my fingers through my hair. Glancing around the boarding area, I sigh. I’m thankful that it’s empty.

“Yeah,” I murmur, shaking the last cobwebs of sleep from my head. “I always want to keep you safe, true, but it seems I have a knack for going about it in the absolute worst way.”

This is so true; our relationship is littered with my mistakes.

Kay scoots closer, and now it’s she who is touching me…my hand, my arm.

She leans in and kisses my cheek. “You don’t go about it in the worst way,” she whispers. “Not at all, Chase.”

“Still, you’re better at this shit than me.”

Scoffing, she says, “Ha, I am far from perfect. We’re learning this stuff together, remember?”

“What stuff?” I turn, facing her more fully. “Learning how to be in love, or learning how to be in a relationship?”

“Both,” she says. “All of it.”

“Come here.”

I wrap my arms around her and maneuver our bodies till she’s seated in my lap. “All I know, Kay, is that I love you so much,” I whisper in her hair.

“I love you, too,” she replies, her lips full of promise as they travel down my neck.

I’d like to stay like this forever—wrapped up together, wrapped up in love—but a damn gate agent arrives and spoils the moment.

When she glances over at us and frowns, I say, “Shit,” as I slide Kay off my lap.

“What’s wrong?” Kay asks as she tucks her legs under her and smoothes the hem of her dress.

I jerk my head to the agent. “We’re not alone anymore. And I don’t think she’s in the mood for putting up with our public displays of affection.”

“Oh.” Kay’s brow creases with disappointment when she glances over at the less-than-happy agent. “Yeah, I guess we should probably get up off the floor and sit in the seats like normal people.”

I don’t know how normal we are, but I agree, “Yeah, we should probably move.”

The boarding area is still devoid of other passengers, but Kay and I opt for sitting as far away from the gate and the displeased agent as possible.

A few minutes after we’re settled, other passengers begin to filter in.

As I watch a line form at the counter, I remember something important. Nudging Kay, I say, “Hey, we should probably get in line, don’t you think?”

“Why?” Kay asks, confused.

“Well, we need to buy you a ticket if you’re definitely coming to Las Vegas with me.”

“Oh, I’m definitely coming with you, Chase,” she assures me, all determined, like she’s afraid I’m going to change my mind and try to send her back to Ohio.

As if that action would ever be possible with this stubborn woman.

I laugh a little at the resolute expression on Kay’s adorable face, and then, rising to my feet, I offer her my hand. “Okay, Miss Determined, let’s go buy you a ticket, then.”

Kay doesn’t budge. Softly, she says, “Um, I already took care of that.”

“You already have a ticket?”

“Yes,” she replies sheepishly.

I give her a look, a not-happy look. “Kay, please don’t tell me you used your emergency credit card.”

“Um, well…” She glances away. “Okay, yeah, I did use my emergency card.”

With my grandmother’s property and savings I inherited, I’m financially better off than Kay, so I say, “I hope you know I’m paying that bill when it comes in.”

My tone is pretty damn insistent, and Kay nods an assent.

And then, since I’m curious, I ask, “What made you decide to buy a ticket, anyway? I mean, I knew you wanted to come with me, but when I was leaving you looked pretty much resigned with staying in Harmony Creek.”

“I was planning on staying,” she admits.

“So, what happened?”

She laughs and says, “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”