Breathe (Colorado Mountain #4)(49)

Dinner was fabulous (not a surprise). Conversation was easy. Smiles were frequent. Laughter the same.

In the car there and back, I found out Chace listened to country (also not a surprise) and it was good country.

Now the night was over.

And I really, really didn’t want it to be.

Still, I whispered back, “Okay.”

Chace didn’t move, not even his lips that were still a breath from mine.

“Good mornin’ call tomorrow.”

Goodie!

“Okay.”

“My turn for our kid but I didn’t have time to do anything.”

“That’s okay. On my lunch hour I bought him some more books, some comics, a flashlight, some batteries, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a few packs of gum, more water and some more candy bars. I also wrote the note and added a notepad and some pens so he could write back.”

I felt Chace’s smile against my lips at the same time I saw it in his eyes.

“I’ll take the weekend,” he offered.

“All right,” I accepted.

“We’ll win him, Faye.”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“Want that mouth again before I go, baby. Soft this time,” he whispered back.

“Okay,” I breathed, got up on my toes and touched my lips gently to his hoping I was doing it right.

Then I moved back.

The gentle look in his eyes told me I did it right and I felt like the queen of the world.

He lifted his lips to kiss my nose, his arms gave me a squeeze then he let me go.

He turned to the door, had it open and was walking out when I called, “It was a really good night, honey, thank you.”

He turned back to me, his beautiful blue eyes hit mine and his face was solemn.

“No it wasn’t, Faye,” he replied and my heart squeezed. Then he finished quietly, “It was a f**kin’ great one.”

At that, my heart flipped.

Chace closed the door.

I stared at it.

Then I sucked in breath.

After that, I twirled, skip-danced to my bed, flopped back on it and smiled at the ceiling.

Huge.

Chapter Seven

Hazelnut Half and Half

“’Lo honey.”

Like every morning since the first, Chace’s dick, already hard, jerked at hearing Faye’s cute, drowsy, husky voice answering the phone.

“Mornin’ baby,” he replied.

“Catch any bad guys last night?”

It was Saturday morning, a week and two days after their date at The Rooster. Their dinner at the Italian place in town the night before had been cut short when he got a callout after someone got home and found their place had been burgled.

He and Faye had had a week and a half of early morning phone calls where she was cute, sleepy, innocently sexy and oftentimes funny. A week and a half of coffee and stakeouts, watching the kid grab bags of food, water, books and other items Faye or Chace deemed he needed. They’d had a week and a half where they’d had dinner together every night, going out or eating in at Faye’s place where she cooked.

Chace was not surprised but that didn’t mean he wasn’t pleased to discover that, like the way she dressed, groomed, kept and decorated her house, she had a subtle flair with cooking.

It was stick to your ribs, no frills home cooking.

It was also exceptional.

That was, they had dinner every night except four times. One, when she went to have a pre-scheduled dinner with her Mom and Dad. Three, when she went to the gym and worked out.

One of those, he’d had to work late as well so he’d met her for a drink at Bubba’s, a place she’d never been but was greeted like a regular by Krystal and f**king Twyla, the butch waitress who put the fear of God in most men but acted like Faye was her BFF. Chace was surprised at this but started chuckling when he saw that Faye was even more startled by Twyla’s behavior. Then, just like Faye, she warmed to it and by the end of the time they were there, she and Twyla were gabbing like long lost sisters. He’d walked her home after, made out with her just inside the door and left her about eight hours before he wanted to.

Two of those nights, he left her to it. He did this to cool things down, not for her, for him.

Too much of her would push him to push her to go too fast.

She was like a drug and as the days, and especially the nights, wore on and she became more comfortable with him, being in his arms, having his tongue in her mouth, his hands on her and hers on him, she was making it very clear she was willing to explore. She was gaining experience, trying things out, becoming more confident and getting restless. She was also making that last obvious. She wanted more and how she communicated that was phenomenal. So phenomenal, he had to cool it off so he wouldn’t lose all control.

Before and during Misty, he had an active sex life with a variety of partners. He was not a player. He was straight up with the women in his life and many of the women in his life were just that, women in his life. Prior to Misty, he dated, he had relationships, he worked at them if he thought they held promise but none of them felt right.

Mostly, this had to do with the fact that the first time Faye caught his attention she did it in a big way he couldn’t ignore. He hadn’t known, until seeing Faye, the kind of woman he was looking for but one look at that auburn hair, those crystal blue eyes, the curves she didn’t hide but also didn’t display, her skittish behavior, shy smile and the dreamy look on her face made a lasting impression he couldn’t shake.