Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders #11)(35)

While they’d been having their little he-man powwow, she’d crafted a list of reasons why Chase should let her come along with him tomorrow.
The screen door slammed. Ava looked up to see Chase grinning at her. Damn him and that funny tickle in her belly his smile caused. “Is everything okay?”

“Fine. Sorry to put you on the spot with my brother.”

“No worries. But I’ll admit, Ben is a little…forceful. In a quiet way. This is sort of embarrassing to admit, but one time when I looked in his eyes? I had this overwhelming urge to do whatever he told me. No matter what it was.”

Chase froze. “Seriously?”

“Uh-huh. Ben is unbelievably sexy in that Tarzan, ‘me man, you woman’ way. Normally that type of blatant maleness has the opposite effect on me and I want to run. But I had the perverse idea that if I did run? I’d really enjoy having him chase me. And catch me.” She thought back to the dark heat in Ben’s eyes. His invasive look that let her know if he ever touched her, he’d get inside her head, push her limits, and she’d be grateful for every second of it. Talk about pure sexual power.
“Jesus, Ava, wipe that dreamy look off your face,” Chase growled. “He’s my f*cking brother.”

“And what? He’s off limits?”

“Yes.”

Ava sighed heavily. “You’re off limits. He’s off limits. What’s a girl gotta do to get laid around here?”

His mouth opened. Closed.
“Chase. I was kidding.” She patted the couch cushion next to her. “Please sit. I want to talk to you.”

“Fine.” He plopped down next to her. “Talk.”

“I know you’re leaving tomorrow. And I overheard your conversation about where you’re going and what you’re doing.”

Chase scowled. “Ain’t polite to eavesdrop, Ava.”

“Says the man who practically fell out the door trying to hear what your brother and I were discussing,” she pointed out. “Anyway, I know you’re going to a private bull riding school. If I came along with you, we could help each other out.”

“How?”

“I got to thinking while I’ve been taping other stuff that it’d be helpful if you had someone to video your rides so you can break them down, frame by frame, to see what you did right and what you did wrong. I humbly offer my services as your videographer, if you’ll allow me to tag along.”

“That don’t seem like your thing, bein’ behind the camera instead of in front of it.”

How could she explain this without coming across as pathetic? Or worse, one of those hanger-ons she deplored? She pinched the piping in the couch seat cushion as she tried to find the best way to phrase it.
Chase sweetly clasped her restless hand in his and her belly jumped. “No judgment, remember? I’m listening.”

Buoyed by his encouragement, she continued. “My offer to help isn’t entirely selfless. I’ll admit I’ve never done anything like this in my life—gone off on a road trip with a duffel bag, my video camera and no agenda with a man I hardly know. But God, it’s something I want to do. I want to be a part of something real. To experience life as it unfolds. Unscripted. Where the corrals aren’t on some sound stage and the rodeo contestants aren’t stunt men. Where I’m just a woman on an adventure. Where I’m just…normal.”

“Ava. Darlin’, I don’t know how to say this without you taking it wrong. But you’re f*cking hot as hell, you’re a TV star, and you’ve been in movies, so I don’t think incognito is an option for you. No offense, but I don’t need to be worrying that people will recognize you. That’d put us both back in the spotlight, right where we don’t wanna be.”