A look of shock then relief flashed across his gorgeous face. Breaking his own self-imposed rule, he reached out, his fingers tangling in her hair as he covered his mouth with hers. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it held more passion, more love than she thought most people were even lucky enough to experience in a lifetime.
As he ended the kiss, he whispered against her lips, “I love you, Krista. I’ve never stopped loving you, and I won’t stop loving you until the day I die.”
“I love you, too.” Tears of joy threatened to fill in her eyes. “But if you keep pulling shit like that, I’m not going to like you very much,” she said as she swatted at him.
He chuckled as he ducked out of the way. Reaching behind him, he picked up his guitar, placing the strap around his neck and setting it on his leg. “Stop distracting me, woman. I have to warm up.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m distracting you? Mr. I Need To Talk To You?”
“Hush. I’m trying to serenade you,” he smiled as he strummed the opening chords to ‘their’ song. As he sang to her in the back room of a crowded auditorium, the rest of the world disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Krista crept into her room, trying to be as quiet as possible. Closing the door behind her, she waited for a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. When they did, she could make out Chase’s sexy, soundly sleeping form in the middle of her bed.
After the benefit, she’d had to stay and deal with some catering issues. Then the cleaning service had flaked, so she’d organized a makeshift crew out of women in evening gowns and men in black-tie. With everyone chipping in, it hadn’t taken as long as she’d thought it would.
Chase had stayed around for a while. He’d offered to help numerous times, but since the one task she’d given him had ended in a call to 911, he’d agreed to meet her at home. The incident, which was now being referred to as “the cougar brawl,” happened when two women who were old enough to be Chase’s mother (actually they were both older than Abby!) had started throwing punches and pulling hair over who would collect the tablecloths alongside Chase. They did this all in floor-length gowns. Krista wouldn’t be surprised if it showed up on YouTube. After several promises of the naughty persuasion, Krista had finally convinced him to come back to her house and wait for her. That had been hours ago.
Moving across the room, she tried not to be disappointed about the fact that Chase was leaving in a few hours and she hadn’t gotten to spend his one night back in town with him. On the bright side, she was really looking forward to climbing into her bed and snuggling up against him. She hoped that even though she had a queen-size bed and the bed they’d shared at his mom’s house had been a twin, he would still wrap his arm around her and pull her against him. In his small childhood bed, they hadn’t really had a choice.
The week they’d spent together before he’d left for Austin had spoiled her. Every night since he’d left, she’d tossed and turned in her sleep. Several times, she’d reached out for him before she’d really been awake. Obviously he hadn’t been there.
As glad as she was that Abby was out of the hospital, it did mean that she hadn’t even had Bear beside her as she slept. More than once, Krista had offered to keep Bear at her house until Abby was back on her feet. Abby had thanked her profusely but assured Krista that she was feeling better than ever, which Krista knew was not just lip service. Abby was doing great. She’d redecorated her house and allowed Chase to hire contractors to fix it up. Krista never would have thought that a stroke would end up being a good thing.
As she sank down on the chair in front of her vanity, she reached behind her neck and unhooked her mom’s beautiful teardrop necklace.
“That’s your mom’s, isn’t it?”
Chase’s voice startled her, and in a repeat of earlier in the day, she almost fell off her chair.
“How long have you been awake?” she asked as she readjusted in her seat.
“Since you closed the door.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I did.”
She looked at him and shook her head. He grinned, seeming pleased with himself that he’d won that exchange.
She took off her earrings as her exhausted body began tingling to life with renewed awareness as she felt the heat of Chase’s stare watching her every move.
“I was so proud of you tonight,” he said, sitting up and moving to the side of her bed.
“Proud of me?” she asked, looking at him like he must be kidding. “You were the one who performed and brought the whole crowd to their feet. You were amazing.”