She smiled up at Grandpa J as he offered her is arm, “I would love to.”
As they walked out to re-join the party, Chelle decided that, as it happened, she had had all the ‘party’ she could handle for the day. So, after thanking Grandpa J for rescuing her, she found Katie and let her know that she had worked all night and was heading home to get some rest.
Katie looked disappointed and a little worried, but the two of them made plans to meet for lunch the next day and Chelle promised that there was nothing wrong that a good night's sleep couldn't fix.
As Chelle walked out toward her car, she thought to herself...hmm...how lovely it would be if only that were true!
Chapter Twenty-five
Chelle had just finished off her second heaping bowl of Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked when there was a knock on her door.
She sighed. Dammit! She knew it was going to be her brother wanting to talk. She had realized this would probably happen, she just hadn’t expected him to be over this soon.
First he ruins my sexy hug, now he ruins my ice cream binge, she moped to herself as she trudged toward the front door.
She knew her real issue, though, was not about the interruption but rather about the fact that she didn’t want to answer questions about her and Riley. She wanted to keep what had transpired between the two of them private, sacred...but she knew her brother wouldn’t leave it alone. That was never going to happen. Therefore, she figured she might as well just get it over with.
Chelle opened the door and her heart immediately sped up to double or triple its normal rate. It felt like it would jump right out of her chest!
Riley stood on her porch looking intense, and frankly sexier than she thought should be legal.
“Hi,” she said when she realized she had just been standing there drooling.
“Hi.” He looked down at the ground. Usually he radiated confidence, but right now he seemed unsure.
She stood back opening the door wider, “Do you want to come in?”
He looked tortured by her invitation, “I can’t.”
Ooookaay. Thinking she needed to lighten the mood, she smiled, “Well, if it's because you're a vampire, then no worries. I just invited you in, so...you're in the clear.”
He looked confused.
Alrighty, then. Not a big fan of vampire humor.
“SO...you and my brother didn’t kill each other, I see.”
“We worked it out.”
“Really? And how did you do that?” She asked.
“He asked questions and I answered them.”
“What did he ask?”
“If there was anything going on between us.”
“What did you say?”
“It was none of his business.”
“Well, yeah. I was there for that part. Is that all he asked you?”
This was largely rhetorical. She knew for a fact that her brother would not have dropped it at ‘It’s none of your business.’
“No.”
She really wished at moments like these that guys were better communicators. If she was having this conversation with Katie, she would have every last thing that happened in the room, what was said outright and what was implied, and how each party felt about every single step along the way.
Ugh, men!
“Well, what else did he ask?”
“If I was in love with you.”
Holy catfish! She knew that curiosity killed the cat, but that didn’t stop her.
“What did you say?”
“That it didn’t matter because I was leaving tomorrow.”
Her heart plummeted to the floor. She knew this day was coming - so why did she feel so shocked?
“Tomorrow?” She asked, just to make sure.
He nodded.
“I wanted to say goodbye.”
Her knees felt like they were going to give out on her. She didn’t trust herself to remain standing. Tears were forming in her eyes, and she refused to cry in front of him. That was NOT going to happen!
In order to avoid that, though, she needed to wrap this up…now.
She put on her bravest face as she smiled up at him. “Okay. Well, bye, then,” she said as lightly as she could, waving as she moved to shut the door.
The next thing she knew, Riley had stepped inside, shut the door, and had her backed up against the wall.
She shook her head in disbelief, “You’re like a ninja.”
He smiled down at her. She loved when he smiled. She wished he did it more often.
He stepped even closer to her and her knees started to shake. Her body was flushed with arousal. Just his nearness alone was enough to rev her engines, but combine that with the overpowering intensity he was focusing on her, and she thought she might be more turned on than she had ever been in her entire life.
He reached up and wiped his thumb across her bottom lip. She stopped breathing when he slowly moved across it again.