Crazy Love - Krista & Chase (22 page)

“She sure is,” Krista agreed.

At the engagement party, when Emily had been introduced to Chase, the little girl had relayed why she felt that he’d been robbed of a well-deserved Grammy last year. It had been a thoughtful argument, which she’d ended by saying, “Politics. What can you do?”

“So when is some young man going to put a ring on it, as you kids say these days?” Mr. Yates asked, seeming very proud of himself for knowing that phrase.

Krista laughed, “I don’t know, Mr. Yates.”

“Well, if these young boys don’t smarten up soon, I may just have to step up and do that very thing,” he said, winking at her as he made his way to the door.

Krista continued chuckling as he tipped his hat to her. “Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

“Well hello there, Miss Abigail. How are you feeling?” Mr. Yates said as he moved to the side to allow Vickey enough room to roll Abby in.

“I’m doing much better. Thanks for asking,” Abby smiled up at Mr. Yates. Krista was happy to see that not only did Abby have color in her cheeks, but she also looked like her too-slender frame had been filling out during her hospital stay.

“Good to hear.” Mr. Yates patted Abby on the shoulder.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Yates,” Chase’s deep voice sounded from the doorway.

Krista’s eyes flew up, and sure enough, there he stood, looking so sexy it made her knees go weak. Her heart was racing a mile a minute as she walked towards the new arrivals.

“Hi, Abby. How are you feeling?” Krista’s could hear the shakiness in her voice as she spoke.

Abby’s face shined up at her. “Much better.”

“That’s great!” Krista said perhaps a tad too brightly.

A small knowing smile appeared on Vickey’s face while she supported Abby as she stood from the wheelchair. After Vickey got Abby situated in the consultation chair, she said, “I’ll be back in an hour.”

As Vickey left the room, Abby looked expectantly up at Krista.

Krista could feel Chase’s eyes on her. She knew there was no way she could do her job with him here.

“Thanks for coming down with her. We’ll be done in about an hour,” she said pointedly to Chase.

“Oh, I don’t mind if he stays,” Abby spoke up eagerly.

Great. Krista hadn’t been able to get the woman to have an opinion on anything for the last four years, but now she decided to put her two cents in. Slicing her eyes to the side, she saw a satisfied look on Chase’s face. He obviously appreciated his mom’s support.

As much as Krista tried to make sure that her patients felt comfortable and had anything they needed to have the best sessions, she did actually have to be able to perform her job. With Chase standing there, watching her every move with his sexy amber-colored eyes, that was not going to be possible.

Handing Abby the iPad, which was loaded with preliminary questions she needed to answer before she could create a protocol to put her on, she said, “Why don’t you go ahead and answer these. I need to speak to Chase for a moment.”

Abby happily took the device from Krista’s hands.

“We’ll be right out in the hall,” Krista told her as she began moving towards the door.

“Take your time. I’ll be fine,” Abby said as she lifted her hand and shooed them out the door.

“We’ll just be a minute.” Krista began walking faster.

The second they cleared the doorway, Krista faced him in all his sexy glory and in a quiet voice whispered, “You can’t stay.”

Mimicking her whisper, Chase asked, “Why not? Vickey said it would be fine.”

Of course she had. Krista was pretty sure that soon Vickey was going to start wearing wings, carry a bow and arrow, and change her name to Cupid. “Vickey isn’t conducting your mom’s PT. I am, and I say that you can’t stay.”

“Why not?” he asked, seeming genuinely confused.

Crossing her arms, she stared at him. There was no way she was going to spell it out for him. Not when she knew that he knew exactly why he couldn’t stay. After a few seconds, his lips parted, showcasing his perfect white teeth in his breathtaking smile.

“I’m glad you think this is amusing.” Krista rolled her eyes as she began to walk around him. He didn’t move out of the way, and she brushed against him as she did.

“I think you’re amusing.” His voice dropped an octave and the sexy tone caused an answering shiver to spread through her from head to toe.

Damn. She really understood why thousands of people paid good money to hear that voice.

Crap. His voice. How could she have forgotten? He’d been at her house yesterday for hours hanging out with her and her sisters and she hadn’t asked him about the benefit concert.

Looking up, she was suddenly aware of just how close they were. That awareness did nothing to calm her racing heart, but it did make her completely lose her train of thought.

Benefit
.

She needed to ask him about the benefit. “Um…” She swallowed hard, watching his pupils dilate with need as he stared down at her. “There is a benefit for the women’s shelter on the twenty-eighth. Yesterday, your name was brought up to be the musical guest. Not by me,” she quickly corrected.

Without batting an eye, he said, “Okay. On one condition.”

Seriously? The Chase she knew would not have
conditions
to perform for the shelter. The Chase she knew would be more than happy to help out. Over these past few days, she’d been starting to feel like he was still the same Chase—her Chase. Maybe she’d been dead wrong.

“We can’t pay you,” she snapped defensively.

“That wasn’t my condition.” He didn’t seemed phased at all by her snippy response.

“Oh.” She felt a little silly for having jumped to conclusions, but that was definitely a pattern she felt herself falling back into from being around Chase. She reacted first and asked questions later. Trying to display maturity that had been seriously lacking since his arrival, she did something that, although she was not a big fan of doing, was warranted in this situation. She apologized.

“I’m sorry. What’s your condition?”

Now he
really
looked amused. Krista didn’t even care if he looked smug. She wasn’t the same teenage girl who couldn’t admit when she was wrong. She was an adult now. A grown woman.

“Have dinner with me.”

Not wanting to make the same mistake and jump the gun, she clarified, “That’s your condition?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“We had dinner. Last night.”

And it had been with the safety of chaperones, thank God. If not, she was pretty sure she would have ripped his clothes off and done all the naughty things her mind had fantasized about doing to him over the past ten years that they’d been apart. Actually, she knew that would have been the outcome because she’d been about two seconds away from doing just that when her sisters had walked in.

“No. We hung out. With your sisters. I want to have dinner. With you. Only you.” His eyes darkened as he said the last two words, causing her core to clench with need.

“One dinner. With me. And you’ll perform at the benefit. For free.” Krista’s heart was beating so hard she was sure that Chase could see it pounding beneath her pale-yellow scrubs.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Where?” she asked, her voice trembling, “When?”

“My house. Tonight. Seven o’clock.”

“Fine,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady as she felt her face flushed with arousal.

“I’ll cook,” he said.

Krista remembered how many times her mom had tried to teach Chase to cook and how the food had tasted when she had.

Lifting one brow, she asked, “Have you gone to culinary school in the last ten years?”

“No,” he said as the corner of his lips twitched.

“Then I’ll cook,” she stated firmly.

He began laughing, and she turned and walked back into the PT room with a smile on her face. She was having dinner. Tonight. With Chase. Alone.

Oh boy
.

K
rista reached over the console and grabbed the insulated bag that held the meatloaf as well as the recyclable grocery bag that held the salad and wine. Her hands shook as she wrapped her fingers around the straps. With a steadying breath she stepped out of her Volkswagen Bug and shut the door with her hip.

She stood at the side of her car for a moment, not doing anything. Just standing there. So many thoughts were flying around in her head that it was as if they were canceling each other out and her mind was blank. The paper bag softly rattled from her trembling hand and she knew that standing out here was not going to make her situation any better.

When she’d been getting ready, her nerves had been working overtime, making her feel alternately like she was going to pass out, throw up, or both. She’d tried to calm them by telling herself that this was just Chase. Unfortunately, that had not had the desired effect. Instead, that tiny, irritatingly accurate voice in the back of her head screamed,
Yeah, it’s Chase!

Chase, her first love. Chase, her first kiss. Chase, her first time. Chase, the man who was everything she could ever want and more. Chase, the man who, after all these years, Krista was still madly in love with. That’s who she was going to have dinner with. Alone.

As she walked up the short path to the door, she tried another route. What was the worst thing that could happen? Things could be awkward between them. Not likely. They could get into a fight. More likely. They could make hot, passionate love that would ruin her for any other man. Very likely.

All day since she’d agreed to this dinner, her body had been priming itself for tonight. Apparently, her hormones had decided that they were on board with getting
reunited
with Chase. Her mind and heart were not quite ready to ride the Chase train, but those pesky hormones of hers had bought tickets and were currently sitting in the cabin patiently waiting for the conductor to pull the whistle and leave the station.

Knocking on the door, she tried to ignore her body’s very blatant overeager anticipation. But as soon as Chase opened the door wearing blue jeans that were worn in all the right places and a Cubs t-shirt that formed perfectly to the strong lines of his muscular chest and biceps, that annoying voice was back, saying,
All aboard!

“Hi, beautiful.” Chase’s lips turned up in a sexy half-smile as he greeted her the way he always had when they had been a couple.

Sure, she knew that such a greeting was extremely common and not terribly creative, but somehow, the way Chase had always said it had made her feel like the only woman who had ever heard those words uttered. Like they were uniquely hers.

His eyes left hers and ran down the length of her body. She trembled under his gaze. It wasn’t that she was nervous that she looked all right. She
knew
she did. She’d gone ‘shopping’ in Haley’s closet—since she had more clothes than Paris Hilton—and found the perfect summer dress. It was emerald green with a thin trim of lace around her waist that gave a little peek-a-boo to her skin. The bodice was low-cut and fitted before flaring out at her hips. The hem hit her mid-thigh, showcasing her slim, toned legs. She’d paired it with white wedges—also courtesy of Haley’s closet—which gave her about four extra inches, making her feel on more equal ground since Chase was almost a foot taller than her. Underneath, she wore a sexy-with-a-capital-S matching white lace bra and panty set, which were from Haley’s
Seduction
collection but were all Krista’s. Sharing clothes with her sister was one thing. She drew the line at undergarments.

He breathed out through his nose. “Damn, you look good.”

“Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself, rock star,” she said, needing to remind herself who and what he was—or more accurately, wasn’t. He was a rock star and he wasn’t her Chase. Since her body had gone rogue, she figured that her mind and heart needed all the backup it could get.

She stepped inside and was blown away by how
clean
and…happy the place looked. It was barely recognizable as the same house in which she’d visited Abby all these years. The night she’d come over to retrieve Teddy for Bear, she had noticed how clean it was. But now, even with the sun setting, she could see just how much Chase had done.

“Wow. It looks great in here,” she said, standing just a foot inside the doorway, trying not to let her jaw hit the floor.

“Thanks,”

Krista could swear that she heard pride tinting his voice. She looked up at him, and sure enough, his honey-colored eyes were surveying the living room with a look of accomplishment and satisfaction. She wanted to laugh, but she didn’t. Chase was by far the most successful—at least in his career—person Krista knew, yet he was so obviously proud of himself for cleaning his mom’s house. Endearing didn’t even begin to describe it.

After he nodded his head in a job-well-done fashion, his hands reached out, taking the bags from her. She followed behind him but ran smack dab into his back when he stopped suddenly.

“Is this your
mom’s meatloaf
?” he said as if he were scared to ask, fearing that just uttering the sacred words “mom’s meatloaf” would jinx it and the loaf of meat would go up in a puff of smoke, vanishing into thin air.