Crazy Love - Krista & Chase (28 page)

Chris and Chase had always gotten along. He was a good guy, and from what it sounded like, he and Krista had some unfinished business of the very recent variety.

Jealousy was not an emotion Chase was familiar with. At least not on the experiencing-it side of things. Krista had always gotten jealous. Now they knew it had been with the assistance of others. But it had always seemed like a useless emotion. In fact, he’d never even truly understood why people let themselves get jealous. But now he knew that it wasn’t something you let yourself feel. It was something that crashed into you like a bus going seventy miles an hour, and he’d just been hit by it. Hard.

In some part of his brain, Chase knew that Krista’s life had gone on without him. He didn’t like it, but he knew it. Still, he hadn’t even thought to ask if she was seeing anyone. Now, as Chris had been so eager and quick to point out, Chase was leaving and Chris would be here.

Krista slowly looked over her shoulder, saying brightly, “Hey.”

It wasn’t the same brand of awkwardness that had sounded in her voice when she’d greeted Chris. This one sounded more like she’d just gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Sooo…” Krista rolled her shoulders around to him and her body followed. “How long you been there?”

“Long enough to want to beat Chris’s ass.” The words shot out of his mouth like a cannon, only he didn’t remember lighting the fuse.

Shit
.

“It was just a goodbye kiss—”

“You
kissed
him?”

“What?” Krista’s eyes widened. “No, he kissed me. I thought that’s why you were mad.”

No, that wasn’t why he’d wanted to kick Chris’s ass a second ago, but it was why he was going to do it now. Without a single rational thought firing in his brain, Chase headed in the direction Chris had just gone with purpose in his steps.

“Chase”—Krista’s small hands wrapped around his forearm and tugged hard turning him back towards her—“Chris and I were seeing each other for
months
before you showed up. Then the second you came back, I just stopped returning his calls, his texts, everything. I handled this whole thing badly. It is not Chris’s fault. It’s mine.”

Hearing another’s man name on Krista’s lips was not doing anything to extinguish the fiery rage he felt inside. But the look of desperation in her eyes did. He never wanted to see that look in any woman’s eye, especially not one he loved more than life itself.

Not knowing how what else to do, he pulled her into his arms and held her close to him. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the citrusy scent of her shampoo. She sank into his embrace and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight.

If it were up to Chase, they would stay like this forever. When he held Krista in his arms, everything was right in the world because she was his world. His body relaxed and all the anger he’d felt a moment ago drained from his body. If Cesar Millan was “The Dog Whisperer”, then Krista Sloan was “The Chase Whisperer”. After several minutes—but far before he was ready to let her go—she pulled away.

Her crystal-clear eyes searched his as she asked, “Better?”

He nodded, tightening his grip around her.

When she looked up at him, her green-blue eyes twinkled as she said, “I’m not gonna lie. Seeing you get all jealous like that is kind of hot.”

“Really?” Chase smiled as he looked down into her mesmerizing gaze.

“Yes.” Her lips turned up in a half smile as she warned, “But only once. Don’t make it a habit.”

“Stop letting guys kiss you and it won’t be a problem,” he teased her.

Now that he’d calmed down and was thinking clearly again, he knew that Chris really hadn’t done anything wrong. He still didn’t like what he’d done, but he didn’t want to kill him anymore.

“Well, don’t leave and maybe I won’t,” she said sassily, in what he was sure she had intended to be a lighthearted comeback, but it hit him square in the chest.

Patting his chest, she said, “I have to get back to the booth. I’ve been gone longer than…” His reaction must have been written all over his face because the smirk she’d worn faded and her body froze. “What? What’s wrong?”

Damn. He hadn’t meant to alarm her. He knew the best thing to do was just lay it out there. “It’s nothing. I just found out I am contractually obligated to turn in my completed album to my record company in two weeks. I have to go to Austin to finish it, but I will be back in time for the benefit.”

Krista just stared at him for a few moments, and he found himself holding his breath for what her reaction would be.

“Is that it?” she asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Yeah. I just hadn’t planned on having to leave again so soon,” Chase explained.

“Oh, you scared me,” Krista said as her body slumped in relief.

“You’re not upset?”

Krista’s brows knitted and she smiled. “Why would I be upset? That’s your job. I mean, of course I’ll miss you, but I’m glad that you’ll make it back in time for the benefit.”

“That’s it?” Chase asked, repeating the same sentiment she’d just had.

A wide smile spread across her face as the rays of sun shone down on her shining, long red hair. “Did you think I was going to be mad?”

“I don’t know,” Chase answered honestly. “Things were going so good. I just didn’t want anything to ruin that.”

Understanding registered in her sea-green eyes. “Look, we’re not teenagers anymore. We’re adults with responsibilities. Believe me. I wanted to call in sick to work every day this past week and just stay in bed with you. Obviously I couldn’t do that, but I wanted to.”

“So we’re good?” he asked, needing her reassurance.

“We’re good.” She nodded happily.

“I would kiss you right now, but I don’t know where that mouth has been,” Chase teased her.

Her eyes widened in shock and offense, but she still wore a huge grin as she slapped him playfully on his chest and tried to move out of his arms. Lifting her up in his arms, he captured her mouth with his. She moaned against him as her lips parted. His tongue swept inside, exploring her mouth in languorous licks. She tasted sweet and tart, and it reminded him of her personality. Her arms clung to his shoulders and her fingers dug into his back as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her heart beat like a drum against his chest.

Even though they were alone in a secluded location, they were still in public and privacy was an illusion. Against his body’s insistent demands not to, Chase broke their passionate kiss and slowly set Krista back down.

When he did, her eyes met his, looking glazed over in lust.

Brushing a soft lock of hair behind her ear, Chase said in a low voice, “It doesn’t matter where I go.
We
are good together.”

Krista’s head nodded in agreement. He loved her spitfire personality. When she got worked up about something, half the time it was hard for Chase not to smile in amusement. But the Krista Sloan standing in front of him now, kissed speechless, might just be the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

“I’ll see you after you’re done at the booth,” he said, gently reminding her that she had to get back.

“Right.” She nodded as the fog cleared in her eyes. “Okay. Bye.” She lifted her hand in a small wave before turning and heading up the path that led to the fair.

Yep. Hands-down, kissed-speechless Krista was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

C
hase grabbed the remote and flipped off the television, causing the room to go dark, the only light source coming from the rays of moonlight shining through the thin fabric of the sheer curtains that hung in the living room. Krista lay sound asleep beside him, her head resting in his lap. Chase softly ran his hands through her silky hair, his fingers grazing her scalp with each pass. He’d been stroking her hair for the last hour or so. She’d closed her eyes somewhere during the last half of the movie and had been sleeping ever since.

She was exhausted. Chase hadn’t been letting her get much sleep the past week—he couldn’t keep his hands off of her! On top of that, she worked long, arduous hours as a physical therapist. Then today, she’d gotten up early to say goodbye to her sister before the parade and worked a double shift at the women’s shelter booth in record-high temperatures.

During the last hour of her shift, while he waited for her, he’d hung out with Alex and Jason in Haley’s lingerie shop. Not only had he had a great time catching up with his friends, he’d also had a very nice view of the back of the booth, which meant he’d had a prime view of Krista in her cut-off jean shorts. The denim had been worn in all the right places, accentuating her rounded ass. Every time she’d bent over to grab something beneath the booth, putting her ass on full-window display, he’d been scared that his half-hard status would graduate to full salute. Which in and of itself wouldn’t have been the ideal thing to happen in public. And considering the fact that he had been hanging out with the source of his soldier’s salute’s cousins, it definitely would
not
have been cool.

Looking down at the moonlight bouncing off her glossy hair, highlighting her pouty lips and creating an angelic glow around her smooth skin, he was filled with a sense of calm and belonging. She was his safe place, his soul’s home. It had always been that way, and it still remained that way.

Watching her sleeping so peacefully, he was torn whether or not to just crash out here on the couch so as not to disturb her or pick her up and try to take her to bed while not waking her up. Chase looked down at Bear, who was curled up in the entryway. Bear liked the cold tile against his belly on hot nights.

Chase whispered to him, “What do you think?”

Bear sighed and flopped over to his other side.

Well, that was one in favor of staying out here.

Deciding he might as well get comfortable, Chase scooted back about an inch and adjusted the cushions behind his back, trying to move as little as possible. He then laid his head back, resting one hand on Krista’s hip possessively and the other on the armrest of the couch.

Just as he closed his eyes, a groggy voice said, “Why did you stop?”

A smile tilted his lips, and he replaced his hand and began once again stroking her hair. She’d always loved it when he’d done this. The summer before her junior year of high school, she’d had to have her tonsils removed. There had been complications with the surgery and she had to be hospitalized for several days. He’d stayed with her at the hospital the entire time. The only way she’d been able to sleep was if he was running his fingers through her hair. So for three nights straight, he’d stayed up, watching reruns on
Nick at Night
while gently stroking her hair.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at the TV. “The movie’s over?”

“Yep.”

She turned her head, and he gazed down at her tropical green-blue eyes framed by dark, thick lashes.

“Why didn’t we go to bed?”

“I didn’t want to wake you,” he said as he brushed the hair that had fallen in her face when she’d turned.

“Oh.” Her sleepy eyes began shutting again. As she nuzzled closer to him to get comfortable in her new position, her cheek rubbed against his thick hardness straining beneath his basketball shorts. “Hmm…” She rubbed her cheek against his length like a cat. Her eyes opened once again, staring straight into his. “Umm, I’m awake now.”

She sat up slowly, and he began to push off the couch to head into his bedroom, but the next thing he knew, she’d thrown one leg over his lap and was straddling him. His hands grasped her thighs as she began moving her hips seductively against him. He could feel the heat of her arousal through the thin layer of fabric covering his shaft.

Leaning forward, she rested her hands on his shoulders as she peppered kisses along his jawline. He growled softly as she moved her attention to his neck. He’d always loved the feel of her hot, wet open-mouthed kisses on his neck. It made his body surge with frenzied desire.

A few women he’d been with had tried to kiss him there, but he’d quickly redirected their efforts. It hadn’t felt right letting anyone but Krista give affection to that area of his body. Maybe it was because when they were in middle school she’d gotten so much pride out of the almost constant string of hickeys she’d left on him. The second one would fade, she’d make sure another one appeared. He remembered one day at lunch a girl they had been sitting with had said that she thought hickeys were gross and asked Krista why she did that. Krista had smirked at the girl and said, “They’re love bites and I’m marking my territory.”

His hands dipped beneath the t-shirt of his she was using for pajamas and his palms slid over her hips, grazing over the satiny string of her panties. He skimmed up the smooth slope of her waist and over her ribs, cupping the heavy weight of her breasts in his hands. She moaned against his neck as he caressed and massaged her plump fullness. Moving to the center of her mounds, he rolled her nipples between his thumb and forefinger. As he tweaked and teased her tightened peaks, she ground enticingly against him.

Need spiraled through him, and he lifted her shirt up and over her head. The moment her arms were free, she pulled at his shirt, tugging it off. As he tossed his shirt to the side, Krista moved off his lap and kneeled between his legs. Her hands spread across his chest and she leaned forward, placing open-mouthed kisses along the ridges of his abdomen and chest.