Ready To Love Again (40 page)

“That wasn’t very nice,” he said with a growl in her ear.

Katie felt her heart rate pick up when his low voice caressed her ear. She almost forgot to fight back until he made a sudden dropping motion, making her cling to his neck with a squeal. Chase chuckled, and his arms tightened around her back. She could feel the water from his body soaking into the front of her dress.

When his feet hit the water, her eyes widened. He might actually drop her into the ocean.
 

“Don’t you dare drop me,” she said when he continued to wade farther out.

With a devilish smirk was in place, he looked down at her. Katie knew, despite trying to be stern and commanding, the stupid grin plastered on her face gave her away.

Chase taunted her. “Or what?”

“Or . . . or I’ll . . . I’ll . . . I don’t know!” she wailed. “I’ll be pretty ticked off is
what
.”

“So you don’t want to go swimming?”

Katie frowned at him. “What do you think?”

He chuckled, but then his face turned serious. “Then come to dinner.”

It took her a moment to catch up. “What?”

“Come to dinner. We’re having a barbecue at the house. My parents flew in last night from Italy, and Gina and Daniel will be there.”

Katie didn’t know what to say, but she wanted so badly to say yes. “So if I don’t agree to come to dinner, you’ll drop me in the ocean?”

When he shifted his weight, his hair sent little water droplets raining down on her. “If you don’t say yes, I’m going to dive straight into the next wave and take you into that fifty-five-degree water, head first.”

“Well, I guess you give me little choice.”

His lips parted, and she was dazzled for a moment by his heart-stopping smile. Chase gave her one more squeeze before walking backward out of the surf. Just when Katie began to relax, a blur of golden fur caught her eye, and Chase’s grip tightened around her legs. Buddy tripped up his footing at the exact time that a wave receded, and although Chase tried to catch himself, he was knocked off balance. Katie had one thought before they tumbled to the ground—
Damn dog!

They were a tangle of limbs as she sprawled across Chase’s firm chest. Pushing up onto her elbows, she looked down at him. His eyes were shut tight, and his hands gripped her hips. It looked as though he was in pain.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He groaned. “Yes, I just hurt my pride.”

Looking down, Katie noticed the edge of her sundress was wet, but other than that, Chase had saved her from getting soaked. She’d started to sit up when she was doused in the most frigid water she’d ever been subjected to. Katie pitched forward, and Chase’s arms wrapped around her while the water washed over them and then swept away.

Sputtering and gasping, Katie rearranged her dress, which had ridden up to her waist, and pushed back her dripping hair. The children’s laughter could be heard, and Chase’s shoulders shook with mirth, which only annoyed her further.

“Look what you did,” Katie said, but her scolding only made him laugh harder.

She tried to contain her smile, but it was impossible. Even though she knew she’d be miserable until she got out of her wet clothes, she couldn’t find it in herself to stay annoyed. Hopping up before another wave had a chance to drown them, Katie slapped Chase’s shoulder and shivered all the way back to where the children sat.

Grabbing a blanket she’d brought, Katie wrapped it around herself before anyone could notice how see-through her dress had become.

“I’m so sorry,” Chase said as he followed her and grabbed a towel. “I had no intention to get you wet. It was an accident. Please say you’ll still come to dinner?”
 

“We’ll still come, but I’m going to have to go home now and change into dry clothes.”

“Come home with us, and Gina can find something for you to wear,” he said.

Katie looked back toward the car, and the idea of a long hike in wet clothing wasn’t appealing. His house was only a quarter of the way down the beach, so she nodded in agreement.

“All right, but you’ll have to take me to my car afterward.”

He nodded, and his boyish grin made her smile through her chattering teeth. Chase toweled off his hair, then his chest, before he turned to the children. “Let’s go, guys. Nona and Papa will be at the house any minute.”

While the kids raced ahead, Katie and Chase casually strolled after them. “I’m a little nervous at the prospect of meeting your parents.” Katie said to fill the silence.

“Don’t worry. They’ll love you.”

“When you talked about them in the past, you made them sound like they’re almost too perfect. I don’t want to embarrass myself.”

“Then let me taint the image a bit.” His grin was contagious, and Katie smiled despite her nervousness.

“My mother’s a horrible cheat at cards. Gina learned from the best, so don’t ever try to play poker with her—she’ll clean you out. When I was still in high school, Mom was caught cheating at the country club bridge game. She was banned from playing any card games for a year.”

Katie erupted with an unrestrained giggle when he went into the full details of his mother’s absolute denial that she’d done anything wrong.

“She could have sweet-talked her way out of it, but she decided to get dramatic and ‘declare her innocence,’ ” he said with air quotes. “In the process, the cards fell out of her sleeve.” He laughed along with Katie and shook his head. “Then there’s my father. He has a penchant for flirting. Don’t get me wrong—he loves my mother and is completely faithful, but his comments have gotten him into trouble on occasion. He’s not selective about with whom or where he flirts, so don’t take offense if he says something.”

By the time they reached the house, Katie was laughing so hard her sides hurt. Buddy was still soaked, so they left him outside on the patio while Chase ran in to get him a bowl of water.

“You can take a shower in my bathroom, and I’ll see what I can come up with for you to wear.”

Katie followed him up the stairs to his room while the kids ran into Tony’s room to play a game. Chase grabbed a couple of towels and his robe and set them on the bathroom counter for her.

“Is there anything else you need?” he asked. Katie shook her head, feeling a little awkward about being in his personal space. He lingered for a moment but then left, muttering that he’d be in his room if she needed anything.

She took her time washing the sand out of her hair, enjoying the masculine smell of his soap and feeling a little bit nostalgic. With a reluctant sigh, she climbed out, squeezing water from her dripping locks, and slipped Chase’s robe over her shoulders. Katie was struck with another wave of longing when the fragrance of his cologne wafted around her. She had forgotten how good Chase always smelled. Closing her eyes, she brought the collar of his robe to her nose and inhaled.

A vision of Chase hovering above her danced across her mind, his broad shoulders flexing with the weight of his upper body while he leaned down to kiss her. Remembering her earlier resolve, her eyes snapped open, and she shook the memory away.
 

Katie leaned against the counter, wondering if she should stop fighting the attraction she felt toward Chase. She could see Liz welcomed her now, and the relationship between father and children was healthier and happier. It was obvious that Chase still wanted Katie in his life from the way he looked at her. The love had never waned in her own heart, either. If anything, her feelings had grown stronger since she broke up with him. A future without him would be dismal and unfulfilling.

Katie wrapped the robe tighter before opening the door to his room. When she found it empty, she slipped downstairs to see what had distracted him from finding her something to wear. The kids were giggling in the living room. When she rounded the corner, Katie almost ran into an attractive gentleman, who was holding Tony upside down and tickling him. Sitting on the couch was a beautiful woman with jet-black hair, who laughed while she watched the scene unfold.

Hands gripped Katie’s shoulders, and she let out a squeak that drew the attention of the room’s occupants. The woman’s smile was radiant when she stood and walked over, her elegant arm extended in greeting.

“You must be Katie,” she said with a faint Italian accent. “I’m Mia, Chase’s mother.”
 

When she realized she was meeting Chase’s parents for the first time in a bathrobe, Katie felt the blush rise to her cheeks.
 

“And this is Connor, his father,” Mia said, motioning to the gentleman, who was setting Tony back on his feet. Katie mumbled a greeting, embarrassed she wasn’t better prepared, before Chase squeezed her shoulders.

“I’m sorry. I got sidetracked,” he whispered in her ear. “Gina is finding something for you now.”
 

Katie was torn between elbowing him in the gut and fleeing back to his room. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to retain some semblance of modesty.

“So, Katie, Chase mentioned you’d be joining us for dinner,” Connor said with a smile followed by a flirty wink. Katie immediately understood why Chase had warned her about him. Connor O’Donnell was an attractive man of around sixty, but he barely looked older than his son. She could see how his good looks and charm could get him into trouble. His auburn hair had a touch of gray, which gave him a distinguished appearance. She couldn’t draw her gaze away from his eyes—they were the same mischievous pale blue as his son’s and were filled with a kindness that wasn’t seen in many men.

“Yes, Chase asked me to dinner right before he dumped me in the ocean,” Katie said, casting a teasing smile over her shoulder at Chase.

He looked almost ashamed when his mother smacked him on the arm. “Ow! What was that for?”

“
Che cosa hai fatto?
”

“Nothing—it was an accident,” he said with a whine.

Mia huffed and gave him a glare that could have brought a grown man to his knees. “You were taught better.”

The look on Chase’s face as he backed away was hilarious. 
Serves him right for letting me get caught by his mother in his robe! 
His terrified expression made Katie giggle, since his mother only stood a little over five feet tall. Her petite frame seemed so much larger when coupled with her menacing stance. Her flawless, sculpted eyebrows were arched in an authoritative glare that demanded respect. She had the mommy-stare
down to a science.

“I’m going to see if Gina has found anything for you to wear.” Chase excused himself, leaving Katie alone with his parents.

Chicken.

“Well, I should go back up and get dressed.” Katie knew she couldn’t do much until Chase brought her dry clothes, but she needed an escape route. Mia smiled and nodded, and Connor gave her a crooked grin that reminded her so much of Chase that she blushed.

“We’ve got all evening to get to know each other,” Mia said.

When Katie reached the stairs, Chase came out of Gina’s room with his hands full of clothes. “Gina found a few things she thinks will fit, and I grabbed some other necessities I thought you might need.” He motioned to a brush and hair clips while he walked beside her up the stairs. “Do you need anything else?”

His voice was a velvet whisper, and Katie wanted to tell him, 
Yes, I need you
. Instead, she insisted there was nothing. He opened the door to his room, handed her the clothes, and then shifted from one foot to the other as if he wanted to say something. Finally, he shook his head and excused himself, apologizing one last time.

Katie closed the door to his room and leaned against it with a long sigh. He was so cute when he was flustered. Discarding the robe, she slid on the clothes Gina had loaned her, adjusting the summer dress until it grazed the tops of her knees. She ran the brush through her hair and spent a little more time pulling it back into a twist and securing it with bobby pins.

She took one last look in the mirror and gave herself a little pep talk before making her way back downstairs. Daniel had arrived, and Chase came out of the kitchen holding bowls of chips and dip. He gave her a big grin.

“Can I help?” Katie figured if she was in the kitchen keeping busy, then she could hide for a while.

He set the bowls on the table. “That’d be great.”

Chase motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen and set her up with a cutting board. She went straight to work cutting vegetables.

They fell into a comfortable silence while they worked side by side getting things ready for dinner. It always amazed Katie how they moved in sync with each other in the kitchen, despite his lack of culinary skills. When they were finished, Chase leaned against the counter across from her.

“You look very nice,” he said, looking her up and down with an appreciative smile.

“Thanks.”

Chase stepped closer, and her breathing picked up when his hand came toward her face. He pushed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. His fingers delicately traced over her ear and down her jaw before his hand dropped back to his side. Turning away, he apologized, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back around to face her.

“Don’t apologize,” she whispered. “I’ve missed your touch.”