A ragged breath shook his frame. “No.”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head, trying to shake the terrified feeling that gripped her heart.
I’m losing my mind.
Chase tugged her close again, but she had a bad feeling she shouldn’t allow it. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest as he nibbled her ear with his teeth. His mouth trailed down to the sensitive spot below it, and shivers raced down her spine.
Abby opened her eyes, looked over his shoulder, and saw a shadow standing against the wall. Stiffening in his embrace, she squinted, trying to bring the shape into focus.
He sighed and cupped her face with his hands. “I’m sorry. I should never have let things get so far out of control. I know you aren’t ready for anything and I shouldn’t be taking advantage of you like I did.”
She scooted back and shot a glance back over his shoulder. The shadow had come into focus and she shivered when the features of a dark haired woman with brown eyes stared right at her.
“Abby?” Her gaze returned to his face. “Are you all right? You look white as a sheet.”
“I…uh.”
Chase turned and looked behind him to where her eyes were pinned. “What’s wrong?”
“Chase, what did Krista look like?”
Frown lines appeared between his eyes. “Why?”
Abby tried to be nonchalant as she shrugged, but fear gripped in insides and her stomach turned into one huge knot. “Just curious.”
“What’s gotten into you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Please just tell me what she looked like.”
“Dark hair, brown eyes.” He grabbed a photo album from under the coffee table and flipped it open. “This is one of the last pictures I have of her.”
She looked down to see the smiling face of Krista Wilder, Chase’s wife, the same face she’d seen against the wall over his shoulder. Abby closed her eyes and rubbed her hand over them before she looked back to the spot where the figured had appeared. The spot stood empty.
“I’m sorry, Chase. I need to go home.” She jumped up from the couch and grabbed her coat and purse. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Abby bolted for the door even though he called her name. Terror raced down her back as she ran to his truck. She slipped the key in the ignition, started the truck and almost spun the tires in the snow as she headed for home.
When she reached her front door, she rushed inside and slammed it, placing her back against the solid surface. Her fists clenched and unclenched by her sides while she tried to calm her racing heart.
Damn it! First Josh and now Krista? I really am going nuts!
Abby grabbed the phone off the receiver and hit redial to call her mother. The only person she knew who could help her find out what the hell was going on lived several thousands of miles away.
Chapter Nine
“Abigail, what’s wrong?” Her mother’s voice calmed her like no one could, but the worry she heard now chilled her to the bone.
“Mom, I scared.” She rubbed her arms as she stood there shaking with fear.
“Tell me what happened.”
“I was over at Chase’s. I fixed him dinner since he can’t get around and everything. We were sitting on his couch talking. I asked him about his wife and we talked about Josh.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple for a moment. “You know it’s funny because I seemed to be able to tell him about Josh and talk about things like that when I couldn’t talk to anyone before.”
“And?”
“You know me. I got teary eyed and he held me, but it didn’t stop there. We kissed. It felt so right, Mom. I just don’t understand. I feel like I’m betraying Josh, but I can’t seemed to help myself.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Abigail?”
Leave it to her to know there’s more.
“After we kissed, he held me and nibbled on my ear. I opened my eyes and looked over his shoulder.”
“His wife?”
“Damn, Mom! You are just too creepy.” She sighed and a shiver rolled down her back. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure, Abby. What else happened?”
Abby walked back and forth in front of the fireplace and chewed her fingernail. “When he kissed me, I heard a screech in my ear.”
“Oh, Abigail.” Her mother exhaled forcibly, and the sound of trepidation in her mother’s voice sent her terror into overdrive.
“What?”
“It sounds like you may have a fight on your hands, sweetie, if you want Chase beyond friendship. It doesn’t sound like his wife wants him to move on without her.”
“This is crazy! She’s dead, just like Josh.” Dropping into the leather chair, she tucked her feet under her and gripped the phone with white knuckles. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“You need to decide what you want. If you want Chase as more than a friend, then you need to be prepared to fight for him.”
Tears slid down her cheeks. “I’m not sure what I want. I know his touch and his kiss do wonderful things to me, but I don’t think he wants anything like a relationship, either. He already told me so.”
“You won’t win this battle unless he is willing to fight for you, too. Joshua wants you to move on. He won’t stand in your way, but it doesn’t sound like she wants the same thing.”
Abby rubbed her arms as she tried to calm the chills. “Well for now, I’m not going to do anything. I have a date with the doctor from the hospital again tomorrow.”
“He’s not right for you, Abigail.”
“It doesn’t matter, Mom. I’m not looking for Mr. Right. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Be careful.”
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Abby hung up the phone and headed for the kitchen. Without thinking, she poured some coffee in a cup and slipped it into the microwave to warm it. Several deeps breaths later, she sat down in her chair in front of the cold fireplace.
Her thoughts drifted back to Chase and his kiss. She hadn’t felt the stirrings of desire in a long time, but his kisses were driving her nuts. She longed to have his hands on her, his mouth on hers, craved his touch like she hadn’t in a very long time. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Grabbing the book next to her, she decided to read for a while and get her mind off of everything—Chase, Krista, Josh, and whatever else lurked in the shadows these days.
Moments after she started reading a warm, loving feeling washed over her. A warm breath caressed the back of her neck, and her heart calmed.
Abby.
“Josh.”
She didn’t have to see him to know he stood behind her.
Be careful Abby…
“But …”
She means to harm you.
“Why?”
She doesn’t want you with him.
“I don’t understand. There isn’t anything between us.”
His doubtful laugh echoed in the room, bouncing off the walls. Tears sparkled on her lashes. She loved his laugh. It faded away like a whisper on the air around her.
This is getting way to weird.
She grabbed her book again and forced herself to focus on the words.
When she finally went to bed a few hours later her eyes darted around her empty bedroom, searching, watching and waiting.
* * * *
Early the next morning, Abby drove to Chase’s house and headed for the barn. Pulling out flakes of hay, she went from stall to stall feeding the horses, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the stallion still prancing in the arena. His wild eyes followed her from a distance, not daring to approach. Chase said to stay away from him, and that’s exactly what she intended to do, but he had to be fed just like the rest. She threw some hay on the ground, and when he approached, she backed away from the railing.
Once they were all fed, she headed for the house to check on Chase. She’d left in a pretty big hurry the night before, and he probably thought she was crazy now.
Abby knocked on the kitchen door. Nothing. She peeked in through the window, but didn’t see him moving around in the kitchen.
Maybe he’s not up yet.
Trying the doorknob, she found it unlocked, so she pushed it open and walked into the kitchen. The coffee pot was on and the liquid inside was hot. Two cups sat on the counter nearby. When she poured some into both cups, she heard shuffling behind her and turned to see him hobbling toward her.
His hair hung wet and curling at the nape of his neck, his chest was bare, drawing her attention to the hair smattered across it and the line down his belly. The towel wrapped around his lean hips threatened to fall at any moment. Her lips parted slightly and she ran her tongue across the now parched surface.
Temperature in the room rose thirty degrees when their eyes met across the room, and a slow, sexy smile rippled across his face, showing off his dimples to perfection.
Abby cleared her throat, but the words still came out in a squeak when she said, “Good morning.”
“Mornin’. How did you sleep?”
Turning back toward the counter so she wouldn’t have to imagine what was under his towel or lack thereof, she answered, “Fine. I’ve already been out and fed the horses.”
“I heard you pull in.”
“You did?” She fiddled with a towel on the counter, folding and unfolding it while she tried to calm her shaking hands.
Chase’s warm chuckle met her ears, and she smiled. “Kind of hard not to with a diesel truck.”
His laughter lightened the mood, and she laughed in return, but she still couldn’t turn and face him knowing he still stood there in nothing more than a towel. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
“I’ll be back out in a minute.”
“Okay, I’ll see what’s here for breakfast.”
She could hear him shuffle down the hall, and once she heard the door of his bedroom close behind him, she bent her head and forced the breath from her lungs.
I guess I can’t say I’m not attracted to the man.
A frown rippled across her face when she remembered Josh’s words.
She means to harm you.
Great! Not only do I have Joshua telling me to find someone else to love, but also a jealous DEAD wife wanting me to leave the one man I’m attracted to alone.
Pulling open the refrigerator, she grabbed the eggs and bacon she found and placed them on the counter. She grabbed the handle on the cupboard below to find two pans. Once the bacon was added to the pan and turned on, she heard him hobble back down the hall toward the kitchen.
Chase pulled out a chair at the table and settled in with a groan.
Two eggs were cracked open and now sizzled in the pan. “How do you like your eggs?”
“Over medium is fine.”
“Ah, a slightly running yolk kind of guy.”
With his cup of coffee in her hands, she approached the table and set it in front of him. Before she could turn away, he took her hand in his and frowned.
“Is there something wrong Abby?”
She pulled her hand back. “No, why?”
“You seem kind of jumpy, that’s all.”
Moving back toward the kitchen, she turned the bacon over. “I’m fine, Chase.” Turning the subject to something safer, like horses, she asked, “Do you want me to move the stallion somewhere besides the arena?”
“He’s okay there until I can get out there myself to move him.”
“I fed him in the arena this morning since I wasn’t sure.”
“Is he still acting skittish?”
“Yeah, all jumpy and stuff. Why?”
“It’s a bit weird, that’s all. He’s usually very calm.”
Several minutes later, she set the food down in front of him and he whispered, “Thanks.”
“Sure.”
Even though he refused to let her stay there, they had still established this almost domestic routine. He didn’t even baulk at her fixing breakfast this morning, and he obviously wasn’t surprised to see her in his kitchen when he came out of the bathroom.