Chapter 19

Wash972:

Dinner at my place? I’ll cook.

ShopGuy24:

You’re not going to give me food poisoning, are you?

Wash972:

I guess you’ll have to live dangerously and find out ;)

ShopGuy24:

Well, I’ve barely eaten today, so sure. If I’m gonna go out, let’s make it a blaze of carb glory.

Wash972:

That’s the spirit!

I groanedas Bennie plopped his furry, compact body right over my gut on Chase’s leather couch. I’d eaten far too much chicken parmigiana. Chase was a surprisingly good cook when he put his mind to it. So far, aside from a stomachache from overindulging, there were no signs of poisoning.

Chase emerged from the kitchen with a bottle of white wine. “Bennie likes you almost as much as me, huh?”

I stroked his silky ears and shifted him to a slightly more comfortable position on my lap. “He loves me so much it hurts,” I joked.

“Touche,” he murmured.

My heart skipped. I wasn’t ready for what that comment might mean, though I had my suspicions. Since our talk about dating the other morning, Chase hadn’t pushed me to talk about where we stood.

But my head wasn’t so deep in the sand that I didn’t know this was more than just hooking up.

If I was honest, it had always been about more.

About Wash972 and ShopGuy24 and dozens of conversations that had brought us together.

But it was a lot of change very fast, and I was still navigating the new dynamic between us as we transitioned from rivals to lovers.

“Want more wine?” Chase asked, bottle at the ready.

I was normally more of a cheap beer guy, but it had gone well with dinner. “Sure.”

He topped off my glass then his own before setting the bottle on the coffee table and taking a seat next to me. He sat lengthwise on the couch, putting his feet into my lap, nudging Bennie a little out of the way.

His dog gave an annoyed huff.

“Now, boys,” I teased, “don’t fight over me. There’s enough Austin to go around.”

“I saw you first,” Chase said with a pout, as if he was actually jealous of his dog.

I smirked. “I remember. You weren’t exactly subtle.”

“I never am.” His eyes grew hot. “When I want something, I go after it.”

“Oh, how flattering. I’m a thing to pursue.”

“No, no.” He kicked my thigh playfully. “You’re a hot guy to pursue. Totally different.”

I snorted. “You’re such a romantic.”

He eyed me over the rim of his glass. “As soon as you want romance, I’ll give you all the romance you can handle.”

It sounded like a promise, and a flutter started up in my gut. I took a big swallow of wine. Maybe I should just take him up on it. Admit I wanted it. I’d just let the man wine and dine me. Why hold back now?

Before I could find the words, his phone rang.

“Damn, it’s Gigi. She probably wants another sales report.” He rolled his eyes. “The hovering is driving me batty.”

“Take it. I’ve got Bennie to keep me warm.”

He gave me a mock scowl. “Just for that, you can suffer along with me.”

He accepted the call and hit the Speaker button. “Hey, Gigi. What’s up?”

“I tried reaching you at the office. Why aren’t you there?”

He cut his eyes my way as if to say, See what I have to deal with?

“The store is closing in the next hour. The staff can handle that.”

“Hmm. I suppose if you trust them to run things…” Her tone said very clearly that she wouldn’t. “I guess I can’t expect everyone to be as driven as I was at your age. Of course, that ambition did build Fox from one store to a regional chain of stores.”

He sighed. “Gigi, you know how committed I’ve been to this store launch. I know we don’t have the official three-month profit percentages you want to use for projections yet, but it’s gone really well so far.”

“Yes, it has, dear. You exceeded my expectations.”

“So, what’s going on? Did you want another sales update? I’ll send a report first thing in the morning.”

“No, that’s all right. I need you to come to headquarters first thing in the morning.”

“Is there something wrong?”

“It’s not wrong, no. It’s just something we need to discuss,” she said. “I’m calling all the kids in.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll find out in the morning,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to repeat myself three times. Just be here at six a.m., all right?”

I winced in sympathy. Six was awfully early to get downtown.

“Okay, Gigi. I’ll be there. Do I need to bring anything?”

“Just yourself,” she said. “I’ll call out for coffee and croissants.”

“All right. See you then.”

Chase frowned down at his phone for a solid minute after they’d disconnected.

“Are you worried?”

“Hmm?” He blinked and glanced at me. “A little. Gigi never caters breakfast unless there’s bad news on the horizon.”

“But she said nothing was wrong.”

“It’s not what she said so much as how she said it.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired.”

I nudged Bennie off my lap to stand and extended a hand to him. “Come on. Time for bed.”

Chase clasped my hand and stood with a groan. “Six is going to come awfully fast.”

“Yep,” I said. “I can feed and walk Bennie though, so you have a little more time.”

“I appreciate that.”

“It’s the least I can do for my favorite guy.”

Chase started to smile.

“Bennie, I mean.”

“You’re an asshole,” he said.

I laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

“Stop teasing me,” he growled and pulled me in for a possessive kiss, his tongue still sweet from the wine. “You’re mine, aren’t you? Tell me you’re mine.”

He sounded oddly vulnerable, and I couldn’t deny the truth that had been building since the first time he kissed me.

“I’m yours, Chase. I always have been.”

He kissed me again, deeply, as my heart pounded hard at what these words between us would mean.

There was no going back, but then, I don’t think there ever had been.