Page 4 of Serenading Reagan
Chase bowed in response. “And for that I am grateful. Drunk ditzy blondes aren’t exactly my type.”
Reagan looked at him skeptically. “Really? I would’ve thought drunk, skinny blondes were all musicians’ type.”
Chase let out a low laugh. He was truly baffled that Reagan didn’t realize that the only woman who was his ‘type’ was standing right in front of him. At the same time, there was a small part of him that was insulted by her insinuation. Sure, in his past he had enjoyed his share of meaningless sex with groupies after shows with the band, now he was looking for more.
“Nah, I like my women to have a bit more substance,” Chase drawled. “On the inside, and on the outside.” He made a point to let his eyes openly roam Reagan’s body, and hoped she could see how much he was attracted to her beautiful body.
As a blush spread across her cheeks, he knew he was making progress. He pushed a little further, “Yeah, give me a woman with curves and a beautiful smile any day. Know anyone like that, Red?”
Reagan looked up at him, desire swimming in her eyes. They stood there, silently looking at each other for a moment before she did something he never saw coming.
“Oh, to hell with it,” were her only words before she walked over to him, grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him.
Chase didn’t hesitate, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her in close to his body. His erection strained against his jeans as he felt her soft body press into him.
Their kiss turned explosive as he moved her against the wall and gently probed at her mouth with his tongue. Eagerly, she opened and welcomed him in. Her hands moved to tangle in his hair, and he slid his hands around to grab her ass. When she tried to push him away, he held her tighter, but tilted his head back far enough that he could look into her lust-filled eyes.
“You’re not getting away from me this time, Red.”
She moaned as he leaned back down and began to press kisses down the smooth column of her neck. He moved his hands up to her waist, stifling his own groan of arousal at finally having her in his arms.
But when Reagan pushed on his shoulders a second time, he pulled himself out of the erotic haze enough to back off. The last thing he wanted to do was move too fast and send her running from him again.
“Chase, I…” Her voice was breathy, as she took another step back. “I can’t do this. I don’t know what you want from me but—”
“Red, all I want from you is a chance,” he interrupted. “Just one chance to show that I’m serious about you. Reagan, you turn me on more than any other woman ever has. Give us a chance, give in to the attraction I know you must feel between us. Please.”
Chase knew he had put it all on the line. She would either say yes or push him away for good. Tentatively, he reached his hand out, and hoped she would take it. The next few seconds felt like hours as he waited to see what she would do.
When she reached out and took his hand, he smiled and internally cheered. When she nodded her head, he knew he had won her trust. Now all that he had to do was somehow get her to see that she was the sexy-as-hell woman of his dreams.
“I’m going home now, because if I stay, I’m going to want to kiss you some more and you aren’t ready for that yet. I’ll talk to you soon, Red.” Chase’s voice was confident as he pressed a light kiss to the back of Reagan’s hand, then turned and walked away.
She had said yes.
* * *
Reagan stumbled back to her stool at the bar in a daze. “What the hell just happened?” she mumbled to herself. Had she truly just agreed to a date with Chase McCormick, the center of all of her fantasies for the last several months? Yes. She had. And even as she felt the flutter of nerves, she also felt a wave of heat run through her body. The electricity of their kiss still zapped through her veins and part of her was eager to have more. Of course, another part of her was trying to understand everything that happened and wondered if Chase was just messing with her. But why? Did he mean what he said? Did he want a date, or did he just want to get her in bed for some reason…?
Reagan looked up at Anna who had just walked over to her. “Hey, I’m going to have to take a rain check on our chat. The only company I want tonight is the bottle of Pinot Grigio chilling in my fridge.”AKA, I need to go home and freak out and overthink things in private.
Anna looked at her speculatively, and for a moment Reagan worried that her friend knew exactly what was going on. But, when Anna replied it was to simply say, “Okay, but call me if you need to talk. Promise?”
Reagan nodded gratefully, then collected her purse and headed out to her car. Once she was in the humid summer air, she drew in a deep breath.Wow…the thrum of lust that wove through her after her encounter with Chase was still powerful. So powerful that Reagan knew she would be going to bed with BOB, her ‘battery operated boyfriend,’ tonight to take off the edge. And if the image fueling her self-love happened to be her memory of Chase pushing her up against the wall tonight, so be it. That was some hot inspiration after all.
Chapter 3
After another sleepless night, courtesy of Chase dominating her thoughts, Reagan was grumpy. Thankfully, she had taken a couple of days off from work, cashing in on her many vacation days.
She had agreed to a date with Chase and couldn’t decide if she was thrilled or terrified—or both. She desperately needed to talk about it and was about to call Anna and take her up on the offer to chat, when her phone rang with an incoming call from her grandmother.
Gammie had been the one to take Reagan into her kitchen and show her the fundamentals of baking, when Reagan was just a young girl. They had spent almost every Saturday together, bonding over new recipes. Gammie had instilled a love of baking in Reagan and had always told her she was worthy of her dreams. Gammie’s favorite quote was“You can solve a lot of problems with brownies.”Reagan adored her grandmother and cherished the time they spent together. Even now, she made a point of going to visit her grandmother at the retirement home every chance she could. Which meant instead of a chat with Anna, Reagan knew where she had to go for advice.
“Gammie, your timing is perfect, I was thinking of coming for a visit today,” Reagan said when she answered the phone.
“Well now, that is wonderful news, my dear. This old lady would love a visit from her beautiful granddaughter.” Gammie’s voice was filled with warmth and affection, as it always was.
“Great, I’ll just get dressed and then head over?”
