So now it was a huge deal and it was also on the docket for discussion at the next public town council meeting.
As for me, I was concerned, definitely. But I felt that if I let that concern show, Chace, Dad, Mom and all my friends would get even more up in arms about it than they already were and they were seriously pissed. So I decided to leave Cesar and the rest of the Council alone, attend the meeting, put out petitions in the library, urge people to sign them and hope.
This wasn’t all I was in a dither about.
Chace nor his colleagues nor Deck had found out what had gone down with Malachi and whoever murdered Darren Newcomb had not been found. Although Chace didn’t talk with me much about either of these, I could sense both were disturbing him and this escalated daily.
Not to mention the fact that Chace didn’t seem at all thrilled about going to dinner with his Mom. He did, however, communicate with me that it wasn’t about me.
It was, “She is how she is and she’s gonna be a fuckuva lot more than she is, tryin’ hard to make you like her. Head’s up, darlin’, this will not be fun in any way.”
I already knew this from the way he talked about her and I didn’t share that I thought it was sweet that he worried about her and me. It would be what it would be. Then it would be over.
This led me to the last part about why I was in a dither.
This being that I was wearing a little black dress, my first little black dress ever. Lexie, Laurie and Wendy went shopping with me to get it (and more sexy undies and little nighties to stock me up, Chace had seen all my others, repeatedly).
It fit like a glove from below my breasts to the top of my knees with a slit up my back nearly to my behind. It had tiny little sleeves created by panels that attached to the empire waistline and went up over my shoulders. My back was totally covered but in an enticing vee created by the panels, cleavage showed. I had a pushup bra that enhanced the cleavage and was seriously sexy to boot.
Further, at lunch I’d gone to Carnal Spa and stylist to all Carnal babes, Dominic had given me a new hairstyle. He didn’t take much off the length but he cut in choppy layers that gave my hair what he called, “Personality and flow, dah-link.” It was layered along my neckline and he’d cut a thick, long, sassy bang in. He did a lot of sifting his fingers through my hair and I bought some goo he told me would “separate and define” so it would lay “perfect”.
I had to admit, I thought it looked fantastic. I didn’t look like the shy, virgin, town librarian anymore. I looked like the stylish town librarian who was regularly getting banged by the town’s hottest cop.
I was also wearing a pair of sex on heels, strappy, stiletto, gold sandals that even turned me on wearing them.
Lexie, Laurie and Wendy assured me the entire getup was elegant, classic and stylish.
Standing by my wardrobe taking in all that was me in the mirror on the back of the door, not just my shoes, my dress and my hair but also my smoky makeup, I wasn’t so sure.
Yes, it was elegant, classic and stylish. It was also sexy as all frak and I wondered not only what Chace’s Mom would think of me but also Chace.
Especially the hair.
He told me flat out he loved my hair but he didn’t have to say that. He was always finding reasons to touch it, tuck it behind my ear, move it over my shoulder, run his fingers through it. It wasn’t like it was no longer there. It was just that it was… different.
There was a knock at my door, I jumped and whirled toward it, my brows drawing together.
Chace never knocked since he had a key.
I looked at the thin, graceful, gold watch on my wrist that my parents gave me when I graduated from college and saw that Chace was early.
Then I went to the door, flipped the deadbolt and pulled it open, asking, “Did you forget your key?”
My eyes went up, up, up and I found myself staring at Chace’s best friend, Deck.
I had met Deck, once, at the hospital when Malachi was brought in.
Therefore, I was in no state to appreciate all that was him.
Now that there was no drama at hand I had the opportunity to appreciate all that was him and we’ll just say there was much to appreciate in quantity and quality.
“Babe,” his deep, rumbling voice tumbled down at me, “before you open the door, you should ask who’s there.”
I blinked.
His eyes moved from my hair to my coral painted toes back up to my hair.
Then he muttered, “Fuck.”
“Uh…” I muttered back.
His eyes did a head to toe to head again and he repeated, “Fuck.”
So I repeated, “Uh…”
He seemed to jolt himself out of his stupor and his hazel eyes came to me.
“Got a minute?”
Actually, at my calculations I had twelve but that didn’t mean I was fired up to have my boyfriend’s seriously hot guy best friend in my house for a surprise visit.
“Sure,” I told him and stepped back.
He moved in, all of him, all his height, his muscled bulk and his mess of seriously longish, thick, dark hair. He didn’t need a haircut two weeks ago. He needed it two months ago. It curled and flipped around his ears and down to the collar of his jeans shirt, a heavy hank of it resting on his forehead falling past his eye.
I’d had the not frequent, but also not rare, always happy occasion to reach out and tug at Chace’s curls and those occasions had included when he was in his truck beside me, on the couch beside me and in bed beside me. When I gave into this whim, it bought me one of three responses. Chace’s lips would tip up but he’d otherwise ignore it (driving). He’d turn to me and smile (on the couch). Or he’d turn into me and kiss me hard (bed).
Deck’s hair made your fingers itch not only to tug at those curls and flips but also to run through it.
Repeatedly.
And take your time.
I licked my lips as he closed the door and I moved toward the kitchen asking, “Would you like a beer?”
“No, my boy’s gonna be here in a few so not gonna take that time, Faye.”
I stopped and looked at him, confused, uncertain and a little worried.
“Okay,” I whispered and saw his eyes travel over me again, something that was beginning to freak me out.
When they hit my face he said quietly, “Couldn’t’ve picked better for him.”
“What?”
He held my gaze and he answered straight out. “You’re perfect for him. Every inch. Sweet and class. Pleased as fuck for him, he found you.”
I wasn’t freaked out anymore. Or I was, just in a nice way.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, liking it a whole lot it seemed I had Chace’s best friend’s approval.
“Tonight, babe, it’s not gonna go good.”
I blinked.
Then I asked, “Pardon?”
“Chace told me you were goin’ to Aspen. So I know about tonight. What you need to know is, his Mom’s a mess. Whatever Chace told you, it’s worse. She’s a good woman but she’s not a well one.”
I didn’t know what to do with this. Not the knowledge, which I’d already figured out. The fact that it seemed he’d come there to impart it.
“I, um… from what Chace has told me, I’ve already figured that out,” I informed him.
“Do not let whatever happens there freak you so you take off.”
Oh my God! What the frak?
“Um…”
“They know what it is. It’s not hereditary. Chace is solid. His Dad’s a total dick but, mentally, the man is solid. He’s fucked in the head but only ‘cause he’s an asshole. It’s just her. It doesn’t run in her family. Some chemical imbalance. But it’s only her.”
“Oh, uh, okay,” I whispered.
He took a step toward me. “Whatever you hear, whatever you see, whatever he says, do not let it freak you. Tonight or any night.”
He was beginning to freak me and not the little bit of freak I was feeling, a wh
ole lot of it.
“Deck,” I said softly.
“He needs you,” he said softly back.
Oh God.
“The dark?” I whispered.
“What?” he asked.
“The dark,” I said louder. “He says that there’s –” I stopped abruptly and took him in at the same time it hit me all that was happening and the fact that it wasn’t right even if it was Deck. So I squared my shoulders and went on, “You know, I… it’s very cool that you’re here, taking his back. I’m guessing from why you’re here, what you know, what Chace has said, he’s tight with you. But I don’t know you and even if I did, I wouldn’t be comfortable talking about Chace behind his back. So, although your intentions are admirable, I’d like to request that this conversation stops here.”
He held my eyes and this lasted what seemed like years.
Then he whispered, “Perfect.”
I bit my lip.
“You gonna tell him I was here?” he asked.
I let my lip go and answered softly, “Yes.”
“Perfect,” he replied then he moved to the door but stopped at it and turned to me. “Know this, babe, something goes to shit and it ends between you two, you’ll never find a better man. Not ever. You may think you will, he may convince you that you will, but you will not.” He paused then finished softly, “Ever.”
With that parting shot, he jerked his chin up at me, opened the door and disappeared.
I realized I was holding my breath.
Then I realized I had yet another reason to be in a dither.
“Fraking great,” I muttered.
* * * * *
“You okay?” I asked softly into the cab.
We’d hit the Aspen city limits ten minutes ago and were winding our way up a mountain road filled with seriously exclusive properties.
My dithers had not totally died except one.
Chace fraking loved my hair and he loved, loved, loved my dress and shoes. He made this perfectly clear using his mouth but not to form words. He also used his fingers and I’d had a very quick, very hard orgasm while pressed into the wall beside my front door caused by Chace’s hand down my panties coupled with Chace’s tongue in my mouth.
So that was one down.
I hadn’t shared about Deck because Chace seemed tense and I didn’t want to make him more tense and pissed or worried so I decided to tell him about Deck later.
So I was focused on one dither and that was Chace being tense about dinner.
“I’ll be happy when this shit is over,” he answered.
I would too, for him.
“She’s gonna have the spread, honey, someone cookin’ for her, someone servin’ us. She’ll go all out,” he warned me.
I’d never been served in a home before by anyone other than the owner of the home. It would be weird but not torture.
So I replied quietly, “All right, Chace. That actually sounds kind of cool.”
He turned into a handsome, curving drive that was lit on both sides with those lights that rose out of the turf. “Food’ll be rich, complicated and there’ll be a lot of it. You don’t like somethin’, don’t be polite and eat it. Just eat what you like.”
“Okay, honey.”
He kept winding up the drive to a large, rambling house set into a mountain backdrop lit full on by lights at the front. The brick was a lovely mixture of whites and pinks. The landscaping, even under the melting April snow, was supremely attractive.
“She’s in your space, you’re uncomfortable, give me a sign and I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ll be fine, Chace.”
“Don’t worry about what I’ll think, just give me a sign,” he reiterated while he parked.
He turned off the ignition, I reached a hand out and curled it around his thigh and his eyes came to me.
“I love you.”
Every centimeter of air in the cab of his truck went still as he stared at me by the dashboard lights and I stared back at him.
I said it.
I meant it.
I meant for him to get me and it.
But I wasn’t planning on it.
Still, I had to roll with it.
“You love her. I’ll love her because I love you and not a crush love like I was feeling for thirteen years. A real love for a good man who teases me and makes me laugh and makes me feel safe and holds me close at night and watches way too much sports and not enough geek TV and gives me amazing orgasms, one of which I had before walking out of my house this very night.” I paused, he said not a word, I struggled against having a heart attack and then finished lamely, “And you can take that to the bank.”
Then I wasn’t in my seat.
My seatbelt flew back and I was hauled across the cab, my booty wedged between Chace and the steering wheel, his hand was in my hair, his other arm was tight around me, his lips were crushing mine and his tongue was invading my mouth.
Okay, so, he liked it that I loved him.
Good to know.
I melted into him, rounding his neck with my arms, pressing into him and let him have everything he wanted to take. Apparently, he wanted to take a lot because the kiss lasted a long time. It went from heated to scorching and it was one of those times I felt Chace’s effort to tear his lips from mine when he eventually did.
But he didn’t let me go and put me back in my seat.
He buried his face in my neck and breathed.
“To sum up,” I wheezed, my breath still coming fast, my heart turning over with happiness, “Stop worrying, honey. Everything will be just fine.”
“You’re a fucking miracle,” he whispered against my skin and I closed my eyes.
I loved that he thought that about me.
“I’m a woman,” I whispered back.
“You’re an angel.”
God.
God, I loved him.
Totally.
“Okay, but I’m yours and I think God frowns on some of our more miraculous activities, activities I enjoy so perhaps we can keep that title on the hush-hush and I’ll just be your woman.”
He lifted his head and looked down at me through the subdued light. I felt his eyes gentle on me, saw his face was soft and relaxed before he whispered, “Works for me.”
My ploy which included me sharing life-altering emotion worked.
I grinned.
He grinned back, bent his neck, touched his mouth to mine then shifted me, depositing me back in my seat.
He turned the SUV lights off and he was at my door by the time I hopped down which meant he had a steadying hand on my elbow when I did. That hand slid down so his fingers could lace in mine as he pulled me out of the door and slammed it. Then he walked me across the dry, very black blacktop asphalt to his front door.
Weirdly, it seemed the snow had been trimmed at the side of the drive, it was so perfectly removed. So I guessed when you had gobs of money you had money to spend on people manicuring your snow.
Interesting.
The door was thrown open before we got to the semi-circular set of eight steps (I counted) that got narrower and narrower until we hit the top. Another dither died when I saw the elegantly attired, extremely attractive blonde woman with a soft updo wearing a light pink cocktail dress and high heels smiling gleefully at us.
I wasn’t overdressed. Fraking brilliant.
“Chace, my darling and Faye,” she gushed, stepping out into the chill night air and throwing her arms wide. “I’ve been on pins and needles all day. No!” she cried, “All week.”
I smiled up at her then grew a little concerned because she wasn’t big, I wasn’t big but Chace was, she wasn’t moving and her step would not hold all three of us unless we huddled together like a miniature football team.
This problem was sorted when we made it to her and she threw herself in Chace’s arms, forcing him to let my hand go and round her with them thus not taking up much room.
“Ma,” he muttered.
“Chace, my be
autiful boy.”
That was sweet.
He pulled back but she didn’t. Her arms went from around his shoulders so her hands could frame his face and she beamed up at him a second before letting him go and turning to me.
“Faye,” she said, throwing her arms wide which meant one of them slammed into Chace but although he shifted (as best he could which meant one of his cowboy booted feet had to step down a step) she didn’t seem to notice.
I moved quickly into her arms in order to conserve space and gave her a tight hug.
“Mrs. Keaton,” I whispered in her ear then pulled back but not out of her arms. “Chace talks about you all the time. I’m so pleased to finally meet you.”
She dipped her chin bashfully and fluttered her eyes and really, even though she was older, she worked it.
Then her eyes moved over me and something changed in them that wasn’t bad but it wasn’t altogether good either.
“You’re a beauty. A true beauty. Natural.” Her arm left me and her hand lifted as if she was going to touch my hair before it fell away and she moved minutely back. “Red. I thought a blonde would suit Chace better but I was very wrong.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“And please, call me Valerie. Mrs. Keaton sounds so… so…” her eyes slid to the side before coming back to me so she could finish, “stuffy.”
“Valerie it is then,” I replied on a smile.
“Ma, you think we could move inside?” Chace prompted.
She jumped away from me, clasping her hands in front of her and I fought the urge to reach out to her in case she tumbled over the step to the inside.
“Of course, of course, let’s get you inside and those coats off. I’m dying to see Faye’s dress. From what I can see, it looks beautiful.”
I heard Chace sigh as I felt his fingers curl around my elbow, we moved in behind her and all stopped in a huge foyer with a massive chandelier hanging down over it, the gazillions of crystals dancing prisms everywhere.