Page 16 of Hard Candy Christmas

Her eyes opened wide as she stared at me, the question clicking in my head and causing my breath to get lodged in my chest.

Chapter Nine

Belinda

Idon’t know how it was that he and I got stuck, with just a week and a half till Christmas, putting up more lights and more garland. Sure, some strands might have burnt out, and we were stuck fixing it, but that didn’t seem fair.

I think Chase noticed, and therefore his mom made him fix it and somehow, I got roped into this. Mind you, they also left us alone while they went shopping. Again, not fair in my opinion.

“You didn’t have to buy more for my mom, you know,” he told me as I untangled one of the new sets I had bought.

“I didn’t think she was going to have me put it up this year. I bought it after everything was done. Did you have to open your mouth those the lights were done for?”

“It looked odd in the house,” was his smartass remark.

I rolled my eyes at him, making him smirk.

“What, Chase?”

“Don’t make me use them.”

I wrinkled my nose at that, not understanding at all.

“Come again?”

“I think you’d make a hell of a sexy looking light Christmas tree. Plug the strand in, seeing the lights play over your skin, the glow it would cast, and then licking the same spots to watch them glisten.”

Uh, fuck me!

Where the hell did that come from? I mean, okay sure, just a few days ago he and I were having a fun snow day and the whole wife comment came out. And okay, sure, we had flirted some since then.

But sexual?

And that?

The Chase I knew had never gone down that road. Of course, this is now how many years later and I know damn good and well he didn’t save himself.

Which left me to wonder, what had he learned in ten years?

“I…uh…” I was utterly speechless.

“No slacking,” he teased, changing the subject and I was grateful. I mean, I just couldn’t even process that right now.

“Not slacking,” I mumbled, my mind more jarred than I’d like. I also knew me and there was just no way I was going to be getting over that anytime soon.

I twisted my lip as I watched him.

He looked older, more of a man than the boy I left. His shirts certainly got more fill to them with his muscles, and I could have sworn I saw a tattoo on his arm that traveled upward to his shoulder I assumed. Not to mention from the days of climbing in and out of a saddle, his legs got more defined and well, that was an ass I wanted to squeeze.

Ugh, no, not the road to go down.

“Whatcha thinking about over there?”

Don’t say anything, B. He doesn’t need to know your thoughts.

“Your tattoo. I was curious if there were any more on your body that I couldn’t see.”

Really?

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