Page 103 of Make Me Trust Again
Chase extends his hand and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. The tips of those calloused fingers skim over my skin, sending a shiver running down my spine. I hold my breath as his fingers trace down my neck, making goosebumps rise on my skin.
“Chase…”
The images of that night flash in my mind. His hand cupping the back of my neck, his fingers rubbing over my skin as his mouth swept over mine.
“Don’t look at me like that, sweetheart.” His voice is a low rumble inside his chest as his gaze falls to my mouth.
“Like what?”
“Like you want me to kiss you.”
Damn him and his perceptiveness.
“Then don’t hold me like you want to.” The sassy retort is out before I can even blink.
His jaw clenches, and I know I’ve hit a nerve. I’m not sure what’s going on between us, but the pull is undeniable. It mightbe stupid and reckless, but a part of me wants him. And wanting a man like Chase Williams is dangerous. He showed me all the things that I’ve been missing, and I know just how easily that can slip between my fingers, leaving me broken.
Chase curses under his breath and pulls his hand away, his fingers curling like I’ve burned him. My stomach squeezes, disappointment pooling inside my belly, but I shove it down and turn my back on him, just in time to catch Kyle swinging at his ball and sending it flying right into the hole in one go.
His arms lift in the air in celebration, and the corner of my mouth lifts a little as I join them.
My son, that’s what I should focus on.
Not the grumpy, broken man who’s walking behind me like a shadow. The man who kisses me like his life depends on it, and who treats my son better than his father ever did.
No, I should most certainly not be thinking about him or all the things he makes me wish for.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHASE
Shadow nudges me with her snout.Again. The third time in as many minutes.
“Fine,” I grumble as I push to my feet. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to come here in the first place?”
She just gives me an impatient look before she dashes for the woods. I shake my head and follow after her. My body aches from overdoing it last night—this morning?—the fuck if I know. The nightmare that woke me up was so bad, my whole body was shaking, and it took me a good twenty minutes to get my ass down to the gym.
Shadow doesn’t seem to be missing her sleep, that’s for sure.
She looks over her shoulder every so often to make sure I’m still behind her. I have no idea what’s with the sudden rush. Generally, she loves going out for walks to the lake, and I can barely get her to go home afterward, but not today.
And I know exactly why that is when, instead of going home, she beelines for the cottage.
“Seriously?” I run my hand over the stubble on my face, my shoulders feeling tense.
Shadow looks over her shoulder as if she wants to know what’s taking me so long, but I just stand glued to my spot.
I glance at the backyard, only to find it empty—relief and disappointment battle inside of me as I run my hand over my face.
A part of me wants to go after her; it would be a perfect excuse to get a glimpse of the woman I can’t get out of my head. But I shouldn’t do that. I should leave her alone. Even if she wasn’t still married to that tool of her ex, I have no business touching anybody, much less somebody like Rose Hathaway.
I don’t need to know all your secrets, Chase Williams, to see the man you are beneath them.
Her words ring in my head, that determined look on her face. The way her shoulders squared when she faced the woman at the mini golf course.
But that’s how people would always look at her if she was with me. With either pity or disgust. At this point, I’m used to it; I have to live with it for the rest of my life after all, but she doesn’t.
Then just leave. God knows you’re the best at that.
