Page 113 of Thrown for a Loop
“I’ll be a perfect gentleman,” he says. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Ah, well. I follow him inside anyway.
Chapter 38
Chase leads me into a bedroom that’s lit only by the New York skyline. Those floor-to-ceiling windows make the place feel like a movie set. “You need anything?”
“Not really. I’m already wearing pajamas.” Not sexy ones, either. That’s what I get for running out the door impulsively. And the big bruise on my chin doesn’t make me any more attractive.
He turns back the covers like a hotel employee. Then he makes a stop at his chest of drawers and pulls out a pair of flannel pants. “I’ll bring you a glass of water, too. One sec.”
I get into Chase’s bed alone. How am I supposed to sleep here? It smells like Chase. I lie back against his pillow and gaze out at the Manhattan skyline. This room faces the opposite direction from the terrace, so I have an oblique view of the Empire State Building.
A few minutes later, he enters the room shirtless, in pajama pants. I practically swallow my tongue at the view. He sets a glass of water beside me on the table, then sits on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay? You had a wild day.”
He isn’t wrong. “I’m okay. I’m better now, actually. I needed to know the whole story.”
“Mmm,” he says, lifting a hand to cup my face. He inspects the bruise on my face by gently tilting my chin and passing his thumb across the spot. “When you showed up here, it stirred up a lot for me. I’d been angry for a long time, but I never had to think too hard about why.”
“I…” My throat closes up. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t even remember me.”
His thumb halts its path across my face, and he stares. “Rememberyou? Zoe, I measure every woman I meet against what we had that summer. And they’ve all fallen short. I spent ten years trying to forget you, and I couldn’t do it. Not even for a single day.”
It’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. By a country mile.
So I ruin it by crying.
“Oh no. Oh, honey,” he whispers frantically. “Hey now.” He sweeps a tear off my face with his thumb. Then strong arms scoop me into a hug. Afantastichug. The kind I’ve been needing for a decade.
I rest my cheek against his chest and feel eighteen again. “I want…” I take a gasping breath. “I want a do-over. B-but…”
He goes absolutely still. “But?”
“But itachesto want something so much.”
His arms close more tightly around me. “I want that, too. Just breathe, Zoe. We’ll be okay. And today was a lot. Do you need anything?”
“Just… hug me awhile?”
“That’s easy,” he says, nudging me over so he can get into bed. “Come here.”
I lay my head down on his chest while he strokes my hair, and I fall asleep.
Some hours later, I wake up to blinding sunshine streaming through the window, and Chase snugged up against my back. His hand rests firmly on my hip, and I like it so much that I don’t move for a minute, even though the sun is roasting me.
“Mmrrph,” he says a moment later. “Too sunny.”
I roll onto my back. “That’s what you get for living in an aquarium, Hotshot.”
Eyes closed, he fumbles for a small remote on the bedside table. He pushes a button, and the window blinds slightly adjust their angle, blocking the worst of it but leaving the room pleasantly bright. “There.”
“You pampered thing,” I say. “It’s a marvel you haven’t lost your edge.”
He reaches over and squeezes my hip again, extending his fingers just slightly onto my tummy. Where I’m horribly ticklish.
I shriek.
He laughs. “Watch the commentary, lady. I can still push your buttons.” He sits up. “Coffee?”
