I smiled, shaking my head slightly. “What happened to the whole ‘ignoring each other’ plan?”
He smiled back. For about five whole seconds he stood, not speaking, but staring into my eyes, while fire raced up my body. “I don’t think that was ever in the cards for us.” His voice sounded low and gravelly to my ears, setting my entire body ablaze.
Well, I suppose I could playonegame.
ONE game. Then it was back to my room. I had things to do that included staying far away from laughing eyes, goosebumps, and a warm body.
“Are you sure you can handle it? Playing games didn’t work out so well for you yesterday.” I attempted a smirk, trying to bring us back to where I was comfortable. A place full of sarcasm and boundaries.
His eyes skimmed over my body, taking in his sweatshirt that hung past my hips and his sweatpants that drug on the floor when I walked. A small smile lit across his face. “Oh, I think it worked out pretty well for me.”
And I’m back. My face flushed with heat and I debated, once again, the merits of staying in this room with the tension crackling between us. My body however, had other plans, and was apparentlyall in, so I pulled back the chair nearest the wall and sat at the table before my over-active mind could persuade me otherwise. Chase pulled out the chair across from me and sat down.
“Hey, 1985 called and they want their Checker’s game back,” I said, feigning nonchalance, as I lined up the red chips on my side of the board.
He smirked, but said nothing, his eyes intense as he stared at the board. Once his chips were in place, he moved one of his black chips forward.
“Hey, ladies first.”
He looked around the room. “Let me know if you find one.”
A breath of relief escaped out of me before I could stop it. I could handlethat, the back and forth, the sarcasm, the satisfaction of hearing his groan when I kicked him under the table. I made my move.
“So, why are you here this close to Christmas? Where’s your family?” I asked him, while his eyes flicked across the board in calculated measure. It might be a late night of writing, if my day was going to be wrapped up in Checkers.
“My parents are visiting my brother and his family in North Carolina for Christmas. I’m leaving here on Christmas Day and then I’ll hang out with my older sister’s family in Eugene later that day.”
He made his next move and looked at me. “You?”
Dang, he had one of my chips trapped already. I ignored it and moved a chip that was still safe. “Same. My parents are in London visiting my sister and her family. Matt and Gina are meeting me up here on Christmas Day.”
“You didn’t want to be a third wheel either, then?”
I barked out a laugh. “Oh, I’m definitely still a third wheel, but only for one day, not a whole week.”
He shook his head as he jumped over two of my red chips. “Are you even going to try to make this a game?”
His capture of my two reds left three of his black chips vulnerable. I grinned as I took all three with flourish. “I believe I’m ahead, Riley.”
“Typical civilian. Never looking at the long game.” He perused the board, the line in his forehead creasing.
“So, are you still in the Marines? Or what do you do now?” It felt a bit strange to be asking normal, human type questions to Chase while we each moved pieces across the board. The other alternative, which seemed to be heat-induced stares and teasing grins, left me feeling muddy and confused, so the questions seemed safer.
“No. During my eight-year run with them, I went to school full time and got a master’s degree in Construction management, and now I own my own company in Boise.”
“Building houses?”
“Usually. Some commercial buildings, but my bread and butter comes from building starter homes.”
Chase turned his baseball hat on backwards as he leaned forward, examining the board. Great. That didn’t help him look hotterat all.
“So, you got a boyfriend?”
Well, that was one question I hadn’t been anticipating. Too bad I had been taking a large gulp of water and choked. Nothing sprayed out or anything like that, it just went down the wrong pipe. I sat, coughing for a few long moments, while Chase watched me, amused. He couldn’t even let me be embarrassed in peace.
“No. You?” Deflection. My best defense.
“Boyfriend? No.”