Ho…ly…shit!
Chase Boyer was here. In the flesh.Very warm, very muscular flesh. Aaaand…she was still holding onto him as if she never wanted to let go.
I don’t.
But she did it anyway. Scottie forced herself to pull away from Chase’s warm embrace. Stunned by how familiar it felt—how familiarhefelt. Even after all this time.
“Wha…what in the world are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
Oh, that voice.
Deeper. All grown-up and manly. And the way it had rumbled just then…
When Chase pulled back a bit and smiled down at her, Scottie’s heart did a sort of weird flip thing inside her chest. It took her a moment to realize she’d felt that exact same sensation before. It had been years, but she recognized it for what it was.
It was the same reaction her body had the first time Chase Boyer flashed his panty-dropping smile her way. Only now, that smile of his looked even better than before.
How is that even possible?
To make matters worse, from where she was standing, the whole package had been given a tall, rugged, sexy-as-sin upgrade. Complete with hair that was a bit too long on top, well-trimmed facial hair to match, and a fit and muscular form that was proof Chase was one hundred percent man.
“So?” That rumble of his accompanied a prodding look. “What brought you to Liberty House?” The inquisitive words had no more fallen from his lips when those incredible blue eyes of his—his whole handsome face, really—grew hard as steel. “Ah, hell, Scottie. So help me, if someone hurt you…”
They did hurt me. Just not in the way you’re thinking.
“I’m not a resident of the shelter, Chase.” She finally found her voice again. “I…work here. I’m the new head chef.”
There went that smile of his, growing even bigger than before. Scottie’s lower belly tingled, and she was pretty sure her toes just curled inside her sneakered feet.
“No kidding? Since when?”
“Um…I guess it’s been a little over two months, now.”
Time sure flies when you’re completely rebuilding your life.
“So you live here. In Seattle.”
Not a question. More like a statement of clarification.
“I do,” Scottie confirmed. “I moved to the city three months ago and started working here shortly after.”
Chase’s entire too-damn-hot-for-his-own-good face seemed to light up at the unexpected news. “I moved here a little over a year ago.”
Scottie’s heart didn’t just flip then. It soared.
You both live in the same city for the first time in fourteen years. Maybe, if you play your cards right, this could turn into more than a simple one-off chance encounter.
Scottie nearly laughed at the unsolicited thought. Running into Chase like this was great. More than great, really. But Seattle was a damn big city, so their little impromptu reunion wasn’t guaranteed to lead to anything other than this moment right here.
Sure, there was a part of her—a big,bigpart, if she was being perfectly honest with herself—that still fantasized about what life would have been like if she hadn’t been forced to leave him behind all those years ago. Would they have stayed together through graduation? Gotten married? Had kids?
Unfortunately for Scottie, that ship set sail when she was sixteen years old. And as far as she was concerned, it was still out there somewhere…perpetually lost at sea.
Kind of like me.
Speaking of being lost…