Blitz: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy (Blast Brothers Book 3), стр. 50
The way he'd said it, I'd gotten warm and tingly in all the right places. Chase had a great voice and a spectacular body. And his face – it was the kind of face I could stare at forever and never get bored.
To my happy surprise, he reached out and took my hand. With a playful tug toward the far end of the barn, he said, "I'll show you liability, alright."
I didn't even know what he meant, and maybe he didn't either. But I was laughing anyway as he led us toward the ladder. When we reached it, he let go of my hand and said, "Hang on. I'll go first."
"Oh yeah?" I teased. "What about ladies first?"
Slowly, he turned and looked at me. Our gazes locked, and he lifted a single eyebrow. "Well, you could go first," he said, glancing down at my skirt, "if you don't mind giving me a show."
At the thought, my pulse quickened. Obviously, he was joking, but something made me ask, "And what if I did?"
His gaze warmed, along with his voice as he replied, "Well, I wouldn't say no, I can tell you that."
I bit my lip. Maybe he was teasing me. Maybe I was teasing him. Maybe we were teasing each other.
Or maybe he was simply being nice because Ginger and Emory had been so nasty.
A month ago, I might've laughed at the mere thought. Chase Blastoviak, nice?
And yet, I'd seen glimpses over the past few weeks that had me thinking he wasn't all terrible. And then, there was today's rescue. He'd told Ginger and Emory that he'd been chasing me – which made me look good at his expense.
As my thoughts swirled, I heard myself say, "Okay, you wanna know what I was thinking in the car?"
His gaze held mine. "You know I do."
I opened my mouth and then paused. I'd almost told him that I'd been thinking about what he'd said to me on the street, that he didn’t want to have sex with me – except he hadn't put it quite so nicely.
And boy, had I loathed him for that.
But now, I wasn't looking to rub his nose in it. Mostly, I just wanted to know if he still felt that way, or if his feelings had changed as much as mine.
After all, I hadn't wanted to have sex with him in the beginning either.
Maybe Chase still had zero interest. Maybe he was only flirting with me to cheer me up after the things Emory had said.
This would be the safe assumption.
Safe.
There was that word yet again.
Mentally, I tossed it aside and took a deep breath before saying, "I was thinking of…" Gosh, how to put this? "Well, I guess…you know how you were acting in the kitchen? Like, we were together? Earlier in the car, I was wondering what that would be like, you know, if it were real."
In front of me, he grew very still. In a quiet voice, he said, "Oh yeah?"
Quickly, I added, "I don't mean like us as an official couple. I just mean, like, what if we were together for a little while?" I glanced up toward the hayloft. "Like maybe even a half-hour?"
At this, his lips curved upward, giving me the hint of a smile. "Only a half-hour, huh?"
A nervous laugh escaped my lips. "Well, it's not like I have a stop-watch." I really was terrible at this, wasn't I? By now, my face was flaming, and I couldn’t help but wonder how Emory would have gone about such a thing.
For her, seduction came easy. For me, not so much.
Before the Bryce incident, she and I had been friends – or at least, sort of friends. I'd seen her operate up close. Even in high school, she'd been smooth and sophisticated when letting a guy know that she was his for the taking.
But here I was, years later, still a bumbling, awkward mess. Of course, it's not like I'd had a ton of practice in seducing guys who weren't my boyfriend.
Now, in the quiet barn, I held my breath and waited for Chase's reply. If he said no, I'd be totally humiliated.
And if he said yes, well, I wouldn't be playing it safe, that's for sure.
Finally, he flicked his head toward the ladder and said, "Ladies first."
Chapter 45
Chase
The view up her skirt just about did me in, making me feel more like a teenager than a grown man as I climbed up the ladder behind her.
Her panties were pink, and her ass – what I could see of it, anyway – looked just like it had in my dreams.
How could I not look?
Did she know I was getting an eyeful?
Above me, she said, "Careful of that next rung. I think it's loose." As she said it, she turned and looked down.
Just in time, I pulled my gaze from her ass and focused on her face.
It was no hardship. At that moment, I swear, she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. And those eyes. A guy could get lost in them if he weren't careful.
This wasn't the first time I'd thought such a thing. And if I had my way, it wouldn't be the last.
When she turned away and continued climbing, I took another peek up her skirt. I mean, hey, if I couldn't see her face, why not enjoy the other view?
Above me, she stopped and said, "Careful, another loose one." I looked to her face, only to discover that she was eyeing me from above.
Our gazes locked, and I had to smile.
I was so busted.
But I didn't apologize, because I wasn't sorry. And from the look on her face, neither was she. Besides, this was her idea, and hey, it wasn't for me to second-guess it.
So instead, I gave her a shameless grin. "Nice ass."
She snickered. "You're just saying that because you were caught."
"No, I'm saying it because it's