Read Here Comes Trouble Online
Authors: Erin Kern
Here Comes Trouble (41 page)
On an impulse, Lacy stood on her tiptoes and brushed a soft kiss on Chase’s rough cheek. Oh, how she did love him. Never would she have guessed that Chase McDermott would have been the one to capture her heart. He’d always been the antithesis of everything she looked for in a man. However, she’d been half in love with him not long after moving back to Trouble. Her steady and dominate stubborn streak refused to allow her to acknowledge such feelings. In order to protect her vulnerable heart, she’d played it safe by keeping him at arm’s length. Sparring with him had seemed like the best way of accomplishing that. After an interminable amount of time she’d been unable to hold him at bay. Her defenses had grown too weak. His knowing looks and imposing presence had been more than her hormones could handle. Sometime after that her heart had succumbed to him and there had been no looking back from that.
“Are you okay?” he asked after she’d been staring at him for too long.
She swept her lashes down in a slow blink. “I’m fine. This baby has a way of sucking all the energy out of me.”
“Well, you’re in luck because I have a treat for you tonight.”
Both her brows lifted. “What sort of treat?”
“You’ll just have to stop by and find out.” He hefted the picture up. “Are you going to let me buy this or not?”
Lacy took the money from Chase, tucked it away in the tin box and glued her eyes to his phenomenal backside when he tucked the drawing under one arm and waltzed away.
Several hours went by with slow, but steady, traffic. At the end of the first day, Lacy had sold about a dozen drawings. Not outstanding numbers, but still not half bad considering her current status in the art community. Brody, Courtney and Megan came back and each purchased one drawing. Then they stayed to help her clean everything and load it all in Brody’s truck. Chase had to go back to the restaurant but told Brody he’d be the one helping Lacy from now on. Lacy couldn’t help the smile that appeared at Chase’s caveman-like possessiveness. Completely offensive, yes, but unbelievably sweet.
Brody hauled her, along with all her stuff, to Chase’s house, then left her standing by the front door with another smooch on the cheek.
Chase swung the door open before she had a chance to knock. “I heard you pull up,” he explained when she only stared at him.
She stepped over the threshold. “You weren’t, by any chance, waiting for me, were you?”
He shut the door with a provocative tilt of his mouth. “Now why would I do that?”
“I can’t imagine.” She turned to face him. His un-tucked work shirt was a wrinkled mess and carried the distinct aroma of grease, sweat and cooked food. His brown slacks were far from pressed perfection and had an odd dark stain on one side. All day stubble shadowed his square jaw and made him look like some disreputable hellion. Overall, he looked like he’d just spent eight grueling hours going through the restaurant ringer.
Lacy had never seen anything sexier in her life.
For the second time that day, she gave in to her impulse and kissed him. She kissed him like her very life force depended on getting as physically close to him as possible. His tongue did a slow glide into her mouth and sent waves of quivers through her belly.
“Boy, you can’t keep your hands off me today,” Chase said when they separated.
Lacy shook her head. “Always looking for a way to stroke your ego.”
“Are you feeling okay? Do you need to sit down?”
Would she ever get used to having someone love her as much as Chase did? “I’m a little tired. But other than that, I’m good.”
He took her hand in his and led her upstairs. “Well, before I start pampering you, I need to show you something.”
They went past his bedroom and came to a stop at the room at the end of the hallway. Lacy had never been in this room; Chase had been using it for storage and said he was going to turn it into an exercise room.
When Lacy got a peek inside, all the breath expelled from her lungs. The walls of the room had been painted a pale blue. A dark cherry-wood crib with blue and brown bedding sat along one wall. A plushy recliner with stuffed animals was angled in the corner of the room. Next to that was a changing table.
She took a step inside and ran her eyes over the infant-themed decorations. “It’s darling,” she whispered. “Did you do all this yourself?”
Chase leaned against the doorframe. “Courtney and Avery helped me. They objected to me making everything blue. But I’m hopeful.”
The room could have been painted lime-green and she wouldn’t have cared. She walked to the crib and ran her fingers along the top edge. “Tell them they can do one at my house for me.”
“You won’t need one at your house. This is for both of us.”
His words tumbled over in her head. Did he mean what she thought he meant? Or was she reading more into it? She turned to face him just as he pushed away from the door.
He stopped just a hair away from her. “I want you to live here with me. As my wife.”
What was left of her breath emptied out of her in a dizzying whoosh. As his wife? He wanted to marry her?
“I shouldn’t have asked you to marry me the way I did before. It was impulsive and hasty.” He gathered her clammy hands in his. “I’m not asking you now out of obligation. I’m asking because I want to wake up next to you every day for the rest of my life. I love you and I know you love me.” He paused and touched her cheek. “Say you’ll marry me.”
Lacy had dreamed of this moment for months. Even though she’d tried terribly to push Chase away, she’d needed him. Maybe she’d always needed him, but had been too stubborn to admit it to herself. Her desire to be with him now went way beyond need. She loved him with every follicle of her being.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said through tears that had pooled in her eyes. Several trickled over and Chase blotted them away with his fingers.
“Are you ready to be pampered now?”
She grinned and kissed him full on the lips. “Absolutely.”
****
Erin Kern lives in Texas with her husband and two children.
When she isn’t chasing after her son or having pretend tea parties with her daughter, Erin can be found in front of her computer spinning out more tales of romance and humor.
Connect with me online at
My blog:
http://www.erinleighkern.blogspot.com
My website:
http://erinkern.webs.com/