Out of Nowhere Read online

  “Morning, Sweet Pea,” Judy says, with a grin. “Coffee?”

  “Please.” I manage to squeak out, before I quickly sit at the table across from Jonathan. My cheeks darken in embarrassment when I realize that I’m wearing nothing but Chase’s shirt, nothing. I am beyond mortified at the moment. Chase saunters into the kitchen, a pair of sweatpants sitting low on his hips. My eyes roam his body; my cheeks darken when I remember what I did with my tongue and his abs last night. “Morning, Ma and Pa,” he says, as he walks over to me and kisses my cheek.

  Jonathan says, “Morning, Son.” Before turning his attention back to the paper.

  Judy says, “Morning, Chase.” She grabs a mug from the cabinet and begins making a coffee for me.

  Chase sits next to me and huskily says with a wink, “Morning, babe. I panicked when I didn’t find you still in bed next to me. Then I smelled Ma’s pancakes and I knew you’d be out here. Sleep well?”

  Judy places a coffee in front of me and smiles at us both. She kisses Chase on the forehead before turning back to the stove. “Where’s my coffee, Ma?” he says.

  “You’ve got two legs and a heartbeat. Besides these are nearly ready, and while you’re up you can get the plates and place the syrup on the table.” He sits there staring at his mom open-mouthed, and I’m trying to stifle a laugh when Jonathan booms, “You heard your mother, hop to it.”

  “I’m going. I’m going,” he says. I laugh and watch as he stands up and grabs the plates and cutlery and sets the table. He then makes himself a coffee and sits next to me again. As I sip my coffee, I look around at everyone and I find myself smiling. This is nice, I think to myself. I haven’t ever had a Saturday morning like this, and I hope that I get to again. I don’t realize that everyone is now sitting at the table until I hear Judy say, “Dig in.”

  The four of us have breakfast together, chatting and laughing. Before I know it, Judy and Jonathan have left and it’s just Chase and me again. I realize that I’m still in his shirt, so I stand up and say, “I’d better go get changed and head off. I’ll leave you to your Saturday.”

  Before I’ve taken two steps, Chase comes up behind me and pulls me into him. He nuzzles my neck and nibbles on my ear before whispering, “Or we can go back to bed and I can have my wicked way with you.”

  Spinning around, I look up at him, kiss him on the nose, and walk backward away from him. Staring intently at him, I lift my hands, and with each step, I undo a button on the shirt I’m wearing. When I’m in the doorway to his bedroom, I slip it off my shoulders; it billows at my feet so I’m standing naked in front of him. Without saying a word, he stalks toward me, and scoops me into his arms, taking me to bed, where for the next few hours we get to know each other’s bodies…again and again.

  * * *

  Chase walks me to the door and says he will be over at three to pick me up for our afternoon at The Tav with Rooney and Talia. As soon as I’m inside, I lean against the front door and find myself smiling, genuinely smiling. Last night was magnificent. Pushing off the door, I head into my bathroom and begin running a bath. I need a good soak because I ache from head to toe. When I slip into the water, I replay parts of last night and find myself slightly aroused again. Sex with Brian was always great, but sex with Chase is different. It’s out of this world amazing, but he’s a different lover than Brian. Taking a breath, I sink under the water and think to myself that I’m lucky to have found two amazing men who both treat me wonderfully, each in their own respective ways.

  When the water turns cold I hop out, and while I’m drying myself, I realize that for the first time when I think about Brian, I don’t get sad. I’m filled with joy and happiness at his memory. Flicking on Spotify, the first song to play is “Rock the World” by The Script. I take that as a sign from Brian that he’s okay with this. That he wants me to be happy with Chase. And I am happy with Chase, really, really happy.

  I’m in the kitchen when I hear Chase pull up, and rather than wait for him to come inside, I race outside to meet him. He’s walking up the path, and when he’s in proximity to me, I launch myself at him. He catches me and I wrap my legs around his waist. Lowering my head down, I kiss him. We are in full view of my neighbors, but I don’t care. I attack his mouth as if I’d die without this kiss and it feels so good.

  Breaking our connection, Chase looks up at me, his eyes are ablaze with lust, I’m pretty sure mine are the same. “You can kiss me hello like that anytime, Ems. But if we want to make it to The Tav, you need to hop down now, otherwise, we’ll be giving your neighbors a free show.” With a giggle, I lower myself down.

  “Sorry, I’m just so happy at the moment and I think it’s all to do with you,” I shyly say.

  “Ems, I’m over the moon happy too. Now, let’s go before I take you inside and ravage you, but I will say, I’m glad you are wearing a dress. Easy access,” he says, as his hand snakes up the back of my thigh and he squeezes my butt. “Ems, the first time I saw you, you were wearing a yellow sundress, and from that moment, I was under your spell.”

  My heart soars hearing this and I seductively nuzzle his neck and whisper, “Do we really have to go?” My body quivers with desire. “Can’t we just head inside and have our own party, a very naked, sexy party. Just the two of us?” Breathing him in, my body shudders, lust bursting through my body. I’ve never been so turned on by a man’s scent before, but Chase’s scent does things to me that I’m sure are illegal in many countries.

  “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes we have to go, Ems.” He groans when I nibble his jaw, my hand snaking down toward his fly, but he’s too quick. He grips my wrist before whispering, “But later your body is mine. All. Night. Long.”

  I shudder when he says this and reluctantly I grumble, “Fine, let’s go.” As we walk to his truck, he laces our fingers together, and I clench my thighs together to dull the ache that he has created between my legs.

  Ten minutes later, we pull up at The Tav. Chase and I link hands and we walk inside. Immediately, Chase spots Rooney and Talia in the back. They are deep in conversation with someone and they all turn to face us when Chase waves. I pause mid-step when I realize who Rooney is chatting to; the last person in the world I expected to see here. “Shez, what are you doing here?” I say.

  “Hey, Emerson,” she says before she looks toward Chase and smiles. “Chase, long time, no see.”

  In unison, we both look at each other and ask, “How do you know Sheridan?”

  I’m in complete shock right now. I’ve been avoiding Sheridan’s calls for weeks now. I know I should have called her back the other day, but I’m not ready to face it yet. Sheridan interrupts my thoughts. “Emerson, Chase and I went to CU together. Chase, I met Emerson in New York. She’s been avoiding me so I decided to make a trip here. Thought I’d kill two birds with one stone: see Emerson and catch up with you. And who knew that I’d find the two of you together? I never would have expected that, but now that I think about it, I can totally see you guys together.”

  “What a small world,” Chase says.

  We all grab a drink from the bar and as we walk over to a booth, Chase wraps his arm around me and pulls me into his side. Normally I’d happily wrap my arm around him too, but at the moment I’m shocked. Not that Chase knows Shez, but that she’s here, in Nels Cove. I’m finally going to have to face up to what I ran away from, but I’m not ready to deal with it, not when I’ve only just found me again.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Chase

  WHAT THE HECK? I’M TOTALLY stunned that Sheridan and Emerson know one another. New York is a damn big city, Nels Cove is a tiny town in the middle of Colorado, yet the three of us are linked. After getting a round of drinks for everyone, we head toward ‘our’ booth and we all sit down. Sheridan, Rooney, and I all catch up. Emerson chats with Talia, but she is really quiet. She keeps glancing at Sheridan, and I begin to wonder if she thinks that Sheridan is one of my previous conquests. I need to get her alone and talk.

>   “So, Sheridan, what brings you to Nels Cove?” I ask, as the waitress delivers our burgers.

  “Ummm.” She looks to Emerson unsure how to answer, “I, ahh, just wanted to catch up with my girl, Emerson, here. See how’s she’s doing and all that.”

  Well, that’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one. Emerson relaxes under my arm. She seems relieved with the story that Sheridan told. I’m still intrigued, but I want my happy Ems back.

  “So, what juicy stories do you have to spill on Emerson here?” Rooney says with his mouth full of burger.

  “I see your manners haven’t gotten any better, Rooney.” She looks to Talia. “You sure you want to marry this guy?”

  Talia looks lovingly at Rooney and with a super big grin replies, “Yep, I’ll take him. No manners and all.”

  “Naw, I love you too, babe,” he says, leaning over to kiss her. Their gentle kiss quickly turns heated. It starts to become awkward for Sheridan, Ems, and me when thankfully they pull apart.

  “Thank God for that,” I whisper to myself, but it wasn’t all that quiet. When I look up, everyone is staring at me. “What?” I say. “It was like I was at a live-action porn show.”

  With that comment, silence falls over the table. Until Sheridan sings, “Bom-chicka-wow-wow.”

  And Ems adds, with a totally fake over the top accent, “I’ve come to clean ze pool.” She pretends to rub her fake pornstash. With that, we all burst out laughing and fall back into easy, non-porn related conversation for the rest of the evening.

  Before I know it, it’s closing time. We walk outside to our cars. Everyone is hugging and saying goodbye when I happen catch the tail end of Ems and Sheridan’s conversation/good bye and hear her say that she will see Sheridan tomorrow when she stops by. Sheridan is the first to drive off, as usual Rooney and I fall into another conversation, but out of the corner of my eye, I notice that Ems is really quiet and has withdrawn into herself. Rooney notices too and he silently tells me to go look after my girl; my girl, I like saying that. After hugging Talia, I slap Rooney on the back and walk over to Ems. “You ready to go?” I say, as I link my fingers with hers.

  “Yep,” she quietly says as she follows me to my car.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, just tired. Totally ready to fall into bed.”

  I can’t help it and I suggestively wink at her, this garners a timid smile from her but it doesn’t reach her eyes. We climb into my truck and head toward Emerson’s place. The silence in the car is deafening. I break it when I say, “What a small world, you are Sheridan are friends from New York.”

  “Yep.” She lets the P pop, “I never realized that you guys went to CU together. She had mentioned a Chase from her time there, but I never put two and two together.”

  We pull up to her house and get out of the car; silently we walk up the path to her front door. She digs in her clutch for her house keys. Unlocking the door, we walk inside. “Do you want anything before bed?” she politely asks.

  I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her waist. “I want you to tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been off all night, I’m worried about you.” Her body begins to shake in my arms and then I realize that she is crying. “Ems, talk to me, what’s wrong?”

  She cries in my arms for a few minutes before she quietly says, “It’s all my fault, Chase. All my fault.” This admission causes her to completely fall apart in my arms. Scooping her up, I walk down the hallway to her room. Gently I lay her down on the bed, one by one I slip off her boots and place them on the floor next to the bed. As I gently place her shoes on the floor—gently because she’s protective of her shoes—she scoots up the bed and rests her head on her pillow. Lifting my shirt over my head, I throw it on the floor—kick off my shoes—not taking as much care as I did with Emerson’s boots, and slide in next to her. She rolls onto her side and snuggles into me. Wrapping my arms around her, I press her close to me, her back to my front. Gently kissing her on the temple, I quietly say, “Everything will be okay, Ems. I promise.”

  She just keeps repeating over and over, “It’s all my fault.” Eventually her breathing evens out and I know she has fallen asleep.

  Flopping onto my back, I stare at the ceiling and wonder what could be her fault. I need to speak to Sheridan; grabbing my phone I shoot her a text.

  CHASE - We need to talk about Emerson

  Immediately, I get a reply.

  SHERIDAN - I can only tell you so much. Attorney-client privilege.

  CHASE - Just tell me she’s going to be ok?

  SHERIDAN - I don’t know

  I stare at those three words until they start to go blurry. Placing my phone on the bedside table, I snuggle into Ems again. My last thought, before I drift off to sleep, is that I will do anything to help Emerson, anything.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Emerson

  I’M THANKFUL THAT CHASE DIDN’T pressure me to talk last night. We just came back here, I broke down, went to bed and we snuggled together. It was exactly what I needed, but when I woke up this morning to an empty, cold bed, a pang of sadness shot straight to my heart. I thought I had pushed Chase away. Then I smelled coffee and knew that he was still here. Rolling to my side, I climb out of bed and realize I’m still in my dress from the night before. Shrugging my shoulders, a force beyond my control over takes my body, and I follow the caffeine smell that is currently permeating throughout the cottage.

  “You are my hero, Chase Archibald, coffee is just what I need,” I say as I walk into the kitchen. Pausing mid-step, my mouth drops open. “What time did you get up?” Before me is a feast fit for a king, well, queen in my case. There are waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. There’s even muffins, but I’m pretty sure they are from Tiff’s.

  He smiles at me as he saunters toward me, only wearing his jeans, and my mouth begins to water and not from the food. He pulls me into his embrace and kisses my temple. “I just wanted to give you a treat and cheer you up.”

  “I’m fine, Chase, it was just a shock seeing Shez.” I look up at him and nuzzle his jawline, his morning stubble tickling my lips. “Chase, can we please devour this feast? Then over more coffee…or tequila, I will tell you everything.”

  “I’d like that, Ems. Now let’s eat.” He grabs my hand, lifts it to his lips, gently placing a kiss on my knuckles. He then leads me into the kitchen and hands me a plate. Filling my plate with a little of everything, I join Chase at the dining table and dig in. “Oh my God, Chase, this is divine. Where did you learn to cook like this?”

  “Pa taught me.” My head snaps up at that revelation.

  “I thought it would have been Ma,” I say in shock.

  “I know, right? What most people don’t know is that Ma is a terrible cook. She can’t cook toast without setting off the smoke detectors. The only thing she can cook is pancakes.”

  “Wow, I’m totally shocked at that. Next time I see Pa, I’m going to have to thank him for teaching you to cook like this.” Taking another bite of my waffle, I moan in delight. Chase and I eat in silence. When we are finished, he grabs our plates and places them in the dishwasher. Picking up my coffee, I stare into the black liquid and realize that I’m totally full. “Looks like I’ll need to go for a fifty-mile run this afternoon to burn this off.”

  Chase glances at me over his shoulder and winks suggestively. “I can think of other ways we can burn this off.”

  “Can you now?” I playfully reply. Standing up, I walk over to him and wrap my arms around him from behind, seductively whispering into his ear, “And what did you have in mind?”

  He leans back into my arms and says, “Meet me in the bedroom and I’ll show you exactly what I have in mind.” He turns his head and gently kisses my cheek, his lips lingering longer than necessary. “And I suggest you lose the dress if you still want it in one piece.”

  Stepping back, I lift the dress over my head and drop it in his lap. “Deal,” I say, as I turn and skip down the hall to my bedroo
m where Chase and I burn off our breakfast…and then some.

  * * *

  We shower separately, and when I walk into the kitchen, Chase has cleaned up the breakfast dishes and there’s a fresh coffee waiting for me on the counter. “Chase, you didn’t have to clean up. The rule in this cottage is ‘if you cook, you don’t clean.’ Keep that in mind for next time.” I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest. The beating of his heart is calming, until he says, “So, you want to talk about it now?”

  With my arms still wrapped around him, I look up into his eyes—today they are blue with flecks of grey. Just staring into them, a sense of calm washes over me and I know that I can do this. “Yeah, okay. Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you everything.” He stretches out his hand and together we walk into the living room. We take a seat on the couch. I tuck my legs under me and rest my coffee cup on my knee. I stare into my cup and take a deep breath. I glance over at Chase and say, “As you know, I lost everyone that fateful day in Central Park. I fell apart after that…”

  Chase interrupts me, “Ems…”

  Raising my hand to stop him, I butt in, “Just let me get this all out, please?” He nods at me before he grabs my hand and squeezes it. He scoots closer to me and laces our fingers together before placing our joined hands in his lap. “I fell apart, I pushed everyone away. I became a hermit. I was angry and I hated everything and everyone. Shez is the corporate lawyer at my family’s company.”

  “The James Corporation,” Chase says, it’s more of a statement than a question.

  Nodding my head, I continue. “Shez stepped up to the plate and handled everything after it all happened. She called me one day and left a message saying that there were decisions that I needed to make. Rather than deal, I ran. I booked my trip and took off. Ignoring all my problems and the company in the process.” Lifting my coffee mug to my lips, I take a sip to compose myself. “In my absence, the company started to fall apart. No decisions could be made because I wasn’t there. Now the company is on the brink of failure and it’s all my fault.” A tear slips down my cheek. “For a few weeks now, I’ve been avoiding Shez’s calls and because of me over seven hundred people may lose their jobs. If only I had answered the phone, I could have done something. That’s why she came here, because I need to make a decision on where to go from here.” Pausing, I sadly look over at Chase, tears are now streaming down my face. “Chase, I don’t know what to do.”