with sin, "Baby. You're not gonna make me wait again, are you?"
Chapter 42
Mina
I felt myself swallow. Baby?
I whirled to look, and there he was, Chase Blastoviak standing in the open doorway.
With his gorgeous face and rock-hard body, he looked larger than life as his warm gaze raked the length of me.
I stammered, "Uh, sorry, what was that?"
We were standing only a few feet apart, but not for long. With an easy stride, he closed the distance and wrapped a muscular arm around my waist. He pulled me tight against his side and said with a smile, "We've got plans, remember?"
He felt so solid and warm that I couldn't stop myself from leaning into him, even more so because until his arrival, I'd felt so terribly outnumbered.
Somehow, I managed to say, "Oh, um. Yeah. That's right."
I wasn't even lying. We did have plans. And unless I was mistaken, those plans involved Chase driving me back to my parents' place so he could continue on with his Saturday night.
Still, as I craned my neck to stare up at him, I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he would be doing – and who he'd be doing it with.
It wouldn’t be with me, that's for sure.
Chase looked to Ginger and said with an easy smile, "Sorry, but you've had my girl long enough."
His words settled over me like warm, comfy blanket.
His girl.
Oh, boy. That sounded so nice.
I knew he didn't mean it, but I didn't even care. At that moment, I would've gone along with just about anything, if only to see the horrified look on Ginger's face.
When I glanced at Emory, she had that same look – as if she'd just opened her mailbox to find a severed head, or maybe a missing liver.
Emory looked from Chase to me and back again. "So, the two of you…" She shook her head. "You're together? Seriously?"
Okay, yes I fully realized that Chase Blastoviak was way out of my league, but it's not like I was a goblin. Was I?
Chase replied, "If I'm lucky, we are."
Emory frowned. "Really?"
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I've been chasing her for a while, but Mina, she's a hard one to catch."
His statement was so ridiculous, I almost laughed out loud. Or maybe I was just happy that he'd rescued me from what had obviously been an ambush.
As I watched, Emory and Ginger shared a long, perplexed look. They were still eyeing each other when Chase said to Emory, "Hey, I remember you."
Emory whirled to face him, making her slinky red dress flare around her thighs before it settled back into place. She gave Chase a ravishing smile. "You do?"
"Yeah. You're the nut chick." Chase looked to Ginger and said, "We saw her licking nuts near the corner of Third and Jefferson."
Emory made a sound of protest. "I wasn't licking nuts. I was holding them, and not even really, because most of them slipped out of my hands."
I couldn’t help it. I snickered.
Emory's eyes narrowed. "What's so funny?" But then she paused. "Oh, come on! It wasn't like that at all."
I gave her my sweetest smile. "Like what?"
"Like however you're making it sound."
"Me?" I laughed. "I didn't say anything."
"Yeah, but I know what you're thinking." She whirled to her mom and said, "It wasn't like that."
Chase laughed. "Aw come on. Get your thoughts out of the gutter." He looked back to her mom and said, "Hey Ginger."
She looked. "Yeah?"
He gave her a sexy grin. "You know the score, right?"
I'd known Ginger my whole life, but I'd never seen her look so flustered as she looked right now. With a girlish giggle, she said, "Me? Oh, yeah. Of course."
Emory mimicked under her breath. "Oh, yeah. Of course."
Ginger turned to her daughter. "What's that?"
Emory sighed. "Oh come on, Mom. You're making a total fool of yourself."
Ginger's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"
"I'm just saying, he's a little young for you, don't you think?"
Ginger's mouth tightened. "What exactly are you implying?"
"I'm not implying anything," Emory said. "I'm telling you straight up that if you're shopping for husband number-four, you might want to check a different aisle."
I spoke up. "I hear produce is nice."
In unison, they both turned to look. For a long moment, neither one of them said a word. But then, they turned back to each other and started bickering.
Ginger told Emory, "Hey, I'm not the one all gussied up."
"Oh, please," Emory shot back. "If you were any more 'gussied', you'd be wearing your freaking tiara."
Chase leaned his head close to mine and whispered in