as they talked.
She asked about the army and his schooling. They talked a little bit about their families. The conversation was easy and they made it comfortably to chocolate devotion dessert before she tilted her head and asked, “And why are you here? For the weddings or Christmas or because your mom is in South America or are you here with someone?” She rattled off all these questions quickly, but seemed focused on him being here with someone.
He suddenly felt awkward. Could he tell her about Kris luring him here and the crazy idea of finding his dad and that the Chadwicks might be his half-siblings? She stared at him as if his answer meant everything to her.
“Um, well …” Chase always felt confident and comfortable, but he was neither right now. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to tell her what was going on, but he hadn’t even told his own mother. “I don’t know quite how to … explain. I need to have a … difficult discussion with someone before I should really talk about it.” He shifted in his seat and took a quick shot of his water to give him a second to compose his thoughts. Was he making any sense or confusing her as much as he was confused? If only the dream of a father and siblings wasn’t such a strong lure for him.
“It’s okay.” Ashley held up her hand as if to ward him off. “It’s your business. Really, no stress if you don’t want to tell me.”
He felt relieved. His mom should call back tomorrow. He could talk to her and see if he could get to the bottom of his father mystery. Then when the storm cleared and he wasn’t messing up somebody’s wedding, he could talk to the Chadwicks. He wondered where Kris had disappeared to, but he was relieved not to deal with her. He’d texted and called a few times and gotten no response.
“Thank you,” he told Ashley.
She abruptly stood, clutching her little hand purse thing and pulling out a hundred-dollar bill. “I’ve got to go. Lots of work to do. Let me just leave this for dinner.” She dropped the hundred on the table and turned to go.
Chase stood, grabbed the money, and shoved it back into her little purse. “Keep your money. I’ve got dinner.”
Why was she ditching him? She’d admitted earlier that she didn’t have much to do.
“No.” She glared up at him. “This wasn’t a date. I can pay my share.”
“It absolutely was a date,” he insisted, offended. They’d finally relaxed, talked, even joked and touched his “baby soft” skin. What had he done now and why didn’t she want to be on a date with him?
“Was not.” She jutted out her chin.
“Was.”
Grayson chose that moment to appear. Chase quickly pulled out a credit card and thrust it at the competent waiter. “Thank you, Grayson.”
Ashley tried to pull the hundred out of her purse to hand it to the man, but the waiter was already walking away. She glared up at Chase. “I’ll leave this for a tip.”
“Not necessary,” Chase asserted, pulling out a hundred from his own wallet and dropping it on the table.
“Argh,” Ashley growled at him. “You’re infuriating.” She turned to march away, but turned back and lifted a hand as if she was royalty. “Thank you for dinner, Dr. Hamilton. Goodnight.” Then she strode off without looking back.
So they were back to Dr. Hamilton? Every instinct screamed for Chase to rush after her, lift her off her feet, and kiss her. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot and watched her go.
Grayson reappeared with his card and a slip for him to sign. “Everything all right, sir?” Grayson asked. “With the lady?”
Chase shook his head and signed the slip. “She exited stage left.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I thought things were going well.”
“Me too, Grayson. Me too.” He shook his head and then shook the man’s hand, palming him the hundred that he’d plucked off the table.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Dinner was great.” He studied the young waiter. “Do you understand women, Grayson?”
The kid smiled and shook his head. “No, sir … but they seem to understand us.”
Chase chuckled. “Too true.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks again. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, sir.”
He walked slowly from the restaurant, watching snow swirl and plaster the large windows. For the past couple hours, he hadn’t minded being stuck in this snowstorm because he’d been with Ashley. Right now, he wanted to escape these walls. What he really wanted was to