“Aw, Pookie, don’t be like that,” Chase said, watching as the angry woman that he was guessing was no longer speaking to him curled up on the other end of the couch and pointedly ignored him.
Sighing, because she was just so fucking cute when she was pissed at him, Chase set his brakes and pushed the armrest back so that he could transition himself to the couch and once he was there
“I hate you,” Sloane mumbled sadly as he pulled her onto his lap, where she immediately curled up in his arms.
“I know you do, Pookie,” Chase murmured as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said, shifting so that she could lay her head against his chest.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, mostly because he didn’t think that it was a good idea to admit to anything that could cause the temperamental woman to climb off his lap.
With a murderous glare that was just too fucking adorable for words, Sloane bit out, “You let the realtor show the house while I was in the shower.”
“That was unfortunate timing,” Chase said with a sad shake of his head before adding, “If it makes you feel better, they put an offer on the house.”
“A retired podiatrist took pictures of me getting out of the shower,” she bit out, making his lips twitch.
“How else was he supposed to show the folks back home how spacious the bathroom was?” he asked, loving the way that her eyes narrowed on him.
“Yeah, we’re done here,” Sloane said, shaking her head in disgust as she climbed off his lap, grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and threw it at his head with a muttered, “Jerk,” and headed to the kitchen. For a moment, Chase sat there, debating going after her only to bite back a smile when she stormed back into the living room carrying a bottle of water and a bag of chips, dropped back down on his lap with a muttered, “Don’t talk to me,” and promptly ignored him.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around the woman that brought so much joy into his life.
*-*-*-*
Another Week After That…
“Okay,” came the calmly spoken words from the woman currently curled up on his lap, “this isn’t funny anymore.”
“What’s not funny anymore?” Chase asked while he helped himself to the hotdog that he’d ordered as he glanced toward the playground, noting that the small group of preschoolers that had taken it upon themselves to teach her a lesson was watching her, eating their ice cream as they waited for the right moment to attack.
“Chase?” Sloane said, sounding a hell of a lot calmer than she had a few minutes ago when they’d decided that it was time for her to walk the plank.
“Yes, Pookie?” Chase said, shifting his attention to the woman that kept him entertained to find her watching him.
“You know that I hate you, right?” Sloane asked, and since he already knew that she adored him almost as much as he adored her, he decided that this was just the adrenaline left over from the last attack talking.
“I know,” he said, appeasing the small woman sending a nervous glance toward the small group of children hellbent on making her pay as he leaned forward, unable to help himself, and kissed her forehead.
“As long as you know,” Sloane said absently, swallowing nervously as she moved to climb off his lap only to rethink that decision and curl back up in his arms with a sigh when the group of really angry children narrowed their eyes on the move.
It was probably for the best, Chase decided, mostly because he liked having her in his arms.
Chapter 24
“What are you doing?”
“You mean besides ignoring you?” Sloane asked even as she shifted on his lap to get more comfortable.
“Mmhmm, besides that,” Chase murmured absently as he plucked the iPad out of her hands to see what she was looking at.
“Nothing,” she said, taking her iPad back so that she could close the website, telling herself that this was a stupid idea.
“That didn’t look like nothing,” Chase said, absently caressing his thumb over her stomach, making it difficult to focus on anything other than just how good it felt when he touched her, something that she’d been struggling to ignore.
No matter how many times she told herself that she was making a mistake by staying, she couldn’t seem to force herself to leave. She was risking