Chapter 19.

Rays of sunlight dappled the quilt and Abby's creamy skin. Chase lay beside her, his head on his elbow, watching her sleep.

Most of her hair, which had been pulled back in an elegant twist for the fundraiser, was now free. Locks clung to her sleep-flushed cheeks.

He picked up a piece and rubbed its silkiness between his fingers. The dark strand was intermingled with rich, dark red that glinted like spun threads of garnet in the sunlight He lifted the hair to his nose, smelling traces of citrus blended with the warm scent of her skin and their lovemaking.

He'd made love to her three times during the night, and even now his penis was stirring against her thigh. At this rate, the woman was going to kill him. He couldn't recall ever being so insatiable. Not even in high school, when all he'd ever thought about was partying and getting lucky, and not necessarily in that order.

The last time they'd made love, they'd kept eye contact throughout the whole encounter. Her dark eyes had smoldered with desire and an emotion that Chase didn't dare to name. And never had he felt more complete. He'd found perfection in a life that had been so far from perfect it was often scary.

There was something about making love with Abby that went far beyond just gratifying his sexual needs. He couldn't label it exactly. Maybe the difference was that she was so responsive, or maybe it was because she made him feel like he was the only man she'd ever really wanted. But he did know that when he was buried in her hot, tight body, it simply felt right.

Of course, he wasn't totally kidding himself. He knew that whatever he thought she was feeling could very well be a figment of his own imagination. He was basically stud service for her. She had made the arrangement very clear at the diner. And if he was going to be honest to himself, in bed was the only place hecould gratify her. He certainly couldn't satisfy her intellectually.

He focused back on her face now. Her features were relaxed with sleep. She looked so lovely, her long lashes against her cheeks, her pink lips parted slightly.

Tightness tugged in the vicinity of his heart, but he didn't allow himself even a second to contemplate what was causing the sensation. There was no point, so instead, he pressed a kiss to the tip of Abby's

nose.

She stirred, but didn't open her eyes.

He kissed her nose again, and again she shifted. This time a tiny smile curved her lips, but her eyelids

remained firmly closed. Chase could tell from her smile that she was struggling to stay asleep.

Given how little he'd let her sleep during the night, he knew he should take pity on her now and let her

rest, but he couldn't. Lying here, watching her, gave him too much time to think about what he wanted from her, and the reality of what he was going to get.

He rose over her and kissed her again. This time on the mouth, molding his lips to hers.

Her arms came up to wrap around his neck, and she responded to him with sweet need. Her hands

found his hair, twining into the sleep-and-sex-mussed waves.

After several unhurried moments, he pulled away and grinned down at her. "Good morning."

"Good morning." She touched her fingertips to his jaw. For a few moments, she caressed the planes of

his face. Her fingertips traced the bristly line of his unshaven cheek, the indentation of his dimple and the shape of his lips as if she were trying to commit their shape and texture to memory.

He allowed the exploration, even though the tender look in her dark eyes made his chest tighten even

more. God, he wanted the emotion he saw in her eyes to be real. But he knew her feelings had to do with lust, nothing else.

When her fingers moved to the waves of unruly hair across his forehead, he had to stop her gentle admiration before the constriction around his heart became too much.

"I think you have a hair fixation," he said.

Her fingers paused, and she frowned at him. "Why do you say that?"

"You forever have your fingers in my hair."

She cast a glance at her hand buried in his tousled mane, then promptly removed it, dropping her hand to his shoulder. Deep pink colored her cheeks.

"I didn't say I didn't like it," he said, returning her hand to his head.

She immediately stroked him. "I do like your hair," she admitted. "I like that it's long."

"This isn't long. It's downright short compared to how I wore it in high school."

She absently brushed her fingers through the strands, her gaze faraway. "I loved your hair in high

school." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she seemed to snap back to the present "I mean, I recall it suiting you very well."

"So wait-you thought I was good-lookingand you loved my hair?" he teased, but the realization pleased him.

The pink in her cheeks darkened to scarlet. She dropped both her hands to the bed and struggled to get up, but he shifted and pinned her with his weight.

"Oh no, you're not getting away," he declared.

"Chase," she said, wiggling under him. The friction of skin against skin created a flash of heat and the flare of arousal.

Abby stilled, staring up at him.

"I wish things had been different in high school, " Chase said. "I wish I'd gotten to know you."

Her eyes widened. "Why?"

"Because I missed knowing a smart, fun, amazing girl." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "Plus," he added with a lascivious grin, "if I'd known how hot you were in the sack, I'd have had you parking at the Ledges every night."

Abby sputtered, then whacked Chase's shoulder, although she wasn't upset. In fact, she was thrilled with both of his statements. He thought she was amazing, and he thought she was hot in the sack. No man had ever thought either of those things about her. And this wasn't just any man. This was Chase Jordan, perfection incarnate. The way she could feel the rumble of his laughter to the tips of her toes. The rub of his chest against her peaked nipples. The tickle of his leg hair against her thighs. All of it, perfect.

The whole night had been beyond anything she could have possibly imagined. She truly didn't believe that she was a sexual being, but, boy, had Chase proven her wrong.

The memories of his method of proof made her toes curl. He'd brought her to ecstasy again and again. It had been extraordinary and, lying under him now, she realized she wanted more. It seemed impossible.

Then he grinned down at her with that sexy tilt of his lips and that sinfully deep dimple, and she realized that she would never, ever get enough of this man. The realization hit her like a brick to the forehead. Did she really think she was going to have a fling with him and just go on afterward as though nothing had happened?

She touched his beautiful face again, committing every facet of it to her memory. Not that she would ever forget.

"You look altogether too serious," Chase said.

She forced a smile. "Just thinking about how wonderful last night was."

"Mmm, it was pretty amazing." He kissed her.

Abby felt the weight of his thick erection on her stomach and started to reach down to touch him, but he caught her wrist.

"You've got to be sore, baby," he said, placing a kiss in her palm before pinning it above her head.

Abby stretched. Her muscles did feel a bit achy and there was an unfamiliar tenderness between her thighs. But none of that could offset the temptation of feeling him inside her again. To be one with him.

"I feel fine," she murmured, smiling at him sweetly. She stretched again, this time slowly and with purpose, rubbing her breasts against his chest and her belly against his rigid shaft.

She felt his muscles tense and his breath catch.

"Witch." He groaned, then caught her mouth in a ravenous, openmouthed kiss.

The sun was high in the sky when Abby and Chase awoke again. Chase lifted his head and peered over her to the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. "Lord, it's almost twelve-thirty."

Abby followed his look. "I have never slept this late before, " she said, astounded.

"Well, as you barely slept, I think your record is safe," Chase replied. He pressed a quick kiss on her forehead, then rolled out of bed. "I'm starving. Are you?" With his usual lack of modesty, he padded to the dresser.

Abby watched as he tugged on a faded pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt, feeling a sense of loss that their

night together was officially over.

"What would you like to eat?" he asked, turning back to the dresser and fishing around in one of the drawers.

Abby continued to watch him, trying to decide if she could eat or not. "I don't think I'm hungry."

He threw her a disbelieving look. "Of course you are. We haven't eaten since, what, seven or so last night? How about an Italian from DeMato's?"

The image of a vinegar- and oil-soaked sub layered with cold cuts, cheese, thick slices of tomato, green

peppers, onion and black olives flashed in her mind. A loud rumble reverberated from her belly. Abby blushed, and Chase chuckled. "DeMato's, it is," he said. Turning, he tossed a pair of plain white boxers and a white T-shirt onto the bed. "Why don't you get showered or sleep or whatever, and I'll go get the food." She picked up the boxers. "I can just run across the street, get dressed and come back." "You can do that, but you'd better be quick because it's only going to take me a few minutes to run and pick up the food. And I can't guarantee there will be any left for you, if you take too long."

Abby laughed. "I'll be very quick."

He gave her a brief kiss. "Okay, I'll be back."

She waved.

As soon as Chase left the room, Abby fell back against the pillows and listened to him bound down the

stairs. She heard him talking to Chester and the door slammed. Then there was the inevitable sputter and

loud roar of Helen's engine. She lay there for a few moments, taking in the heady scent of Chase among the rumpled bedding. Then she sat up and looked at his room. It was pleasant with dark wood furniture, but the cream and light blue wallpaper kept the eaved room from being too dark. Chase's large bed was situated between two windows, and she watched the sunlight play along the patchwork of his quilt.

After a several minutes, she heard the door open and close again, and someone rustling around in the kitchen. Reluctant to leave his room, as if doing so would truly bring to an end the glorious time they had shared, Abby waited for a second for Chase to come back upstairs. After a few minutes, when he didn't appear, she slipped out of bed and pulled on the clothes he'd provided.

"What, no breakfast in bed?" she called as she came down the back staircase and into the kitchen. But she didn't find Chase. Instead Summer-Ann knelt on the floor, where she was cleaning up the glass Abby had broken last night. Abby wasn't sure if Chase or Summer-Ann had picked up their scattered clothing, but it was now heaped in a chair-her panties in a ball on top like a bright, red cherry. Surprise widened the blonde's eyes, but she recovered quickly. "Well, considering it's afternoon, I think you're demanding the wrong meal in bed." Her voice was calm and laced with sarcasm. Abby stiffened and crossed her arms in front of her. "I didn't realize you were here." "Obviously," Summer-Ann said, giving her outfit a pointed look. Abby fought the urge to tug at the loose-fitting boxers that rode low on her hips. Summer-Ann finished sweeping the shards of glass into a blue plastic dustpan with a small hand brush.

She stood, threw the glass in the waste can and then put away the brush and dustpan in the cabinet under the sink. Abby couldn't help noticing that Summer-Ann knew her way around Chase's kitchen very well. A pang of jealousy knotted in her chest.

Summer-Ann leaned on the kitchen table, her expression disdainful like a cat that had just stepped out into wet grass. "It seems you and Chase have been having a wild little time-breaking glasses and whatnot."

Abby remained in the doorway, uncertain what to say. She couldn't deny it. She'd had the wildest, most exciting moment of her life right on the table that Summer-Ann rested against. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Summer-Ann didn't seem to need a response. "I'm sure you think that whatever is going on between you two is real and will last," she said, with a sharp edge to her voice. Abby's pride would never allow her to admit to Summer-Ann that the woman was right. She and Chase weren't going to have anything that would last. But the blonde was wrong about one thing-to Abby at least, what she had experienced with Chase was very, very real. Maybe too real. "But nothing will ever break the connection that I share with him," Summer-Ann stated, her voice resolute, with a stoniness to her eyes making them glint like emeralds. Abby studied her, noticing the harsh draw of her mouth and the deep creases in her brow. She looked hard. She looked tired. And Abby suddenly understood the other woman's adversarial stance. She was a mother protecting her family. "I would never come between Chase and Willy," Abby said softly. Summer-Ann frowned. "What?" "What Chase and I are-doing, it will never come between Chase and his son. I would never do that." Summer-Ann blinked. The woman seemed confused by Abby's promise. Did she really think Abby was going to try and create a wedge between a little boy and his father? Summer-Ann still looked taken aback. "Willy isn't..." She blinked again and fell silent. "I want to you feel confident about that, Summer-Ann. I would never hurt Willy." The blonde nodded. "I do." "You do what, Summer?" Chase asked, entering the kitchen, a paper bag in his arm and a frown on his face. Abby looked at Summer-Ann, and she could clearly see the pleading in her green eyes. Abby didn't understand exactly what she wanted, but she tried to follow the woman's lead. "I just asked her if she knew where you kept the coffee filters. I couldn't find them," Abby said. Summer-Ann nodded. "I'm assuming you didn't invite Summer over to ask her that," he said, setting the bag down on the counter. When he turned back to them, his brow was still creased and even though his last comment was aimed at Abby, he narrowed a suspicious glare at the other woman. Summer-Ann laughed, the sound brittle. "No, I actually stopped by to see if I could come in late on Monday. I have a dentist appointment."

"That's fine, but you could have just called me." "Well, I was driving by, so I figured I'd just stop."

Chase nodded, but Abby could tell by the angle of his eyebrows and the set of his lips that he didn't believe her.