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Choked up, he mumbled, “Thank you.”
She unlocked the door, then handed him the keys. “You first. It’s your place.”
Chase opened the door, pushed it wide, and held his hand out for her to go in first. Manners, yes, but also because he wanted to seeherinhisplace.
And even though they stepped into an empty wide-open combination family room, dining room, and kitchen area, all he wanted to look at was her.
She’d changed over the last nearly three years he’dknown her. Of course after their night together, he’d obsessed over every little detail of their time together. He spent seven months kicking his ass for not getting her number and wishing he was stateside so he could talk her back into his bed. Then she called him out of the blue and dropped the bomb. He was going to be a father. By the time he wrapped his head around that, they’d shared several phone calls leading up to the birth, talking mostly about the pregnancy, how the baby was doing, and what Shelby needed to do to prepare to bring Eliza home alone. He’d felt a million miles away and mostly useless because he was overseas and could only support Shelby by sending a check and sympathizing with her sore back and swollen feet. Their calls were often too short for them to really get to know each other, but he loved all the little tidbits he pulled out of her. And he shared things with her about his family, his work, some of the cool things he’d seen and done being stationed overseas without boring her with details about drills or scaring her with recounts of his missions. But she always seemed to know how lonely he was away from home, and it drew him to her even more.
Several women hit on him in the bar the night they met. None of those other women captured his attention the way Shelby did, though at first he didn’t think she noticed him at all. Something about the way she didn’t seem to belong there hooked him. He’d bet she’d never been in the place. But he liked the way her plump ass filled the stool beside his and how her brown wavy hair spilled over her shoulders and hid her face and that she sat there quietly drinking some fruity cocktail. Three different ones, if he remembered right, while heknocked back one whiskey shot after another, trying to drink away the memory of how he got a bullet through the shoulder, one sliced across his thigh, and how he couldn’t call himself stupid enough for coming home on leave where no one wanted him.
He was on the last night of his stay before he had to fly back to base and report in. And he hadn’t wanted to spend it alone. But a night with a girl who didn’t so much as even try to engage him in conversation and who tried really hard not to be noticed... Well, she seemed like the perfect match to his need to shut off everything and just be quiet—and naked—with someone.
Shelby stared at him, her eyes filled with concern. “Chase? Are you okay?”
“Do you remember that night?” He needed to know if it meant as much to her as it did to him.
She held his gaze, her cheeks tinted pink, then turned for the kitchen. “You’ll need to buy a washer and dryer for the mudroom off the back.”
“So we’re not ever going to talk about it?”
Still she didn’t look at him. “Do you want to see this place or not?”
“The way you’re avoiding talking about it makes me think you’ve got something to say.” He hoped it was something good. He hoped it was,Let’s do it again.
She opened the fridge door. “I put some essentials in here for you. Eggs, milk, butter, frozen pancakes and waffles, a few frozen pizzas, and TV dinner things I thought you might like.” She slammed the door. “You should replace the fridge, too, by the way.” Her cheeks were an even brighter shade of pink that made him think she was imagining that night. “I put some canned goods up in the cupboard,” she said to her toes, then startedwalking toward the hallway. “It’s three bedrooms, two baths. The main bedroom is pretty big.”
He followed her down to it, stopped just inside the room, and stared at the king-size bed backed by the most amazing wood design going up the wall.
“Do you like it?” The shyness was back.
He didn’t know what to say about the stunning display.
“I saw something like it on one of those home improvement shows. I’m not that great with tools, but Tom showed me how to use the chop saw. It was actually kind of fun. My grandpa had a huge pile of lumber in the shed behind the house and I thought... Well... Do you like it?” The nervous words tumbled out her mouth, and all he could do was stare at her in wonder.
“I think you’re amazing.”
Her blush turned even the soft shell of her ears pink.
Trying to alleviate some of her nerves, he focused on the wood. “Did you stain it all yourself, too?”
“Sanded, stained the boards in three different tones to give it this pretty pattern of lights and darks, laid it all out the way I thought it looked best, then nailed it up. The mattress store was having a big sale, so I got you a bed.” Her cheeks blazed red. “I mean, you need to sleep somewhere.”
“In my house is a good place.” Her bed would be infinitely better. It had been a damn long time since he’d slept with anyone. He barely slept at all most nights. And since he found out she was pregnant with his child, he’d attempted to go out and find some comfort, but always ended up going home alone, because no one compared to her. No one could come close to what they shared that night.
He wondered if Shelby had any idea about the kinds of feelings he had for her.
“Shelby, honey, you didn’t have to do all this for me.”
Her eyes went wide at the endearment before her gaze dropped to his chest. “I did what needed to be done. You need a home. You need a bed. The rest you can do on your own. But I wanted you to have something to come home to, because the last time...” She choked up, turned her back on him, and pretended to straighten the hunter-green comforter she’d bought for his bed to go with the white sheets.
“The last time I fucked everything up,” he readily admitted. “Including being Eliza’s dad and showing you that you can trust me.”
Finally Shelby met his gaze head-on. “Don’t disappoint me this time, Chase.” There was so much hope in those words.
“I wish I could make you that promise. I’m sure to disappoint you in some way. But you can be sure, I won’t ever use again.” The OD last week proved how lucky he was to still be alive and how even one slipup could take everything, even his life, from him.
“I’m sorry about the woman you tried to save who died. I can’t imagine...” She turned away again, and he barely heard her say, “We almost lost you.”
