Chasing McCree (16 page)

“
Briar,” Chase stopped dead
and his eyes took me in from head to foot. My knees started to
shake and I hoped he wouldn’t laugh. I felt a little like an
imposter. “You look…wow. Really, amazing.”

I glanced down and back up at him.
“Really?”

“
For a second, I was
speechless.” He put his hand over his heart and backed up a
step.

“
Thank you.”

“
You have no
idea…”

“
Way to make me blush.” I
smiled. He looked good too, in his usual brown boots, but he’d
swapped his worn jeans for a nicer pair of dark washed denim and
donned a beep blue western style shirt. His belt had a shiny buckle
with an M engraved on the front and gold roped around the edges.
“You look like a real cowboy…I mean, of course you’re a real
cowboy…you just look really nice. Like, the belt is cool… I think
I’m babbling.”

He tipped his head back and laughed,
and he deepened his voice and put on a thick twang. “Thank you
kindly, Briar. Shall we?”

I nodded, heading outside with
him.

Chase gave me a hand into the truck. We
followed Millie and Jerry in their truck. He told me that last year
the dance had gone well into the night, and some guests even left
at sunrise.

It was a short ride, according to
Chase. The Callahan’s were their neighbors…and it took thirty
minutes to get to them.

We were just pulling down the dirt
drive, parking behind a barn decorated in lanterns and twinkle
lights when my purse vibrated. I fished around and found my
phone.

“
Crap.” I held it up for
Chase to see my dad’s ID flashing across the screen. He shook his
head and threw the truck into park. “Hey, Dad.”

His voice wavered. The connection was
horrible. “Briar, how’s Boston?”

I put on a cheery voice. “Oh,
great.”

“
What did you and Grandma
do today?”

I bit my lip and glanced at Chase. “We
went shopping?”

He rolled his eyes and waved to Jerry
and Millie as they passed the truck.

My dad’s voice crackled. “That’s great.
Your mother wanted me to call and tell you to have a safe flight.
Shame you have to cut the visit so short. We’ll see you when you
get back tomorrow.”

“
Okay, bye.” The pit of my
stomach dropped as I hung up. “Chase, I’m dead. I’m so
dead.”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
My dad thinks I’m coming
home!” I groaned. “Tomorrow.”

“
Shit. I thought your
grandmother spent her whole summer in Boston?”

I shook my head and dialed her number
and I didn’t like what I heard.

Grandpa hadn’t gone to Boston. He’d
stayed home because he was feeling tired and not in the mood to
socialize.

He wasn’t just tired. He was sick. He
wouldn’t take his antibiotics because he was too stubborn. Grandma
was flying home to be with him.

When I asked why she told my dad I was
coming back with her, she said she’d almost let slip where I really
was. It was an accident. In her words, the cat would be out of the
bag soon, and I’d better get ready for battle. She would go to war
with him if she had to, but he’d find me. He was good at getting
what he wanted.

“
You need to go home.”
Chase shook his head and opened the door after I hung up with
Grandma. “I’m going to tell Jerry and Millie.”

I scrambled out of the cab, caring less
about how mad my father got or that I’d lied to him. I only cared
about Chase. I would rather risk being grounded for the rest of my
life, just to have more time with him, than leave and wish I had
stayed. “I don’t care. I want to stay.”

“
I care,” he ground out. “I
really care. And as much as I’d like to keep you here with me, we
don’t have a choice. I’d rather be on good terms with a man I’ve
never met then have him hate me.”

“
You care about what a
shallow, money and power hungry man thinks?” that came out a little
harsh, but I really had to know.

“
No, I care about you. I
know how they treat you, and I don’t want to even imagine what
they’ll be like if we piss them off.” Anger vibrated in his voice.
He paced as if he was torn, kicking at a rock. “I don’t want to
lose you, but I never really had you, did I? You can’t stay here
forever. We didn’t think about the future. Not about you leaving…”
His voice hardened and he looked back up at me. I felt like I was
losing him too. Like he was right. We never had each other. “We
haven’t even talked about booking your return flight. What does
that say?”

“
It says a lot.” I
whispered. “You don’t want me to leave and I don’t want to
go.”

“
I wish I could freeze
time, Briar. That tomorrow never had to come.” I felt tears welling
up as he turned for the barn. “I’m going to find Millie. Wait
here.”

“
Chase McCree don’t walk
away from me!”

His back went ridged and he spun
around, stalking toward me. I planted my feet, thinking he was
going to yell like my father. But he didn’t, he spoke softly. “What
do you want me to do, Briar? I will do anything.”

My legs shook. My head was
spinning.

I knew exactly what I
wanted.

I’d known it for a long
time.

“
Kiss me.”

He reared back. “What?”

“
Kiss me.” I fisted my
hands at my sides and waited. “Just kiss me, Chase.”

“
We shouldn’t…”

“
You want to. I know you
want to!”

He took a step toward me, throat
working as he swallowed. “It will change everything.”

“
I want it to change.” I
took a step towards him.

“
No going back,
Briar.”

“
I don’t want to go back.”
I was crying now and he didn’t seem to care. My tears didn’t scare
him and they didn’t scare me anymore either. “I don’t ever want to
go back, Chase.”

He nodded and pulled me close. “You’re
sure?”

I nodded. “Yes. Very. Now kiss
me.”

A grin spread across his face, wider
than I’d ever seen. “Yes, Ma’am.”

I closed my eyes and tipped my head
back. Millie’s hat fell to the ground but I didn’t care. Chase’s
lips pressed against mine. I knew I’d made the right choice. For
the first time in my life I felt like I was where I was supposed to
be.

Chase kissed me slow and sweet in the
cool night air. I changed. He changed. We changed. I wasn’t a
cheerleader anymore or a rich man’s spoiled daughter. My life
before meeting Chase didn’t define me.

Everything changed. Things would never
be the same.

And what a great adventure it would
be.

Chapter 15

Chase smiled at me from across the barn
while he talked to a few of the local guys. I was sitting in a
chair against the wall next to Millie. Her feet were tired and she
needed to sit this dance out.

I was waiting on the punch Chase had
gone to get. Every time he looked at me my heart soared and my face
hurt from the smile I had plastered on it.

“
Things are changing.”
Millie pushed a few stray hairs back into the bun she’d neatly
arranged and shook her head. “Changing fast.”

I didn’t quite catch her meaning and
tore my eyes from Chase. “I’m sorry?”

“
Between you and my boy.”
Millie gave a hearty laugh. “Well, he’s not really my
boy.”

“
He’s yours Millie.” I
smiled.

“
Not since we left the
house.” She said, kicking off a shoe to rub her foot. “Between the
time you left and the time you came to dance. I can see
it.”

“
You’re very
perceptive.”

“
Uh-huh,” she kicked her
other shoe off too. “He was also wearing your lip
gloss.”

My face went red and I looked away.
“Oh, boy.”

She patted my leg with her free hand.
“Look honey, I was your age once. What I want to know is, where
this is going?”

I swallowed. “Going?”

“
Where you two are headed?”
she clarified. “Back to Florida?”

“
No,” I bit the inside of
my cheek and found my boots suddenly fascinating to look at. I even
had a scuff on the right toe.

“
Oh, so you’re going back
at the end of summer and he’s going to visit you?”

“
Err…” well, maybe
not.

“
Thought so.” She snorted
and picked up her shoes. “You two are going to get hell from your
parents.”

My mouth fell open and I met her eyes.
Same chocolate eyes as Chase. I’m thinking it was a family trait.
“You’re not going to give us hell?”

She shrugged, waving to another woman
and asking her how she was before speaking again. “Chase is a
responsible young man and he knows what he wants. One of those
things just happens to be you. Since I like you, and you seem to be
just as smart and responsible, how can I argue?”

I floundered for a good answer, but she
wasn’t finished talking.

“
Are you young? Yeah,
really young. Will it work? I don’t know. Do I think you’ve both
lost your minds? Little bit.” She beamed at me, her pink cheeks
even more ruddy from dancing. “But I think life is all about
learning and growing. I’d rather do it with someone than go it
alone.”

She stood, planted a kiss on my cheek
and went off to find Jerry, barefoot.

I was so shocked I didn’t even notice
Chase when he sat next to me and held out a cup of
punch.

“
Hey, Millie and Jerry are
leaving. Said they’d leave the kitchen door unlocked for us…not
that they’ve ever locked it…are you feeling alright?” he waved his
hand in front of my face.

I hoped things didn’t blow up in our
faces. “Millie caught me off guard.”

His dimpled smile did funny things to
my heartbeat. “Oh, yeah?”

“
She’s got us figured
out.”

“
Millie’s smarter than she
lets on.” He wrapped his arm around me. “You’re scared she was
going to get mad.”

I laughed nervously. “Yep, pretty
much.”

“
We don’t get mad like the
people you’re used to. Trust me.”

“
I will, and I do.” I said,
feeling the beat of the country music almost like it was pounding
through my veins.

“
Come on and dance with
me,” he set the punch down on an empty seat and tugged me onto the
floor. I let everything worrying me go. Tomorrow would take care of
itself.

This was our first dance together. I
had rhythm and so did Chase, surprisingly good rhythm. He led me in
a two-step, and after a couple songs I had the moves down and we
were laughing and flying around the dance floor. He spun me, dipped
me, and I was dizzy from it all. We were laughing, and people were
staring. Neither of us cared.

As the night wore on though, I felt a
little of Millie’s pain. There hadn’t been any time to break in my
new boots. I asked Chase for a break and sat on a bale of hay by
the dance floor while he went to find the bathroom.

The barn was expertly decorated inside.
Red and white-checkered tablecloths covered rows of picnic tables
the far side. There were lights and lanterns strung crisscross over
the dance floor. A big American flag had been hung from the rafters
in the center of the barn.

It was a real shindig…according to
Uncle Jerry.

“
Hey,” I glanced up at an
unfamiliar blond boy with freckles. He was tall, and maybe a bit
gangly, but grown mostly out of it. He had bright blue eyes and a
boyish smirk. “I’m Tuck.”

I smiled. “Briar.”

He sat next to me and stuck a piece of
hay in his mouth. “You must be new around here, never seen you
before until you danced with McCree.”

“
You know Chase?” I wasn’t
sure about the whole chewing hay thing, and shook my head when he
held out a piece.

Tuck chuckled. He was one of those
welcoming types. “Yeah, my whole life. I’m a Callahan.”

I raised my eyebrows, guessing that
meant something. “Okay.”

“
Callahan’s and McCree’s
used to be enemies.” He lowered his voice to a secretive whisper
and grinned. “But it’s okay, we don’t even remember what we fought
over.”

“
Land,” another guy came up
with darker features and he was chewing, but it wasn’t hay. “I’m
Dustin O’Brian.”

“
Briar,” I said, smiling.
He sat on the other side of me. “I take it you’ve known Chase all
your life too.”

“
Yup, Jerry is my uncle
too.” Dustin tipped back his black cowboy hat and spit in his red
cup. “Are you with McCree?”

I tried not to wrinkle my nose.
“Yes.”

Tuck smiled wide at me, giving Dustin a
nod. “O’Brian’s and McCree’s never fought over land.”

I glanced between the boys, “What did
they fight over?”

“
Women.” Dustin
said.