SWNOVELS Chance: Chapter 14
Rory woke earlierthan she wanted to because she had to pee, but she didn’t feel more than mildly queasy. Thank you, modern medicine. She’d waited to hear Chance returning to the house last night, but at some point she fell asleep anyway. It’d been nearly two in the morning and she’d been completely done in.
The clock said it was seven-thirty. She experienced a current of mild panic as she wondered if he’d made it back inside, or if he’d been crushed beneath a pile of Gramps’s stuff out there. She snatched her phone up as she headed for the bathroom and opened the alarm app.
It’d taken her time to get used to having a house alarm, but she liked it now. She could check everything with her phone, arm and disarm the system, and see what times she came and went since there was a record for each time the alarm was set or turned off.
Her pulse slowed when she saw the system was armed. Unless he’d armed it when he left the house last night and he hadn’t come back after all? She’d been too tired to notice.
Rory rushed through brushing her teeth and dragged on a pair of yoga pants beneath her T-shirt, then opened the door into the hallway. She crept toward the living room, but of course there was no such thing as creeping in a house as old as hers because the floor creaked.
When she rounded the corner, Chance was on the couch, one arm thrown over his head, the blanket twisted around his feet. He was wearing boxer briefs and no shirt, and Rory’s pulse hummed as her eyes greedily slid over his body. She could see that every day and never get tired of the view.
Rory frowned. No. No, she did not want to see Chance Hughes in all his glory sprawling over her couch every single morning and evening.
“You done staring?”
Rory squeaked as she jumped. “What the hell, Chance?”
He cracked an eyelid. “Thought we weren’t supposed to swear. The kid and all.”
The muscles in his sinful abdomen tightened as he pulled himself up with those puppies until he was sitting, looking at her while he yawned and dragged a hand over his scalp.
“You scared me. Plus it’s a work in progress. Not gonna stop using my favorite emphasis words overnight.”
“Good to know. You feeling okay?”
“Yes. I was just, um, thinking about making some coffee. Decaf.” Did she even have any decaf? She didn’t think so since she’d had no need for it before. Not that she couldn’t have a little bit of caffeine, but if she wanted to drink more than two small cups, she needed decaf.
“I grabbed some yesterday. Noticed you didn’t have any.”
And now she was going to melt into a puddle. Damn him for being perfect and wrong for her at the same time.
“Oh. Thank you. Guess I’m still getting used to what I can and can’t have.”
“ ’S’okay, Rory. When I was stationed at Fort Bragg, had a teammate whose wife was pregnant. He got, uh, injured at work and we all helped out with some things. I learned what to shop for because she gave me a list.”
Her heart beat a little harder. “You remember what was on her list?”
“Not really, but I know she couldn’t have very much caffeine, no unpasteurized cheeses like brie or goat cheese, and certain lunch meats were off limits. Oh, and tuna was okay, but in moderation.”
“Emma Grace sent me a list. I haven’t memorized it yet, but I will.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry I didn’t wait up last night.”
“It was late and you were tired. I could tell by looking at you.”
She was still tired, but she’d been worried something had happened to him so she’d had to check. And now she was committed to fixing coffee. “Seems like being extra tired is one of the symptoms. Yay. But it’ll get better as the pregnancy goes along.”
He unfolded his gorgeous body from the couch and stretched. Rory looked away, heat pooling in her belly and groin. “Put some clothes on. Jeez.”
He chuckled. “You’ve seen it all, babe. Had your tongue on a lot of it, too. Why so shy now?”
“I’m not shy.” She turned her head to look at him as if to prove the point. “But we aren’t going there again so I see no point in strutting around in the buff like we are.”
This time his chuckle was a snort. “Damn, you sure make me laugh. You call this the buff? I’m wearing boxers.”
“Boxer briefs, my dude. They show everything. If I get any closer, I’ll see your pulse.”
He snorted again. “Fine, I’ll put on some shorts. Then I’m fixing the coffee while you sit down. I can fix half-caff if you don’t want to go cold turkey.”
She hadn’t thought of that. “I can fix coffee, Chance. I don’t need you to do it.”
He slipped into his gym shorts while she watched. Really, it was no better than before. He was still a sexy, sexy man with a body that made her ache like she’d endured a porn marathon without relief.
“I know you don’t need me to, but you said being extra tired is a symptom so let me do this for you so you can sit down, okay? It’s no trouble.”
She hated when he made sense. “Okay, I’ll sit. But I’m going to the porch and sitting in the fresh air.”
Because watching this man fix coffee without a shirt was a sure way to perdition.
He frowned and her skin prickled with warning. “What? Did you find something last night?”
She rushed toward the back door as a horrifying thought occurred. If someone had hurt her chickens…
Chance caught her arm. His touch was gentle but firm and she whirled around to glare at him.
“I was going to tell you when you were sitting down with your coffee. But since you want to sit on the porch, you’re gonna see it if you walk around to the side.”
“The chickens?”
Her voice cracked. She couldn’t stand it if someone had hurt her girls.
Chance tugged her into his arms. “Not the chickens. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear from the beginning.”
His embrace was gentle and her heart slowed. His chin rested on her head and she found herself wrapping her arms around his waist, seeking the warm comfort of his body. Seeking safety.
“It’s the garden, Rory. Somebody hacked it all down. There’s nothing left standing.”
Shock flooded her, followed by anger. Bone deep anger. How dare anyone destroy what her brother had worked so hard to create? She’d worked on it too, but that was for him. It was his baby, his source of fresh produce for some of his dishes. He was proud of his garden, and somebody had destroyed it.
“Who did it? Did you see them?”
“No. Whoever it was damaged the camera beneath the barn quilt. That was the closest one. The ones on the house aren’t at the right angle, and the garden is too far.”
“Dammit,” she growled, feeling angry and tired and defeated all at once.
“That’s why I’m putting up better cameras, Rory. Wouldn’t have stopped them from shooting it down, but the others would catch them.”
She tilted her head back to look up at him. “They shot the camera down?”
“Yes. Somebody destroyed it with a .22 shot. Not a powerful gun, but a lightweight and accurate one. A bullet can travel up to a mile, but it’d take some skill to do it, even with a starlight scope. I don’t think they were that far out, but I’ve looked around and there are ATV tracks that lead from the woods to the garden. Whoever it was came through the woods, set up so they could kill the camera, and then drove over to the garden. Once they were done, they went back the way they came.”
“Which direction?”
“West.”
Her mind raced. “That’s Coombs land over there. But I can’t see Carter or his kids doing such a thing. I don’t see the Turtons doing it either, though Jimmy said last night he wanted to sell and he thought the Coombses did too.”
“When was that?”
“He sat at the bar and ate dinner. Talked to me about it then, but he didn’t press the point. Just said he wished we’d all sell because he wanted his mother to move to town and he wanted a job with benefits. But his mother owns the farm and doesn’t want to sell, so it doesn’t matter. He was there when you arrived, and he left about an hour later.”
“Is he capable of something like this?”
Rory shook her head. “I’ve known Jimmy since we were in elementary school together. He’s not mean. And what would be the point in tearing up the garden anyway? It’s his mama he needs to convince, not me.”
“Mmm.” He sounded distracted.
That was when she noticed the insistent rise of his cock as it pressed into her abdomen. She told herself she needed to take a step back, but she didn’t want to. She gazed up at him, her limbs going weak, while his eyes roamed her face. When they focused on her mouth, a shiver rolled through her at the intensity of his look.
All she had to do was lean into him and he’d kiss her. Lean in, let her hands slide down to his perfect ass, and she’d be on her back with his face between her legs, taking her to heaven, before the next ten minutes were up.
It’d been weeks, and she hadn’t forgotten how thoroughly he’d owned her body. How amazing it’d been with him.
Which is why she’d put an end to it. Before her heart forgot it was just sex and fell for him.
He took a step back, breaking the contact between them. “Sorry. Lost my head for a minute.”
Disappointment throbbed in her veins. “It’s fine. Nothing happened.”
Even though she’d wanted it to. Rory closed her eyes for a second. No, you did not.
There, she’d told herself, hadn’t she?
Meanwhile, Chance backed up another step as if he could hear the argument in her head. “I’m gonna fix that coffee. Need you to sit while I do it. We’ll go over to the garden together once we’ve got the coffee.”
Rory hugged herself, belatedly realizing she hadn’t put on a bra. Embarrassment flared in her belly. She’d been ribbing him about his briefs and all the while her girls were swinging free beneath her T-shirt. Which he had surely noticed.
“I should, um, call Theo, tell him what happened. He’ll want to see it for himself.”
“You do that,” Chance said. “And you tell him I’m gonna find out who did it and make them wish they hadn’t.”