An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [138]
“What was the big hurry?”
“Do you honestly need me to say?” He gave another throaty chuckle. “I can’t get enough of you. We make love and instead of glorying in the satisfaction, I immediately start wondering when I can have you again. Have you put a spell on me?”
“No.” If anything she was the one who’d been enchanted.
He groaned. “Pete will be here in five minutes.”
She nodded, turning her head away.
“You’re crying,” he said with a frown. He held her face gently, brushing the hair from her brow, using his thumbs to wipe away the moisture on her cheeks.
She gazed up at him, blinking hard, hardly able to see him through her tears. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “Go, or you’ll be late.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong.”
“Pete’s coming.” She pushed him away.
“He’ll wait. Lesley, tell me what’s wrong.” He reached for an overnight bag, stuffing it with the essentials he’d need as he waited for her response.
She didn’t, couldn’t, respond.
“You’re upset because I have to leave you so soon,” he said, “but, sweetheart, I told you. It can’t be helped.”
She was so furious by this time that she clenched her fists at her sides. “Pete told me his wife didn’t last the winter. My sympathy was with Pete because of the weak woman he married. I was making all sorts of judgmental statements in my head, automatically blaming her. I blamed her, without the benefit of the doubt. I considered her weak and—”
“What does Pete’s marriage have to do with us?” Chase took her by the arms, studying her intensely. A horn honked outside and he cast an irritated look over his shoulder.
“Go,” she said again, freeing herself from his hold. “Just go.”
“I can’t, Lesley, not with you feeling like this.”
She swiped impatiently at her tears. “It might’ve helped if you’d let me know Twin Creeks is nothing more than…than a hole in the road. There are only five women here. Three of them are years older than I am, the fourth is a twelve-year-old girl and the other one is…me.”
The honking went on longer and more urgently this time.
“Go on,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “Pete’s waiting.”
Chase wavered, took one step toward the door, but then returned to her. “Will you be here when I get back?”
She had to think about that for a moment, then nodded.
He briefly closed his eyes. “Thank you for that.” He left without kissing her. Without touching her. And without saying goodbye.
Lesley ended up throwing out the chili she’d prepared for Chase. She’d never been fond of it herself, although Chase certainly seemed to be if his cupboard was any indication. There was an entire shelf filled with nothing but cans of chili.
She moved from one room to the next, feeling sorry for herself. She’d let the opportunity to really talk about their situation slip through her fingers.
Her cheeks burned at the memory. They’d kissed—and then fought. But their physical longing for each other hadn’t diminished.
Their relationship hadn’t started out that way. This was a new development. One that had taken them both by storm.
Lesley delighted in how frequently Chase wanted her. Her joy was made complete by the ready response he evoked in her. But their mutual passion meant she not only needed him, she’d become dependent on him. This was the very thing she’d come to fear with Tony—this total giving of herself. Yet it was what she’d done with Chase. He ruled her head and her heart, as thoroughly as Tony once had. No, even more so.
Was this love? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she couldn’t be without her husband, but didn’t want to lose herself in him.
Tucking her arms around her waist, she wondered how she’d ever manage to fill up the time without Chase.
Chase impatiently filled out the registration forms at the Fairbanks hotel. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could call Lesley.
He wanted to kick himself. He’d known from the moment he arrived home that something was bothering her. He’d seen it in her eyes and in the way she preoccupied herself with making