New Year's Resolution: Romance!: Say Yes / No More Bad Girls / Just a Fling

“No. It didn’t get that far. Because...it was at a costume party. Figures in history or famous movie characters was the theme. There were, like, a gazillion Cleopatras.” June made a face. “I went as Margaret Thatcher. What was I thinking?”

“That it was more comfortable to attend in a stodgy suit than something slinky?”

“I still had this itchy wig, though,” June said, pointing to her head. “Anyway, Chase was looking for his Cleo as the party was getting rowdier and he wanted to leave. Glancing in a half-open bedroom door, he saw the Queen of the Nile doing the nasty with a guy dressed as Chewbacca. Try to get that out of your head.”

“He saw it was his Cleo,” Ashley guessed.

“Not right then. Fifteen minutes or so later. That’s when she came to Chase, acting all sweet and lovey-dovey.”

“So how’d he know what she’d done?”

“Clumps of fur in her wig. And when he asked, she told him it was true. Just a one-time thing, she assured him. It didn’t matter, she said.”

“It mattered to Chase.”

“Oh, yeah, big-time,” June agreed. “He’s not been eager to tie himself down since.”

Issues, Ashley thought. He had issues, just as she did. Sympathy and understanding cleared away all the dark clouds inside her. Hearing of her loss had probably reminded him of his own. No wonder he’d had a change of mood.

“Thanks for letting me know, June.” He’d been her shoulder the night before. It was her turn to make him feel better. Maybe the magic of Middle-earth would provide her with an idea of how to do just that.

* * *

INSPIRATION DIDN’T STRIKE Ashley until after everyone had retired for the night, and it was necessity that actually took her to Chase’s bedroom door. Pasting on a friendly smile, she gave a light rap on it with the knuckles of her free hand. The other was pressed to her bodice.

It took a moment, but then he stood in the open doorway.

Her breath caught. Chase’s chest was naked. Dressed only in slacks, his feet bare like hers, he looked at her, one brow rising over an eye.

“Um...” She hoped she wasn’t gawking. But, goodness! He was chiseled. Every muscle was carved to masculine perfection. Broad shoulders, defined biceps. Pectorals that were slabs of tough muscle dusted with dark hair. A toy boat could ride the ripples of his abdominal muscles.

Yanking her gaze from the trail of hair disappearing downward, it caught on the dusky circles of his nipples. Heat prickles rose on her back. Had she ever noticed those on a man before? Ashley curled her free fingers into a fist to prevent herself from reaching out and touching one.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“I don’t know the location of anyone else’s room but yours,” she said, finally glancing at his face. “I didn’t want to go around knocking indiscriminately.”

Amusement etched lines in the corners of his amazing eyes. “By all means, let’s not be indiscriminate.”

At that sign of humor, her clutching stomach eased a little. “I need help.”

“What kind?”

Turning, she presented him with her back. “My hair is caught in the dress’s zipper.”

In a breath, he’d pulled her into his room and shut the door. She glanced around, and the low illumination from the bedside lamp revealed a massive four-poster, the lake view beyond French doors, the attached bath. The space smelled like him, that expensive, clean scent that reminded her of clear water and night air.

“I need to see better,” he said, and towed her toward the bathroom.

In there, he flipped on the overhead light. The mirror over the double sinks reflected her image—flushed cheeks and big eyes. Chase lined himself up behind her and studied the dress situation with a serious expression.

“How bad is it?” she asked, craning her neck to look over her shoulder.

“Pretty bad,” he replied. She felt his fingers at the midway of her back, the farthest point she’d managed to draw down the zipper before realizing her hair was caught in its teeth. As he worked on the situation, his knuckles bumped her spine and goose bumps broke out all over.

Chase stilled. “Really bad.”

“Oh, no.” She bit her bottom lip. “Tell me you don’t have to cut my hair.”

He cleared his throat and went back to fiddling with the zipper. “I don’t want to make any promises.”

She sighed, and tried not to squirm under the onslaught of his inadvertent touches. He doesn’t mean to do this, she told herself. He’s not intending to stir you up.

But she was stirred up anyway, heat and heaviness pooling in her body. Her breasts felt swollen and the tips were hard. Ashley’s free hand gripped the edge of the granite countertop, and she hoped he didn’t notice her state.

“You looked very beautiful tonight,” he said.

Oh, how glad she was that he’d noticed that! Trying to play it cool, though, she lifted one shoulder. “Um, thanks. I’m usually in jeans and T-shirts, so this was outside my realm of experience. As a matter of fact, everything that’s happened since I met you has been outside my realm of experience.”

“I made you cry last night.”

“What?” She glanced at him in the mirror. His focus was still on her uncooperative dress.

“I’m sorry.”

“But...” She tried to rein in her thoughts. “Before the zipper predicament, I was going to come to you and thank you for last night.”

He looked up now, and their gazes caught in the glass. “You were sad.”

“Yes, at first. But telling you...it made me feel better. I haven’t had to say the words before, did you know that? News travels fast in Blue Arrow. So it made me feel better to know I could tell you. It was liberating.”

“Okay. That’s good. But I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“Why not?” Ashley demanded. Then an unsettling thought occurred to her. “Was it a pity kiss?”

“Definitely not pity.” He grimaced. “I tried telling myself it was for comfort, but then...”

“Then it became very hot,” she whispered.

He nodded. “And it made you cry. I wanted to kick myself.”

“Oh, Chase.” She pressed her lips together because she felt like crying again. “I wasn’t sad anymore. Those tears...they were tears of joy.”

His eyes narrowed. “What?”

“Of relief, too. I was gratified to know I could respond to another man. It proves to me that I’ve made it to the other side of grief.”

A strange expression crossed his face and his gaze zeroed in on her face. Because she still had one hand holding up the bodice of her dress, she could feel how that look made her heart pound. It thrummed against the center of her palm, and she pressed harder, hoping she could keep it inside her chest.