Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
“Mrs. Connelly, I can appreciate you wanting the best for Lauren,” he said, interjecting understanding into his tone. “And what I can tell you is that Lauren and I are still getting to know one another, but what I’ve discovered so far, I like. A lot,” he said, realizing how true those words were, that it wasn’t just perfunctory praise to appease her family. “Right now, we’re taking things slow and just seeing where it goes.”
“Fair enough,” Dale finally chimed in, and his answer seemed to satisfy both Penny and Lee, too.
They stayed for another hour and a half, while Lauren helped her mother clean up the kitchen, then Penny served freshly made peach cobbler and coffee for dessert. It was nearing seven in the evening by the time Lauren made the excuse that they were tired after a long day and they finally said their goodbyes and left.
Chase walked Lauren to the car, opened the passenger door for her, and once she was inside, he went around to the driver’s side and slid behind the wheel. As soon as both doors were shut tight and they were sealed inside, Lauren exhaled a long breath that ended on a groan.
“Thank God that’s over,” she said, resting her head back against the seat before glancing at him with a tired smile. “My family can be exhausting with all the talking and questions. Especially my mother and Gramps.”
Without thinking, he reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear so that he could see her face better in the fading twilight, and had to resist the urge to slide his hand around the back of her neck and bring her mouth to his for a slow, hot kiss. It was something he’d been dying to do since picking her up at her apartment earlier that afternoon.
“It wasn’t so bad, Scouty,” he teased, using the nickname Lee had used several times over the course of the evening.
She sighed, but the smile remained. “You were wonderful with my parents. And Gramps. You did a fantastic job winning them over and convincing them we’re a happy couple with that whole spiel at the dinner table about us taking things slow and seeing where they go. I know it wasn’t easy dealing with what probably felt like an interrogation at times, but thank you for being so great about everything, considering we’re not in a real relationship.”
Those last words were like a kick to Chase’s stomach, a stark reminder that they weren’t a couple, even though the last few hours with Lauren had been very natural, and nothing had felt forced or fake between them. As he stared into her gratitude-filled eyes, his chest tightened with the realization that a part of him wished their relationship was real, because he was starting to feel things for Lauren that were so much more than their fabricated romance.
It was a dangerous notion when they’d be parting ways on Sunday, probably for good. He’d promised her one weekend, and honestly, that’s all he’d ever had in him to give to a woman. He didn’t know the first thing about how to make a true relationship work, and he didn’t trust himself not to fuck it all up with someone as vibrant and kind-hearted as Lauren.
Chapter Eight
As Lauren gave Chase the directions to the bed-and-breakfast where they’d be staying, she couldn’t help but notice that he’d grown quiet and subdued since leaving her parents. There had been a noticeable shift in Chase’s mood at the end of their conversation in the car before they’d driven away, and for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what she might have said to cause him to revert back to the reserved man she’d met at the bachelor auction weeks ago. Not quite grumpy and standoffish, but definitely guarded once again.
The entire evening with her parents and her gramps had gone so much better than she’d anticipated. Chase had been confident, but respectful and sincere, all things that had gained favor with her father. He’d managed to charm her mother and impress her gramps, which wasn’t an easy feat. In fact, on the way to the door as they were leaving, her gramps had whispered in her ear, “He’s a keeper,” which was probably the biggest stamp of approval Chase could have gotten from him.
But for Lauren, she couldn’t forget how he’d replied to her mother’s question at the dinner table, about how serious it might be between the two of them. Lauren had initially been mortified that her mother had been so bold, but the way Chase had lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss in such a sweet manner, then responded with, “What I can tell you is that Lauren and I are still getting to know one another, but what I’ve discovered so far, I like. A lot,” made everything inside of Lauren melt. In that moment, she wanted to believe those words, wanted more than anything for them to be true, but she also knew she had to be careful not to read too much into the things Chase said or did this weekend because she’d essentially hired him to be the perfect boyfriend. And that’s exactly what he’d been tonight.