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)
Chase didn’t budge, waiting for Lauren to decide what she wanted.
She lifted her chin and leaned in closer to him, accepting his silent encouragement. “He can stay,” she said in a confident tone. “Whatever you have to say to me isn’t anything Chase doesn’t already know.”
“Okay.” Greg nodded, his complexion ruddy with embarrassment. “So, Ashley told me she came over earlier to the inn to apologize, and I know it’s been two years and this conversation is long overdue. I wanted to say that I’m sorry, as well, for the way things happened. It was wrong, and if I had the chance to do it over again, I definitely would have handled things differently between you and I.”
“How so?” she asked.
The fact that Lauren didn’t just let Greg off the hook with immediate forgiveness surprised Chase, and he was proud of her for holding the man accountable for his part in what had transpired between them.
Greg shifted anxiously on his feet. “I think we both knew that our relationship wasn’t as strong as it should have been, that we’d been… growing apart,” he said, echoing what Lauren had told Chase, as well. “But the bottom line is, I should have ended things with you before starting anything with Ashley. I hate that I hurt you.”
“Thank you. For your honesty and your apology,” she said, standing firm beside Chase. “Finding you and Ashley together did hurt at the time, because I was blindsided, but I can look past all that and know that things worked out for the best. You seem very happy with my sister, and I never would have moved to New York and found a job I absolutely love.”
Greg’s mouth quirked in a smile as he finally started to relax, and his gaze flickered to Chase. “Or a man who clearly appreciates you, the way you deserve.”
“He’s been a nice little bonus,” she agreed in a teasing tone, meeting Chase’s gaze for a few seconds, looking truly grateful that he was there with her, before glancing back at Greg. “As for you and Ashley and I, I just want us all to move forward with a clean slate.”
Relief etched the other man’s features. “I would like that, too. Very much.”
“Consider it done,” she said easily.
He exhaled a deep breath, probably glad that the discussion was over, and glanced over Lauren’s shoulder to the dance floor. “I’m going to go and find Ashley before the evening ends.”
Greg left the two of them, and Chase turned toward Lauren, tipping her chin up with his fingers so he could get a good look at her face and see her eyes, which were bright and clear. “How are you doing?” he asked, just to check in with her. He didn’t want to assume anything after a difficult conversation like that.
She stepped closer and slid her arms around his waist, her smile as authentic and real as the woman herself as she looked up at him. “I’m doing great.”
“Good.” He was truly glad that things would be much easier for her and the entire family moving forward.
The DJ announced the last song of the night, encouraging the people who were still at the reception to join the bride and groom on the dance floor as he played a final slow, romantic ballad.
“Come on, let’s go dance,” Chase said spontaneously, watching as her eyes widened in surprise, then happiness at his suggestion.
Before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and led her out to the wooden platform, where even her mom and dad were enjoying the final melody. He pulled her into his embrace, securing one arm tight around her waist and lacing his fingers with hers.
Lauren arched a playful brow at him. “I thought you said you didn’t dance,” she accused him in soft tone.
“I don’t fast dance,” he clarified, bringing their bodies together as intimately as possible in a public setting. “This, though, is easy. All I have to do is hold you close and shuffle around the dance floor.”
She smiled up at him. “I like being this close to you,” she said, then laid her head on his shoulder.
Those words unraveled something deep inside him, and he swallowed hard, because he liked being this close to her, too. So damn much. To the point that he never wanted to let her go.
He closed his eyes and breathed her in, imprinting this moment in his memory as they moved together slowly, their thighs brushing and other body parts rubbing intimately as they swayed to the slow beat of the music.
Each moment that passed, the awareness and sensual tension between them climbed. He could feel Lauren’s breathing change and escalate, and those damp gusts of air that slipped past her parted lips warmed his neck and aroused him. He couldn’t ignore the way she subtly, but deliberately bumped her pelvis against his, wreaking havoc with his self-control as she slowly gyrated her hips, reminding him of just how uninhibited this woman was when it came to sex.