Electric! by Ava McKnight Page B

for long. She was relaxed, her
mind quiet, not constantly churning over all of her goals and need to
succeed on her own terms kind of thoughts.
    Maybe it was the afterglow, maybe it was the relaxation,
maybe it was just the plain and simple fact that she felt incredibly
comfortable with Chase— surprise, surprise —but her eyelids fluttered
closed and within minutes, she was asleep.
     
    Chase woke her the next morning with soft kisses along her
neck and shoulder. She’d shifted at some point during the night and he’d
apparently rolled with her, because he was wrapped around her and she was
drowning in all of his heat and muscles and amazing hunkiness.
    “Nice way to wake up,” she mused.
    “It’d be nicer if I had another condom and could make love
to you again.”
    “Yeah, there is that.”
    He slipped from the bed, saying, “The second best thing
would be breakfast. Mike and Rhonda’s. Best early-morning feast in town. You’ll
love it and I’m craving it.”
    Cassidy sat up, the sheet and comforter pressed to her
chest. “Uh, I have some work to do today and—”
    He slipped into his briefs. “It’s Saturday, babe. Try a day
off.”
    “Chase—”
    “Cass,” he challenged with a crooked brow. “We’re out of
town and it’s the weekend. Let’s nab a little local favor and enjoy the day.
Stop at a store and buy some condoms. Have another mind-blowing night together,
drive back to Scottsdale tomorrow and—”
    “And?” she asked as she stared quizzically at him.
    One corner of his mouth lifted and a flash of heat in his
eyes made her skin tingle again.
    “And give dating a try.”
    “Dating.” She said the word tentatively, taking it out for a
test drive.
    She ignored the other word lingering on her tongue. Bondage.
    Chase planted his hands on his waist and asked, “You game?”
    Was he talking about the thing she wasn’t mentioning—the
tied-up part?
    Not ready to go there, she simply asked, “Dating?”
    “Exclusively.”
    She let out a soft laugh and it helped to cut some of her
internal tension. “You don’t exactly have competition, remember?”
    “I just want it on record. You and me. We’ll give this thing
the chance it deserves.”
    A shiver ran down her spine. “Yes.”
    “All right.” Chase visibly gloated, as though he’d just
sealed the deal of a lifetime. She supposed that after two years of flirting,
it actually was a pretty big deal for them to have finally reached this point.
    He rubbed his hands together, obviously formulating a plan.
He said, “Why don’t we shower, pop over to my hotel so I can change and collect
my stuff—I rode up with Don Tyson in his SUV since my Aston Martin wouldn’t
fare so well in all of this snow—and then hit breakfast and the rest of the
town.”
    “So you need a ride back to Scottsdale tomorrow afternoon.”
    “Yeah. Cool with you?”
    She smiled. “Sure.”
    I can do this.
    And it didn’t even take too much convincing this morning
because every second since Chase had first kissed her had felt inherently
right. Despite experiencing a twinge of guilt over bypassing work today in
order to get out and about in Flagstaff with Chase, she was actually looking
forward to the distraction. She’d always wanted to see the ski town that was
two hours away from Scottsdale and knew it’d be even better to have a native as
her tour guide.
    So what the hell, right?
    She pulled in a deep breath, let it out slowly and then
said, “Okay. Let’s spend the weekend together.”
    Chase swooped in for a kiss. Then he took her by the hand
and dragged her out of bed.
    Her first inclination was to bring the sheet with her to
cover up. But how ridiculous would that be given that he’d already seen her
naked and had done the most amazing things to her body? Besides, the heat in
his eyes eclipsed the small measure of self-consciousness that had momentarily
besieged her.
    She followed Chase into the bathroom and he turned on the
water in the shower