Page 40 of Roots of the Wicked

The sexual tension between us wouldn’t ease up either. It kept building as we pretended we weren’t ready to rip each other’s clothes off. We had hardly scratched each other’s surfaces, so I knew there was more to be desired from him. Despite the sexual tension brimming between us, his keen interest in getting to know me remained.

After we finished our main dishes, we shared a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. When Chase offered his last spoonful to me, I wrapped my lips around it with a smile.

“You’re a beautiful woman Jax. You make eating look damned good.”

My face warmed and my smile came easier. I think I was blushing. Chase was giving me romance, and he complimented me enough to make me act like a teenager on her first date.

“I think I’m obsessed with touching you. I just can’t stop myself. You don’t mind, do you?”

I was no longer afraid to admit to myself that I enjoyed his touch.

“No,” I finally answered.

His big strong hands delicately caressed my back and shoulders. It almost seemed he wasn’t fully aware of how affectionate he was being.

Our conversation resumed. “Since you’ve been questioning me like a low budget lawyer working a no-win case, why don’t you tell me a little more about your past. I’d love to hear about you on your first date.”

Chase chuckled, shaking his head at some memory he prepared to share with me.

“She was a twenty-year-old posing as a teen, hired by my father to boost my fourteen-year-old confidence. My father was unaware I’d found out about the ruse, so when I asked the woman, Charlette was her name, if she’d like to have a threesome with me and my father, and I couldn’t get it up without him present, she’d turned three shades of red.”

My hardy chuckle filled the space of the restaurant. I was starting to think Chase hadn’t been as compliant to his father’s rules as he’d initially let on. I observed him closely as I prepared to tell him about my first date without him having to ask.

“I’d been so uncompromising with this boy named Tony when he took me to our tenth-grade spring dance. He left my ass on the dance floor and found another girl. He actually left me stranded without a ride home. I ended up taking the city bus home.”

Chase attempted to hide it, but his chuckle sneaked out. He thought me getting dumped and left was the funniest thing in the world, and I laughed along with him.

We’d lingered at our table a full hour after we had finished our meals, sharing the ridiculousness of our pasts.

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