Tailwind (Love By Design 4)

“Oh, okay. Sure, we’re even now.” Swallowing back any other comment, I turned quickly, almost tripping to get my ass to the door. I was about to open it when I felt Chase put his hand on the small of my back tentatively. I froze when he leaned in, his shirtless back, skin hot to touch now flush with mine. His voice whispered softly.

“Great, cause I feel less awkward now.” Knowing he couldn’t see me, I let the smile I’d been biting back come forth into a huge shit-eating grin. I liked this guy, maybe more than I was ready to admit. I couldn’t say I’d turn him down later either now that the image of his perfect collection of abs were firmly imprinted on my mind.

I coughed back a reply. “Put your damn shirt on and let’s go, Dr. Doo-little.”

He sidestepped from me and when I turned back to open the door, he’d already covered his beautiful chest. I shook my head noting the travesty that was a clothed Dr. Chase Calloway and waited for him to exit my aunt’s house.

Before locking up, I peeked inside to see the three criminal culprits lined up watching us, those damn tails wagging back and forth.

“You!” Pointing a keyed finger at Roswell, I jabbed the air. “We can always have you neutered, buddy.” The little dog growled, snapping his jaws, and I slammed the door shut. A glance back and I saw their foul breath already fogging the window.

“A little drastic, don’t you think, Miss Gray?” Chase opened his car door for me to get in.

Sliding down into the leather seating of his

sporty Mercedes, I adjusted my clutch purse in my lap and slipped on my sunglasses before responding red-faced and cheeky. “Dr. Calloway, you should know I’ll clip the balls of any male who tries to get fresh with me.”

He laughed a full bodied sound as he pulled out of my aunt’s driveway. “Duly noted.” Taking off, he headed across town, and I peeked up to see him as red-faced as me. Good, I had decided then that we were truly even, and I was glad we were both a little embarrassed because I was pretty sure my nipples would cut glass for the rest of the afternoon.

9

Chase

I was still in shock I’d been given an accidental showing of what Winnie was hiding under her yoga pants and snarky attitude. I told her to play with the radio in the car while we made the short drive to my parents’ house across town. I barely functioned thinking about her exposed breast while I concentrated on not hitting a mailbox along the road. She chose a poplar station that fuzzed out between street crossings. Her little foot tapped lightly in beat with the music playing, some Katy Tiz song, The Big Bang or something. I had heard it before played on the local college radio station. It was catchy, setting the mood down a dark path we’d just veered sharply left from moments earlier.

I couldn’t help myself, but I found my fingers tapping the steering wheel as we settled into a comfortable silence. Well, maybe comfortable for her because my dick was currently smashed up against my leg inside my shorts and it would have been inappropriate of me to grab my junk and start rearranging the furniture while she was in the car. I had a good fifteen minutes to go before we would be bombarded by my family. That should have deflated my desire quickly, but it didn’t with her cute pink toenails making her sandal flip back and forth to the beat of the music.

Thoughts of my family bombarded me with the desire to turn the car around and make a run for the Canadian border despite it being several hours north of us. The Calloway Clan had a knack for ratcheting up the awkward factor. Nobody escaped unscathed. It was practically a rite of passage in our house.

Would it be my mother who made the day even more awkward as hell?

My sister?

Or would they try to divide and conquer us, ruining any chance I might have with Winnie?

“You’re awfully quiet. Do I need to be prepared for anything at this BBQ?”

An understatement of the year as I glanced to see Winnie grinning from behind her overlarge rhinestone studded sunglasses.

“You have experience with these things?” And I was struck wanting to get to know her much more thoroughly before we got there. I wondered if she would notice me making a detour through my old neighborhood to stretch the time out. For all I knew, she visited Helen regularly and knew my hometown better than I did.

“A little. I know how parents can be a tad…overbearing.” Her shoulders shrugged and her smile faltered. I wanted to bring that sunny smile back.

We knew nothing about each other and I realized a bit posthumously this was a terrible first date bringing her into the chaos. A glance at her inside the car though, her smile made me forget as I launched into some getting to know you quips.

“How about siblings? ‘Cause I’ve got a baby sister who is a royal pain in the ass.” And in looking over Winnie, probably closer to her in age.

She wasn’t smiling now and instead seemed to be inspecting her pink nails with deep interest. “I’m an only child of two parents who can’t seem to get their relationship…together.”

Now I was curious because that definitely sounded like a story I wanted to hear. Was it a painful one? Did it leave her with baggage revolving around commitment issues? I had no way of knowing and even though I was Helen’s vet for the past few years, I didn’t know her that well.

“Aren’t we all?” I grabbed her hand and held it in mine, thinking about how my parents’ relationship evolved over the last decade, Mom’s dedication to her career and Dad’s intensity for football. They seemed polar opposites but maybe it was their singular focus to their passions that kept them together working as a team all these years. It didn’t leave much room for my sister and me to follow our passions, at least not initially.

“Okay, so should I be prepared for an inquisition of sorts?”

Did she ever, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

I glanced at her across the car, “I did mention my sister, right?”