Tailwind (Love By Design Book 4) Read online

  Clearing my throat, I watched a pink flush cover her. “I’ll, uh, stay here with the dogs while you go and…” I attempted to look away. “Do that,” I finished, but we continued to stare at each other for the longest minute of my life which in reality was only a few brief seconds.

  “Chase, you’ll have to let me go.” It was only a whisper, but it broke through the beating of my loud and obnoxious heart in the silence of the house now that the dogs had stopped barking.

  “Huh?” I followed Winnie’s glance down and realized my one hand had never left her waist from when I grabbed her in the tumble. Funny, I didn’t remember grabbing her there. I was securing her so she didn’t hurt herself. It was like an old automatic football roll I’d practiced years before my injury. My knee was smarting, but the sting felt worth it if I was touching her now. “Yeah. Go on.” My fingers lingered, rubbing the skin trailing up to the bottom of her ribcage, fascinated by how delicate the skin was over her muscles and bones.

  “I’ll be right back.” Winnie grabbed the dress, which had fallen to the floor in the tangle, and used it to cover her front side as she walked backward to what I assumed was her bedroom. She bumped the wall and with a smile turned, giving me one last glance at her perfect heart-shaped ass before closing the door.

  “Hurry back,” I whispered to no one in particular. The dogs were lolling their tongues and wagging their tails. Roswell, though, the little terror had found a couch pillow and resumed humping the shit out of it. Thinking about the gentle slope of curves on Winnie’s body had me thinking similar thoughts. “I wish, buddy…damn, do I ever.”

  8

  Winnie

  Sliding down to my ass behind the closed door, I let my head sink between my knees to gather a steadying breath. Holy crap! Today was not going at all according to how I envisioned it might. A casual date, if we could even call it that, and now he’d seen me pretty much naked. I was mortified…and if I was being completely honest a little turned on by the whole ordeal. My belly clenched and that gooey light feeling filled me from head to toe. A tentative smile eased across my face as I recalled Chase’s hard, hot body underneath mine and the thick ridge in his cargo shorts pressing against my lace clad lady bits. It was…divine. I was still pissed the little dog betrayed me in the first place stealing my dress and being a huge pervert, but now I knew Chase was totally into me or at least my body. Pressing a fist to my lips I squealed silently. Right now, I could live with that.

  None of the other guys I dated if we could call it that filled me with the wild uncertain feelings that Chase did. He had a way of breaking through my barriers despite my effort to keep them firmly planted. He wasn’t using elaborate ploys to get in my pants like city boys, he genuinely wanted to be there. I wanted him to be there too.

  Nervous energy filled me as I carefully got up to assess any possible bruises and to actually get dressed. A peek in the bathroom had me frantic to fix my hair, reapply my makeup, and give myself a spritz of perfume that left me less doggy and more human. A record breaking five minutes later, and I was slipping out of my room, adjusting the contents of my small clutch with my phone and lipstick.

  “Ready?” Chase smiled when I emerged from the bedroom. His grin reached wide, nearly splitting his face leaving me flushed with embarrassment, but there was nothing that could be done about that now. I tried to equate it to that one weekend filled with ecstasy and too much alcohol where I had danced for nearly forty-eight hours across the Texas border to Mexico during spring break with my wild and reckless girlfriends. This was definitely better.

  Infinitely.

  “Yes, finally.” Huffing out a huge breath, I took a step forward, checking my clutch purse for a moment.

  “Wait a second.”

  Chase made me pause and I glanced around my aunt’s house wondering if I had forgotten something.

  “What?” I turned, and Chase stood there looking odd yet smirking at the same time.

  “This isn’t like, completely awkward now, is it?” His hands rested on his lean hips I had trouble dragging my gaze away from. It was hard for him to hide the evidence of his arousal and I wasn’t so shy I would give him a break and look away. It was impressive to say the least even covered by his shorts.

  “Should we talk about what happened?” I offered unsure how to respond because while I did have that one drug induced spree of exhibitionism this was different.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t want you to feel weird the rest of the day…because you shouldn’t. You look great and…”

  Now it’s gotten awkward.

  Chase continued to fumble for words and I needed to stop him before this ruined the rest of what should be a perfectly nice and wonderful day.

  “Okay…” I stepped up to Chase and put my hand on his T-shirt covered chest, tapping him lightly to appease him and whatever odd prince charming male ego thing was going on. “It’s a boob, not the end of the world. As long as you don’t start thinking it’s going to happen every time you come over, I think I can get over it.”

  “So you want me to come over more often, huh?”

  I rolled my eyes. Chase Calloway was a cheeky devil.

  “How about if we learn to walk before we start running and jumping?” I hedged.

  “What about if we even things up?” he smirked again tugging the corners of his face upward in a full smile that threatened to melt me if he got any hotter. His eyes held a magnetism that pulled me closer though I would have sworn I hadn’t moved a muscle standing there.

  I gave him a playful tapping punch to the stomach, which was rock hard, making me wonder what was under all that organic looking cotton. “I think we’re a little beyond tit… for tat, don’t you?”

  Surprising me, he stepped back and pulled his shirt off one-handed by grabbing the back of it and tugging it up and over his head slowly.

  “Whoa,” I whispered like I was having a Fifty Shades moment. You know the one were Christian does that shirt pull which I think is a romance movie must have as he crawled over the bed to bite Ana–and well you know... Hormones, desire, whatever the hell it was surged through me, infusing my body with heat and the inability to speak. All the circuits in my brain fried at once, overloading my sensory receptors.

  “Now, what was that about tit…for tat?” He left me staring open-mouthed, internally twitching and completely helpless. Who knew small towns harbored a hotbed of sexy pet doctors? Ones with a snarky, healthy sense of depreciating humor I obviously had a weakness for?

  “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?”

  Winnie giggled. “Do we need to have our story straight?”

  “I think we can be more relaxed than that. I promise not to leave you in their clutches.” Because God only knew what my sister and her foul mouth might say.

  “And miss out on some potential blackmail stories about you? Chase Calloway, you are on your own here.” She winked mischievously, and we were back to laughing and ribbing each other, which was good because I’d pulled into the driveway of my childhood home. A ton of good memories came from here despite anything else that happened. I parked behind my sister’s car that had seen better days and opened Winnie’s door.

  “Chaser is here!” Turning away from my date, Damien Hart, my neighbor growing up, and his cousin Hunter Hart walked over, clapping me on the back in greeting. We’d all played football together from the time I knew them. Our street had a long history of my dad recruiting all the boys to play football and coaching us from peewee leagues all throughout high school.

  “Well, if it isn’t Heartbreaker and Q.” I nodded when they let me go. “This is Winnie.” I introduced her to the guys, noticing that my sister was blissfully missing for the moment.

  “Pleasure.” Damien grabbed Winnie and pulled her in for a surprise hug that made my blood boil. There was a reason he was called Heartbreaker, and he didn’t need to be anywhere near my date. Poor Winnie, taken unexpectedly, held her arms out stiff while Damien bear hugged her, chatting away. There was always that one friend who made everything sexual and when it wasn’t my sister tossing out innuendos and insults, it was Damien.

  “Dude, enough, go find your own.” Hunter thankfully, pulled his cousin off her before I gave in to temptation and ripped his arms off his body. I was still older than both of them and willing to kick some ass like a teenage Neanderthal if necessary.

  “Uh, nice to meet you both.” She adjusted her dress and fixed her hair that Damien mussed.

  Grunting, I pulled Winnie back and tucker her under my arm protectively whether she was into that or not. Damien was being a dick, which meant Kristen probably invited her on-again, off-again cop boyfriend. Damien’s number one enemy, but a good friend of mine, Evan Rooney.

  “Hands off, Hart,” I grumbled, feeling a sharp little fingernail poking me in the side. Looking down, Winnie frowned at me, and I squeezed her against me until she shook her head, smirking.

  “We all used to be neighbors,” Hunter explained, pointing to the house next door. The Harts owned a family construction business and their house was constantly being added to and changed when Mrs. Hart got an idea in her head. I was pretty sure my sister had helped her decorate half the house at this point spending so much time over there.

  “That must have been fun growing up,” Winnie said, and the guys nodded as we made small talk. Taylor Jane Bryant, another neighbor and Hunter’s girl walked over, joining us. Still no Kristen, but I was holding out hope she really hadn’t invited Evan. I liked my friend, but the pissing contest between him and Damien over the years grew to exponential proportions and usually left Hunter and I breaking up some fight.

  “Hi, I’m Taylor Jane. I’m the other neighbor.” Taylor was sweet and bubbly, introducing herself clutching Winnie’s hand and pulling her from under my arm for a moment. She was the ying to my sister’s yang and her best friend since kindergarten. I loved Taylor like she was my own sister.

  “Yup, and this one is mine.” Hunter pulled Taylor into his side, kissing her forehead. He was the only one who called her by her full first name every time. I found it to be a mouthful while Damien rolled his eyes, and Hunter punched him hard in the arm.

  �
�Get over it, man.” I told Damien.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m grabbing a beer.” Damien jogged off, probably to go shoot the shit with my dad and a stab of jealousy for one of my closest friends hit me unexpectedly.

  “You know, I think your mom needs some help. Why don’t us girls go get some sangria and meet you boys back out here in a few?”

  “Uhh…” Everyone looked at me, and I looked at Winnie, trying to gauge how she felt about that. I told her I wouldn’t leave her to the wolves and I meant it.

  “It’s okay, I’ll be right back. Go do some boy things.” Winnie patted my chest and sashayed off with Taylor, leaving me.

  “You look like you could use one of these.” Hunter handed me a locally brewed beer from Easton’s pub, and we sat down near the custom fire pit we’d all worked together on some years back. The rocks had seemed so much bigger back then and the years had quickly passed us by.

  “Thanks.” I nodded, tipping the beer in Hunter’s direction. “So…you and TJ. That took what? Fifteen years?” Hunter shot me a look crossed between annoyance and a smile.

  “Shut up, man. It was worth the wait.”

  “I’m just riding you. She’s a good one, and you deserve to be happy.”

  Hunter grunted, acknowledging the truth, and I realized how out of touch I’d been with my friends lately. His own childhood was pretty fucked up, but that was his story to tell. I was glad he found something peaceful with Taylor, who had her own heartbreaks growing up. It was like they were made for each other and soothed the other’s injured parts with ease. That’s how relationships should be or at least I thought so.

  It wasn’t long before shouting had us all drawing our eyes from the fire pit to the yard. “God, you’re such an asshole!” And that was Kristen. I could tell Hunter was going to ask about me showing up with Winnie, but we were interrupted by Damien and Kristen fighting as usual. Yeah, I didn’t picture relationships like that, but those two were definitely a hot mess of oil and water or some combustible combination. We shook our heads and got up to intervene before my mother came outside to see what was ruining her Fourth of July BBQ.