Chasing After Him Read Free Page A

you want to be a pediatrician or was that your parent’s idea?”
    “Mine.” Her blue-eyed gaze landed on me, steady and piercing. “I set my
own goals and nothing in hell will stop me from attaining them.”
    “Shit.” I chuckled at the determined fire in her eyes. “Wish I had half
your drive.”
    She snorted and tightened her hold on the blanket around her neck.
“It’s not that great, trust me. Some days I’d give anything to shut my mind
off. Relax and just … live like a
normal person.”
    I knew a few great ways to shut a woman’s brain down—make them feel,
nothing more. For the first time, I peered at my little neighbor, wondering…
    “What goals do you have for yourself?” she asked, pulling my thoughts
away from the crimson ropes in my bedroom closet.
    My thumb bounced on my thigh while I contemplated my future, something
I rarely did. “I’ve always lived for today. Tomorrow has enough worries of its
own.”
    She continued to peer at me as though trying to figure out my inner
workings. “That’s all fine and well, but don’t you have dreams and wishes?”
    “Sure.” Her intense scrutiny had me shifting on the couch. “Marriage
someday. Kids.” I got up to check on the hot chocolate and chuckled. “You
remind me of my sister.”
    “In what way?”
    “She loves to ask direct questions—hard ones that make my brain want to
shut down.”
    “She sounds like my kind of woman,” Charlene said rather than apologize
for prying—not that I expected or wanted her to. I’d never admit it to my
sister, but I liked how she challenged me.
    I huffed a laugh. “You two would get along great.” I used a mitt to
pull the pot out of the coals and set it on another holder atop the coffee
table. “Marshmallows?” I asked while using a ladle to fill the two mugs.
    “The more the merrier.”
    “That’s what I always say. Watch, it’s hot.” I handed her a cup and sat
down beside her with one of my own, a pile of mini marshmallows threatening to
fall over the rim.
    She touched the cup to her lips, and I stared. A perfect bow on the top
and full—how come I hadn’t noticed her lush mouth before?
    Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she moaned her approval, melted
marshmallow foam coating her top lip.
    Well fuck me sideways .
    I hadn’t known she had a sexy side. My cock took interest, and I turned
away, putting my wayward thoughts back in order. Charlene was … well, Charlene.
My friendly, way-too-young-for-me neighbor.
    “This is the real deal.” She smacked her lips and sighed.
    I air toasted her. “Got that right, kid.”
    “How the hell do you know how to make real hot chocolate with cocoa and
milk?”
    “I had the best grandmother in the world.”
    Her eyes moistened again. “So did I.”
    We sipped in silence while I fought down the urge to watch her lips
caress the mug’s rim.
    “Why do you always call me kid?” she asked a few minutes later.
    “Cuz I’ve got at least a dozen years on you if not more.”
    Hands clasped around her steaming mug, Charlene raised the hot
chocolate and sipped again without breaking eye contact. “If I had to guess,
I’d put you at thirty-two max. That gives you only a few months bragging
rights, not years.”
    My eyes widened as I settled back into the couch. “You’re shittin’ me.
There’s no way you’re in your thirties.”
    “Thirty-one.”
    I studied her dark hair. The pale skin around her eyes and lips. Her
slender, smooth neck and hands. “You look like you’re fresh out of high
school.”
    “Good genes I hope to appreciate someday.”
    “Damn right.”
    A full-out smile lightened her face and erased all signs of her earlier
tears. The kid—woman—from next door was actually pretty hot. “So tell me about
growing up in Florida, you old fart,” I said.
    Her laughter filled my living room.
    Best damn sound I’d ever heard.
    ****
    Three hours later, the power still hadn’t come back on, and Charlene’s
eyes drooped. Eleven