Under a Georgia Moon: Georgia Moon Romance Book 1 (6 page)

Jackson told him to get his eyes back in his head and focus. They were the first band scheduled to play and once they finished, Chase could ogle her all he wanted.

During the performance, Chase caught her watching him from the front row of the audience. He turned up the charm, giving her a smile and a wink while he sang and played his guitar. During the rest of the competition, he kept his eye on her until the last band played and they announced the winner. Chasing Dreams had taken second place and Miss Mitchel Creek had sought out Chase to congratulate him.

They had talked for over two hours where he found out she and her family had recently moved from South Carolina. Chase thought he’d met the girl of his dreams. Luckily, he’d found out how wrong he’d been before it was too late.

His cell phone vibrated against the console, cutting into the dark memory. “Hey, Mom,” he whispered, trying not to awaken Addie.

“Why are you whisperin’?”

“I picked up Miss Janie’s niece from the airport, and she fell asleep.”

He heard the background noises of the kitchen. His mother was a southern woman through and through. She loved cooking, food, her family, and the Lord. “That’s right. I forgot about that. Well, I just wanted to know if I should expect you for supper.”

Chase’s mother counted on all of her children to be home for supper—however, weekends were different. “Sorry, Mom, but I have a date.”

He was taking out a girl Jackson’s wife had set him up with. Sydney was forever trying to set up the other two band members who weren’t married. Beau Jacobsen, their drummer, gladly went out with every girl Sydney sent his way. Unlike Chase, he was ready to get married. Tonight’s date was a total favor to Sydney. Since the girl was visiting from Florida, Chase knew this one date couldn’t amount to much.

 “I should just stop cooking on the weekend,” his mother said with a deep sigh. “Both Ashlee and Taylin are going out as well.”

His mother would never stop cooking. “
Nice
. You and Daddy can have a romantic dinner for two.”

“True,” she said with a soft laugh. “I’ll see you later, sweetie.”

“Bye, Mom.”

Chase secured the phone on the gel dash pad where he could view the screen. His agent was supposed to get back with him today about whether or not the talent scout had showed up for last night’s performance. So far he hadn’t heard anything which meant the rep probably hadn’t come. Chase could only hope the talent scout would show up at their gig next weekend.

Breaking into the country music scene wasn’t coming easy. It had been hard enough getting someone reputable to represent Chase, but it was proving to be even more difficult to get someone to listen to him.

If he lived in Nashville, he could hit all the open mic clubs and possibly get noticed that way. Even then, he knew the chance of getting a recording contract was pretty low. Still, as slim as the odds were, he couldn’t give up.

But in order to move to Tennessee, he had to get a job, and it couldn’t be as a waiter, which was typical for most musicians. Although he lived at home, he paid his parents rent, helped with utilities, and still had another three years before his student loans were paid off. It was a good thing Chase loved his chosen vocation as a graphic artist. He just hated the company he worked for.

He’d interned at Barclay Industries while he and Hayden were dating. After he graduated, Barclay offered him a fulltime position. Since Hayden’s daddy, Whit Barclay, owned the company, Chase thought it was a brilliant move. By the time he knew differently it was too late to leave without detrimental repercussions to his career. Even leaving now was risky, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

After spending time researching businesses in Nashville, Chase settled on one corporation he wanted to work for. Nashborough Marketing represented the majority of the top companies involved in the music industry, including the record label Chase wanted to get a recording contract with most: TJ Music. Tate Jepson, the owner of TJ Music, had a reputation for being fair yet aggressive. Chase figured if he landed a job with Nashborough as a graphic artist, it would bring him that much closer to getting a foot in the door with TJ Music.

It all seemed like the perfect solution, except for one major complication. Nashborough and Barclay were rivals, often competing for the same accounts.

They had a history of bad blood that started when Barclay Industries had been headquartered in South Carolina. There had been some scandal of corporate espionage involving Barclay employees, but Nashborough could never prove their claim and Whit Barclay and his company had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

It would be very tricky getting an interview with Nashborough without letting his current employer know about it. Getting a good letter of recommendation would be even tougher, but Shanna, his secretary for the past two years, promised to help him any way she could.

So far, she was the only one who knew about his job search. It had only been fair to confide in her since she’d told him many times he was the only reason she hadn’t quit her job, and if he ever left Barclay she would too.

Glancing over his shoulder, Chase switched lanes as he approached the Mitchel Creek exit. He wondered if he should wake Addie or just let her sleep. Taking a quick look at her, he grinned and decided to wait. She was really out, not even bothering to brush away a few strands of her silky, auburn hair that fell across her eyes. He was tempted to do it for her.

Gripping the steering wheel tight, he kept his hands to himself and sang along with the song currently playing. The lyrics were about holding on to the memories of all the firsts of falling in love and finally having your last first kiss.

Chase had never really thought about it that way, but it was true. Someday he would kiss a girl and know it was his last first kiss.

Chapter Four

Somewhere
in the back of Addie’s mind she knew she was asleep and needed to wake up. She heard the soft echo of someone singing. It sounded nice, especially in the floaty haze of her dreams. Sighing, she snuggled down into her bed. A loud thumping noise jarred her from her sleep. Then someone started shaking her bed. “Hey, stop it,” she mumbled, struggling to open her heavy eyes.

Someone chuckled, but didn’t stop vibrating her bed. “Sorry. Construction zone.”

“Huh?” she said and forced her eyelids open. Where was she? She straightened up and looked around, trying to get her bearings. She was in a truck. The man driving the truck was grinning at her and it all came back in a rush. Chase Nichols.

“I should’ve taken another route,” he said. “I forgot they were tearing this road up.”

Wiping her hair out of her face, she glanced out the window and immediately recognized the area. She hadn’t meant to sleep so long. “We’re here already?”

Chase laughed. “Goes by fast when you’re sleepin’, doesn’t it?”

“Sorry.” She’d only intended to close her eyes for just a minute. Raising her hand to her face, she surreptitiously felt for any drool.

“Don’t be sorry.” He turned at the next left, the road smoothing out. “I’m glad you were able to sleep. Living with your aunt will require a lot of energy. That woman puts most everyone I know to shame. She’s up at the crack of dawn and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scowl on her face.”

It was true. Aunt Janie was the happiest and most energetic woman she’d ever known. It would feel good to be with her again.
But the crack of dawn?

“I am
so
not a morning person,” Addie said. “But I guess I’ll have fresh cinnamon buns to lure
my
buns out of bed.”

Chase laughed. “I guess you will.”

He made another turn, bringing them onto Main Street and the heart of the business section of the historic town. Addie had forgotten how magical and quaint Mitchel Creek was with its brick sidewalks and aged storefronts that seemed to transport you back in time.

“This is so incredible.” Like a true southern town, most of the shops sold either antiques or food.

“Yeah, it is,” Chase said as he came to a stop at the only traffic light. “Growin’ up, I always wanted my parents to move back to Atlanta because it seemed so old fashioned here. But now I love it.”

“So this is where you want to settle down?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Unless the Lord has other ideas for me.”

Addie shouldn’t be surprised by his mention of his faith. Aunt Janie had emphasized Chase was a regular at church and sometimes participated in the worship music. Still, having a guy talk about God so openly was refreshing.

She wanted to ask him how he’d know what the Lord wanted him to do since she usually was so clueless, but decided she didn’t want to delve into such a serious conversation. She might have to admit she’d recently been dumped by her two-timing fiancé.

The light turned green and Addie looked at the stores to see if she could find the fudge shop her aunt had taken her to that year after her mother had died. “Aunt Janie used to take me to this great candy store that sold fudge. I just can’t remember what it’s called.”

Chase pointed out his window. “That would be A Little Sugar.”

Addie recognized the antiquated store front with large jars of colorful candy displayed in the window. “Now that place has very pleasant memories. Especially for a sugar-aholic like me.”

“We can stop if you need a fix.”

“Hmm. Tempting, but I better not. I’m trying to cut back.”

He glanced over at her. “Why?”

Because my stupid ex-fiancé left me for Flaxseed Girl
. “I’ve been told I eat too much of it.”

“Well, shoot, here in the south sugar is practically part of the five food groups.”

“Sweet.” She grinned at him when he looked her way. “No pun intended.”

He laughed at her stupid joke. “I’m sure Miss Janie will keep you from goin’ through withdrawals. And you’re on vacation so you should be able to indulge.”

Okay, if he kept talking like this Addie might actually allow herself to really like him. “You’re right. Thank you.”

He looked at her sidelong and winked at her. “You’re welcome.”

Yeah, and if he kept being so charming she might even do something crazy like ask him out.

They left Main Street and Chase turned onto a winding road that led to her aunt’s. Just on the outskirts of town, a large antebellum home came into view. “Wow, that house is so beautiful.”

Chase slowed down so she could get a good view of the plantation home with stately white pillars surrounding a porch that was bigger than Addie’s little house in Idaho. The home had four chimneys and too many windows to count.

“The Mitchel Mansion was once part of a huge plantation,” Chase said as they made a slow drive by. “When I was a kid, they used to give tours of the house, but when it changed hands a few years ago, the new owner’s limited public access to Christmas time only.”

“Oh, I bet it’s beautiful.” She craned her neck to get one last look at it. “Too bad I wasn’t into history twelve years ago. Aunt Janie always wanted to take me but I never wanted to go.”

“You could always come back for Christmas.”

Addie sat back and sighed. “I could never leave my dad, and he refuses to fly anywhere.”

“There are other houses nearby that you might be interested in seeing.” He cleared his throat. “I could—”

Addie’s phone cut Chase off mid-sentence. Not wanting to miss a call from her dad, she glanced down at the caller ID screen to see Aunt Janie’s name.

“Do you need to get that?” Chase asked.

“I don’t know. It’s Aunt Janie. I’m sure she’s dying to know how her little plan worked.”

Chase shot her a quick look. “Her plan?”

“Yes.” She silenced the phone without answering it. They would be to her aunt’s house in a few minutes so it wouldn’t hurt to have Aunt Janie sweat it out a little. “I’m sorry you got roped into her matchmaking scheme, but she’s convinced that you and I are supposed to hit it off and live happily ever after, even though I’ve told her over and over that I’m not interested in dating right now.”

He was quiet for a few seconds and Addie worried she might have offended him. “It’s not because of you. I mean you haven’t even called me Flame Brain once.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Well, since you haven’t called me Frodo, maybe we can be friends?”

“Sure. I can handle being friends.” At least she thought she could. It might get a little tricky if her attraction toward him didn’t go away.

He pressed on the brakes and came to a rest at a stop sign. Then he turned toward her and held out his hand. “Friends?”

Addie licked her lips and nodded her head as she tentatively placed her palm against his. “Friends.” She hoped he didn’t notice the breathless tone of her voice due to the zingy heat coursing through her body.

Her phone chimed an incoming text and she quickly withdrew her hand to read the message. “I better put her out of her misery and tell her we’re almost there,” she said with a nervous laugh.

Chase made a right turn, and neither of them said anything for the next half a mile until they came to her aunt’s long driveway. So many emotions came flooding back as Addie caught sight of Aunt Janie’s house.

The Caldwell home looked as if she’d stepped back in time. Enclosed by enormous oak and magnolia trees, the historic Victorian home that was built before the Civil War took Addie’s breath away. A large sign hung across the wide wrap-around porch to welcome her. A few more balloons were tied to the front porch banisters. Aunt Janie was bouncing up and down, waving wildly at them.

“It looks like your aunt is excited to see you,” Chase said with a low chuckle as he rolled to a stop. “I think you better go give her a hug.”

Filled with love for her sweet aunt, Addie started to open the car door.

Chase stopped her. “Hey, what’re you doin’?”

She gave him a quizzical look. “I’m going to give her a hug.” Hadn’t he just suggested that?

He turned off the engine. “Well, you need to wait until I open the door for you.”