What happened in Vegas: Didn't Stay In Vegas! (19 page)

He looked at my
hands with hesitation,
“
Tell me you
didn
’
t find that in the fridge? I
’
m not into red
vinegar.
”

“I found it
next to but not in the fridge. Where
’
s your bottle
opener?
”
He pointed to a drawer and I opened it. When I
conquered the bottle, which I felt was the most important part of
the meal; I set out the dinner table next. His kitchen was
organized logically. He seemed to be anal about facing labels out,
and remaining orderly. If it was my kitchen I
wouldn
’
t have changed a thing.

We worked on the salad as a team. He dug the
veggies out of the fridge while I washed them and then we chopped
together. I tossed while he got the salad plates from the cabinet.
It was like we had been doing this for ages. We kept it informal
and ate at the breakfast bar.

He took a drink
of his wine and then he asked,
“
How do you like
working with Shelly?
”

My mouth was
full with a fresh forkful of lettuce that I didn
’
t cut up
enough before putting it in the bowl so it took a second to
answer,
“
It was fine, she kept me really busy, which is
what I need.
”

When our food was done, Bradley took me to a
room I had never seen before. It was simple. It had four of the
most luxurious recliners I had ever seen with a hundred and ten
inch projector screen. The downfall of the recliners was there was
no way of cuddling with each other.

I picked a middle recliner and Bradley
helped me open it by showing me where the lever was. He handed me a
cooler and my own popcorn and blanket. I was set. He chose a seat
next to me and had his own cooler and popping corn and blanket. We
did hold hands though.

The room
smelled like a theatre, and the couch prevented any unforeseen
expectations. When the movie was over, we undressed for bed and
curled up naked in each other
’
s arms. It felt right
being in his arms. Nick was all wrong about him. I wondered how his
flight was, I hadn
’
t heard from him and
I couldn
’
t call him, not from here anyway.

Waking up to
the sun streaming into Bradley
’
s bedroom
wouldn
’
t have been half bad if I hadn
’
t found myself
in an empty bed. I was half tempted to page him to get his ass back
here but I didn
’
t have the nerve. How
he managed to get up and get dressed without waking me was
baffling. I was a light sleeper in my heaviest of sleeps, and
somehow he managed to get ready for work and go without waking me.
The man deserved an award.

I picked up the clean change of clothes I
brought over last night and placed them in his en suite for the
shower I was planning to take. I turned the faucet on waiting for
the water to get warm and went into the kitchen, hallway, and
living room, to see if he might have left me a note, nota. When I
got back to the en suite the water was perfect so I undressed and
stepped into a luxuriously warm shower.

I took my time in his shower looking at his
collection of scented body washes, I refrained from using them
thinking, and how weird would it be if he was with me when I
smelled like him, it would kind of be like he was being intimate
with himself, almost a form of masturbating.

When I was sure
I used up the majority of his hot water, I dressed and towel dried
my hair before going in search of something easy to make in his
unfamiliar kitchen. I settled on eggs, bacon, and toast with
strawberry jam. I decided I was going to wait for him to come home
from work and have a lazy day in my Grizzly
’
s Den (My new
nickname for Bradley
’
s house).

I decided to text him at work, which was
something I never usually did, but I was getting bored mid-morning
so I caved.

Chanel: You left without even a note?

Bradley: Woke up late, Maggie called me in
for a case.

Chanel: U should have told her U had a bed
guest.

Bradley: Droll. I left a key to my house on
your keychain. If you leave, can you lock up?

Chanel: Sure.

Bradley: I have to go back to work,
ttyl.

Chanel: ttyl.

~32~

Friday was a busy day and I found it hard to focus on
my work with the excitement of the upcoming taste testing that I
was going to be doing with Chase. I got to his office at exactly
five and Chase
’
s secretary was
packing up for the day. Four out of five caterers agreed to come
tonight with beef dishes of their choice.

The secretary
met my eyes for a second and said,
“
He
’
s been
expecting you, go on in.
”

“Thank
you,
”
I said. I walked passed her into the open door. I
stepped in and she poked her head in behind me,
I
’
m off now Dr. Hart. The answering service is on so you
won
’
t be interrupted.
”

Chase gave her
his million dollar smile,
“
Thanks Mrs. Webster.
Have a good weekend.
”

Chase pointed
to the chair and asked,
“
Can I offer you a
beverage?
”

As much as I
would have liked to have had an alcoholic drink, I thought better
of it because I was expected to work until 7:30 p.m.,
“
Diet coke, or water if you have it.
”

He walked over
to his mini fridge and pulled out a can,
“
Is Diet Pepsi
okay?
”

“Sure,
”
I smiled.

He closed his
office door while we waited for his waiting room to collect with
the four caterers,
“
So Chanel, how was
your leave? Did you get some rest?
”

“I did, thanks
for asking.
”
I didn
’
t want to volunteer
more information to him than what he asked. It seemed as though
Bradley was very skilled at divulging too much personal information
about me to his brother.

“Did you
travel? You look tanned.
”

“I spent four
days in Las Vegas.
”

“By
yourself?
”

“Yes, it was
quite nice.
”

“Glad to hear
it. Have you done something to your hair? Its looks exquisite on
you.
”

I had never
engaged in small talk with Chase. He was beginning to make me
blush. I knew I shouldn
’
t have said anything
but I was so hurt by Bradley
’
s comment, that I
wanted to volunteer this tidbit of personal information to
him,
“
You
’
re
brother
’
s opinion of my hair differs from yours. Thanks
for the compliment. It took some getting used to but I quite like
it now.
”

Chase took a
drink of his whisky and placed it down on his desk making a clink
noise when the ice hit the side of the glass,
“
Forgive me
for being nosy but may I ask what his comment to you
was?
”

“He said I
should have had more cut off, but we were in the midst of a
disagreement at the time, so I tried not to take it too
personally.
”

“It obviously
bothered you Chanel. Pay no notice to my brother,
it
’
s stunning.
”

Chase looked at
me before standing from his seat,
“
If
you
’
ll excuse me for a second, I
’
d like to see if
the caterers are in the waiting room yet.
”

“Sure,
”
I said and he got up to check. When
he opened the door the chatter of the caterers silenced as each one
noticed him at different times.

Chase spoke to
them outside his office but I could hear everything he said. His
voice was deep, authoritative, and downright sexy.
“
Welcome, please come into my office and place your sample
dishes next to your business cards on the table
I
’
ve provided. Chanel and I will go over each dish
carefully, and the caterer we decide to go with for the Cardiac
Fundraiser will be notified by Wednesday of this week. We would
like to thank all of you for coming and we appreciate you taking
the time out of your busy schedules to come here this
evening.

The caterers
did as they were instructed and after making sure their dish looked
exactly the way they wanted it, they all left shaking
Chase
’
s hand on the way out.

We found ourselves alone with four beautiful
dishes waiting to be feasted on.

He grinned at
me,
“
Okay, so how do you want to do
this?
”

I
wasn
’
t sure where Chase was going with this so I let him
take the lead,
“
What are you
thinking?
”

Chase looked
youthfully handsome when he suggested,
“
We try each
dish, don
’
t say a word or make a sound to each other, and
then we write down the caterers name that made our favorite dish.
Hopefully we pick the same one.
”

“Do you have
any utensils? Are we allowed to use those?
”
I asked
jokingly.

He opened the side drawer to his monster
desk and pulled out two plastic forks and knives for the occasion.
We rolled our chairs to the table and he handed me my utensils. We
sat facing each other and started with the same dish. I cut a piece
of beef covered in gravy and put it in my mouth. He did the
same.

I closed my
eyes as the beef and salty gravy melted in my mouth, delicious! It
had to be the best I
’
d ever tasted. I
moaned forgetting myself and Chase had this confounded look on his
face,
“
No words or sounds, remember?
”
He reminded
me.
“
Now, I already know you like this
dish.
”

I
giggled,
“
I
’
m sorry, I forgot
myself.
”

Chase looked
all serious,
“
That
’
s okay just done do
it again. Are you ready to try dish number two?
”

“Yes,
Ready.
”
I straightened up in my chair and rolled to the
second dish. I was mindful of my reactions now. I took a sip of my
Pepsi and then cut a piece of beef from dish number two. I savored
the flavor of the second dish. It was better than the first! I
couldn
’
t believe it. I didn
’
t think anything
could taste better than the first.

“Chanel!
”
Chases voice startled me.

“What?
”
I didn
’
t think I did
anything. What where his pants getting into a knot over
now?

“You
’
re eyes went big. You
aren
’
t supposed to react,
”
he chastised
me.

“So what does
that mean? Do you know why they went big?
”

He looks at me,
contemplating how he
’
s going to
answer,
“
Actually, no, I don
’
t know what that
means. We only have two more dishes, try to refrain from reactions
until we discuss them.
”

“Okay.
”
I said, and I didn
’
t say or do
anything else. I was on my best behavior.

When we were on
the forth dish I reached for Chase
’
s face and wiped a
drop of gravy from his chin. He stared into my eyes.
“
Gravy,
”
I muttered. We both wrote on a piece
of paper who we wanted to cater the event and then looked at each
other
’
s choice. We had both picked the second dish. It was a
no brainer.

Chase went to
his fridge and poured himself another whisky,
“
You finish
the second plate and I
’
ll have the first.
I
’
ll take the one that made you moan,
”
he said
jokingly.