Sandra Panting - About Last Summer

Quick to apply damage control, he hastened to explain. .“The thing is Drake has a niece, and he wants me to take her out. I’ve told him no a number of times, but he’s become more persistent. Finally, the only way I saw out of it was to tell him I was dating someone.”

“So you told him you and I were dating.” She squirted a measure of dish washing liquid into her soup bowl, and swiped a sponge over the moistened surface.

“Not until recently. He called a few days ago and suggested dinner. I would have put him off, but he has a piece of property I want to buy, and he’s agreed to discuss the details over dinner.” Given she had yet to tell him to take a flying leap, he continued, “I really want to buy that property, but if I hadn’t told him I wanted to bring you along, he would have brought his niece.”

“Well, that is a dilemma.” She continued washing dishes, the suds lathering around her hands, her neutral response giving him no clue as to what she might be thinking.

Her placid features suggested she wasn’t mad. It was more like she was weighing her options. Which was certainly understandable. He had his own reservations about them masquerading as a couple, but considering the alternative taking Natalie to dinner was the lesser of the two evils.

Taking a shot at tipping the scales in his favor, he said, “Look, I know this is crazy, and you have every right to not want to go, but I hope you will.”

“So, when is this dinner?” she asked, rinsing a handful of flatware.

“Tonight.” Then he added somewhat apologetically, “I know it’s short notice.”

“I don’t know, Chase,” she said, shutting off the water. “Won’t Patrick think it’s kind of strange for you and me to go out together?”

“I’m sure we can figure out something to tell him.” She still didn’t look convinced, but he hadn’t played all of his cards yet. “It’s just for a few hours, Natalie.” He paused briefly then said, “Unless you’re afraid to be alone with me.”

His challenging taunt must have done the trick as she rolled her eyes. “That’s hardly the problem.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

Natalie reached for a dish towel. “It’s just things have a tendency to get out of hand whenever we’re together. We took enough risks last year. I don’t like keeping secrets and I especially don’t like keeping them from my family.”

“I know,” Chase said. “But I’m not suggesting we pick up where we left off, nor am I suggesting we keep our going to dinner a secret. There isn’t any reason why Patrick should have an issue with us going out to dinner as friends.”

“But your friend will think you and I are a couple,” she reminded him.

“Well, yes, but I just told him we were dating to keep him from bringing his niece along, and in a few weeks I’ll tell him we’re not dating any longer.” Chase did his best to make the evening sound as non-datelike as possible and there was little likelihood of romantic consequences.

However his inner voice whispered there might be more to it than that. Chase had thoroughly enjoyed the time he had spent with Natalie, and seeing her again reminded him of how much he had missed their time together. He knew it was stupid. Being with Natalie meant risking his friendship with Patrick, and Chase had enough uncertainty in his life, but he couldn’t forget how being with Natalie made him feel.

Indecision wrinkled her brow as she carefully arranged the dish towel on a silver towel ring. “So if I agree, it will be just dinner. We go out, have a meal, and then come back home.”

“Exactly.” Chase paused. Natalie’s demeanor suggested she was on the verge of agreeing, that is if he didn’t say anything stupid.

She hesitated, carefully arranging the dish towel just so. Silence stretched, suggesting her decision could go either way, and just when he began to suspect she wasn’t going to agree, her shoulders lifted in a careless shrug. “Sure. I suppose there’s no real harm in it. What time are you supposed to meet him?”

He filled her in on the details then headed downstairs as she returned to her office. Being alone with her for an extended period of time was high on his list of bad ideas. Kind of like that kiss the other night. He wanted to prove nothing incredible had happened between them, but all that brief kiss had accomplished was to make him hungry for more, and knowing she slept under the same roof didn’t help. He wanted to believe he could keep his hands off her, but he honestly wasn’t sure if he could.

Because he sure as hell didn’t want to.

After he’d finished dressing for his ‘date’ with Natalie, Chase headed upstairs. His misgivings about the evening increased when he found Natalie dashing about, fretting about her appearance. First she decided she didn’t have the right handbag, and then she changed her mind about her earrings. Personally, he thought she looked sexy as hell, and although it was on the tip of his tongue to tell her so, he decided that probably wasn’t the wisest thing he could say.

He may have teased her about being afraid to be alone with him, but to be honest he had a few reservations about the evening himself. Although he’d known Natalie for a number of years, it had taken him a while to notice she was no longer just Patrick’s little sister, but once he noticed he played hell keeping his hands off her. A part of him had always wondered why she agreed to an affair that was destined to end before it really began, but he never asked. Mostly because he didn’t think he wanted to know.

“Well, what do you think?” she asked after having changed her shoes, jewelry and grabbing another handbag.

He obligingly looked her up and down, but soon regretted it as his hormones jumped to attention. Her halter cut, fire engine-red dress fit like a glove displaying her cleavage, the curve of her hips, and the leanness of her legs. Chase didn’t know a great deal about fabric, but this one had a soft sheen and looked alternately red and hot pink depending on the lighting. Her hair was pulled back with a simple barrette, and her subtle makeup, or maybe it was the lighting, brought out the green in her eyes. However, a dress like that served basically one purpose – to make a man wonder how to get it off, and given the halter style, Chase doubted he’d need much direction.

But before he could manage an intelligent response the door opened, and Patrick came strolling in looking every bit like the high-powered advertising executive he was. Patrick and Chase were the same age, six years older than Natalie, but back in college it had become obvious Patrick was more suited to working behind a desk, whereas Chase preferred a more hands-on career. Although there was no denying Patrick was doing well for himself. Patrick’s suit wasn’t exactly Armani, but Chase recognized custom tailoring when he saw it.

“What are you all dressed up for?” Patrick asked, eyeing Natalie’s supposed going-out-with-a-friend dress.

“Chase and I are going out to dinner,” she said simply, while rearranging the contents of her black evening bag.

“You’re going out to dinner?” Patrick cast a wondering eye at Chase, then at Natalie. His expression reminded Chase of Natalie when she was uncertain about something. “Dressed like that?”

With a touch of annoyance, Natalie planted a hand on her hip, her gold bracelet catching the light from a nearby lamp. “Don’t give me that Dad routine.”

As Patrick’s expression grew more concerned, Chase hastened to explain. “A friend of mine wants me to have dinner with him. He told me to bring a friend, and since you and Erica are busy tonight – ”

“Yes, but that’s not a going-out-to-dinner-with-a-friend dress,” Patrick said in an accusatory tone. “That’s a date dress.”