Emancipating Andie (29 page)

“You’ve been saying that for the past hour,” Chase said, shifting on the couch to look at the clock. “It’s after one.”

“I know,” Andie pouted. “So stop talking to me.”

Chase laughed, stretching across the length of his couch. “I can’t. I like your voice too much.”

“Mmm, you’re good,” Andie said sleepily.

“Remind me again why you have to be at the restaurant at six in the morning?”

“Because we’re hosting a bridal shower and a retirement party back to back tomorrow.”

“And which one of them starts before the sun comes up?”

“Neither, smart-ass,” Andie said. “But there’s a lot of organization and setup and behind-the-scenes stuff that needs to be done. It’s gonna be a busy day.”

“Well then, what are you doing talking on the phone at one in the morning?”

She laughed softly, and Chase smiled. He really did love her voice. And her laugh. And the sleepy little noises she was making into the phone as she fought sleep to talk to him. But he knew he had to stop being selfish, considering the day she had in front of her.

“Okay, time for you to get some sleep.”

“Okay,” she sighed, sounding like a kid who was just told it was her bedtime.

“You sure you don’t want some company? You might fall asleep faster if there was someone in bed with you.”

She laughed throatily, and Chase grinned. “Nice try, but I’m pretty sure if you came here, I’d get no sleep at all.”

“Suit yourself,” he said airily.

Andie yawned for the fourth time. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Alright.”

“Good night, Chase.”

“Andie, wait,” he said suddenly, hoping she hadn’t hung up.

“Hmm?”

Something had been bothering him ever since the night they admitted their feelings for each other, the night they slept together for the first time. He hadn’t even thought about it until a couple of days after that, when she came back to his apartment after she got off of work. No sooner than she walked in the door, their hands were everywhere, ripping and pulling at clothes until at last they fell into a tangled heap of limbs and moans on his couch. And two nights ago, he had gone to her apartment with plans to watch
Dumb and Dumber
, but they barely made it through the opening credits before the movie was forgotten.

And it wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the sex. He did. It was, by far, the best he’d ever had. Just thinking of it made his stomach knot and his toes curl in a way that had him wanting to jump in his car and drive to her apartment right now.

It was just that he felt like, somehow, she’d been slighted in this whole process.

And he wanted to make it right.

“Let me take you out tomorrow.”

“I just told you I have to work two parties tomorrow,” she said with a laugh.

“After that,” he said, his voice turning serious. “Tomorrow night. Go on a date with me.”

There was a slight pause before she spoke, a smile in her voice. “A date?”

“I know, it’s backward,” he said. “But let me do this the right way, even if it’s in the wrong order.”

“Chase McGuire, do you mean to tell me this whole time, you’ve been a closet romantic?”

“Would you just put me out of my misery already?” he laughed. “Let me take you out tomorrow.”

She laughed softly before she spoke, her voice whisper soft. “I would love to go on a date with you,” she said, and Chase smiled at those words on her lips.

One of the more beautiful things he’d ever heard.

Chase sat at the red light, his fingers drumming the steering wheel. He glanced in the rearview one more time, running his hand through his hair in an attempt to neaten it, and he froze, dropping his head back on the seat and exhaling a breathy laugh.

Did he seriously have first-date jitters right now?

“Get your shit together,” he said to himself, taking his foot off the brake as the light turned green, and he concentrated on stilling his fingers as he drove the last mile to her apartment.

He got out of the car, smoothing the front of his green button-down. He wore it un-tucked, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and his nicest pair of jeans.

Chase jogged up the steps to her door, knocking softly, and within seconds it swung open. “Hi,” she smiled. “Perfect timing.”

“This is our first date, you know. You aren’t supposed to be ready. You’re supposed to make me wait a little. Build a little mystery.”

She smirked at him, shaking her head, and he held out the bouquet of flowers he’d brought for her.

“Chase, what are you doing?” she sighed, taking them from him as she lowered her face to inhale their scent.

“Bringing you flowers.”

She looked at him over her shoulder as she turned to walk into the kitchen. “You didn’t have to do that,” she said, her voice both appreciative and reprimanding.

“Of course I didn’t. But I wanted to. There are a lot of things I want to do for you tonight, and I’d appreciate it if you’d just let me.”

Andie lifted her brow slightly. “Fair enough,” she said with a smile, laying the bouquet on the island counter. “Let me just put these in water and we can get going,” she added, turning around and standing up on her toes as she reached above the cabinet for a vase.

As she extended her arm, her lower back arched slightly, giving him an amazing view of her from behind, and he groaned softly.

Andie cocked her head over her shoulder, catching the way he was looking at her. “Well now, that’s a little bit forward for a first date, don’t you think?”

He laughed quietly, looking away from her. “You’re making this hard, Andie.”

“Pun intended?”

Chase laughed again before he straightened his expression and turned toward her, pointing at her in a playful warning.

She smiled and held her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay,” she said as she began arranging the flowers, and Chase watched her, her hands moving with precision, coming up every so often to tuck a strand of blonde silk behind her ear. Her brow was creased in concentration as she pursed her lips, fussing over the arrangement.

He’d seen her in an evening gown, he’d seen her in a T-shirt and jeans, he’d seen her in sweats, and he’d seen her in nothing at all; she never disappointed.

“Okay,” she exhaled, turning toward him. “I’m ready. At least, I think I’m ready. Is this okay? I wasn’t sure where we were going.” She gestured at the fitted sweater dress she wore over tight brown leggings.

“It’s better than okay,” he said. “And if this wasn’t our first date, I could find some other colorful adjectives to describe the way that sweater fits you.”

The corner of her mouth lifted in a smile. “I appreciate your gentlemanly restraint,” she said, grabbing her purse and planting a soft kiss on his lips as she walked past him to the door.

They walked down to his car and he opened the door for her, earning him another smile. He knew she was finding humor in his behavior, but he didn’t care. When he was interested enough in a girl to take her on a date, this is how he would treat her. Shouldn’t it follow then that he’d do
at least
that much for the girl he loved?

“So,” he said, sliding into the driver’s seat. “How were your parties today?”

“They both went really well,” she said. “The man they were holding the retirement party for was the cutest old man I’ve ever seen.”

Chase laughed.

“I’m serious. He must have been about seventy years old, and he was just fluttering around, thanking everyone for coming, for making his life so enjoyable. And he kept dancing,” Andie said, looking over at him with a smile. “He called all the waitresses
darlin’ girl
.”

“He sounds like my grandfather,” Chase said. “I used to spend a week with him every summer until I turned sixteen. He called any woman that crossed his path
sugar
, and I swear, he got a blush or a giggle almost every time.”

Andie smiled. “That’s adorable. Why did you stop going to see him?”

Chase’s expression straightened. “My dad wanted me to spend my summers working. To stop ‘living the life of Riley,’ as he put it.”

“How could visiting your grandfather possibly translate into you being spoiled?” she asked, and he shrugged.

“I have no idea. It wasn’t my dad’s father, it was my mom’s. So I guess my dad didn’t give a shit whether I got to see him or not.”

Chase looked over to see Andie’s face; there was the saddest expression in her eyes, and he smiled softly, reaching up and running his thumb over her cheek.

“Don’t look so sad. I had a lot of good years with him. He taught me a lot.”

“Like what?” Andie said softly, shifting in her seat so she rested her head on Chase’s shoulder. “Tell me about him.”

Chase smiled at the memory of his grandfather as he turned them down a side road. “Let’s see,” he said. “He taught me how to change a flat. He taught me how to make spaghetti.” Andie giggled next to him and Chase grinned, turning to plant a quick kiss on the top of her head. “He always used to tell me, ‘Remember, Chase, being a gentleman not only applies to how you treat your lady, but how you treat the people around you.’”

“So sweet,” Andie said softly.

“He also told me I should never get into a fist fight with an ugly person because they have nothing to lose.”

Andie burst out laughing, and Chase smiled as his favorite sound filled the car.

A few minutes later, Andie sat up and looked out the passenger window. “Where are we going, by the way?” she asked as Chase slowed the car on a side street, pulling into an open space.

“It’s a little restaurant I found a while back,” he said, cutting the ignition. “Kind of undiscovered. I think you’ll like it.”

He exited the car and walked quickly around to her side, opening her door and extending his hand to her.

“Thank you,” she said, stepping out onto the sidewalk, her eyes combing the street, and he saw the little crease form between her brows.

“It doesn’t look like much,” he said a little uneasily, beginning to second-guess his decision to bring her there. He’d been there more times than he could count, but now, he looked at the building and realized how it would probably look to someone else.

There was nothing residential or even commercial on this street; it looked like the back of a warehouse. The building itself was brick, the windowless door they stood in front of covered in chipped, maroon paint. Just above it was a tiny neon sign that said “El Hueco.”

She straightened her expression, smiling over at him. “Don’t be silly,” she said. “I trust you. I just never realized there was anything on this street. What does
El Hueco mean
?”

“I’m not sure.”

“How did you find this place?”

Chase laughed quietly. “That’s another story for another time. Certainly not a first-date story,” he said with a wink, putting his hand on her lower back as he opened the door and guided her inside.

They walked into a dark corridor, and Chase could hear the faint sounds of music coming from the room they could not yet see.

“Are you sure it’s open?” Andie asked, her voice quavering slightly as she clutched his hand in the darkness, and he smiled, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“It’s open,” he said, walking ahead of her and pulling her gently behind him. “Follow me.”

They reached another door, heavy, black, and windowless, and Chase reached out, gripping the handle and pulling it open. Immediately, they were assaulted with the light coming from inside, the upbeat Mexican music, the smell of pico de gallo and guacamole and lime and chili peppers.

It was a small room, about eight hundred square feet, with a concrete floor and a handful of tables set up in the corner. There was a wooden bar along the left-hand side, painted bright green with different colored barstools lined up in front of it. The walls themselves were a deep red, with the exception of the far wall, which was a huge, colorful mural of some small Mexican town. From the ceiling hung multi-colored lanterns and strings of lights, and tonight, in the empty space between the bar and the tables, two couples danced what Chase assumed was the salsa, their feet and hips moving so quickly and fluidly that it was almost hard to follow.

He turned then, looking at Andie, a slow smile curving his lips when he saw her expression. Her eyes were scanning the room, her lips parted slightly in awe as she took it all in. She turned to him then, the most beautiful smile on her face, and Chase was just about to lean in and kiss her when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.

“Senor Chase!”

“Manuel,” Chase smiled. “
Como esta
?”

“
Bien, bien
. Long time, no?
Quien es esta
?” he asked, smiling at Andie. “
Su mujer
?”

“
Si,
” Chase said. “Andromeda, this is Manuel. He owns this place.”

Andie smiled at him, reaching out to shake his hand, and he leaned over, giving her a big kiss on the cheek.

“Aye, preciosa. Es mejor que tenga mucho cuidado de éste. Conozco a una buena mujer cuando la veo.”

Chase smiled, looking over at Andie. “I will.”

“
Bien. Se sientan
,” Manuel said, gesturing at an open table before he turned back toward the bar, telling the waitress in Spanish that Chase was here and to bring the usual.