Ava blinked at him.
Hell, was she…crying? “What?”
“You are such a beautiful man. Inside and out. Thank you for going to the party with me.”
“You’re welcome.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “You are gonna feed me real food now, right?”
“Poor starving baby. Want to brave the cameras and eat out? Or order room service?”
“How about if you use some of that Cooper clout and get us a table at the hotel restaurant? You look too goddamn good to waste sitting on a bed in our suite.” He grinned. “But feel free to leave them shoes on later.”
After a leisurely meal, which turned out to be romantic and fun, even amidst a crowd, they returned to their room. Chase led Ava to the bedroom and stripped her slowly. Silently. When she was bare before him, he murmured, “I knew I’d find my Ava under here.”
Her eyes, always so expressive, were oddly wary when she whispered, “Am I really your Ava, Chase?”
“Goddamn right you are. The rest of this stuff—country boy, city girl—doesn’t matter. You understand that, right? I’m not here with you because you’re a celebrity, or because you’re rich. I’m with you because whenever we are, whether it’s in Wyoming or Nebraska or New York City, it feels right. When I’m with you, Ava, I feel like I’m where I’m meant to be.”
“That’s not just the wine talking.”
“It’s me talkin’.” Chase inhaled slowly, trying to calm the mad beat of his heart. “Ava. I love you.”
A beat passed. She smiled cheekily. “I figured since you ain’t the type to wear your heart on your goddamn sleeve that I’d have to say I love you first.”
He laughed at her perfect imitation of his way of speaking. This woman rarely reacted as he’d expected, which was just another reason he was so crazy in love with her.
“Meeting you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” She started in on his buttons. “I’m not here with you because you’re a famous bad boy bull rider or because of your slamming body…okay that might be part of it.” She kissed each inch of skin she exposed. “I love everything about you. We fit together in so many ways. I never thought…I’d find someone like you.”
Was she really choked up, telling him how she felt? “Ava. You undo me.”
“Take me to bed. I’m dying for you.”
Yep. Definitely in love with her.
“It says what?” she practically shrieked.
“The City Star has an exclusive with Chase McKay. And a picture of him shopping in a western store. Get this, one of his purchases was a…rope. Apparently he was pretty vague on what he planned on using it for in Manhattan.”
“Oh my f**king God, I’m going to kill him.”
Hannah laughed. “Chill out, Ava. This is funny stuff, because you know he did it to make the reporter for the Talk of the Town look like an idiot.”
“But why didn’t he tell me?” Shit. He had told her he’d handled it. And she shouldn’t be shocked he’d used a subversive tactic. “What else does it say?”
“The City Star says he visited FAO Schwartz and Tiffany’s, creating speculation you’re knocked up. So they’re postulating he’s buying you an engagement ring and baby items.”
“This is so ridiculous.”
“I imagine it is for him too.” Hannah giggled. “And he ended his day with a visit to the Museum of Sex.”
Ava’s thoughts returned to their sweetly intense lovemaking last night and the new things he’d tried that’d sent her into orgasmic overdrive. Twice.
“I don’t hear you complaining about that one,” Hanna said with a rowr.
“No comment.”
“Then Talk of the Town has photos of you guys leaving the hotel last night. Fabulous dress. Vivienne Westwood?”
“Good eye.”
“More photos of you leaving Petra’s apartment. Lastly a really grainy shot of him feeding you something at the hotel restaurant.”
“Steak,” she said distractedly. “The man is a meat-eating machine.”
“So you plan to go out and tempt paparazzi today?”
“We’ll see. He’s at the gym. I talked to Arthur a little last night. He was very helpful.”
“How far are you in the project?”
“Waiting for her to send me stuff. It’s on hold until that point or until…” Ava scrolled over the images on the screen. Ryan smiling and talking to Chase.
When the door opened, she said, “Han, I’ve gotta go. I’ll touch base with you later,” and quickly closed the file on her laptop.
Chase flopped into the chaise. “Who was that?”
“Hannah. Bringing me up to speed on today’s reporting. Seems someone had a very busy day yesterday.”
His bottle of water stopped halfway to his mouth.
“Really, Chase? The Museum of Sex?”
He grinned. “Hey, it is a museum. I was tryin’ to get a little culture while I’m in the big city, Hollywood.”
“Not funny. And for someone who was such a fit about going shopping with me, you managed to hit three different stores yesterday.”
“First of all, you told me I needed clothes. Then I had time to kill so I picked up a stick horse for my nephew and a stuffed panda for my niece at the toy store. I wandered down the street and saw a fancy crystal vase in the window and knew my mother would get a kick out of a box from Tiffany’s showing up in Wyoming. And while I was in there I found a lamp for Ben’s desk and a picture frame for Quinn and Libby.”
He’d really been shopping for his family? That was so unbelievably sweet. And out of character for the rough cowboy.
“Did you buy anything for me?”
“Nope.” He cocked his head. “Did you buy anything for me when you went shopping yesterday?”
“Nope. But maybe we can pick out something for each other today when we go shopping together, since I now know you were lying through your pearly whites about hating to shop.”
“Ah, well, I have plans today.”
“What kind of plans?” And why didn’t you tell me?
“One of Arthur’s friends was talking about corporate sports sponsorships last night and I weighed in. Evidently I didn’t come across sounding like a hick idiot because he called me this morning and invited me to lunch and a Yankees game.”