Free Taking Chase by Lauren Dane Page A

Not that it matters, she’s got you on the ropes. You’re coming, right?”
    She grinned. “Yes. I’ve been promised peach cobbler and lemon bars. You’re a terrible man to expose my weakness so it can be used against me.”
    He’d never seen her so flirtatious. He liked it. Liked seeing her lighthearted and unafraid of him.
    “Darlin’, you’ve been in Petal nearly six weeks now. By now, your brand of toothpaste isn’t a secret. That’s the price of living in a small town.”
    She blushed and he decided to forge ahead. “Would you like to go to dinner with me? Dinner and maybe some dancing at The Tonk? Dinner would just be us two. Well, ‘cause I want you all to myself. But dancing would be a group of folks. Kyle and Maggie, Matt and Marc will have dates, too, of course. Liv will be there with her new boyfriend Brody.”
    “Okay.” He’d been readying his next line of attack when he realized she’d just agreed to a date. “Okay?”
    “Yeah. When?” “Tuesday? I have Wednesday and Thursday off this week.” “All right. I have Wednesday off too.” “Pick you up at seven then? Is Italian food okay with you?”
    She nodded and he stood there grinning at her for several long moments. “I’m gonna go now before I do something stupid and you change your mind. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.” Before she could argue, he turned and headed off with a wave. Still didn’t stop her from watching his ass as he left though.
    As satisfied as she’d been with the profits from her Sunday Market, the best part was that she got to use her hands to create. Truth was, she ached to practice medicine again.
    There had been very little in her life she’d been more passionate about than being a doctor. She loved it. Loved helping people, loved improving lives. She missed it and found herself thinking about starting again with a new practice specialty.
    Oh, she knew she’d have to go back and get more training. That didn’t seem as daunting as it might have before. Before she’d decided on her surgical residency, she’d been fascinated by family medicine and one of her old mentors was a family practitioner in Orange County. The thought of taking care of entire families had a lot of appeal.
    At the same time, it scared the hell out of her to imagine risking herself over something and losing it again. She couldn’t work at the bookstore forever but it was good for the immediate future and her creative side was nourished by the jewelry making.
    At the close of the day, Cassie went to a movie with Penny and called Brian once she got home.
    “So, the sheriff asked me out today again.” “Yeah?” She could sense his grin. “I said yes. We’re going to dinner and dancing afterward.”
    “Well it’s about time. Go Sheriff Chase. Good for you, Cassie. I’m proud. So proud.”
    “You know what? I’m proud too. It feels good not to live in fear. He’s a nice guy, Brian. I really like him. And his family, they’re like a dream come true. Every last one of them is adorably sweet.”
    “They’d better be. You deserve it.”
    They spoke for a long time after that, sharing their lives in a way she’d been unable to do since before the last years with Terry. She finally had part of herself back. Even better, she was sharing it with people who mattered to her. It was a kind of connection she’d missed so much. It felt so good she wondered when the other shoe would drop and something bad would happen to mess it all up.

Chapter Six
    Tuesday morning dawned and Cassie puttered around the house all day. To keep her mind off her first date in a year and a half, she’d painted one of the tables she bought at a yard sale. It sat drying on her deck as she realized it was longer than a year and a half. It was six because Terry didn’t really count. Hell, the first time she felt lighthearted about a simple thing like dinner and dancing since the first year she and Terry were together. Gah! So much for not thinking about