Holiday Fling Read Online Free Page A

BABY!” he shouted, lifting his hands to the play he just made on the screen like he wasn’t there when he did it. “Nothing but net!”
    Tarrah rolled her eyes, but stopped mid-eye roll as she watched Chase walk passed the door of the great room. Tarrah took that as a sign and escaped from the room just as the Stewarts chanted after another one of Swanson’s “stellar” plays.
    *
    Tarrah scanned the hall and lost the damn boy again. She noticed the family portraits on the walls and mantel. She’d seen them many times, but now realized something. Why hadn’t she noticed that Chase was a part of this family before? There was no denying the family resemblance. He looked just like Samantha, Swanson, and Swanson’s father, Clint. Not to mention Samantha’s red hair. It wasn’t as bright as Chase’s, but it was still red. Tarrah actually always thought it was weird that Swanson’s hair was blond because not only was Samantha’s hair red, but Clint’s hair was strawberry blond. So why hadn’t she made the connection? As she scanned the photos, she understood. They were pretty much all of Swanson and his basketball stuff, trophies and awards lining the walls. There were even some b-ball pictures of Georgia up there, but no pictures of Chase.
    She stepped closer to the mantel and looked around the photos and when she did, she finally found some of him. His were there—they just weren’t at the forefront of the ledge. He had awards, too, but they were for science. In the very back was his college graduation photo. She picked it up and noticed he went to UCLA. He lived in California, just like he said. Why was he living so far away? And why hadn’t he come to the annual holiday family get-together before?
    A noise down the hall drew her attention and she saw Chase pull a tight corner. Putting the photo back where she found it, she jetted down the hall in her heels. She was going to figure out what was going on with this mysterious Chase, but at the moment, she really just wanted to find him and explain herself.

 
Chapter Ten
    “Chase,” Tarrah called.
    He kept walking.
    She quickly caught up and grabbed his arm. He whipped around and shrugged. She could tell he was pissed.
    “What, Tarrah? You got my attention. Now what do you want?”
    He spoke so stoically that it took Tarrah back, but he had a right to be upset, she supposed. She was sleeping with his brother on the holidays, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. “I just… I just wanted to explain—”
    He gave a short laugh. “Explain what, Tarrah? My brother’s your hook-up. What’s to explain about that?”
    His voice was so cold. “Chase…at the bank you said this wasn’t a big deal.” She didn’t know what else to say. It was true.
    His brows shot up. “Yeah, well, Tarrah, that’s before I found out you were fucking my brother.”
    She actually cringed at his stinging words. “Why are you calling it that?” she whispered.
    His lips formed a hard line. “Because that’s what it is, Tarrah, when you have sex with someone without attachment. It’s fucking and that’s all it is.”
    She swallowed hard. He made it sound so dirty. She didn’t understand. Earlier, he said it wasn’t a big deal. He’d been so nice to her, and now, he was acting like the biggest d-bag on the planet. She knew her situation was bad, but she didn’t deserve this. Not one bit, and she was going to let him know that. “You know, what? Screw you!”
    “Screw me?” He pointed to himself.
    Tarrah’s face blazed molten. “Yeah. You come across as this nice guy when, in reality, you’re just a huge asshole. It was probably all an act so you could get in my pants.” Tarrah didn’t mean that last bit, but she was so mad she said it before she could stop herself.
    He shook his head at her. “No, Tarrah, and I think Swan has that covered and whoever your other lays are for your other holidays.”
    Tarrah gasped.
    “You probably have New Year’s covered,