Bad Company (Seven Deadly Sins #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Twelve: A Rare Find

We stepped into Crawford's hardware, which had a few customers milling around by the counter. There, an older version of Chase in jeans and a dark green polo shirt, stood chatting it up with a couple of construction workers. He was tall, with the same athletic build as Chase, only a little wider around the shoulders. His hair was a chestnut brown and his eyes were dark, probably brown like mine, but he had the same easy smile and friendly manner with people.

We made our way to the counter just as the construction workers were turning away and telling his dad they'd catch him at Lucky's later on. Chase's dad waved before turning his attention over to us. When his eyes fell on me his smile widened, showing off a dimple in the side of his cheek.

"Well now, you must be the famous Eliza," he said in a friendly manner. "I can see what all the fuss is all about. Chase hasn't been able to shut up about you since the day you walked in here." he laughed, winking at his son. He looked so much like Chase doing it, it must've been where he got it from.

I watched as a slight blushed crept over Chase's neck, but that was it. If that had been my parent talking about me I would've been mortified, but Chase seemed to take it all in stride. He was probably used to his dad's ribbing. I wondered what that would be like, to have a real parent I could talk about my life with; someone who actually listened, and maybe embarrassed me a little in front of my friends but only because they cared enough to know what was going on in my life.

He gave me a quick reassuring smile before turning back to his father. "Dad, this is Eliza. Eliza, this is my dad."

Chase's dad leaned over the counter and held out his hand. I took it and his warm palm totally engulfed mine as he pumped it up and down a few times, "Nice to meet you sir," I said.

"It's a real pleasure, Eliza. You can just call me Justin, alright?" He smiled down at me, his eyes studying my face.

"Sure." I smiled a little and I could see his face change slightly. It went from friendly to a little shocked, before settling back to normal.

His eyes narrowed just a little bit as he studied my face, "You look a little familiar, Eliza. Do I know your parents maybe?"

"I don't think so...both my parents are from New York." I shrugged, hoping he couldn't see some of the unease that invaded my belly. I was pretty positive he'd never met my dad seeing as how he'd never set foot outside New York State, but my mom was another story. She'd spent the summer with Celeste once and looked about the same age as Chase's dad.

"Funny. You look exactly like a girl I used to know a long time ago," he smiled again, making the nervousness in my belly grow bigger. "She had the same doe eyes and fetching smile."

I swallowed hard. He did know my mom. I hated to admit it but I looked a lot like her, from the same brown eyes to the same brown hair, except she colored hers lighter now. I didn't really know what to say. I didn't know what my mother was like before, but if it was anything like the way she was now, I was pretty sure he wouldn't want his son around me. Though, if that were really the case he wouldn't be looking at me so kindly.

"Okay, dad. Now you're being weird," Chase said, rescuing me from any unnecessary attention about my family background. "Please stop embarrassing my girlfriend."

I looked over at Chase, my eyebrows shooting up in surprise at the word girlfriend. I'd never been anyone's girlfriend before. I'd never had a boyfriend for that matter. Is that what we were already? Wasn't that kind of fast? We'd only had one date.

His dad laughed and shook his head as a cell phone started to ring somewhere. Reaching into his shirt pocket, he pulled out his phone but was still looking at Chase instead of answering it, "Yeah, alright. I hear you, boy. You might want to check with her to make sure though...seeing as how she only got here five minutes ago, she may not want to be saddled with the likes of you just yet."