Enjoying the Chase Read online

  Josh’s arms were folded across his chest as he glared at me like the arrogant asshole that he was, and I wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face. I gritted my teeth and pushed the angry thoughts away. This was DJ’s dad at the end of the day, so I needed to respect that.

  “Did you get the money for DJ’s ticket to the show?” I asked curiously.

  His body tensed as his eyes narrowed. “If she’s asked you to threaten me or something then you can just back the hell off. I don’t have the fucking money; if I did, I’d give it to her! Why is the little bitch getting you involved? This isn’t any of your business; you’re just the new boy toy. She’ll soon kick you to the curb as soon as she realises she can do better than a cop,” he growled, sneering and looking me over like I was something he’d stepped in.

  My hands itched with the need to grab him around the throat and choke the life out of him for calling my girl a bitch, but I couldn’t do that. Technically, I shouldn’t even be getting involved now; she’d probably kill me if she knew I was doing this.

  I gritted my teeth and pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and counted out fifty bucks, holding it out to him. This was my plan, and I should stick to it even if he had just disrespected both me and my girl. I still needed DJ to go on the trip, and I couldn’t let the kid down like that. Rosie wouldn’t take the money from me, so this was the only other option that I could see. Sure, I knew this would give him a leg up in the, so called, ‘competition’, and if I really wanted to get ahead then I wouldn’t be doing this now – but the thing was, I liked them both too much to play this game with him. DJ desperately wanted to see the show, Rosie couldn’t pay, she wouldn’t take my money but yet she’d take his, so there was no other choice here.

  “What’s that for?” he asked, frowning at it and not taking it out of my hand.

  I slapped it against his chest. “Go pay for the ticket and grow some fucking balls. That’s your kid in there that you’d be disappointing again. You don’t even seem bothered by how upset he’d be if he couldn’t go,” I spat angrily.

  “It’s just a fucking show, he’ll get over it!” he cried.

  “It’s not about him getting over it, it’s about you breaking your promise to your kid and his mother. You said you’d get the money, so go give her the fucking money. Man up, stop pulling this shit all the time, they don’t deserve it!”

  He snorted and shook his head. “So you’re gonna let me go in there and give her the money, and then make me look like a prick when you tell her it’s yours. Then you’ll look like the good guy, and I look like the freaking waste of space dad, borrowing from her new boyfriend?” he retorted.

  “I’m giving you the money to pay for your son, Josh. Just go in there and pay her for the ticket. I don’t want any glory and I don’t care about the money, I just don’t want to see my girl or her son upset because of it. You don’t need to pay me back, just try and keep your promises from now on. You can’t keep letting them both down like this,” I stated, frowning.

  “So, what are you getting out of this?” he asked, nodding down at the money that was clenched in his fist.

  I shrugged. “I get to see Rosie smile when you give it to her. I get to see her stop worrying about how she’s going to tell DJ that he can’t go and see Buzz and Woody. That’s all I want.” Unable to look at his distasteful expression any longer, I turned and headed back into the apartment. Voices from the kitchen caught my attention so I walked in there. DJ was sitting on the counter, grinning happily as Rosie fussed over him with a huge smile on her face. “Let’s see this cake then, Kid.” I smiled, leaning on the counter next to him.

  DJ grinned and passed me a cupcake with blue frosting and some sort of silver flakes over the top. It didn’t look edible. Forcing a smile, I took a bite. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. “Wow, you and Nanna Juliet do make the best cakes,” I lied, looking at him with wide eyes.

  He smiled proudly as I stuffed in the rest of the cake, forcing it down where it was a little dry. Behind me, Josh walked into the kitchen, and Rosie looked at him with a fake smile. They obviously pretended they had a great relationship in front of DJ.

  “Hey, did he behave?” she asked him, poking DJ in the ribs playfully, making him giggle.

  “Good as gold, the same as always,” he confirmed. His eyes flicked to me before he stepped forward and held the money out to her. “For the ticket,” he said quietly.

  Her eyes widened as she squealed and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Oh God, Josh, thank you!” She bounced up and down on the spot as she hugged him.

  He laughed uncomfortably as he patted her back awkwardly, looking at me over her shoulder. “Thank you,” he mouthed behind her back. I smiled and nodded. Hopefully he’d try and stick to it and not disappoint them anymore. It wasn’t just the money, it was promising something and then backing out and leaving someone else to pick up the pieces, and then not even understanding how important it was to his son.

  Rosie pulled away, grinning happily as she clutched the money to her chest as if it was the most important thing in the world. She sighed happily. That happy expression on her face was totally worth it.

  “Well, I’d better get going. Thanks for looking after me for the weekend, DJ,” Josh teased, ruffling up DJ’s hair. DJ laughed and pushed him off. “I’ll see you in two weeks, and I’ll call next weekend too. Maybe Momma might let me take you out to play ball for a couple of hours? If you’re not busy that is…” he trailed off, looking at Rosie hopefully.

  She smiled and nodded. “Sure. Call me, and we’ll sort it out.”

  “Great. Well I’d better get going. See you next time then, Buddy.” He kissed the top of DJ’s head, hugging him tightly.

  “Bye. Daddy.” DJ smiled, hugging him back.

  He smiled at Rosie, and she hugged him too, kissing his cheek. “Thanks, Josh,” she whispered, looking at him tenderly. I gritted my teeth and prayed that this didn’t come back to bite me in the ass.

  Josh nodded awkwardly, his eyes flicking to me again for a second before going back to her. “No worries. I’ll call you.” He turned and walked out of the kitchen without another word.

  Yeah, bye, Josh. Asshole.

  Rosie grinned and grabbed DJ off the counter, spinning him in a small circle, making him laugh and grip her shoulders. “Right then, Baby, bath time and then bed,” she announced, setting him on his feet.

  He skipped out of the kitchen, and she walked to my side, gripping the collar of my shirt, pulling my face down to hers. She kissed me softly for a second before pulling away and following her son, but not before she turned and blew me another kiss at the door. I grinned proudly. I didn’t need any recognition. That smile and that kiss was totally worth fifty bucks.

  Chapter Thirty

  The following two weeks passed quickly. I was hanging around Rosie and DJ like a bad smell; I literally couldn’t get enough of their time. The kid seemed to like me more and more each day. We hung out, laughed, played and joked around, it was fun.

  Even though it wasn’t his turn to have him, Josh had kept true to his word and had picked DJ up for a few hours, taking him to the park to play ball the following weekend after I’d given him the money. Although it was nice to get some alone time with Rosie, deep down I didn’t like the fact that Josh was making an effort. I knew that I should like the fact that he was trying to turn over a new leaf, but part of me wondered how long it would last for, and if he would hurt them both again in the long run. DJ especially would be hurt if he suddenly changed and stopped calling him every other night and turning up when he was supposed to. Rosie had obviously hardened herself to it because they’d been apart so long, but the kid would be crushed. He was definitely enjoying his dad’s attention. Another part of me didn’t like Josh seeing them at all; the jealous part of me, the possessive part, just wanted him to crawl under a rock and die. I couldn’t stop wondering if maybe he was doing this to try and win them back, that his tactic for t
he ‘competition’ was to be a great dad, clearly that would score him a few points with Rosie. If that was the reason, the only thing I could do about it was to be myself and pray that Rosie chose me in the long run and that she wouldn’t be impressed by Josh’s pathetic attempts to win her back.

  The day of Cameron’s christening also finally came around. I was driving today, picking up Rosie and DJ, and we were all travelling there together. The only thing I didn’t like the sound of – I was also driving her parents.

  Because they knew Rosie’s parents, Anna and Ashton had invited them along to the ceremony too. They’d caught the train in from Barstow this morning, and were currently at Rosie’s apartment where they would be staying the night. To say I was terrified of meeting her dad would be a ridiculous understatement. From what I’d heard, Rosie was a bit of a daddy’s girl, and he was slightly overprotective of her. After what happened with Josh, I could understand why, but I was hopeful that I’d win him around with the old Nate Peters charm. All I needed to keep in mind was that I was to make no slutty remarks to my girl in front of them. For me that would be a feat in itself considering it was the first thing that usually fell out of my mouth around her. Hopefully, I’d be able to keep my hormones in check tonight; otherwise there was no chance of him liking me.

  Sitting in my car that I had spent a painstakingly too many hours cleaning, washing, waxing and vacuuming yesterday in the hopes that it would help me make a good impression, I fiddled with my tie and took a few deep breaths. I wasn’t prepared for this at all.

  By the time I’d made the short walk up the front door of her building, my hands were sweating and I felt slightly sick. Rosie had, of course, assured me that everything would be fine, that he would give me a hard time, but she was confident that I would win him over because I was, in her words, incredibly adorable. The girl still refused to use macho words for me.

  I didn’t let myself up to her door, like I usually would when I came to visit. Instead, I pressed the door buzzer and waited for her to answer and buzz me up. “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s me,” I replied, closing my eyes, trying to take deep breaths so I didn’t punk out and run to the car, crying like a little girl.

  She didn’t say anything, the door just buzzed and the lock clicked, allowing me to open it. I made my way upstairs, fiddling with my suit jacket nervously.

  Remember, no slutty jokes, Nate. Do not make any slutty jokes!

  When Rosie opened the door, my mouth popped open in shock. She looked incredible in a pale blue dress with a little white cardigan thing over the top. Her hair had been curled and hung loose, framing her exquisite face. I raked my eyes down over her body, taking in every glorious detail from her delicate neck, right down to her stiletto, open-toed, blue heels that she was wearing. Instantly, my mind was taking off the dress, imagining her in just the heels.

  I dragged my eyes back up to her face, unsure what was going to come out of my mouth. “Holy shit, you look so scorching hot that I could jizz in my pants right now.” Hmm, not quite the opening I was going for…

  Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly open as her gaze raked over me. I waited for her reply or to scold me with a ‘you’re a pervert’ comment – but she was just staring at me.

  After a couple of seconds, I frowned and looked down at myself. “What? Did I leave the price tag on or something?” I questioned.

  She blew out a big breath and shook her head. “God damn, you look good in a suit. Seriously, I just…” she swallowed, “…yeah, you’re wearing that next time you stay over, okay?”

  A predatory smile crept onto my face as I stepped closer to her. “Oh, I look good in a suit, huh? Maybe we could start some little office worker fantasy. I can be the boss, and you could be my secretary wearing those hot little glasses of yours. Also, don’t forget to wear the fuck me shoes that you have on right now,” I breathed, my mind already working out the details of the game.

  She giggled and turned her leg to the side, glancing down at her shoes. “These are fuck me shoes?” she asked, trying to look innocent.

  I wrapped my free arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me. “On you they are,” I confirmed. “On anyone else they’re just blue shoes, but you just add that extra little sparkle to them that makes me want to strip you naked and have you walk for me in nothing but them.”

  Her hands ran across the front of my suit jacket as she chewed on her lip, looking at me lustfully. “Maybe later,” she whispered, nodding in agreement.

  I sighed dejectedly. “Another night, you have company tonight.”

  She groaned and let her head drop onto my chest as she obviously remembered her parents were staying the night. “Damn it, I forgot about that. Did you seriously have to look this good today? We’re going into a church and all I’m going to be thinking the whole time are inappropriate thoughts about you. I’m seriously going to hell.”

  I laughed and kissed the top of her head, being careful not to mess up her perfectly styled curls. Physically, Rosie and I were very compatible. For the last two weeks, since the beach party at my parents’ place, we’d done a lot of fooling around. Rosie was definitely a dirty girl at heart. In the two weeks that I’d had her naked for, I had already memorised every single inch of her skin. I knew she had exactly twenty-three little freckles on her body. I knew that she was immensely ticklish on her ribs on the right-hand side. I knew that when I ran my tongue down the length of her spine she gasped and gripped the bed sheet so tightly that her knuckles went white. We’d done a few little role play games already; the office one would be new though. Personally, I couldn’t wait.

  Reluctantly, I pulled back and brought my other arm up, holding up the flowers that I bought for her.

  She smiled gratefully and smelt them. “Aww, thank you. They’re beautiful.”

  “I haven’t bought you any for a while. Plus, I thought it would impress your parents if I bought you flowers. I want to look like the romantic boyfriend after all,” I explained, grinning sheepishly.

  She laughed and slapped the back of her hand on my chest. “And you were doing so well before you said that,” she teased, rolling her eyes playfully. She took my hand and nodded back to the door of her apartment that we were standing outside. “You ready for this?”

  I winced and shook my head. “Not yet.” I tugged on her hand, making her stumble towards me and crash into my chest. I bent my head and kissed her, relishing in the feel of her lips against mine. The kiss was totally worth whatever her dad would do to me over the next twenty-four hours. “Now I’m ready,” I confirmed.

  She laughed and walked backwards into the apartment, smiling at me reassuringly as I pushed the door shut. My heart was beating so loudly that I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole building could hear it. I couldn’t relax as I followed her awkwardly into the lounge where I could hear voices.

  As we rounded the corner, I forced myself to smile. The lady was sitting on the sofa had brown hair, pulled up into a little twist at the back. She looked like Rosie and her sister. DJ was sat next to her and they were examining a drawing of his, he was explaining what it was, pointing out bits, while she smiled at it enthusiastically. Rosie’s dad was standing there looking at the photos that I had hung on the wall for her last week. His hands were on his hips. He wasn’t smiling. To say I was slightly intimidated of this man, would be the understatement of the century. He had the power to turn Rosie and DJ against me if he wanted to. She wouldn’t choose to stand up to her dad for me, and I wouldn’t really want to make her choose in the first place.

  Rosie cleared her throat to get their attention, and I wanted to clap my hand over her mouth to silence her, just so I could have precious extra seconds to compose myself. The three faces turned towards us.

  Rosie’s mom smiled at me politely. Her dad’s eyes raked over me slowly, as if appraising me to see if I was good enough for his daughter. And DJ, well, DJ jumped up, beaming at me, before he literally threw himself over the back of th
e sofa at me so that I had to catch him before he fell to the floor.

  I laughed and lifted him up into my arms as he hugged me tightly. “Hey, Nate! We’re going to a party today!” he sang excitedly.

  “Hey, Kid. You all suited and ready to go?” I asked, playfully tweaking his tie that he was wearing. He looked adorable in a little fashion shirt with a grey tie, and grey waistcoat over the top.

  Rosie’s dad snorted and mumbled something under his breath that I didn’t even attempt to understand. Rosie smiled and placed her hand on the small of my back as I settled DJ on my hip, holding him with my left arm.

  “Guys, this is Nate Peters. Nate, this is my mom, Tracy, and my dad, George.” Rosie waved a hand between us all introduction.

  Smiling, I stepped forward, trying to act confident. Surely the fact that DJ is hanging around my neck, will help the situation? George looked me over distastefully. Huh, apparently not…

  “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you guys from Rose and DJ,” I greeted, holding out my hand to him.

  He frowned, looking like he didn’t want to shake my hand at all, but reluctantly did it anyway. “You too. Rosie tells us that you’re a cop. Kind of a dangerous job, don’t you think?” he replied tersely.

  Okay, we were straight into the pissing contest.

  “Er… I guess, but I’m always careful. I’m actually never really too close to the action or anything,” I explained, looking down at our hands because he still hadn’t relinquished his grip on mine. He was definitely trying to scare me away; this was obviously his bad cop routine. According to Rosie, I just needed to push past it.

  He looked like he was choosing his words carefully. “Do you think that being in a dangerous job is a good example to be setting for my grandson?”

  I internally groaned. I hadn’t prepared myself sufficiently for this at all. “I think that he’ll see me doing my job and being on the right side of the law. So that’s setting a good example, yes,” I answered. I could almost feel his eyes boring into my head as he scrutinised every little thing that I did or said.

  But then DJ opened his mouth and dropped me in the shit. “Nate let me hold his gun. And I put on his handcuffs,” he boasted.

  Oh fuck. Nice one, Kid! I winced and looked at Rosie. She hadn’t liked it when I did that either – until I explained that it was empty and that the safety was on anyway. I’d even removed some of the inside parts so it couldn’t shoot; it was basically just a worthless piece of metal when DJ held it.