Enjoying the Chase Read online

  “I removed it. I’m not letting you call her up and tell her all of my secrets, you’ll scare her away from me with your craziness.” I waved a hand at her in example of said craziness.

  She pouted at me and put her cell phone down. “Aww, I’m just taking an interest in your first girlfriend. And, of course, I can’t wait to meet her and her little boy!” she gushed.

  “Well, like I said, it’s early days.”

  “But you really like her?” I could hear the hope in her tone.

  I sighed. “Yep.”

  “You’re crazy about her?”

  “Yes, Mother, I’m crazy about her!” I replied.

  She squealed and clapped her hands like a teenage girl. “Then I’m a nanny in spirit, at least. I can wait for the actual title to be handed to me when it’s official.”

  I rolled my eyes and ate my cereal, ignoring her ramble on about how she was going to start buying toys to keep at their house ready for when he came to visit. The more excited she got about it, the more excited I got about it too. I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take Rosie to trust me enough to become part of their lives for real.

  Half an hour later Paige came down the stairs, smirking at me cockily, obviously pleased with herself because she’d managed to escape the payback last night.

  “Morning,” she greeted. “How’s the stomach today?”

  I frowned at her and pulled my T-shirt up, showing her the pen that was clearly still there. “I can’t believe Lisa did that. I got her back good last night though.” I chuckled to myself, remembering her banging on my door in the night.

  Paige chuckled darkly. “I heard her screaming at you. Alarm clocks in the bedroom?”

  “And mousse in the hair.”

  “Nice!” She held up her hand for a high five.

  My mom poured her a coffee, setting some toast down in front of her. I watched with a satisfied smile as my sister heaped three spoonfuls of salt into her cup. Sighing contentedly, I leant back in my chair and waited to enjoy the show. Karma didn’t seem too bad when it wasn’t directed at me.

  That evening, I headed over to Rosie’s place. By the time I’d skipped up the stairs to her apartment, she was already waiting for me with the door open, leaning against the doorframe.

  Two days of not seeing her felt like a ridiculously long time. I walked straight up to her, grabbing her and hoisting her over my shoulder, laughing as she squealed.

  “Nate! What are you doing?” she cried breathlessly as I walked into her apartment and closed the door behind me.

  I grinned and spanked her behind gently. “I missed you, so I thought we could just dispense with the pleasantries and skip straight to the…” I trailed off and dropped her carefully on the sofa, smiling at her excited face.

  “The…?” she prompted when I didn’t carry on.

  I sighed and sat down onto the sofa next to her, taking her hand and bending forward, kissing her cheek. “Skip to the movie?” I suggested, trying to look innocent.

  “And there was me thinking I was in for a hot make out session, caveman style. Now I’m kind of disappointed.”

  Rosie stood up, so I gripped her hand, tugging gently so she fell into my lap. “Well I’m never one to disappoint,” I answered, moving my mouth closer to hers and wrapping my arms around her so she couldn’t escape. I flipped her onto her back and hovered above her. There was no way I was disappointing her in that way, she definitely had nothing to worry about in that department. I’d had a lot of practice. I’d had a lot of experience with what women liked and didn’t like, and I’d use all of that information to my advantage when I finally got her into bed.

  She pursed her lips, pretending to think. “I suppose I could give you three attempts. If, by three times, I’m not fully satisfied then I’ll be requesting a refund,” she joked, stroking the side of my face.

  “Okay, deal.” I kissed her softly to seal the deal.

  I pulled out of the kiss just as it was getting a little heavy. Rosie chewed on her lip as she looked up at me a little nervously.

  “I, er, just wanted to say thank you for the other night,” she mumbled. “Toni told me that she heard me begging you to stay and talk dirty to me. Apparently there was something mentioned about spanking. And I, kind of, vaguely remember trying to get your clothes off…” she trailed off, wincing as a blush covered her cheeks.

  I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, you’re one horny little school teacher,” I admitted, blowing out a big breath as I remembered her saying those things to me.

  “Sorry,” she chuckled. “I just wanted to say thank you for not doing that. I really appreciate it, and I know that was probably hard for you to walk away from if I was throwing myself at you like that.”

  I smiled sheepishly. She had no idea how hard that was for me! “Yeah, you made it pretty hard.”

  “I can imagine.” She giggled quietly before looking at me seriously again. “That really means a lot to me that you would respect me like that. Most guys would have…” She frowned, fingering the collar of my T-shirt. “Anyway, thanks.”

  I shrugged. “It was only because you were drunk. If you beg me like that sober then I’m not walking away.”

  I pushed myself up off her, more than a little proud of myself for resisting her advances. She obviously appreciated it. Maybe I would make a decent boyfriend after all.

  “Shall we watch a movie and get takeout?”

  By the time the movie finished, I was all over her. I had her pinned on her back on the sofa, every inch of my body pressed against hers as I kissed her deeply. I was so excited that I was slightly concerned I could blow my load any second.

  Her hands roamed my back, her fingers digging into my skin, pulling me impossibly closer. I moaned into her mouth. I needed her so much. My body needed sex, it needed relief, and waiting was getting painful. I felt like some kind of sex-deprived junkie. Excluding the disastrous experience with Minnie last week, I hadn’t had sex in five weeks. I was actually a little surprised that I wasn’t shaking and sweating through withdrawal. That was the longest I’d gone without sex since I was about seventeen years old.

  Rosie’s hands caught the bottom of my shirt, pulling it up awkwardly because I was lying on top of her. Getting to my knees and straddling her hips, I pushed myself up and yanked my shirt off over my head, tossing it onto the floor.

  Immediately, Rosie gasped and then burst into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth as her whole body shook with laughter.

  I frowned, confused. That wasn’t the usual reaction girls had to my body. Usually it was a swoon or a moan, never giggling…

  “What?” I asked. Her eyes sparkled as she shook her head, struggling to breathe. “What, Rose?”

  “What… the hell… is… that?” she choked out around her laughter, pointing at my stomach.

  That was when it dawned on me. She’d just seen my little sister’s idea of body art.

  I closed my eyes, sitting back on my heels, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me, removing me from this painful, embarrassing moment.

  “It’s awesome, huh? I was trying it out before I make it permanent,” I said, trying to make light of this awkward situation.

  She laughed harder, reaching out and tracing the letters with her finger as she chewed on her lip. “Nate, seriously, what on earth is this?”

  I sighed dramatically. “That is a result of falling asleep on the beach near my sisters.”

  She snorted and then burst into another fit of giggles. “Your sisters sound so funny!”

  “Oh yeah, they’re hilarious. It’s not going to be too funny tomorrow when I turn up to work with ten other burly SWAT guys, and they see ‘Rosie’s bitch’ written across my abs,” I stated, scowling at my stomach hatefully.

  She was almost crying with laughter now. “Nate, stop it! Oh God, this is too funny! Can I take a picture?” She pushed on my chest, trying to get me off her as she reached for her cell phone from the side.

  I
frowned and grabbed her hand. “Hell no you can’t take a picture!”

  She pouted. “Aww, just one photo? I’ll let you take one of me in return,” she suggested, raising one eyebrow teasingly.

  Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about right there!

  “Okay deal,” I agreed. “But a topless one.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less.”

  “Let’s do the photos later,” I whispered, pulling her back to me and kissing her again. She smiled against my lips and kissed me back immediately, one hand tangling into the back of my hair as I pressed my body back to hers again.

  Her hands were exploring the skin on my back, her fingertips trailing over every inch of it, making me stiff as a board. Hesitantly, because I didn’t know how far she would allow me to take things, I slipped my hands up her top. As I kissed her deeply, my palms brushed over her breasts, cupping them gently, relishing in the feel of the lacy material of her bra, just waiting for her to stop me. She didn’t. Instead of shoving me off her, like I was expecting, her own hand gripped my ass, pulling me closer. Her smell was all around me, making me a little dizzy with excitement. She literally smelt good enough to eat. When she guided me to roll over, there wasn’t much room so I decided we should move the session down onto the floor instead. Lowering myself down to the floor, I brought her with me, not breaking the kiss for a second.

  She smiled and pulled back, sitting up, straddling me. I chewed on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying the inappropriate things that sprang to mind while she straddled me – slutty comments about her riding me, or me having to buy her a cowboy hat.

  Her eyes didn’t leave mine as she brushed her hands down my chest and across my stomach, tracing the black lettering with one finger. A playful smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

  “Hmm, I kinda like this actually. Is that what you are now, Nate? My bitch?”

  “I’ll be anything you want,” I muttered, swallowing my lust.

  She smiled, and moved up, leaning in and resting her forearms either side of my head so our mouths were inches apart. “And what if I want you to be Officer Peters, tough SWAT guy who punishes naughty girls?” she purred.

  Holy fuck!

  I had never been more turned on in my life. “Do you know any naughty girls?” I asked my voice thick and husky with lust.

  She brushed her nose up the side of mine, and I tilted my head up needing to kiss her. Suddenly the lustful look was gone from her face and she pulled back, sitting up on my stomach.

  “Nate, I’m really sorry, but I think you should go before I do something I’ll regret in the morning.”

  My heart sank; I didn’t want to leave her, I’d barely seen her. “Can’t I stay the night? We don’t have to do anything, please?” I asked, trying not to let the desperation leak into my voice. I didn’t want to go home on my own. I didn’t want to walk out of her place and kiss her goodbye.

  She frowned, and her eyes flicked to the hallway where the bedrooms were.

  Seeing her indecision, which I somehow knew would be linked to DJ, I continued, “I have to get up really early for work, I’ll be gone before he even wakes up.”

  She blew out a big breath and slumped back down on top of me, kissing the side of my neck as she got herself comfortable on me. As her finger stroked my Adams apple, I folded my arms around her and suddenly realised how strangely satisfying cuddling with her was.

  “If I’m being completely honest, I don’t want you to stay,” she mumbled, so quietly that I only just made out the words.

  “Why?” I croaked, frowning and tightening my arms on her possessively.

  She sighed and kissed my neck again. “I don’t think I could just lay there with you,” she admitted. “And I really don’t want to ruin anything by rushing things. I like you, I really do, but things are moving incredibly fast between us. It’s scaring me a little. I have to think about DJ. I have to think about what he’d feel like if he found out you stayed here. You understand?” she asked, shifting and setting her chin on my chest, looking at me uncomfortably, as if she was expecting me to be annoyed with her.

  I smiled and brushed her hair back from her forehead. “I get it.” I smiled reassuringly. “I’m just too hot for you to handle,” I added as an afterthought, trying to lighten the mood a little.

  She nodded, kissing my chest lightly, her hand trailing down to my chest, tickling her fingers on the slight hair I had at the base of my stomach. “Your body is incredible, just like I imagined it would be.”

  I grabbed her and rolled her onto her back quickly, making her squeal from the shock. “Wait, so let me get this straight… You’ve imagined me naked?” I teased.

  “Yeah, I had a nightmare the other night.”

  “I’ve had plenty of nightmares about you too; they always end well though.”

  “That’s gross, you don’t have to admit that to me!” she muttered, shaking her head, but laughing at the same time.

  I smiled, knowing I should really go. Clearly she’d made up her mind about me staying, so I didn’t want to push it any further. “I’d better go then. I’ll see you tomorrow night?” I said hopefully.

  “Eight o’clock?”

  That was our usual time, it meant I only got to see her for a couple of hours at a time, but at least I still got to see her. “Definitely. Hey, you think that you’d be able to get a sitter for Friday night so I could take you out? There’s a new restaurant opening and I thought we could try it?” I suggested.

  She nodded enthusiastically. “Josh has DJ this weekend, so I’m free Friday through until about seven on Sunday night. Provided he doesn’t get called into work again,” she said, frowning when she said the last part.

  I smiled happily. “Sweet! Pencil me in for Friday through until Sunday at seven then.”

  “No rock-climbing this time though, huh?”

  I shook my head, chuckling to myself. “Okay fine, bungee jumping?” I bartered, as I pushed myself off her, taking her hands and helping her to her feet too.

  She didn’t answer just stuck her tongue out at me and bent down to grab my T-shirt from the floor. I used her distraction to quickly rearrange myself in my jeans – not that she wouldn’t already know I had a raging boner, but I could at least try not to make it so damn obvious. She handed me back my T-shirt, so I slipped it on, kissing the side of her head softly, letting my mouth linger for a few seconds too long while I just savoured the feel of her against my lips. I really didn’t want to go.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Stripes,” I whispered, forcing myself to move away from her and slip on my sneakers, before walking as quick as I could to the front door. I was about three seconds from begging her to let me stay here for the night. I didn’t even need to do anything with her; I just wanted to hold her for longer.

  “Bye, Nate.”

  I didn’t look back as I walked to my car. It was definitely getting harder and harder to walk away from this girl.

  Just as I stepped through the front door of my apartment, my phone beeped with a new message. I opened it instantly, knowing it would be a goodnight text from Rosie. When I opened it, I gasped. It was a picture message. My hands were trembling as I looked at it. She’d taken a picture of herself, literally just of her chest, no shirt, just a black lacy bra. I stared at the photo, taking in every detail of it. Her breasts were incredible, and I was rock hard again at the sight of it. She’d written a message underneath.

  ‘Wish you were here?’

  I burst out laughing as I read what she’d written. Wish I was there was the understatement of the century. I wanted to live right there in that photo!

  Flicking the lock on my front door, I pulled off my shirt and snapped a picture of my body art, sending it to her in return. A deal was a deal, after all.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As I suspected, my workmates found my newly acquired body art extremely hilarious. Even now, four days on, they were still ribbing
me about it.

  On Thursday we were called out for a job. We were briefed on the way there. Eight men had gone into a bank intending to rob it, but the robbery had gone wrong when one of the clerks managed to press the silent alarm. Now, seventeen hostages were inside, and they were currently in negotiations to get them out of there. The on-site Captain had called for backup and I had a gut feeling that things weren’t going to go our way with this one.

  I sat on the edge of the van, across the street from the bank, listening to the officers all talking about how best to approach the situation and get the hostages out unharmed. A couple of things that the lead perpetrator had said, led them to believe that they