Enjoying the Chase (14 page)

“So, when can I take you out again?”
I asked, hovering half over her.

“You think I want to see you again after
you making me climb a damn wall and then that little stunt with the frayed
rope?”

I chuckled, remembering her throwing
herself at me. “Yeah, I do,” I replied confidently. She was all over me; her
body woven intimately around mine, her fingers playing with the back of my
hair. There was no way that she didn
’
t want to see me again.

She sighed deeply and traced her finger
around the collar of my T-shirt, which caused my already hard dick to get even
harder. She was such a freaking turn-on this girl; it really wasn
’t fair.

“I guess I could squeeze you in next
weekend.” She shrugged, trying to look cool and aloof.

The weekend? A whole week of not seeing
her? Man, that sucks!
“Really? What about
tomorrow?” I asked hopefully.

Rosie
looked at me apologetically. “I can
’
t tomorrow,” she answered. “And weekdays aren
’
t good for me because of work and stuff…” she
trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

I tried not to show her how disappointed I
was that I couldn
’
t see her before
the weekend. I didn
’
t want to
scare her away from me or anything by coming on too strong and showing her how
much I liked her.

“What about after work?” I asked, trying to
go for casual.

She frowned and shook her head. “Sorry, I
can
’
t. I should be alright for
Friday though, if you want,” she offered. The hopeful tone to her voice wasn
’
t hard to miss. I smiled, wondering if she
actually thought I was going to turn her down. Little did she know that there
was not a chance in hell of me turning her down, ever.

“Friday
’
s good for me.” I swallowed my disappointment that I would have to
wait six days to kiss her again. “Okay, so I
’
d better get going. I
’
m
out with the boys tonight seeing as you cancelled on me.”

She smiled teasingly. “Yeah? Strip club?”

“Actually yeah, does that bother you?” I
asked, playing along.

She smiled and gripped her hand in the back
of my hair, rubbing her nose against mine.

“No, player, you go have some fun. In fact,
have a lap dance for me. I have some ones if you need some,” she joked.

I laughed and rolled on top of her,
trapping her body under mine. “Stripes, the only panties I want to be pushing
money into are yours,” I replied honestly. Weirdly, I actually felt a little
disappointed that she wasn
’
t
getting jealous; clearly I liked her a lot more than she liked me. I bent my
head and kissed her lightly before pressing my forehead to hers and ignoring
the ache that was settling in my balls because I
’
d been excited for way too long with no satisfaction.

“I
’
d better go then. I
’
ll
call you in the week.”

She smiled and nodded as I pushed myself
off her, getting to my feet and ensuing that my T-shirt covered my
inappropriate arousal from view.

“Okay. Well, thanks for today. I did
actually have fun,” she confirmed as we walked to the door.

“Really? So you want to go again next
week?” I joked.

She laughed her sexy little laugh. “No, I
didn
’
t have
that
much fun,”
she clarified.

 I pulled the front door open, kissing her
again softly before turning to leave.

“Hey, Nate, wait!” she called, as I stepped
into the hallway. As I turned back to her, she grabbed her cell phone from the
side and took a photo of my ass. “For later.” She smirked at me, shrugging.

I burst out laughing and she winked at me,
shutting the door in my face. I could hear her chuckling inside too. I made my
way out of her building still grinning like an idiot. The girl had taken
everything that was cool and collected about me and turned it on its head. I
had no chance of fighting it; I was falling for her hook, line and sinker, and
pretty soon I would be crazy about her, I could feel it building.

Chapter Nine

Every day of the following week I spoke
to her on the phone for at least an hour. It was like I couldn’t get enough of
hearing her talk. I was still seeing my friends and going out just as much as I
usually would, but I just didn’t seem to notice the girls around me anymore.
When Seth pointed one out, I would compare her to Rosie, and there really was
no comparison at all. No one stood a chance.

All of my friends found it highly amusing
that I was now pining over a girl. Even Russell from work was laughing at me
because I
’
d finally started to
‘grow up
’
as he put it. He found
it hilarious that Rosie was making me wait for sex. He said that this was Karma
coming back to bite me firmly in the ass.

I was
finally
starting to understand
some of what we put Ashton through when he fell for Anna and we
’
d all ripped the shit out of him for it. But
the thing was, I just didn
’
t care
how much they teased me, I just smiled and shrugged and looked forward to
talking to her before I fell asleep.

I was so excited to see her on Friday that
I barely slept the night before. I was like a child waiting for Santa to
arrive. When I arrived outside her apartment, I felt my muscles relaxing. After
plucking the flowers and CD that I
’
d bought for her from the passenger side of the seat, I climbed out
of the car, taking a few deep breaths so that I
’
d stop behaving like a lovesick puppy.

When she opened the door she smiled her
beautiful smile at me, and I
laughed
at the happiness I felt inside. She looked stunning, and I raked my
eyes down her body slowly, taking in every curve and line of it, trying not to
moan in appreciation.

“Hey, Stripes,” I greeted
, dragging my eyes back to her face.

“Still not dropped that one? I don
’
t have them on today.”

I grinned and wrapped my free arm around her,
pulling her flush against me. “Oh really? So what am I calling you tonight?
Lacy? Spots?” I joked, raising one eyebrow at her.

She narrowed her eyes at me playfully.
“Maybe I
’
m not wearing any.”

Fuck!
I groaned
internally as my imagination ran wild, thinking of her naked little behind. I
already knew my mind would be in the gutter for the remainder of the date. “Oh
right. So, commando it is then. Not a very sexy nickname, but it
’
ll do for tonight.” I shrugged, hating the
lust that I could hear in my voice.

She giggled and gripped the collar of my
shirt, pulling slightly and making me step impossibly closer to her. I smiled
and pressed my lips against hers, kissing her softly, savouring the feel of her
mouth against mine. I
’
d missed
this more than I realised.

I pulled back after a minute and smiled
down at her as I held out the flowers and Bruno Mars CD. We
’
d been talking about him on the phone this
week and she said she loved him. “Got you these.”

A little “Aww” escaped her lips as she
looked at them. Her face was a mixture between confusion and gratitude. “Nate,
these are beautiful, but you shouldn
’
t keep buying me things. It
’
s not necessary.” She smiled gratefully as she lifted the pink roses
to her face and inhaled.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. So you
’
re saying that I can
’
t buy you things from now on? That I should take the CD back?” I
teased, reaching for the CD from her hand.

She quickly hid it behind her back. “
Well I
’
m not saying that
you
can
’
t
, I
’
m just saying that
I don
’
t want you to feel like you
have to,” she explained, backtracking a little.

I nodded in understanding. “I
’
ll keep that in mind tomorrow night, provided
you want to see me tomorrow, of course.” I looked at her curiously. We hadn
’
t made plans for tomorrow night, but I was
hoping I could see her; I didn
’
t
want to have to wait until next weekend to see her again.

“That depends. Are you taking me
rock-climbing again tonight?” she questioned.

“No, not tonight.”

“Then there
’
s a pretty good chance I
’
ll want to see you tomorrow.” She went up on tiptoes, kissing the
corner of my mouth. “Thank you, for the flowers and music. You
’
re really sweet, you know that?”

 “I know, I know. That was just what I was
going for…
sweet,
” I said
sarcastically.

She laughed and turned, skipping off
towards the kitchen to put her flowers in a vase. As she walked away from me,
my eyes dropped down to her ass, instantly wondering what underwear, if any,
she wore under her black, cropped pants.

I couldn
’
t keep my eyes off her while we made the drive to the restaurant. It
had only been three weeks since we
’
d first met, but it already felt like I
’
d known her a lifetime. There wasn
’
t a single awkward silence because we had too much in common.

It was gratifying to be able to act like
myself for a change. Usually, around girls, all I was concerned about was
getting them into bed as quickly as possible, but because Rosie had already
told me that wasn
’
t happening
anytime soon, it took off some of the pressure so I could just concentrate on
getting to know her.

At the restaurant we were fooling around as
usual, flirting back and forth while waiting for our food to arrive. Suddenly,
her cell phone rang.

She looked at me apologetically as she
pulled it out. “Sorry, I have to take this,” she muttered, checking the screen.

“
Sure, don’
t worry.
” I shrugged.

Rosie put the phone to her ear, frowning a
little. “Hey, what
’
s up?
” Her frown deepened and suddenly she jumped out of her chair,
grabbing her purse. “What? When? Is he okay?” she gasped. “I
’
m on my way right now.” She disconnected the
call, throwing her cell carelessly into her purse. “I
’
m sorry, I have to go.”

Without waiting for me to answer, she
turned and literally ran full pelt through the restaurant, leaving me staring
after her in shock and wondering what on earth had happened.

I stood too, pulling out my wallet and
tossing money down onto the table to cover our meals, which hadn
’
t even arrived. As I ran after her, I
apologised to the waiter.

Rosie was standing on the curb outside the
restaurant, waving desperately for a cab. Luckily for me, they weren
’
t stopping. I closed my hand over hers. Her
pale, frantic face turned towards mine, and the tears wetting her cheeks made
my chest tighten.

“What
’
s happened?
” I questioned, confused.

She gulped and waved her free hand again at
another cab. “I need to go to the hospital,” she answered quickly. “Shit!” she
shouted, slapping her leg in frustration when the cab just breezed past her
without stopping.

I recoiled at the word hospital. “I can
drive you. Come on.” Giving her a little tug, I guided her towards the parking
lot at the back of the restaurant.

She smiled gratefully, swiping at her tears
with a shaky hand. “Oh God, thank you.”

“
No problem.
”

I
opened her door before heading round to
the driver
’
s side and starting the
car quickly. We didn
’
t speak on
the way to the hospital; she just sat there practically bouncing in her seat,
wringing her hands together nervously the whole time. I had no idea what I
could say to make her feel better. She didn
’
t look like she wanted to talk as she chewed on her lip, so I didn
’
t push her for an explanation. It made me feel
a little nauseous to see her looking so worried and upset.

When we pulled into the parking lot of the
hospital, she jumped out of the car before I
’
d even pulled on the parking brake. “
Thanks,
Nate. I
’
ll call you, alright?”
Again, she didn
’
t wait for an
answer as she slammed the door shut and sprinted towards the main entrance.

Not wanting to leave her while she was
upset, I quickly followed suit and headed in after her. I was more than a
little intrigued as to what had happened. There had to have been an accident. I
wanted to be here in case she needed me, I wanted to be the one that comforted
her and the person that she cried on while upset. I didn
’
t like the fact that she
’
d just run away with no explanations.

As I stepped through the door of the
emergency room, I saw her standing over by the reception desk, practically
bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for the receptionist to finish
talking on the phone. I walked up and stopped a couple of steps behind her,
listening as she spoke.

“Hi, I
’
m trying to find Damon York. I was told he was brought in here a
little while ago?”

“Damon York?” The lady behind the desk
repeated, tapping away on her screen before looking up at Rosie and pointing to
the corridor off to her left. “He
’
s
in emergency room four.”

“
Thanks,
” Rosie replied, turning on her heel. She looked up at me in
surprise, as if she hadn
’
t
expected me to follow her. I smiled sympathetically, stepping back and waving
my hand in offer for her to go first down the corridor. Now I understood the
reason for her panic. The person she
’
d asked for had the same surname as her, so it was probably her
brother or dad.

She gulped, not speaking as we speed walked
down the corridor, stopping outside the room labelled four. Rosie
’
s eyes flicked to me, almost seeming
apologetic as she pushed open the door.

Inside, sat on the bed, crying helplessly
was a little child of about four or five. A tall guy with dark hair stood next
to him looking helpless. They both looked up as the door opened. I stopped
short, wondering who these people were and who they were in relation to Rosie.

My question was answered as soon as the kid
’
s teary eyes locked on her.

“Momma, it hurts so much!” the kid wailed,
cradling his arm to his chest protectively.

Without hesitation, she headed over to the
side of the bed, wrapping her arms around him tightly and kissing the top of
his head. My muscles seemed to freeze in place as it hit me. All I could do was
stare at her like a moron. Rosie was a mom? She had a little boy? How in the
hell did I not know this, and why hadn
’
t she bothered to tell me?

My surprise quickly turned to anger. Why
had she not told me about him? My gaze landed on the guy that was standing next
to her. He stepped forward, stroking his hand on her back as she fussed over
the little boy, cooing soothing words to him. I gritted my teeth at the sight
of it. They looked like an adorable little family, readymade, yet she was
seeing me on the side. I really did have her pegged all wrong!

I could barely breathe through the emotions
that were pulsing through my body. Looking at the three of them was actually
painful. She had a family? I was just a seedy affair? That hurt a lot more than
I cared to admit.

Rosie hadn
’
t even turned to look at me. All she was concerned about was the
little boy on the bed. Not able to witness any more of it, I turned and let the
door swish closed behind me. I gripped my hands into my hair as I walked up the
hallway towards the exit.

She
’
d been leading me on all this time, letting me start to like her,
yet all the time she was in a serious relationship and had a child? As I
stalked to my car, I resisted the urge to kick the crap out of every inanimate
object on the way. I should have known she was too good to be true. I should
have known that it was just an act. No girl can be that perfect.