Enjoying the Chase (27 page)

She pouted and shook her head, making her
hair fall around her face. “
I don’
t
want to go home, I want to dance some more.”

I tucked her hair behind her ear. “You can
dance more next time.”

She threw her arms around my neck and
crushed herself to me, kissing me hard. I smiled against her lips and took most
of her weight as she swayed on her feet. She was certainly going to regret drinking
this much in the morning. Reluctantly, I broke the kiss and stepped back a
little way, still keeping my hands on her hips to hold her steady.

“It
’
s time to go. You can barely stand, let alone dance.” 

She frowned. “It
’
s these stupid shoes! I
’
ll take them off and then we can dance some more,” she slurred. She
lifted one foot and gripped her shoe and started to fall over backwards as she
yanked it off her foot.

“Whoa!” I grabbed her quickly and pulled
her upright again before she fell and hurt herself. The rest of our group was laughing
behind us. “I
’
m gonna take Rosie
home, see you later, guys,” I called over the music.

They all nodded and said bye as Rosie
started tugging on her other shoe. Before she could get it off, I swept her
into my arms making her squeal and grip my shirt tightly. “Nate!” she protested,
as I carried her through the crowded bar.

“We
’
re going home, you need to go to bed,” I said, shrugging.

She smiled seductively at me, and I shivered
because of the lust I could see in her eyes. “Really? You gonna take me to bed?
You need to be gentle with me, I haven
’
t had sex for over a year,” she purred, tracing her finger round the
collar of my shirt.

Wait, she hasn
’
t had sex for a whole year? Damn, that
’
s a long time! “You haven
’
t slept with a guy for a year?” I asked, just as we got outside.
Lucky for me there was a row of cabs sitting there waiting outside the club
ready for closing time. I opened the door to one and slid in, pulling her on my
lap.

“Nope,” she giggled. “I haven
’
t slept with anyone since Josh.” She kissed my
neck again.

I frowned. Her timing didn
’
t match up. “I thought you split up with Josh
three years ago?”

She pulled back and her nose scrunched up
in distaste. “I did, but…”

My eyes widened. “So you got back together
again after you broke up?” I asked, pushing her back a little as she tried to
kiss me.

“Kind of. It was just one time. I was
upset, lonely, and very, very drunk, and he was there. It didn
’
t mean anything. If I could take it back, I
would. I barely even remember it, so he couldn
’
t have been very good,” she answered, hiccupping.

I wasn
’
t sure I really liked that much. Anna had assured me that Rosie
wouldn
’
t ever go with him again,
but yet she
’
d been with him a year
ago. Rosie didn
’
t look
particularly happy that she
’
d done
it though; her face clearly told me that it was a mistake that she didn
’
t want to happen again.

She smiled, leaning in, pressing her chest
against mine. “So you
’
ll have to
be a little patient, I may have forgotten what to do,” she purred seductively
as she pressed her lips against mine. I couldn
’
t help but kiss her back. The kiss was getting hot. She
’
d manoeuvred herself so she was straddling me.
Judging by the way her hips moved against mine as she ground against me, she
’
d forgotten nothing at all.

Too soon, we pulled up outside her
apartment. I handed the guy his fare and asked him to wait for me to come back.
Rosie frowned as I said it. “Tell him to go. Don
’
t you want to stay with me?” she pouted.

“I would if I thought you were sober enough
to consent.” I shrugged as I shifted her in my arms and climbed out of the cab,
pushing the door closed with my hip.

She giggled and held on to me tightly. “You
’
re such a hero, Officer Peters. Do you carry
many girls like this, or am I just the lucky one?” she asked, nibbling on my
earlobe.

I tried my hardest to ignore the little
thrill that went through me when she called me Officer Peters.

“What
’
s the code for your building, Rose?” I stopped at the door, looking
at the number keypad for the external door.

“8952,” she mumbled, yawning.

Awkwardly, I punched in the code and pulled
the door open, being careful not to hit her head as I carried her through and
up the stairs. “Get your keys out, Stripes.”

She giggled. “I hate that nickname.” She
dug in her purse and pulled out a set of keys, with a triumphant, “Ta-da!” She
fumbled, trying to get them in the lock as she giggled and dangled her head
over my arm, and I couldn
’
t help
but laugh at her. She made an adorable drunk. After a minute, she shook her
head and pulled the keys back, frowning at them. “Are these even mine? They
were in my purse, and they look like mine because that
’
s my key ring, but,” she shook her head in confusion, “do you think
someone changed my lock?”

I burst out laughing, and the door opened.
A younger, though slightly fairer version of Rosie stood there rubbing her
eyes. “Hey, having trouble?” she asked.

“Yeah. Your sister tried her very best to
drink the bar
’
s whole supply of
rum tonight, so apparently we have someone else
’
s keys,” I joked, rolling my eyes. Toni laughed and stepped to the
side, motioning for me to come in.

“There
’
s my baby sister!” Rosie slurred, stroking the top of Toni
’
s head like she was a dog. “I love my sister,
she
’
s awesome. Toni, this is Nate.
Nate, this is my baby sister,” she introduced. 

“Hey, nice to meet you,” Toni greeted,
nodding and smiling tiredly.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Rosie
spoke first. “Told you he was hot, didn
’
t I? And the hair, he has such perfect hair.” She stroked my hair
and sighed dreamily.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Thanks,
Rose; you
’
re not too shabby
yourself. Let
’
s get you to bed,
huh?” I suggested, looking at the three doors at the end of the hallway, I had
no idea which one was hers. “
Which door?
” Toni pointed to the one on the left. I smiled gratefully and
headed in that direction.

“Was DJ okay tonight?” Rosie asked her
sister, immediately putting her finger to her lips trying to shush everyone
when she was the only one making noise.

“He was fine. Straight to sleep; no
problems. See you in the morning, I
’
m gonna sleep on the couch because it looks like you
’
re going to be hungover in the morning.”

“Okay, honey, see you and thanks. You
’
re the best sister ever, you know that?” Rosie
slurred.

I pushed her bedroom door open and looked
around her room as I carried her over to the bed. It was basic, not much stuff,
just like the rest of the apartment. I laid her down and went to pull back, but
her arms tightened around my neck, pulling my mouth to hers again. I kissed her
back but pulled away before it went too far. She was drunk, after all.

I smiled as I pulled away and ran one
finger over the side of her face. She really was so beautiful, every feature
just flawless and perfect. Her hands slid down my shoulders to the buttons of
my shirt as she hooked one leg around me, pulling me down on top of her more.

I need to go, this is wrong, she
’
s drunk…

“Rose, I
’
ll call you in the morning,” I mumbled, as she opened a couple of buttons
on my shirt.

“Nate,” she moaned, tightening her leg on
my waist, holding me against her as her eyes showed just how much she longed to
ravage me.

I kissed her again softly – a goodbye kiss.
But one of her hands tangled into the back of my hair, holding my head there,
and I couldn
’
t help but slip my
tongue into her mouth, moaning as her taste attacked my will power. I pulled
back and put my forehead to hers, looking into her excited eyes.

“Nate, will you talk dirty to me?” she
whispered, her hand pulling on my shirt again trying to get it off.

Talk dirty to her… Is that a joke?
“What?” I mumbled, the lust leaking into my voice so it was more
like a growl.

She nodded encouragingly. “Tell me what you
want to do to me,” she purred, her eyes burning into mine showing me how
excited she was about it.

Oh shit, this girl is killing me!
The thought of it was making me so hot for her that I was actually
surprised I hadn
’
t climaxed
already from the dirty thoughts I was having alone. “You
’
re into that?” I whispered, as I kissed her neck, sucking on the
skin lightly.

“Mmm hmm.”

I pulled back to look at her. That was
certainly going to be fun when we did that! I couldn
’
t help but wonder what else she was into if she liked a little
spoken smut. “Are you a little kinky, Rosie?” I teased.

She giggled and bit her lip, looking at me
through her eyelashes. “Are you, Officer Peters?”

I gulped; I had absolutely met my match with
this girl. The temperature was rising in the room – or maybe it was just my
blood boiling in my veins. I knew I needed to leave before I gave into my body
’
s urges and did what she was asking.

“I should go before you get any naughtier,”
I muttered, trying to force myself to get off her.

“Yeah because I wouldn
’
t want you to have to spank me,” she replied, narrowing her eyes
playfully.

Holy crap, I need to leave, right now!

I pushed off her quickly. “
I gotta go. I
’
ll call you
in the morning. I hope you aren
’
t
too hungover, and I
’
ll see you
Monday night, okay?” I kissed her forehead and walked out of the room without
looking at her again. As soon as I was out of the door, I leant against the
wall and took a couple of deep breaths. It was taking every ounce of my
self-control not to walk back into the room and give her exactly what she was
asking for. When I had calmed down slightly, I refastened the top five buttons
of my shirt that Rosie had managed to get undone, and then headed into the
lounge. Toni was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

“Hey, I
’
m now leaving. She
’
s
really wasted in there; she might need a bowl in case she pukes,” I admitted,
wincing at the thought.

She shook her head. “She won
’
t puke, she never pukes from alcohol.”

I laughed at that. Of course, Rosie would
have the stomach of a sumo wrestler. “Okay, well it was nice to meet you.”

“You too. Oh and, Nate, just don
’
t hurt her, okay? She
’
s really fragile. I know she comes across as being tough and able to
cope with anything, but inside she
’
s just a scared little pussy cat,” she said, looking at me
pleadingly.

Smiling, I nodded reassuringly. “I know she
is. G
’
night.”

I let myself out of her apartment and
headed downstairs to the cab that was, thankfully, still waiting for me. I
slipped into the back seat and gave the guy my address, resting my head back on
the seat, grinning. ‘Talk dirty to me
’
she
’
d said. That was
going to be fun when it happened.

When I slipped in my bed that night, my
last thoughts were of her. Before I could fall asleep, my ‘new best friend’,
and me as Ashton called it, played out a lot of the things I would have talked
to her about, had she not been wasted.

Chapter
Sixteen

The following morning, I made the
couple of hours drive to my parents’ beach house. When I pulled into the drive,
I smiled up at the house. I loved coming here. The smell of the air, the white
house that I grew up in, the tree that I used to use to climb out of my bedroom
when I wanted to sneak out… it brought back happy memories.

I headed inside, grinning. Immediately, my
mom tackled me into a hug. I laughed as she squeezed the life out of me.

“You lost weight!” she griped, patting my
back and sides.

I pulled back shook my head. That was
always the first thing out of her mouth, followed by…

“You really need to find a girl to look
after you and feed you properly, Nathaniel!”

“I missed you,” I said honestly, ignoring
her comment. I
had
a nice girl, and my mom was going to flip when I told
her about Rosie! I
’
d been holding
off telling my family in case I screwed it up and got dumped.

She smiled and linked her arm through mine,
pulling me into the kitchen where she was already cooking up a storm ready for
my arrival.

“I missed you too. How have you been, you good?”
She eyed me worriedly.

“I
’
m doing really good actually.” My mom looked just the same as she
always did, her mousy brown hair pulled back into a messy bun, her light blue
eyes sparkling with happiness. She wore her usual attire of shorts and a loose
fitted top, designed for comfort, but she still looked classy and beautiful
even though she was pushing fifty-five.

Movement from the corner of my eye caught
my attention, and my youngest sister, Lisa walked in. As usual, she was wearing
baggy jeans and a band tee, too much eyeliner and black nails. Her blonde hair
had thick jet-black streaks in it. They were new. I flicked my eyes to my mom
wondering why she let her do that to her hair, she just shrugged in response.

Lisa bobbed her head in acknowledgement,
not taking her earphones out as she hummed along to the heavy metal crap she
was listening to. I waited until she turned her back, looking in the fridge,
before I grabbed her from behind and spun her round making her squeal. When I
set her down on her feet again, she scowled.

“Jerk!” she hissed.

I
smirked
at her and nodded. “Yeah, you know it. Got a hug for me?” I asked,
holding my arms out to her, already knowing she wouldn
’
t do it. She only ever came to me if she needed something; I was a
little too strict for her liking. As youngest of three daughters, she got her
own way over everything and didn
’
t
like that her big brother ordered her around.

“Whatever,” she scoffed, turning back to
the fridge.

“Wash that crap out of your hair before I
come next time,” I joked, putting on a stern face.

She gasped and looked at mom. “I
’
m not washing it out just because golden boy
says so! Tell him to leave me alone, Mom, he
’
s only been here for five minutes and he
’
s already pissing me off!” She crossed her arms over her chest
defensively.

I laughed and
raised
one eyebrow. Her strops were getting worse. “Stop cussing! Any boyfriends I
need to know about? I could break some legs before I leave.”

Her scowl deepened, and she grabbed the
carton of orange juice from the fridge, turning and stalking out of the room,
grumbling about me under her breath. I smiled. Lisa was only seventeen, and as
baby sisters went, she was a pain in the ass – but I loved her.

Mom laughed and shook her head, putting
more bacon in the pan to cook. “Leave her alone, Nathaniel.”

My mom only called me Nathaniel when she
was telling me off about something. “She loves it really. So, how have you all
been?” I asked, picking at the bread that she
’
d buttered on the side.

“We
’
re good. Let me think what
’
s happened since I spoke to you in the week…” she trailed off,
pursing her lips, thinking about the weekly events. She brightened and looked
at me as she suddenly remembered something. “Cousin Anthony
’
s getting married!
”

Married? The guy is only twenty-one! Why
the hell would he want to get married that young?
For some reason, my mind flicked to Rosie, which made me frown and shift on my
feet awkwardly as I attacked another slice of bread.

“Really?” I asked, pretending to be
interested.

She nodded and looked at me longingly, and
I knew exactly what was coming… ‘When are you going to settle down, Nate?
’
I
quickly
spoke before she could say it. “Where
’
s Dad? Hannah? Paige?” I asked.

Mom smiled, obviously catching on to my
change of subject. “They
’
re out
back, setting up the table on the patio ready for breakfast.”

I grinned; I hadn
’
t seen my sisters for a while, especially Paige. Last time I came
here she was off for the weekend with friends. She was the one I got on with
the most; we were the closest in age, so that probably made a difference. She
was twenty-three
;
the same age as Rosie.

“And do I have any big brother duties to
perform before I leave? Have they been skipping school? Stealing? Do I need to
make some threats of castration to boys hanging around, or run some security
checks?” I inquired.

She smiled knowingly, and my stomach
clenched. She didn
’
t need to say
it, I knew what that smile meant. One of them was dating.

“Wh
ich one
?” I
demanded.

“He
’
s a nice boy, before you start! They
’
ve only been seeing each other for a couple of weeks, but she
’
s liked him for a while.” She laughed,
probably at me, considering I was instantly starting to worry about guys – like
me – dating my sister. I knew exactly what kind of guys there were out there; I
was one of the people I warn
ed
my sisters about, guys
that used people for their own interests, guys that just wanted to have fun.

“Wh
ich one
?” I
repeated when she didn
’
t answer.

 “Hannah,” she finally answered.

I nodded and headed over towards the door,
needing to go find out about this little punk that dare touch my little sister.

“Hannah!” I shouted, as I burst through the
door.

My sister looked up and pouted. “Mom! Did
you tell him about Robert?” she whined.

“Hell yeah, she did! Why is this the first
time I
’
m hearing about this guy?
Call him and invite him for breakfast,” I ordered, pulling my cell phone from
my pocket and holding it out to her.

She rolled her eyes. “Nate, I
’
m almost twenty-two, you can
’
t tell me what to do. You think this is my
first boyfriend?”

I stopped short. “I hope it is.”

She shared a knowing look with Paige, who
was standing there too, and it suddenly dawned on me that there were probably a
lot of boys that they
’
d been
seeing that I didn
’
t know about.
My mind wandered to what I was doing as at their age
;
Lisa
’
s age even. I didn
’
t really have the right to judge them for
anything. But, these were my baby sisters, and they would always be the little
girls in pigtails that I used to take the park and play hide and seek for hours
on end with. It was too hard to let go of
being their big brother
and let them grow up
,
and possibly get hurt.

Hannah laughed.
“
Well, he
’
s not,” she
admitted. “And Robert is a sweetheart, so you
’
ll leave him alone!” 

I frowned; I still needed to see the little
punk, I didn
’
t care if he was a
‘sweetheart
’
or not, he needed to
know that if he hurt my sister I
’
d
hurt him twice as bad in return. I looked to my dad for backup, but he just
shrugged
and shook his head in a ‘leave it
alone
’
gesture. I
sighed
; my dad always was laid back. People
usually said that I got that from him; I knew for certain that I got my looks
from him. I was the spitting image of him, same build, same blond hair and blue
eyes – but I inherited my mom
’
s
determination. When she set her mind to something she got it, no matter what it
was, she worked and worked until it was hers, and I was exactly the same.

 “Fine,” I grumbled. “But I want to meet
him before I leave.” There was no leverage on that; it wasn
’
t up for debate.

Hannah nodded, somewhat reluctantly. My
shoulders relaxed. Once I
’
d checked
him out, he
’
d know not to mess her
around, and then everything would be fine. “Okay, I
’
ll ask him over tonight,” Hannah agreed. She put down the cutlery
she was holding and stepped closer to me. “So, now that the lectures over with,
do I get a proper hello?”

I laughed and pulled her into a hug. When I
let her go, Paige grabbed me, wrapping her arm around my waist. She gasped,
in
mock
horror. “You lost weight!” she stated, doing an excellent
imitation of my mom
’
s voice,
causing everyone to erupt into laughter.

During breakfast, talk turned to what
I’d been up to lately, and the Taylors and baby Cameron. My mom adored Ashton;
he didn’t really have any family of his own so my mom kind of took it upon
herself to be a mother figure to him whenever he came around. She treated both
him and Anna like her own.

“Any girls on the scene, Nate?”
Dad questioned.

I grinned like an idiot at the thought of
Rosie. “Yeah, actually.”

Looking over at my mom, I noticed that she
was staring at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. I chuckled nervously. Was
it really that shocking that I had a girlfriend? I
’
d never had a serious one before so I
’
d never even admitted to them the casual flings I had with girls. As
far as they were concerned, this was the first girl they had probably ever
heard about.

“A g-girl?” my mom stuttered. Tears formed
in her eyes.

I laughed again and
shrugged
. “Yeah, she
’
s great. I
really like her.”

A loud crash on the table got my attention
away from my mother. Hannah had slammed her hand down on the table, glaring at
me angrily.

“You get to have a girlfriend but yet you
go all neurotic if any of us even talk to a guy?” she snapped incredulously.

I
smirked at her.
“I like the saying, ‘do as I say, not as I do
’
.”

“You
’
re such an ass sometimes. Double standards or what? How is that
fair?” 

“I
’
m the oldest, so you have to listen to me. Plus, I
’
m the only boy that means that, after dad, I
get final say,” I told her. Mom cleared her throat at that statement, so I quickly
backtracked. “And after Mom, of course
.
”

Hannah was muttering about me under her
breath, Lisa still had her earphones in and was pretending like I wasn
’
t even here, but Paige caught my eye and grinned
at me.

I looked back to my mom to see she was
still looking a little shocked. “Is it really that shocking that I have a
girlfriend?” I asked curiously.

She gulped and shook her head, as if she
was trying to work something out. “No, it
’s just,
” she swallowed, “you
’
ve
never talked about a girl before.”

“That
’
s because I
’
ve never
met anyone like her before,” I admitted.

At my answer, my mom made an excited little
whooping noise and then started firing off the questions so fast that I almost
regretted telling them about Rosie. What was her name, where did we meet, how
long had I known her for, what did she do for a living. When she asked what she
looked like, I pulled out my phone and found the photo that Rosie had taken of
us the previous night. I handed the phone to my mom, who was so eager to see it
that she practically snatched it out of my hand.