Enjoying the Chase (66 page)

Nate
’
s body stiffened against mine before he took a step towards Josh.
His whole posture was different, threatening, more like what I would imagine
SWAT Nate to look like. He was actually a little scary looking as he glared at
Josh.

“
I don’
t know what
’
s going on
in here, but I think you should leave like she
’
s asked,” Nate
said calmly
, nodding towards
the door. Josh
’
s eye twitched at
the threat in Nate
’
s voice. He
stood his ground for a couple of seconds before turning and stalking off
through the door, slamming it behind him, making it shake on its hinges a
little from the force of it.

Nate turned back to me and frowned. “What
’
s happened in here? Did he hurt you? Did he do
this?”

I laughed humourlessly and shook my head.
“I did this actually,” I admitted sheepishly. His frown deepened as he wrapped his
arms around me, pulling me into his chest. His lips pressed against the top of
my head softly and I melted against him, closing my eyes and breathing him in.

“Stripes, what happened? Are you okay?” he
whispered, trying to pull back. I tightened my arms around his waist, not
letting him put an inch of space between us. I just needed him to hold me for a
few seconds before I could let him go. “Rosie, you
’
re scaring me. What was he doing here? Why did he say that I was
like him. I just… what? I don
’
t
understand.
”

I sniffed and pulled back. I really didn
’
t want to do this, but I just
had
to.
If I hadn
’
t been hurt all those
years ago, then I would have complete faith in him, but after Josh I just
needed to look in his face and ask the question. His eyes tightened as he
looked at me worriedly, obviously having no clue what was going on.

“Nate, last night when you were out,” I
started, swallowing loudly. He nodded encouragingly, cupping my face as he
wiped my tears with his thumbs. “I
’
m so sorry that I have to ask you. You probably think I
’
m a terrible girlfriend because I have to ask,
but I promise I
’
ll believe whatever
you tell me. I just need you to tell me,” I whispered.

“Rosie, what?” he asked, bending his knees
so we were on the same level. His blue eyes were locked onto mine, and I hated
myself because I had to ask.

“Did you cheat on me with that Emma girl?”

A look of complete and utter shock crossed
his face; his eyes scanned my face as if he was looking at a crazy person. At
his reaction, my body instantly relaxed. I didn
’
t even need him to answer the question; his shocked and horrified
expression was enough for me. He didn
’
t do anything, I should have known.

“What the hell? Where did that come from?
No! Of course I didn
’
t!” he cried,
shaking his head fiercely.

I smiled apologetically. “I
’
m so sorry I had to ask, it
’
s just that Josh said that he saw you out, and
showed me a picture of you and Emma going into the bathroom. He said you two
were…” I trailed off, shaking my head.

“That lying son of a bitch! I swear to you
I didn
’
t, Rosie. Please believe
me. I wouldn
’
t,” he promised.

I wrapped my arms around his waist,
clamping myself to him tightly. “I believe you. I shouldn
’
t have asked. I knew you wouldn
’
t do that, but he just kept talking and talking, telling me that all
men were the same, and I guess I doubted you for a minute. I
’
m so sorry. I
’
ll never forgive myself for that, Nate,” I whispered. Big fat tears
were rolling down my cheeks because of how awful I felt. I shouldn
’
t have doubted him at all, it made me feel
like a terrible person.

He blew out a big breath and closed his
eyes. “Don
’
t apologise, I know why
you asked, and it
’
s okay. I
promise you that nothing happened, I swear. Emma
’
s boyfriend cheated, and she was upset. We were just talking, Rose,
I promise.”

I gulped and buried my face into the side
of his neck. Breathing deeply, I took in lungful
’
s of that manly Nate Peters scent that just made me feel like I was
the luckiest girl in the world. I hated Josh so much, the things he
’
d said tonight just made me despise him, the
things about Nate, the thing about aborting DJ. I could hear his words swirling
around and around in my head, making me feel slightly sick.

“Thank you for coming over. Will you get
into trouble for leaving work?” I asked, closing my eyes as he planted little
kisses on the side of my head.

“Nah, I
’
m on call so if they need me then they
’
ll call. And of course I
’
d come over, you
’
re my
girl.” He kissed my forehead softly; his lips felt so nice against my skin that
a little moan escaped my lips.

As I pulled back to look up at him, my
heart sped up, like it always did when he was around. Nate just seemed to evoke
some magic reaction in me that made me feel like I was a little girl again. He
was just so incredible sometimes that it was almost hard to accept.

I smiled and looked down at our hands,
feeling completely and utterly happy again. Now all I had to hope was the Josh
just stayed the hell away from us, and I needed to get my butt in gear and find
another job. Suddenly, I noticed that he was wearing some sort of black vest
thing. I frowned and looked at it again. On the left hand side of it, I spotted
a little white stitched label on his chest. S.W.A.T Officer Peters. My eyes
widened as I realised that he
’
d
come to my apartment in his uniform. I pressed my chest against his, feeling my
excitement bubble up inside my slutty body, as little uniform fantasies
immediately started playing in my head.

“Do you have a little time before you have
to go back, Officer Peters?” I purred, running my nose up the side of his jaw
as I hooked my fingers in the side of the vest, gripping fistfuls of the rough
material. All thoughts of Josh, smashed possessions and second jobs were gone
for the moment; the only coherent thought left was my handsome, uniformed
boyfriend.

Nate
smiled
,
obviously catching on. He never was slow on the uptake. “Oh, I definitely have
a little time
.
”

Chapter
Thirty-Four

The following Monday I asked at the
school for a cleaning job, but the Principal was a little reluctant to let me
clean because apparently it ‘wasn’t a teacher’s place to be seen doing that’.
However, he did offer to give me an extra hour and a half work each day.
Instead of cleaning, I was helping in one of the afterschool clubs. It worked
out perfectly because I was allowed to have DJ there for free, so I didn’t need
to arrange additional childcare.

Everything was great again. Josh hadn
’
t called me for the last two weeks, so I was a
little unsure where we stood but, from what he
’
d said, he still wanted to see DJ. Today was Friday, and this was
his custody weekend, so I
’
d just
have to wait and see if he turned up to collect his son or not. Nate was less
than happy with him; well, ‘less than happy
’
seemed to the understatement of the century. He
’
d insisted on being there tonight in case Josh came. I had visions
of their being a stand-off and threats of decapitation if Josh ever tried to
come between us again.

“Momma, look what I made for Daddy,” DJ
boasted, pointing down at a piece of paper that was covered in glitter and
glue.

I smiled at his effort. “That
’
s great, Baby, he
’
ll like that.”

“Can you put it up to drys? I want to take
it home and gived it to Nate tonight.”

I frowned at his words. “Nate? I thought
you said it was for Daddy.” I picked up his soggy mess of a picture and set it
on the drying rack.

DJ smiled sheepishly. “Oops, I meaned
Nate,” he corrected, nodding happily as he skipped off to the sinks to wash his
hands. I watched him with an open mouth; my heart practically melted in my
chest at his innocent mistake. Silently, I wished that Nate really was DJ
’
s dad. He already did a better job than Josh
did; DJ saw that too. I felt bad for Josh, but it was his own fault. Nate had
never once let DJ down, he always paid him attention, he was always interested
in what he had to say. They were adorable together, and the way they interacted
just made my heart ache. Nate was the complete opposite to Josh in every single
way.

When the last child had been picked up, DJ
and I were ready to leave. I was well and truly ready for the weekend. Nate and
I had two different weekends planned – one with DJ, one without, depending on
whether Josh turned up tonight or not. Either we were spending the day tomorrow
at the ball park, or we were going to the movies to watch some action flick
that Nate chose.

As we walked out of the school, I spotted a
lone handsome figure leaning against a tree. A smile stretched across my face
at the sight of him. DJ squealed and let go of my hand, running towards Nate,
who grinned and picked him up, laughing as DJ hugged the life out of him. I
practically skipped the last few steps to his side. His eyes locked on mine; a
cocky, sexy little smile graced his lips as if he knew was I was thinking.

“Hi. What are you doing here?” I asked,
leaning in and pressing my lips against his, feeling the familiar little zing
zip through me that his kisses always caused.

“I have to work tonight now. Someone called
in sick on the night shift, so I have to cover. They let me off early so I
could get some sleep before,” he explained, shrugging, smiling apologetically.

“Well, shouldn
’
t you be in bed then if you
’
re working all night?” I asked, frowning, realising that his
explanation didn
’
t really make
sense.

He smiled sheepishly. “I
’
m not tired. So, instead, I thought maybe DJ
would like another shot on his bike. We could go to the park with it?” he
offered, raising his eyebrows at DJ, who nodded eagerly with wide eyes.

Nate had decided last weekend that he
wanted to teach DJ how to ride his bike without training wheels. It was
adorable to watch him running up and down the park behind DJ
’
s bike, both of them laughing together. It was
one of the sweetest things I
’
d
ever seen in my life.

“Yeah, I want to! Momma, can we?”

I shrugged in response, looking at Nate to
see if he was really willing to do that. He really should be catching some
sleep if he was working all night.

“I already brought your bike, Kid. So even
if Momma says no, then we can still ride it home.” He nodded down at DJ
’
s bike that was leaning against the tree.

DJ made the happy little squeal again and
wriggled until Nate set him down on his feet. As DJ made a dash for his bike, I
stepped closer to Nate and wrapped my arms around his neck, gripping my hand
into the back of his hair, just looking into his eyes. I
’
d never met anyone more incredible than him; I hoped he knew how
special he was.

I didn
’
t speak, just leant in and pressed my lips against his. He kissed me
back instantly, and I smiled against his mouth as one of his hands trailed
around to squeeze my ass.

“Nate, I
’
m readys!” DJ shouted impatiently.

Nate
’
s lips left mine. As he smiled down at my son, it felt like a
hundred butterflies had been let loose in my stomach. Just the way he looked at
him made me ache inside. “Okay, Kid. Just let me kiss Momma one more time and
then I
’
m all yours,” Nate replied,
winking at him. He turned back to me and pressed his lips to mine again quickly
before pulling back. “By the way, hi, Stripes.” He kissed the tip of my nose
lightly, and then he was gone.

I watched as he headed over to DJ, holding
the bike steady, giving him instructions on where to put the peddles so he
could start off. I sighed dreamily as I watched the exchange between them; the
little smiles, the sparkling eyes, the affection. All of it made me happier
than I ever thought possible.

We spent an hour down the park before
finally getting a McDonalds on the way home. By the time we got to my place, DJ
was tired and covered in both food and glitter. Nate was covered in glitter
too, because DJ had given him the picture while we ate.

When DJ went to wash his hands and face,
Nate and I plopped down onto the sofa. “So, did you speak to Josh today? Is he
coming or what?” he asked. His body tensed up when he said Josh
’
s name.

I shrugged and shook my head. “I didn
’
t speak to him; I don
’
t want to call him so I
’
ll just see if he turns up.”

Nate nodded. “Okay, well I need to leave
about nine o
’
clock so I can get
changed and stuff for work. I
’
m
working until six tomorrow, so when I
’
m done working, I
’
ll
head home and catch a couple of hours sleep. I
’
ll come back here at around lunchtime, okay?
I wish I could come back here instead. I have a key; I
could let myself in and come ravage you to wake you up.”

He sounded so sexy that the hairs on the
back of my neck stood up.

I
’
d given Nate an emergency spare key about a month ago. “I like the
sound of that, but you shouldn
’
t come
here. DJ
’
s noisy; he
’
ll keep you awake while you
’
re trying to sleep in the morning.” At least
if he went home to his place, then he
’
d get the morning of uninterrupted sleep.

Nate sighed, his eyebrows knitting together
in disappointment. “Yeah, I guess,” he grudgingly admitted. “I really need some
bed time with you,” he whispered, pressing his lips to mine softly.

I swallowed my lust. “You only want me for
my body,” I teased, knowing that statement wasn
’
t true in the slightest. It couldn
’
t be true, because no matter how hard I tried, how much I teased
him, how many times I
’
d begged, we
still
hadn
’
t done the nasty.

He smiled. “I just miss you all the time,”
he replied. DJ came skipping back in to the room then, and Nate smiled at him
tenderly. “Both of you,” he added as DJ jumped into his lap.

“Are we still gonna play wars at the ball
park tomorrow like you saids?” DJ asked.

“Depends if your dad comes to pick you up
for the weekend, Kid.”

DJ frowned. “
I don’
t want to go with Daddy, I want to go to the ball park with you,” he
whined, slipping an arm around Nate
’
s neck.

Nate
’
s whole face lit up as a proud smile stretched across his face.
Looking at the pair of them, I couldn
’
t help but wish that Nate would stay here with us forever. I just
prayed to God that this was my life now.

As I was expecting, Josh didn’t turn
up, which seemed to please Nate. It pleased me too actually. I didn’t want to
see him again after the last time I’d spoken to him and he’d told me how much
DJ and I had screwed up his life. I wanted nothing more to do with him, but
technically, I didn’t have any rights to stop him seeing his child – much to my
disappointment. Nate put DJ to bed as per my baby’s request. I could hear them
talking in the bedroom about who was going to kick who’s butt tomorrow in the ball
throwing war they were planning.

Finally, Nate closed the bedroom door, grinning
like an idiot as he walked up behind me where I was making coffee, wrapping his
arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

 “You have a really awesome kid in there.”

I smiled and nodded. “I know. I have a
really awesome man out here too,” I countered, tipping my head to the side as
he nibbled on my neck.

“Yeah, I
’
m so great that I should have theme music playing every time I enter
a room,” he joked. I giggled and rolled my eyes, pouring the hot water into the
mugs.

Nate
’
s hand trailed under my shirt, caressing my stomach as he pressed
his chest against my back, trapping me against the counter. I closed my eyes
and just enjoyed the attention and the feel of his body pressed against mine. I
was seriously going to miss him in the bed tonight. When Nate wrapped his body
around mine, I slept like a baby every time.

We watched TV for a little while, flicking
through channels, not really settling on anything. I didn
’
t care what we did, to be honest, I was just happy to sit on the
sofa in silence and hold his hand. At nine o
’
clock, he sighed dramatically.

“I
’
d better go,” he grumbled. One of his hands moved to cup my face,
guiding my mouth to his gently. He kissed me softly then groaned as he pulled
away. “I hate the night shift.”

Me too.

“I
’
ll tell you what, tomorrow night I
’
ll make up for two nights in one,” I promised, looking at him
suggestively as I licked my lips slowly.

His body stiffened as he sucked in a breath
through his teeth. “Now I
’
m going
to be thinking dirty thoughts about your mouth all night,” he whined, his eyes
locked on my lips.

I smirked at him. That had been my
intention. “You keep thinking those dirty thoughts, and tomorrow night, I
’
ll make them into a reality for you. I want
one thing in return,” I teased, playing with the collar of his T-shirt. He nodded
encouragingly; it looked like I could ask for anything and I
’
d get it based on the expression on his face.
“Bring the uniform home again,” I requested, chewing on my lip.

He grinned at me cockily. “The uniform is
becoming a regular thing now; I think you
’
ve developed a little fetish for authority figures.” His hands
tightened on me, pulling me closer.

I nodded in agreement. “I think you
’
re right, the other day I started fantasising
about my boss…” I lied, trailing off as he practically dived on me and tickling
me like crazy, making me giggle and squirm. He stopped when I was gasping for
breath and squealing.

He grinned and brushed my hair from my face
softly. “This flushed, breathless face is definitely being added to the dirty
thoughts that are going to get me through the long and boring night.”