Enjoying the Chase (25 page)

 “Sure. You could come over after DJ
’
s sleeping again? We could get takeout or
something?” 

“Sounds good.” I nodded and kissed her
again, moving to kiss down her neck wanting to bite her like I
’
d promised earlier. She giggled, wriggling
underneath me as I sank my teeth into her skin gently. I grinned as she tried
to push me off.
Oh, she
’
s
ticklish? Game on!
Pinning her body with mine, I
tickled her sides, listening to her giggle and squeal.

“Stop it! I
’
m gonna pee myself! Nate, stop!” she squeaked, trying to throw me
off her.

I laughed and pulled back to look at her flushed
face. She looked incredible and I was pretty sure that this flushed face was the
one I would be picturing before I fell asleep tonight, or maybe the sexy
secretary glasses one, I wasn
’
t
sure. She really was incredible, and I wanted to know every single part of her;
which led me to DJ.

“So, I was thinking we could go to the park
at the weekend. Maybe we could take a picnic or something?” I suggested,
brushing her hair away from her face. That was the type of thing kids liked,
wasn
’
t it? Parks and picnics? 

She frowned and shook her head
apologetically. “I can
’
t this
weekend, Nate. I have DJ. Sorry.”

I couldn
’
t help but laugh. Was she not expecting me to invite DJ? “I know
that. I meant the three of us. We could take a ball or something.”

She paused
and I felt her whole body tense.
“Nate, please don
’
t take this the
wrong way. You
’
re a really nice
guy, and I
’
m having a really great
time with you, and I promise I don
’
t mean to upset you or anything…” she trailed off, biting her lip
and looking a little nervous, as if she was choosing her words.

“I sense a but coming here,” I muttered,
suddenly starting to feel nervous too.

“Yeah, there
’
s a but,” she replied. “I can
’
t let you meet DJ,” she mumbled, looking at me apologetically.

I recoiled. Was she just using me after
all? She wanted to have her fun with me, but I wasn
’
t allowed to be part of her life? Or maybe she thought I wasn
’
t good enough to be in his life? I pushed
myself off her, studying her face, waiting for her to continue. She sighed, and
her hand closed over mine. I tried desperately to ignore the way her hand
seemed to fit in mine perfectly, like it belonged there.

“Nate, DJ
’
s the most important thing in my life, and I
’
d do anything to protect him. I can
’
t just bring someone into his life like that. What if this doesn
’
t work out between us?  He
’
ll have lost someone too and that
’
s not fair on him. He needs stability. I don
’
t want to have to explain to him what went
wrong, or where the guy that played ball with him in the park went. I have
enough explaining
to do
about his father. I can
’
t have another man come into his life and then
him be all disappointed when they leave again,” she said, all in one breath.

I gulped. So this was about her thinking it
wouldn
’
t work and DJ losing
someone from his life. I
’
d never
really considered it that way. But why was she being so negative already and
assuming we wouldn
’
t work?

“Rose, you
’
re basing all this on us not working out. What if it does work out?”
I asked.

She sighed and looked down at our hands.
“Nate, I
’
m his mom, I can
’
t take risks with his happiness. I just want
to wait a while, that
’
s all. Just
to make sure. We
’
ve only really
been seeing each other for three weeks; we only became exclusive last night.
There are still so many things that we don
’
t even know about each other. What if one of us finds something they
don
’
t like about the other, or you
decide that you
’
ve had enough
waiting for me and want to go sleep with some random girl? I
’
m willing to take the chance with my own
heart, but I
’
m sorry, I
’
m not willing to take the risk with my son
’
s,” she answered.

I digested her words. She still clearly
thought I was going to cheat on her like Josh had. The whole ‘sleep with some
random girl
’
comment was about
Minnie. I knew that would come back to haunt me at some point, I knew she
wouldn
’
t be able to let it go.
Would she ever be able to trust me not to hurt her and DJ?

“You still think I
’
m going to go cheat on you.” I was annoyed, but my annoyance wasn
’
t directed at her. The blame for her not
trusting me was firmly at my doorstep. I had done nothing to show her that I
wasn
’
t a cheater, so she had every
right to think that of me.

She frowned. “That was just an example. It
could be any number of things, but all I
’
m saying is that three weeks just isn
’
t long enough for me to take the risk with DJ being upset if this
didn
’
t work out. What if you meet
him and he gets attached to you, and then we realise we
’
re just not compatible and split up. He
’
ll miss you, and that
’
s
just not fair. Please understand
.
” 

I sighed deeply. I wanted to meet him, I
really did, but I knew I couldn
’
t
rush her. She wasn
’
t saying that
she didn
’
t want me to meet him,
ever; she was saying she wanted to wait a little while first.

I decided to look at it from the little kid
’
s point of view. She was right; he did need
stability, they both did, and it was too soon to tell if this was going to work
out. I hoped it was, but Rosie was right, hope wasn
’
t really good enough when you brought a little four-year-old boy
into it.

I studied her face, trying to see if there
was any other reason behind this. “Stripes, it
’
s not that you
’
re just
not into me, is it?” The insecurity I felt as I waited for her to answer the
question was a little alien to me. I
’
d never felt insecure before – Rosie was making me feel all kinds of
things for the first time. 

“No, of course not. I like you, I really
do, I just need to be careful with him. It
’
s just for a little while, please?” she asked, wrapping one arm
around my neck.

I pulled her closer to me, feeling m
yself
relax a little
. A small part of me was glad I didn
’
t have to meet him yet, I was nervous as hell
about trying to impress a four
-
year
-
old boy. A woman, I knew how to handle, but a kid, I had no clue.
But another part of me was disappointed I wouldn
’
t get to be included in such a big part of her life. I
’
d just have to show her I wasn
’
t going anywhere.

“Okay, I get it and that
’
s fine. We
’
ll wait then until you feel ready for the introductions,” I said,
kissing her gently.

She smiled against my lips and I pulled
back to look at her, rubbing my nose on hers lightly. “I love that you want to
meet my son,” she whispered, looking at me with a cross between wonder and awe.

I smiled.
“Of course I
do, Rose, he
’
s the biggest part of
your life.”

She sighed, and shook her head slightly as
if she was trying to work it all out. “You really are something else, Nate
Peters.”

I
smirked at her.
“So are you, Rosie York, so are you,” I replied, pressing my lips
against hers again.

Chapter
Fifteen

My week just got better and better; I
saw her every night; we hung out for a couple of hours, chatting about anything
and everything. I’d never been quite so interested learning everything about
someone.

As today was Friday, we were heading to a
club. Rosie had arranged for her sister to come watch DJ so we could go out,
and I couldn
’
t wait to show my
girlfriend off in public. This would be the first time we
’
d actually been ‘out
’
as
a couple.

Because we were heading out fairly early,
we were all meeting at Ashton
’s place.
Rosie didn
’
t want me to
pick her up because, by the time she left her apartment, DJ would still be
awake. I was still keeping my distance from him ‘just in case
’
things didn
’
t work out. Every day that seemed less and less likely though. I was
crazy about her and could barely get through the day without texting her.

When I knocked on Ashton
’
s apartment door, I was a little shocked when
Rosie answered. “Hey!” she chirped.

I dragged my eyes down her body as I
grunted a
hello
.
How on earth
am I going to keep my hands off her tonight?
She was wearing little black
shorts that made her legs look long and toned, and an emerald green, short
sleeve top that was loose fitted. Her feet donned sexy black ankle boots with a
high heel that would probably kill her later on.

“Wow, you look,” I struggled for the right
analogy, “good enough that I don
’
t
even want to go out any
more,”
I concluded, nodding appreciatively.

She laughed and put one finger under my
chin, lifting my head up so I had to look at her face. “
Want
a picture, Nate?
”

I nodded and grabbed my phone from my
pocket. “Yeah, actually. Pose sexy for me.” I wasn
’
t even slightly joking.

She laughed, snatching my phone from my
hands and stepping forward so she was at my side. Without explanation, she took
a one
-
armed shot of the two of us together instead.

“There you go. Enjoy,” she teased, passing
me back my phone. I ran my hand down her arm until I got to her hand. Had it
really only been twenty-four hours since I last saw her? It felt like forever.
“Have a good day at work?” she asked, pulling me into the apartment, closing
the door behind me.

I shrugged. “A boring one. I had nothing to
do, so I was just working out and target shooting. Nothing exciting.”

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.
“Were you getting all sweaty?”

I groaned; I loved it when she flirted with
me, it literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up on end. “
And dirty,
” I replied, nodding.

She sighed.
“
Well I
’
m sorry I missed
that.”

Unable to resist any longer, I leant in and
kissed her softly. My arms instinctively looped around her, trapping her
against me. As my hands touched her back, I was shocked when my fingertips
grazed bare skin. I gasped, gripping her hips, turning her around, needing to
see this for myself. A lump formed in my throat when I saw that there was no
material to her top on her back, just a thin strip across the top and bottom
holding it together. The skin of her back was flawless, and the curves to her
spine made my head spin.

“Christ, this is one hot little shirt,
Rose,” I whined, tracing one finger alone the line of her spine.

“I thought you
’
d approve,” she said breathlessly, as my finger slipped into the
waistband of her shorts, feeling the soft curve of her ass cheek.

“
Approve? I don’
t approve of this at all. In fact, I
’
m slightly concerned about how many people I
’
m going to walk into because I won
’
t be able to take my eyes off you long enough to watch where I
’
m going.”

She grinned and turned back to face me,
wrapping her arms around my neck. “Poor baby. Maybe you should stay in front of
me then if I
’
m going to distract
you,” she teased in a singsong voice.

“I think I
’
ll just stay right here instead.” I pulled her closer to me, not
allowing an inch of space as I lifted her into my arms, relishing in how her
legs instantly wrapped around my waist. She chuckled against my lips as I
carried her into the kitchen where the rest of our little group of friends was
congregating ready for heading out tonight.

When we stepped out of the cab outside
the club we were going to, the people in the line waiting to go in started
whispering and pointing at Anna and Ashton, pulling out cell phones to take
photos. This was a usual occurrence, so they were used to it. I smiled and
shook my head. Yes, Anna was the President’s daughter, but she was still just a
person at the end of the day, people seemed to forget that a lot. One benefit
of Anna’s status though; we never had to wait in line. We were ushered through
immediately and spotted Seth and Ryan inside, already hitting on a group of
girls.

“So, what are we drinking tonight,
Stripes?” I asked Rosie, as we both leant against the bar.

She pursed her lips, thinking. “If I get
wasted, are you gonna carry me home?”

I smiled and stepped closer to her.
“Definitely.”

“
Then I
’
m on the rum tonight,” she answered excitedly,
clapping her hands like a three
-
year
-
old girl. I laughed and put the order in with the barman.

By the time Rosie had finished three drinks
she was already tipsy. I smiled, watching as she chatted to Seth. 

When she looked over at me, I raised my
hand and beckoned her to me with one finger. She instantly skipped over with a
big grin on her face that I couldn
’
t help but mirror. When she stopped at my side, I smirked at her.
“Hmm, I made you come with one finger. Just imagine what I could do with my
whole hand,” I teased, expecting her to blush, but she didn
’
t.

She stepped closer to me, gripped my hand
and, without taking her eyes off mine, she licked my finger from the knuckle to
the tip, oh-so-slowly. As her tongue traced a suggestive circle around my
fingertip, I could feel my jeans starting to tighten around the crotch as my
dick started to wake up and get excited. Suddenly she pulled my hand away and
pressed her whole body to mine, pressing her mouth to my ear. My breathing was
already ragged but when her hip pressed against my crotch I stopped breathing
altogether.

“I made you hard with the tip of my tongue.
Just imagine what I could do with my whole mouth,” she whispered. She pulled
back, smiling smugly. “
You lose.
” She flicked the tip of my nose, and then turned on her heel and
sauntered off, leaving me staring after her with wide eyes, my mouth hanging
open, and a raging boner. An astonished chuckle left my lips as I followed her,
stopping next to her and looping my arm around her waist proudly.

“Nate?”

I looked around to see who had called me,
and my heart stopped beating. It was Minnie. I gulped as she stalked towards
me. My eyes shot to Rosie, unsure as to how she was going to react to being
confronted with the girl I
’
d slept
with.
Oh shit, please don
’
t let this ruin anything!

Minnie stopped right in front of me; an
angry smile resided on her face as her eyes took in Rosie, who I had my arm
around. “Nate, how are you doing?” she squeaked.

Oh, God help me.

“Er…” I couldn
’
t think of a single thing to say.

Rosie was looking between the girl and me
with a slightly confused expression on her face but a polite smile on her lips.
I looked at Minnie pleadingly, begging her with my eyes not to mess this up for
me.

An amused smile spread across her lips, and
I knew I was in big trouble. “Nothing to say?” she asked, smirking at me as she
stepped a little closer. I was suddenly hit with a wave of revulsion. Had I
really gone home with her last week? I felt dirty all over again and I wanted
to go take another shower.

I shrugged, still a little lost for words.
“Not really.” I begged her with my eyes again to just walk away.

Minnie
’
s high-pitched laugh filled the air. “Well doesn
’
t that make a girl feel special. Do you even
remember my name?” One of her eyebrows rose in challenge.

The situation was getting worse by the
second. I looked at Seth and Ashton for help, but they were just watching with
their mouths open. Ashton looked slightly confused, but Seth looked like he
’
d caught on already.

Veronica. Verity. Something beginning
with a V…

“Hi, I
’
m Vicky,” Minnie said, turning to Rosie, holding out a hand to her.

Vicky, that
’
s it!

Rosie smiled and nodded, shaking her hand.
“Rosie.”

Minnie
’
s eyes lit up as she said her name.
Oh God, kill me now!
 

“Really? Well it
’
s nice to meet you, Rosie,” she said
over-emphasising each
word to tell me just how much trouble I was in
.

“You too. So, are you two old friends,
or…?” Rosie asked, looking at me to answer.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Minnie took that as her opportunity.

“Not really. We hooked up last week, but to
be honest, he was nothing to shout home about. He barely even got me off.”

I
’
m going to kill myself!

Rosie
’
s smile faded as it clicked into place. My heart was trying to break
out of my chest, my hands were sweating and my whole body was cold. This was
where it ended. Four weeks with her and she was going to dump her drink in my
face and scream at me.

Rosie clicked her fingers and pointed at
Minnie as if she suddenly remembered something interesting. “Oh, I remember
now! Sorry, I didn
’
t recognise
your name. Nate and I just refer to you as ‘rebound girl
’
. Sorry, I should have remembered your name, that was rude of me,”
she said, nodding and looking at Minnie with an apologetic face.

Minnie glared at her hatefully. “Freaking
bitch!”

I pulled Rosie behind me slightly in case
Minnie tried to hit her, but Rosie just laughed and nodded.

“Uh huh. But I
’
m the bitch with the man you want. Stop trying to cause trouble. I
don
’
t think he
’
s interested.” She turned to look at me with
one eyebrow raised. “Or are you?” she asked, looking a little worried, as if
she suddenly doubted me.

I couldn
’
t keep up with her at all. She wasn
’
t angry with me? I shook my head and pulled her closer to me.

“
I don’
t want anyone else,” I said, honestly. Minnie growled in frustration
and turned on her ridiculously large heel, storming off through the crowd. I
looked at Rosie, silently begging her to forgive me all over again, but she
didn
’
t look angry. A little
shocked, yes, but not angry. “I
’
m
so sorry
.
”

She smiled and brushed against me. “Don
’
t worry. The past is the past.” She pressed
her lips to mine, and I almost growled in victory. When she pulled back, she smirked
at me. “Should I be worried that you barely got her off?” she asked playfully.

I burst out laughing and shook my head. “I
can get you off with little to no effort, don
’
t worry,
” I stated confidently.

She laughed and nodded. “Okay, good.”

She
smiled as I gazed at her
gratefully
. I thought all girlfriends were supposed to be
crazy jealous, and you weren
’
t
allowed to talk to another girl once you became exclusive. I definitely still
had a lot to learn about relationships.

“Thank you, and I
’
m really sorry,” I apologised again, I felt like a piece of scum all
over again for doing that to her. I really didn
’
t deserve this girl.