Living With Regret (27 page)

My patience for this conversation is officially over. “Okay. I get it. The dress was sexy, and I won’t be wearing it again. And, Lacey, please watch how much you drink. I don’t care if you only go out once a month, Friday night was excessive and you had me worried.”

I can tell I made my point when Lacey’s expression softens. “I’m sorry. If I get like that again, you have my permission to kick my ass. Promise.”

Chase’s arms slide around my waist from behind as he pulls my body tight against his chest, causing Lacey’s brows to scrunch. “When did this happen? I thought you two were just friends?” she questions.

I can’t help the enormous grin that comes over my face. “I found her coming home in that dress yesterday morning and I couldn’t help myself. Needless to say, I haven’t left her apartment since,” Chase adds.

Lacey looks back and forth between us, and I can tell she’s unsure of what to say. I told Lacey how much I want Chase and how scared I’ve been to open that door again, and the whole time Lacey didn’t have much to say, which is shocking.

Lacey takes a deep breath and locks her eyes with Chase. “In the year and half that I’ve been practicing law, I’ve worked on five murder cases. Despicable, horrible things you couldn’t even begin to imagine, I read about in detail. I’ve also read how some of these murderers got off free and clear. I’ll take that knowledge and use it to kill you and get rid of your body without anyone ever knowing who wacked you if you ever hurt my girl again.” Lacey clears her throat, “Are we clear, Mr. Adams?” she adds in a sweet voice that doesn’t match her words.

I’ve only had the pleasure of watching Lacey in court a handful of times and I never doubted her ability. This right here proves what a hardass she can be when push comes to shove; a world of difference from the woman you’d meet out at a bar after a few drinks.

Chase blinks hard a few times. “Um ...I understand where you’re coming from. That’s an extreme way of getting your point across, but I hear you loud and clear. Believe me, no one wants to see Jordan hurt again, least of all me.”

“As long as we’re clear. I take it he’s going with you Saturday, then?”

Oh shit, my stomach drops. I forgot all about that stupid gala. “What’s going on Saturday?” Chase asks, looking directly at me.

I pipe in before Lacey can once again make matters worse. “I have to go to this formal charity function for work. It’s no big deal. I was going to talk to you about it later.” I shrug.

“She needs a date and—” Lacey turns her attention to me “—I think that dumbass Brooks finally got the hint that you wouldn’t be going with him again this year. How many dozens of flowers did he have to send before he got the message?”

“Brooks?” That comment comes from Chase, but he’s looking at Lacey while he waits for an answer.

“Oh, he’s a loser ex of Jordan’s. He’s fucking gorgeous to look at, but he sucks in the relationship department. And he’s been sending Jordan flowers every other day for weeks now, but it doesn’t do anything to change what a rich loser he is. This one time—”

“Okay ...enough!” I shout. “The last thing I need is for you two to start swapping stories,” I add in an annoyed voice.

My little outburst seems to have saved me from a pissed off Chase.

“Seeing as you have better things to do then have lunch with me, I’m going to head home.”

“No, we can go have lunch,” I quickly add as Lacey is already heading towards the door.

“Nah, I wasn’t really hungry, anyway. I needed to know you weren’t mad at me.”

Chase lets go of my waist and I follow her to the door. “Of course I’m not mad, but seriously, let’s talk soon about whatever is bothering you.” Lacey tries to hide the pained look that quickly crossed her face, but I still caught it.

“Yeah, we’ll get together soon without the drinks,” she says.

After a quick kiss on my cheek, she’s gone. I shut the door then turn and I see Chase standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He’s watching me like he’s waiting for me to say something, but I remain silent.

He starts tapping his foot as his patience slips. Lacey said several inappropriate comments that I’m sure upset him. Like it or not, I have a past and so does Chase. We both did things we’d rather not talk about—things we’d rather forget—and I’m not about to be punished for my past. Instead of saying anything, I walk right past him but he tags me around the waist and pulls me into his chest.

His face nuzzles into my neck. “I want ...no that’s not it. I need to fuck you so you’ll remember who you belong to. Listening to your friend ...Shit. I want to tie you to my bed and do filthy twisted things to your sweet, fuckable little body. The next time either of us thinks about sex, it will be this moment, my fingers, my hand, my cock that you remember making you come.”

I swallow loudly. Holy. Shit. Goodbye to the sweet boy I remember and hello to the shameless man that just promised me dirty pleasure.

“Yes, please,” I say with a smile.

I’m standing in a pretentious ballroom surrounded by rich assholes in a suit and tie and I hate it. I fucking hate it, but the alternative was Jordan coming with someone else, and I wasn’t about to let that happen.

Jordan told me her friend Lacey’s firm was invited but not Lacey personally. I think that was a good call because I have an overwhelming feeling to walk up to one of these rich assholes and say something beyond inappropriate just to see how they’d react, something I’m sure Lacey would actually do.

After I first moved in next to Jordan and we were rekindling our relationship, she had mentioned that Lacey wasn’t my biggest fan, and I’m not surprised. Actually, it’s because of that loyalty I find myself respecting her even more. She has my girl’s back no matter what and that’s the way a true friend acts.

What I don’t care for is listening to the obnoxious tales of Jordan with other men. I’m hoping for my fucking sake that some of the shit she’s said in the last week has been exaggerated, otherwise I might go crazy.

After the visit from Lacey that Sunday morning, Jordan patiently waited for me to ask if anything, or all of what she said, was true, but instead of asking, I allowed my depraved mind to have its way with her. After a nice, long, hard fuck, my mind seemed to relax knowing the only person she was thinking about was me and how I make her feel.

While she’s over talking to a group of uptight assholes, I head to the bar for a drink. My mother hates that I have a drink even occasionally, but alcohol was never my vice. Other than a couple months ago when Jordan left, I’ve treated alcohol like any other fool. I may have a drink here or there, and if I do get smashed, I wake up feeling like shit and drinking again in the near future is out of the question.

“A football player, huh? Jordan seems to be dipping into all sorts of society these days.”

I set my drink down and look over at the smug bastard who undoubtedly thinks he has something over me. “Yes, I’m Chase Adams, and you are?” I hold my hand out, playing the game that everyone here is expected to play, which is to put on nice clothes and pretend to like everyone, all the while making sure everyone knows you’re better than them.

This man, who obviously has money, is looking at my hand like he’d rather me knee him in the balls than actually greet me with respect.

He looks down his nose as he finally shakes my hand and confirms my suspicions. “Derek Brooks.” Brooks. That was all I had to hear to know that this man was once with my girl.

Something I never want to admit to Jordan is I probably wouldn’t recognize a majority of the women I’ve screwed in the last ten years. I went from being too messed up to remember them to fucking groupies. Most of the women that hang around players are looking for one of two things: a good story to tell or they’re hoping to land a husband. I always looked for the first option. Of course, that doesn’t explain how Carrie got her hooks in me. But other than Carrie, everyone else is a nameless, faceless woman that never mattered to me.

The same doesn’t apply to Jordan. Even living in a city as large as New York, it appears she dated men from the same circle she lives in. That means I need to learn to control my urge to kill every man that’s ever known her in a way my own stupidity allowed.

Brooks gives me an arrogant smile before throwing out another insult. “Jordan always struck me as someone with too much class to subject herself to an athlete.” His eyes narrow as he gives me a shitty grin.

I hold my smile, never once letting on that his comment actually stung. “I was thinking the same thing about you. I’ve known Jordan since we were teenagers and I never would have guessed her to date a pretentious prick, but evidently she has,” I add, acting smug myself.

“Hello, gentlemen.” We both turn at the same time to see Jordan staring at us with questioning eyes. I hold out my hand to her, and like the incredible woman I know she is, she walks straight into my arms. I look over, keeping the smug smile on my face, to see that Brooks doesn’t look the least bit phased by my claim on her.

“Jordan, I was just telling your friend here that I was surprised you’d have to stoop so low as to ask a man that plays a game for a living to be your date.”

I’m ready to punch this fucker in the face and show him the type of game I play when I look at Jordan, who has an evil smile on her face, which has me holding back.

Jordan points her finger at me while she keeps her eyes locked on this prick. “I almost told Chase’s secretary when she called that I wasn’t available, but then she informed me that my date included an endless amount of orgasms if I were to agree, so I thought what the hell. A girl can’t pass up an offer like that.” Jordan shrugs then gives me a beautiful smile.

Brooks’s whole body goes tense at her comment. I’m not sure exactly what point she was trying to make, but I know almost certainly that she was complimenting me and not him. Without another word, he turns and walks away, causing Jordan to laugh. Her smile and carefree attitude is downright sexy.

“I guess I officially owe you endless amounts of orgasms, Ms. Taylor. Remind me if I ever get a secretary to thank her.” I chuckle.

“Oh, you’re so funny, big guy. Let me go mingle for a few more minutes then we can get out of here.”

I grab ahold of her hand. “Not so fast. Endless orgasms can be a lot of pressure on a guy. We need to go somewhere so I can give you one now. I assure you mingling afterwards will be much easier.”

Jordan’s eyes go wide and she starts to protest, but I’ve already turned her, walking us out into the hall to find somewhere to be alone. This insane need to mark her as mine every time I’m reminded of her past could easily backfire, but for now she’s tolerating it.

I jerk us into a corner at the end of the hallway that leads away from the ballroom, and within seconds my mouth is attacking hers. My hands move from her arms to her tits, stroking each nipple to a hard point. I move the top of her dress to the side and pull an exquisite breast into my mouth.

“Geez, Chase, someone could see us,” she pants out.

I reluctantly pull away from her chest to look her in the eyes. “I won’t allow anyone to see you, believe me, baby. All of this is only for my eyes.” With my comment, her face changes. Lust and desire for what I’m promising takes over, encouraging me to go on.

I look over my shoulder to confirm no one is around then I lean down and slip her panties down and off her legs, tucking them in my pocket. On my way back up, I catch the end of her dress and bring it up with me as my other hand is unzipping my pants.

Seconds later my dick is sliding into her wet pussy while my fingers are digging into her ass, keeping her in the exact place we both desperately need. Our breathing becomes fast, almost labored, but that doesn’t stop me from sucking a nipple into my mouth, causing her to moan my name rather loud.

“Shhh, baby, this is for us. We don’t need an audience.”

Jordan doesn’t say another word as she arches her back against the wall, causing me to go even deeper. “Fuck, baby.” I moan out, probably louder than Jordan did moments ago.

“Faster. I need you to go faster,” she says through a pant.

I can feel her tightening on me as I’m rocking into her with as much speed as I can manage since I’m the one holding both her and her damn dress up. Thankfully, a few thrusts later I feel her start to clench down on me. I continue to slam inside of her, and moments later she starts to come on my dick. She shudders her release, causing me to fall with her.

As we start to come back down from our sexual high, I take a good long look at this woman and I realize I’m not just crazy about her; I’m totally in love with her.

I thought I loved her before when my memory was still hazy, and afterwards, I was left confused about what my real feelings were, but there’s nothing to be confused about now. I absolutely love this woman and somehow life has offered me another chance. A chance, I without a doubt don’t deserve, but one that I would have been a fucking fool not to take.

“Wow.” She sighs with a smile on her face. “When I thought about coming here tonight, getting fucked against the wall never crossed my mind. You sure have a way of delivering a memorable time, Mr. Adams.” She’s relaxed and joking, just the way I want her.