Nobody Girl (11 page)

“How many of those have you had tonight?” he said with a concerned look in his eyes.

“Why?”

“Well, I’ve seen what two glasses of wine does to you.  Taking too many of those pills could have the same effect.”  Delia sneezed again.  How dare he bring that up?  She couldn’t help but think of her embarrassing underwear comment and the events that happened after.

“Do you want to dance?”

“I don’t think that would be appropriate,” she said even though earlier that same night she had joined her students on the dance floor for a fast song. 

***

“Well, it’s good to see you,” he said after drinking her in with his eyes for a while.  She really did look good.  As he stared at her in her emerald cocktail dress that made her eyes sparkle, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was wearing underwear.

As the dance winded down, Chase noticed that Delia was a little unsteady on her feet.  He followed her as she made her way out of the hotel and toward the parking lot and he was there to catch her when she tripped on her heel and almost fell to the ground.

“I’m taking you home,” he said as he placed his arm around her waist and helped her up.

“What are you doing?  Don’t touch me.”  She tried to swat him away, but found that she actually needed him to keep her balance.  “What’s wrong with me?” Delia asked as she clung to him.

“Dan emptied his flask into the punch. The alcohol is reacting with your allergy medication and
… ”
  He didn’t need to finish his sentence because Delia passed out.

***

She woke up two hours later, not completely aware of what had happened.  She recognized her apartment and the fact that she was still wearing her dress, but she had no memory of how she got there.  Then she saw Chase sitting in the corner of the room.

“What happened?”  Her voice was hoarse and her throat dry.  She felt like she had swallowed tumbleweed.

“You passed out.  I brought you home.”  Chase stood up, walked to the bed, and stared down at her.

“How did you know where I lived?  How did you get in here? Did anyone see you?” Delia sat up and started to panic.  Her head was spinning with the idea that someone might have seen him come into her apartment and reported it.  By Monday, it could be all over the newspapers: “Delia Clark, the new Mary Kay Letourneau.” She could read the article from her jail cell.

Chase reached out and caressed her face while he stared into her eyes.

“Relax, no one saw me.  I’m sure.” 

Delia grabbed his hand with the intent of removing it but ended up just holding his hand to her face.  She missed his hands, she missed his embrace,
she
missed him.  She closed her eyes and just pretended she was back on the ship and that they weren’t teacher and student.  And when she opened her eyes and looked at him, she could almost see Chase Donovan, the man, instead of C.J. Mitchell the child.

“Can I kiss you now?” The question succeeded in transporting her even further into the fantasy she’d created in her head.  Before she could protest, not that she wanted to, he bent down and pressed his lips to hers.

***

He shouldn’t have done it.  He knew it was wrong of him, but he couldn’t resist.  “I want you so much, Delia,” he whispered between kisses.  “I
need
you so much.”  He had dreamed of kissing her again for two months and now that it was happening, he didn’t want it to stop.  She tasted so good.

***

Chase’s fingers began to unzip her dress as he simultaneously lowered her to the bed.

“We can’t do this, C.J.,” she said with weak resolve as his warm sensuous lips massaged the base of her neck.

“Please call me Chase.” He sat up and whipped his shirt off, revealing his smooth muscular chest.  Delia surely didn’t remember seventeen-year-old boys looking quite so … delicious when she was a teenager. Oh God, seventeen.
Teenager.
This boy was a teenager.  She couldn’t do this.
“Chase, stop.
  We can’t do this.  I’m your teacher!” she said firmly as she scrambled away from him, clutching her loosened dress to her body.  Chase sighed and plopped down on the bed.

“You’re right,” he said, staring at the ceiling.  “I’m sorry I put you in this position.”  Chase flung his legs over the bed and stood up.  “I’ll see you Monday, Ms. Clark.”

***

Chase pulled his T-shirt over his head as he descended the steps of Delia’s apartment. Twice, he turned around to make his way back to her and finish what he started but he decided against it. He had
work
to do and he was already late. Plus, he needed to shave before anyone noticed the uncharacteristic stubble on his face. Most teenage boys would have welcomed the stubbly look. C.J. Mitchell wasn’t like most teenage boys and it didn’t suit his image.

He took a portable electric razor out of his pocket and shaved as he made the short walk to the Black Cat. He thought about what had just happened in Delia’s apartment. He was proud that he stopped himself. It showed remarkable restraint. But he didn’t want to stop, which was a problem because he couldn’t let her get in the way.

***

Ian downed the rest of his beer and tossed it into a trash can as he entered the bathroom of the Black Cat in search of C.J.

“Hey man?
Why you
hidin
in here?”
Ian belched. He was already drunk. He was probably drunk before he left the homecoming dance. “Where have you been? We have work to do. It’s a Friday night and clients have been calling Amanda like … like … a lot.” Ian tried to lean casually on the sink, lost his balance and almost tipped over. C.J. shook his head then splashed some water on his face.

“Don’t worry about where I’ve been. Just do your part and I’ll do mine.”

“I saw you leave the dance with Ms. Clark. Are you
tappin
that?” Ian thrust his hips forward, imitating a sex act.

Chase tried to ignore the vulgar remark and subsequent demonstration. He reached for a paper towel and dried his face. He would’ve been able to remain calm and keep his cool if Ian hadn’t insisted on continuing.

“When you’re done can I have a turn? That is one fine math geek. I mean, do you see the tits on her? Of course you’ve seen ‘
em
, they’re huge.”

Chase grabbed Ian’s shirt collar and slammed him against the full-length mirror. He pressed Ian’s windpipe closed with his forearm and lifted him off the ground. “If you ever lay a hand on her, I’ll kill you,” he said through clenched teeth.

Just then someone entered the bathroom, but one vicious
look
from C.J. sent him right back out without a word. It had to be somewhat of an odd sight. Ian was a thick-necked football player type being jacked up by someone who looked like the typical high school Casanova.
Not that C.J didn’t have a well-defined muscular build himself,
he just seemed to be half the size of Ian.

“C.J
. man calm down, you’re
choking me. I can’t breathe.” Ian gasped for air.

“I’m serious, Ian. I am not one to be played. You go near her … if you even think about going near her, I will end you. Is that clear?”

Ian nodded his head furiously. “I got it, now let me go, man.”

C.J. released his grip and Ian collapsed to the floor.

“I guess that means you’ll be taking care of her class in the program.” Ian choked out the words while massaging the pain out of his neck.

“Just leave Delia Clark to me. I can handle her.”

“Fine.
Whatever.
I’m going to get Angie.” Ian got up and scrambled out of the bathroom. His manhood was definitely bruised. He had to figure out a way to teach C.J. a lesson. He had to learn he couldn’t just flip out on his partner anytime he wanted to. He obviously had some sort of emotional attachment to their math teacher. Maybe she was the key to getting him back.

After Ian exited the bathroom, C.J. stared at his reflection in the mirror wondering who in fact he really was.

“Stay in control, Chase. You can do this,” he said.

Ian stormed into
Ettinger
Inc., D.C.’s second largest real estate developer, in search of his big business, big shot, and big pain-in-the ass big sister, Amanda. He was determined to make her hear his side of things for once. It was ridiculous that they were supposed to be in business together, yet she never listened to any of his ideas.

Well, she did listen to his idea about adding C.J. to the program. And now C.J. was the problem. Ian wanted him gone. He was too unpredictable. His entire presence in the program was an insult to Ian anyway.  Amanda needed someone who was a good student. 
Someone smart.
And since Ian had never been accused of being intelligent in his life, he had introduced her to C.J.

“What do you mean you want me to get rid of him?” she said, still calmly staring at paperwork even after Ian burst through her door and stated the reason for his visit. “He’s the best thing to ever happen to us. He’s a perfect, soulless genius.”

“I don’t trust him. He’s psycho.  I really think he’s got split personalities or something.”

“Wait a minute. How did you get in here? I’m supposed to be unavailable all day. Was Beverly at her desk?” Without waiting for a response from Ian, she punched a few buttons on her phone.

“Yes, Ms.
Landgren
,” came the response.

“Beverly, you’re fired. Collect your things and get out in the next ten minutes. Oh, and before you go, call the temp agency and tell them to send someone with the ability to follow simple instructions.
Perhaps a Cocker Spaniel or a Beagle.
Either of which would do a much better job than you.”

She clicked off, then clasped her hands in front of her and gave Ian a fake, yet polite grin. “Okay, baby brother,
go
ahead and tell me what your problem is.”

Ian swallowed hard, trying to hide his anxiety. It scared him more when his sister tried to be nice than when she was her usual bitchy self.

“Um, C.J. has issues.  And he has some sort of strange obsession or something with one of our teachers.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.  He’s just really like obsessed with her.  I’ve even seen him go to her apartment.”

“Hmm.
  How does she feel about him?”

Ian shrugged.

“Well, if she reciprocates his feelings, the situation is better than we could possibly imagine.  We could threaten her with exposure and blackmail her into joining us. Quick, tell me everything you know about this woman.  We have to get into her head.”

***

After much thought, Delia decided to go through with her plan to bring out the real Chase. Considering what had happened or almost happened in her apartment, she thought about forgetting the whole idea. Maybe it was safer to have C.J. around. But she was proud of herself for controlling that situation before it went too far, so she felt confident that she would be able to avoid further encounters.