The Thrill of the Chase (7 page)

"
One
tiny thing?
"
she squeaked.

He cracked a small grin.
"
Maybe not so tiny.
"

"
Nothing about you is tiny, Ryan.
"

He laughed.
"
Yeah, babe
, that
'
s what I
'
m talking about. That
'
s my girl. Say
yes
, Ash.
"

"
Yes.
"

"
Yes, you
'
ll move in with me?
"

"
Yes, I
'
ll move in with you.
"

His posture relaxed as his arms reached for her and encircled her completely. He rocked her against her.
"
You won
'
t regret it, baby. I
'
m going to dedicate my life to making you happy.
"

Her heart squeezed and a shot of joy ran through her.
"
You know I
'
m just going to fall madly in love with you, right?
"

He smiled into her eyes and placed a kiss of benediction on her forehead.
"
I
'
m banking on it, babe.
"

####

Gibson and Julie

Gibson Jones waited to corner Julie Weldon in the darkened hallway that led to the restrooms of the dance club. It was late and he was more than a little pissed. His fuse was short, his libido loud and banging through his body with ruthless intensity. He
'
d been waiting for her for twenty minutes to come from the ladies room. He knew the line was long, but still, he wanted to blame her for the wait. It fueled the aggression in his blood even more.

He stood against the wall and watched the women come from the restroom. More than one of them slid their eyes over him as they walked by. The unwanted attention only pissed him off more. If she
'
d only get the fuck out here he could get this over with sooner.

He stood beside the cigarette machine and finally saw her leave the room. The tawny blonde hair hung like silk over the curve of her breasts. His gut clenched in violent need as his face contorted into a scowl of impatience. He wasted no time and snagged her hand when she walked by.

Julie gasped as her wrist was encapsulated by a rough hand and she was dragged into a dark corner between the vending machine and the wall. She swallowed a scream as she recognized Gibson
'
s face staring down at her. Her heartbeat went haywire and her legs began trembling violently as the object of her secret fantasies pinned her to the wall.

He hung over her, his forearms beside her head, caging her in. He was tall and broad, and he stood over her, his muscles clenching and his teeth gritting. Tight coils of tension fueled the body towering over her, leaning into her.

"
Listen
little blonde girl
, it
'
s not going to work,
"
he hissed.

He looked infuriated. Pissed off and hostile. Scalding fury dripped from the eyes that stared down at her. Scalding fury
and something else
. Something chemical.
Something sexual
.

Attraction.
Unwanted attraction
.

Julie sucked in a breath as a shiver of trepidation, arousal, and disappointment at his words speared through her. How long had she been trying to get close to him?
She knew exactly how long.
It had been five weeks since her cousin Ashley had begun dating his friend Ryan.

They had all met, exchanged numbers, and then
nothing
.

Nothing for her, anyway. Ashley was in seventh heaven, dating Ryan. Or she had been until a week ago when she had suddenly broken up with him.

Julie sent the text to Gibson for that reason only. To help her cousin out by giving Ryan and Ashley the opportunity to be at the same place at the same time. Her cousin and Ryan were meant to be together. Julie could sense it, and that was the story she was sticking with. No way had she sent Gibson a text for any other reason.

If she could convince herself of that, she could convince anyone.

But for the moment, she couldn
'
t get her vocal chords to work because Gibson was hanging over her, threatening her with his size and the disdain in his voice.

"
Answer me.
"
His words were harsh, demanding.

"
D-did you ask me a question?
"
Her body was shaking so hard she could barely control it.

"
I said it
'
s
not going to work
.
"
Gibson deliberately tried to intimidate her. He needed to scare her enough to alienate her, make her want to stay out of his radius. It was one of the hardest things he
'
d ever done. She was incredibly sexy, one of the sexiest women he
'
d ever met. But Ryan had asked him to stay away from her, and being the stand up friend that he was, he was going to try his damndest. And now she was standing in the circle of his arms, inches away from him, and her body was shaking with a sexual need that was about to make him snap.

"
What are
--
what are you t-talking about?
"
She looked around the deserted corridor. There was nobody around to interrupt the heated exchange. They were virtually alone.

"
I
'
m talking about you chasing me. It
'
s not going to work. You need to stop it.
"
His voice dripped frustration and anger.

"
You
'
re c-crazy. I
'
m not chasing you.
"
Julie was appalled she had been so obvious. How and when had she been so obvious? Would he believe her if she denied it? She hadn
'
t thought she
'
d done a single thing to let him know how she felt about him. It was embarrassing he
'
d figured it out and it mortified her. She stiffened her spine.

"
Bullshit.
"
His eyes ran down her face, across her lips and dropped to her chest heaving in agitation.
"
How old are you, anyway?
"

"
Twenty-one, not that it
'
s any of your business.
"
She tried to keep her voice even, but she had so many emotions running through her. She was excited to be so close to him, but she was beginning to get mad at his attitude. There was no reason he should be talking to her in that tone of voice. Even if he knew she had it bad for him that was all the more reason he should be nice about it. Not act like she had committed a huge sin.

"
Bullshit. You
'
re not twenty-one.
"
He pushed the words out between gritted teeth.

"
How do you think I got in here? Magic?
"
Her voice was sarcastic, cutting, giving back to him what he was dishing out to her.

"
Smart-ass
. You
'
re a little, blonde smart-ass and if you think something
'
s going to happen between us, you
'
re insane.
"

"
You
'
re the ass.
Let me go
.
"
Now she was just as pissed as he was and beginning to question her own judgment. Yeah, he was seriously hot, but crap, who knew he was such a dick?

"
I
'
m not holding you,
"
he taunted her.

Julie realized he was in fact, correct. He didn
'
t touch her at all. His body hung over her, caging her in, but he wasn
'
t actually touching her. She didn
'
t stand still for any more of his shit. She began to duck under his arm but he reached out and stopped her and swung her back into her original position again.

Only this time, he
was
holding her.

Her back came against the wall and he crowded into her space. His eyes were liquid, staring into hers. His hands gripped her tightly.

Shock and intense excitement hit her when she pushed against him and he wouldn
'
t let her go. Surely this was more than anger.
He had to be feeling something more than just anger
. Maybe she hadn
'
t been wrong when she pictured how it would be between them. She
'
d daydreamed about it often enough.

She tested the strength of his grip by trying to move away from him again.

"
Stay still.
"
His words were brutal. He stared at her, his nostrils flaring and his lips snarling.

His hands gripped her upper arms and he watched her intently.

"
Make up your mind.
"
She looked up at him through her lashes, trying to maneuver away from him a few desperately needed inches.
Inches that were needed for her sanity
.

His fists gripped tighter around her.
"
Stay still,
"
he repeated in a hiss.

Her body relaxed completely, ready to listen to the inevitable.
"
Fine. What do you want?
"

"
I want you to lay off. Quit sending me texts
--"

"
I sent you
one
text!
"
she hollered back.

His hands bit into her.
"
Quit looking at me like you want to eat me
--"

She jerked against his restraining arms and interrupted him.
"
You
'
re fucked up.
"
Okay, Mr. Arrogant needed his head
examined.
She
'
d never looked at him that way. It totally had to be his imagination.

He continued to hold her still in front of him.
"
Watch your mouth, little girl.
"

"
My name
'
s Julie.
"

"
I know what your
goddamn
name is.
"
The words were clipped.

"
Yeah?
"
she asked on a quick breath.

"
Yeah.
"

Their eyes tangled as silence laced with sexual chemistry pulsed between them.

Tension was high and finally he spoke again.
"
Ashley wouldn
'
t like me messing around with you. She
'
d get mad and then Ryan would be pissed at me. It can
'
t happen.
"

His explanation didn
'
t impress her.

"
Ashley
'
s not my keeper.
"
Her answer was meant to challenge him.

"
It can
'
t happen.
"
He pushed the words out, reiterating his position.

Who was he trying to convince?

She sucked in a breath, held it, and then let out what she was thinking.
"
Yeah, but you want it to.
"

There it was
. Her statement that hinted he was probably right. She wanted it, and she figured he wanted it, too.

Dead silence vibrated between them.

His eyes glittered down into hers, his scowl ferocious.

She pushed her chin up, the line of her jaw belligerent.

When he opened his mouth next, she knew he wasn
'
t going to give in to the chemistry that sizzled between them.

"
It won
'
t work. I
'
m a grown man. You can
'
t trick me or goad me into something I don
'
t want to do.
"