Being Chased

by Harper Bentley

  Chase looked at Tracy through narrowed eyes. I actually wanted to marry this woman? Seriously? Why?

  Thank God for small favors.

  "Oh, well, that's too bad. Well, good luck with your job situation. It was nice seeing you again, Tracy." Chase wanted to find Julia and explain things to her.

  "Wait, Chase." Before he could get away, Tracy looped her arm through his, putting her other hand on his bicep. He hadn’t introduced Julia as his girlfriend, so she thought she’d give it a go. "God, I've missed how muscular you are.” She squeezed his arm admiringly. “Uh, what are you doing tomorrow night? I'd like to catch up with you. Are you free?" Tracy looked up at him with her signature pout that used to make him give in to her every time.

  Annnnd that shit didn't stand a chance anymore.

  "Sorry, Tracy, I'm not free. I’ve got to go."

  “But—” she started, but he released his arm from her grip and headed toward the table to find Julia without even looking back. Seeing Tracy again made things a lot clearer to him. He realized that Julia was an angel compared. He loved that she was such a smartass, that she was kind and didn't use who she was or other people to her advantage. He loved how she'd taken the initiative tonight, loved how her body had felt against his. And wrong or not, they needed to talk about what’d happened between them.

  Upon approaching the table, he didn't see her anywhere.

  "Where's Julia?" he asked.

  "She left," Lily said. "I thought you went with her."

  "Yeah, dude. She said she wasn't feeling well and that you were leaving," Oz replied.

  "She left? What? Fuck!" Chase quickly made his way out of the bar and upon not catching sight of her, hailed a cab. What the hell was she thinking?

  He gave the cabbie the address of the Tower then called Julia’s cell phone but only got her voicemail.

  "Julia! What are you doing? You know you're not supposed to go anywhere by yourself! What the hell were you thinking? Call me back when you get this so I don't have a goddamned heart attack. I'm heading to your apartment. Call me. Please."

  Jesus H. Christ. What if something happened to her? He'd been watching carefully the past several days but hadn't seen anything suspicious—no weird looks from anyone, no being followed by a mysterious car—but that didn't mean anything, especially since she was by herself right now. Who the hell knew who was out there just waiting for this moment? Chase suddenly felt sick. If anything happened to her, he'd rip someone apart. And right now, Tracy topped the list.

  ****

  Julia stood on the terrace of her apartment, looking out on the city as she leaned against the railing, her arms crossed and resting on it. She really wished her mother were there to talk to her. God, she was so confused. She knew her mom would've known what to say.

  The past several weeks had been nothing but a crazy whirlwind that'd just swept her along twisting and turning her every which way, and each time she'd been thrown into Chase's arms. It had to stop. And speaking of throwing—she'd practically thrown herself at him tonight. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He was probably so embarrassed that he'd been caught by his girlfriend. Julia was sure he'd blame it on the alcohol. She could see him now begging his girlfriend to forgive him, telling her that Julia had seduced him, literally dragged him into that little niche, but she meant nothing to him and she'd all but launched herself at him and he'd been taken off guard.

  Ugh. How embarrassing.

  Thing was, though, Julia couldn't believe how sexually bold she’d been when it came to Chase. And she knew it all had to do with him. He brought out something in her that she didn’t understand, a fearlessness, a confidence, a raw sexuality that she hadn't known was there, which blew her mind because she hadn't slept with anyone for two years, since she’d broken up with Josh.

  She’d been afraid to.

  See, Josh not only screwed with her credit card, he’d also done the same with her head. He’d only been her second lover, so she was still reluctant to try some new things sexually with him. He’d been much more experienced, and when she’d told him no on a couple of occasions, he’d told her that she was a horrible lover and didn't know how to satisfy a man. She knew he’d said those things to hurt her, mission accomplished by the way, but it had made her question whether she really could fulfill a man sexually, hence her two year sexual sabbatical. But she felt different when she was with Chase. Josh had never made her feel that way, so maybe what he’d said wasn't true. Or maybe it was. God, who knew?

  "Julia!" Chase yelled as he came rushing in the door.

  "Oh, shit." She wiped the tears away that'd been threatening since she got home and were now finally falling. Of course they were. Right when she needed to appear strong.

  She could hear Chase running down the hallway, opening her bedroom door and calling her name. She took a deep breath and decided to face the music.

  "I'm here," she said as she walked inside.

  As he came back into the living room, he strode angrily over to her, glaring down at her, his eyes looking a little crazed. Or was it panicked? "What the fuck were you thinking? I can't believe you did this! You don't know who's out there watching you! What if something had happened to you? There are crazy assholes out there! You just don't get it!"

  Does he really care about me that much? No, he's just worried about losing his stupid job.

  "I'm fine."

  "This time! That was so stupid, Julia! Fuck!" God! He was so pissed he wanted to punch something. Now he paced as he continued chewing her out, fists clenching at his side. "You have no idea about any of this! How serious it is! No idea! Did you even know that yesterday they found the body of a twenty-four year old woman who was the daughter of another of your father’s friends?” He stopped and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, looking at the ceiling while rubbing his hands over his face, then shook his head as he looked at her, pacing once again. “Your dad called to tell me last night. There are bad people out there, Julia. People who don't give a shit about anyone or anything but themselves, who'd do whatever it took to hurt you.” He stopped again, his anger back, hands going to his hips then he pointed a finger at her, biting out, “But you don't think! Jesus! Use your fucking head! Do you not care at all about your safety? About your father? What would he think if something happened to you?"

  Oh, he did not just play the Allen card. Like he really gave a shit about her.

  "Whatever." She crossed her arms over her chest.

  Now he lost it. "What? Oh, my God! You're behaving like a two year old! You could've seriously been hurt tonight! Someone could've gotten you and done God knows what!" He stared at her in disbelief.

  The anger boiled up inside Julia as she listened to his ranting. His I'm-so-concerned-about-you attitude wasn't fooling her. Like he cared. Not that she felt sorry for herself, she just knew that money was the main concern here as it always had been with the men in her life. Chase was just afraid of being fired and losing his paycheck.

  "I'm not behaving like a child. Seriously, Chase, like you even give a damn about me! You only care about your precious job! You're just like Allen! All you see is dollar signs! The Monday after we kissed and you said you needed this job, I knew you were just like him," she spat at him.

  Chase's brow wrinkled and he just stared at her trying to comprehend what the hell she was talking about. Yes, he needed this job, but how could she think it meant more to him than she did? Well, duh, he'd been telling her that he couldn't get involved with her because he didn't want to lose his job. That might've done it.

  Ya think?

  But worse was that she thought he was like Allen. She'd interpreted his needing this job into meaning he preferred money over her. Great.

  She forged ahead. "And then you're getting your rocks off by constantly messing with me, making me think you want me. What the hell is that? You have a girlfriend! But I guess I knew you did, so I'm not much better!” She closed her eyes and hung her head then looked back up at him. Answering
his confused look she said, “I saw you together in the pictures online, but for some idiotic reason I just keep getting caught up in this bullshit!" She scowled as her tears now fell freely. Ugh! Being female sucked. She hastily wiped the tears away, pissed that she was showing this much emotion.

  Chase cleared his throat and took a deep breath, trying to talk calmly to her, trying to explain. "Julia. I'm nothing like your father. I told you that I needed this job to get through law school. It has nothing to do with money. Well, it does, but not that I'm obsessed with it or anything. And as for Tracy, she's—"

  Julia waved him off. "Just stop. I don't care, Chase. I don't want to hear it. I'm through. There's nothing here. I thought maybe there was, but I was wrong." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry for putting you in that position tonight. I'm sure you had to grovel like hell, begging your ass off to keep your girlfriend. I hope things are okay. If this caused any problems, I'd be more than happy to talk to her. I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

  He watched her go to her room, wondering how the hell things had come to this. He sat down on the couch, leaning back against it and running his hands over his face again. He thought about how she’d grabbed him tonight, how she'd been the one to come onto him. That was damn hot. He wondered how far things would've gotten if Tracy hadn’t interrupted them.

  He stood and started pacing once again, running his hands through his hair. He wanted Julia but knew being with her would take them to a whole new level, and he didn't know if he was capable of that, of having a relationship with her. Didn't know if he even wanted one after what had happened the last time. Seeing Tracy had brought all of it to light. What if Julia just fell into the long line of one-night stands he’d accumulated? He couldn’t allow that to happen. He knew that she deserved better.

  ****

  Julia had gone to her room feeling sadder than she’d been in a long time. Things between her and Chase were truly finished. They had to be. He didn't want to risk losing his job. And there was one more teeny-tiny little problem—he had a girlfriend. So, that was that.

  She took a shower hoping it'd clear her head, but of course, she couldn't escape the thoughts of him pressing her to the wall, hitching her leg over his hip—how sexy was that—and covering her lips eagerly with his. She closed her eyes letting her hands wander over her body as she imagined it was him touching her. She moaned as her hand moved over her lower abdomen.

  Then her eyes flew open as she pictured Tracy and how she'd looked at them. Suddenly, she felt even more horrible, imagining how Tracy must've felt seeing her boyfriend making out with another woman. Julia's moan was now one of regret. How could she have let things get to this point?

  I'm such a skank. And I'm in love with a man who has a girlfriend. And he doesn't love me back. Could I get any skankier?

  Wait. Back things right the hell up. Was she in love with Chase? No! Where did that come from? Oh, this was too damned funny. She started laughing so hard she cried. And cried. And cried. This so wasn't happening. How in the world had she allowed this to happen?

  She stood under the water letting it spray over her head, wondering if there was a way she might be sucked down the drain, successfully disappearing, never to be heard from again.

  ****

  Needing fresh air, Chase had gone out on the balcony to clear his head and work up his courage to talk to Julia. He wasn't quite sure how to approach her. He wanted to explain about Tracy. He wanted Julia to know he cared about her and not Tracy. Hell, he needed her to know that he'd never wanted a woman the way he wanted her. But then again he needed to back the fuck away. God, he was so confused.

  Walk away now while you still can. Drop it. Don't let it go any further.

  He turned facing the apartment, leaning back against the railing, deciding he wouldn't talk to her. He'd just let things lie. It was a good thing that Tracy had shown up tonight to nip this whole ordeal in the bud.

  But then he saw Julia go into the kitchen and his heart sped up until it raced in his chest. She was beautiful. What she was wearing made his breath catch—an ice blue, silk robe that hit her mid-thigh. He wondered what she had on under it.

  He stared at her intensely as she stood at the counter, her back to him. He knew she was probably eating some of the strawberries that Peggy had left out. He walked forward and leaned against the door frame just inside the balcony door, crossing his arms at his chest, watching her.

  Sensing that she was being watched, Julia turned her head, looking behind her. Her hand went to her throat as she gasped, seeing Chase standing in the doorway. Damn it. She'd looked around the darkened living room before going to the kitchen, making sure he wasn't around. Guess she forgot to check the terrace.

  "You scared me," she said quietly, walking back into the living room.

  "Sorry." He stood there, his gray eyes heatedly piercing hers, making her breath catch. "Julia, I wanted to tell you…" he started to explain as he came toward her. He was going to tell her he was sorry for allowing things to get this far, that he was backing off and would leave her alone.

  She cut him off. "Chase, it's okay." She looked down at her hands as she nervously twisted her fingers together in front of her. "You don't need to say anything. I—"

  She was so fragile like this that he couldn't help himself. His finger went under her chin lifting her face to his. "I need to tell you that Tracy is my ex-girlfriend. We broke up two years ago. Tonight was the first time I've seen her since."

  They'd broken up two years ago? “Oh,” she whispered.

  His hands now rested on either side of her neck, his thumbs skimming her jaw line as his forehead settled against hers, his eyes closed. "God, I know I keep telling you we need to stay away from each other, but I'm finding that so hard to do." He pulled back and searched her eyes hoping to find an answer there.

  His words were just what she needed to hear, and at this moment she couldn’t have cared less what was right or wrong. She wanted him and would take him however she could if given the chance. To hell with the consequences.

  "Then don't. Don't stay away from me," she said, still whispering, gazing up at him.

  Chase groaned. "Julia…"

  "Just for tonight, Chase. Things can go back to normal tomorrow," she said, truly meaning it, thinking that maybe if they were finally together, they could get it out of their systems and move on. She tiptoed up, brushing her lips softly against his.

  He cursed under his breath, pulling back to look at her again. She was exquisite with her auburn hair falling below her shoulders over the silk robe, which had come open, revealing a lacy silk nightgown underneath. He watched as her breasts pushed against the fabric, moving with her accelerating breathing. Sweet Jesus he wanted her.

  This is wrong. We shouldn't be doing this. He mentally rebuked himself before he leaned down and gently grazed her mouth with his. A soft, sweet moan escaped her mouth and he couldn’t take it anymore. He wound his arms tightly around her, pulling her to him hard, his lips covering hers.

  Her arms went around his neck, her fingers wrapping in his hair, pulling him to her, needing him nearer, closer. Oh, she could kiss this man forever.

  Chase's lips swept over her jaw and down her neck, kissing, nipping, sucking, roaming across her shoulder as his hands went to the belt on her robe, untying it, then up to slip it off her shoulders letting it drop to the floor.

  Julia pulled his t-shirt over his head, throwing it to the floor then left hot kisses over his well-defined chest. Her hands brushed across his tight abs then she moved one around to his lower back, the other down to cup his hardness. She pressed her palm to him, stroking him, which resulted in a deep growl emitting from inside him as he pushed himself into her. She left kisses on his biceps, over his tattoo that was so damn hot, then up to his shoulder, ending at the base of his neck.

  "Fuuuuck," he hissed as he pulled her closer, grinding himself into her hand.

  She hadn't even noticed, but they'd slowly made their way to her
bedroom and were now standing at the foot of her bed. Chase's thumbs hooked under the straps at her shoulders, letting them fall down her arms, leaving the gown dropping to pool around her waist.

  He let out a low sound that rumbled from his chest as she was revealed to him, and the lust pounded through his body. He pulled her down to the bed where she lay back on her comforter. Perfect. She was stunning, her hair fanned out around her head. He began kissing her collarbone, moving down to ravish her breasts then lower to her stomach, which made her tremble beneath him, as low, soft sounds came from deep inside her throat.

  He ran his hands over her hips then down the outside of her thighs and back up, going under the silky fabric, his fingers hooking the waistband of her panties, drawing them down her long legs and off. His hands slid slowly back up her thighs, and he could feel the heat coming off her the higher they went. She was so sexy, arching her back up from the bed, her head to the side so she could watch him.

  She reached down, pulling him by his hair to her, kissing him with so much passion, they were both left breathless. She rolled over on top of him, feeling his thick hardness under her. His mouth came up capturing her nipple, drawing it in, sucking deeply. She moaned and moved against him, grinding on him, causing him to buck up under her. Moving back to straddle his thighs she reached down and unbuttoned his jeans, putting a hand inside to grip his length, making him hiss.

  Chase's heart was pounding like mad and he knew he should stop, but damn it he couldn't, or, rather, he didn't want to stop when it came to her. He turned them so that she was under him again.

  He raised up over her when a flash of clarity hit him and he stopped for a few seconds, looking into her eyes, unsure if they should continue. But the male libido is something to contend with, isn't it, and it wasn't long before he was back in the game.