When Emma finally went into the banquet room, Chase followed, noticing Julia and Boone standing nearby when he heard, “Beautiful Julia!” in a deep voice ring out. His eyes narrowed as a very good looking guy came up and swooped Julia into his arms. And just who was this clown? Dude had blond hair that was longish in a beach bum type way and eyes even bluer than Gunner’s. Of course, the tan he sported helped to make them stand out even more.
“Jack!” Julia giggled as he spun her around which made Chase’s stomach knot up. Keep your fucking hands off of her. He instantly felt his mood sour.
“How have you been, baby?”
“Great! How about you?” She looked up at him with such an admiring look it was all Chase could do to stay where he was.
“Pretty good. Much better if you’d go out with me.” The guy stared down at Julia with clear adoration while the muscles in Chase’s jaw jumped.
Julia happened to glance over at Chase just then, doing a double take at the murderous glare on his face. Whoa. She came to her senses and made introductions. “Oh! Jack, this is Boone Streeter, my, um, bodyguard.” Jack looked confused because she’d told him about Chase when they’d talked earlier in the week. “And this is Chase Murphy. Boone, Chase, Jack Moore.” Boone shook hands with Jack then Chase and Jack sized each other up as they did the same.
Ah, here was the bodyguard. “Nice meeting you, Chase,” Jack said, an ornery twinkle in his eye, aware the guy wasn’t too happy he was with Julia. When she’d told him about Chase, he’d sensed from her voice that she’d taken a liking to the guy.
“Same,” Chase replied. Julia was going to be spending the evening with a guy who looked like a fucking movie star. Great.
“Jack and I have known each other practically all our lives,” Julia said. “We usually attend these things together to make our dads look good,” she explained further, trying to lessen some of the tension between Jack and Chase.
Jack played it up by putting his arm around her shoulders, knowing he was being a dick. “Again, nice meeting you.” He nodded at Chase and Boone, a “cat that got the canary” look on his face, and headed toward their table. “So, what’s new with you, gorgeous?” he asked her as they walked away.
Chase watched them go, wanting to put the hurt on Jack with some damned Muay Thai move that’d knock him the fuck out. For good. Dude wouldn’t be so cocky then. He saw that Julia’s table was only two away so at least he could keep an eye on her. Or watch Mr. Smooth as he tried moving in on his girl. Yeah. She was “his girl” now. He let out a breath in a huff, looking down with a small smile and a shake of his head. Guess he’d better give her the memo on that one, huh? Who was the cocky one now?
People were now seated and the wait staff was milling around delivering meals, drinks or pouring wine, and a famous Hollywood actor was on stage giving a speech about the charity that was being sponsored.
Even while watching out for Emma, Chase kept an eye on Julia. He clenched his jaw again as he saw Jack put his arm around her chair and lean into her saying something that made her laugh. He wanted to be the one over there making her laugh, his arm wrapped around her as they chatted with the guests at their table, damn it.
At one point during dinner, Julia glanced over at Chase, catching him watching her, and there was that look of his again, the intense, sexy one that made her body respond with shivers. He was thirty feet away, but he could still make her breath catch and now a flush came over her chest and neck. She looked away somewhat flustered which made him smirk. At least he had some effect on her even if she was sitting with another man.
When dessert was being served, Julia excused herself from the table with Jack following her. Chase told Emma that he’d be right back, that he’d have Boone cover for him. Boone saw Chase nod, and came over to take his place.
Chase just wanted to make sure that Julia was safe; that’s what he told himself anyway. It couldn’t be that he had to watch Jack, making sure he didn’t try hitting on her or anything. Nope. Couldn’t be it at all.
As he rounded the corner, he saw them down the hallway, Jack with his back to him leaning over Julia, obviously kissing her. He felt the blood rush to his face as his head started pounding with the adrenaline that was now charging through his veins. His breathing sped up and his fists clenched, preparing to beat the shit out of the guy.
But standing there watching them, he realized he really had no claim on her. She was free to do what she wanted and be with whomever she wanted. He turned and went back to the dining area, told Boone where she was, then took a seat at his table.
****
Toward the end of the night, Emma told Chase she was excited that the dinner had gone as well as it had. She said seventy percent of those invited had made an appearance, which was an extremely good showing. Chase was happy for her, but of course his mood had gone down the shitter after what he’d witnessed in the hallway. As he was helping Emma out of her seat so she could go to the back to thank the guests for coming, a man started yelling in the lobby of the hotel. Chase saw Emma tense up and all the color left her face.
“That’s Keating.” She now looked panicked as if trying to find a quick escape.
“You stay here, Emma. I’ll take care of it.” Chase walked quickly over to Boone, telling him what was up and asked him to watch Emma.
“Lemme in there! Do you know who I am?” the man in the lobby roared, his words slurred somewhat. “Need to teach that fucking cunt a lesson!”
Chase made it through the curious crowd and entered the lobby seeing a drunken Keating Wells being escorted away by two security guards. Good. Looked like they had things under control. But then he heard a whimper behind him. Goddamn it, Boone! Emma was standing at the ballroom door, hand over her mouth, eyes wide as tears fell down her cheeks.
Wells happened to see her then, and somehow broke loose, running toward her yelling, “You fucking bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Chase clotheslined the guy, knocking him on his ass, then rolled Wells onto his stomach, locking the guy’s wrists behind his back with his hand and put a knee in his spine to hold him until the guards came running up to handcuff him.
“Thanks, man,” one of the guards said to Chase, who nodded.
Chase turned to see Emma still watching, her tear-stained face in shock as Wells continued yelling obscenities at her. “Come on,” he said, putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her back inside the banquet room.
“Oh, my God,” she cried, grabbing Chase by the lapels and sobbing against his chest as he wrapped her in his arms, soothing her by whispering that it’d be okay.
Julia had watched in horror as the events unfolded with Emma’s husband. She didn’t know Emma, but knew that she’d worked hard to make this dinner happen and that she didn’t deserve what had just occurred. She approached them, wanting to help, but when Chase cut her a look that pretty much said, “Back the fuck off,” she stopped in her tracks. What was up with that? She couldn’t turn away, practically gawking as he pulled back and looked down at Emma, still talking softly to her, holding her face in his hands and gently smoothing her tears away with his thumbs. Did he have something going on with her? Is that why he’d given her that look? Oh, God.
****
After leaving the banquet, Chase had taken Emma back to the suite where he quickly retrieved their things, neither taking the time to change. He wanted to get her the hell out of the place as soon as possible as she’d been only capable of crying silent tears after what’d happened. He took care of getting her checked out and they were now on their way to have her fly back to her parents’ home.
Emma sat in the backseat of the car still too stunned to talk. As they drove to the airport, Chase called her father, telling him what’d gone down. Jay, of course, was furious. And speaking of being furious, Chase wished he could go back and make Wells pay for the shit he’d just pulled. Preferably with his face. Or ribs. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, yeah?
T
hey arrived at La Guardia, got her luggage checked then he walked her to the security gate. At first he wondered at the looks they were getting from people, thinking they might’ve recognized her as the wife of a big shot, but when he realized they were still in their evening attire, he knew they must’ve looked like some reverse Cinderella story, the prince coldly sending her on her way instead of taking her back to his castle for a happily ever after. He hoped she’d get hers some day.
“Thank you, Chase, for everything,” she said, looking up at him through puffy eyes.
“Emma, it’ll get better. If you ever need me for anything, please don’t hesitate to call.”
She tiptoed up and kissed his cheek thanking him again before getting in line. After she’d been scanned, she turned and waved, trying to put on a brave front before she disappeared into the boarding area. Chase nodded and smiled grimly, truly hoping things worked out for her.
And that was why he knew love sucked. Relationships were toxic. Nothing ever worked out. Well, wasn’t he just the poster boy for singlehood?
****
Arriving back at the apartment, he walked in to see Julia and Boone having a drink and laughing about something. Boone and his goddamned jokes. Julia offered Chase some scotch, which he gladly drank down, refilling his glass immediately. God, what a night.
Boone asked Chase how things had gone afterward with Emma. They talked for a bit, but sensing Chase’s darkened mood, Boone left after finishing his drink. Julia took a seat at the bar, still wearing that fuckhot dress, still looking stunning, crossing her legs and showing tons of sexy thigh with that fucking slit. He stared at her over the top of his glass.
She cleared her throat uncomfortably as she watched him. “In spite of that last bit, did you have a good time?”
"Loads. As I'm sure you did while you were making out with Brad Pitt."
Julia frowned at him, having no idea what he was talking about. "What?"
"I saw you down the hallway when you two left right as dessert was being served. What, couldn't keep your hands off each other any longer?"
Julia was clueless as to what he was saying, but then she remembered that Jack had escorted her to the ladies' room, and because a piece of her hair had gotten caught in her necklace, he'd leaned down helping her to get it out. She guessed Chase had seen them and it had maybe looked like they were kissing from his angle. She had to chuckle at this.
And now Chase was pissed. "Oh, yeah, it's fucking hilarious, isn't it? You come at me with all your bullshit about my messing with you trying to 'get my rocks off.'" His voice was getting louder. "What about you? You're all about the 'don't stay away from me, Chase' and next thing I know you're shoving your tongue down another guy's throat!"
Julia was angry now too, and she yelled right back at him. "I didn't have my tongue shoved down his throat! He was helping me get my hair out of my necklace!"
He laughed. "Likely story."
"Well, what about you and Emma? Huh?" She was fuming now. "You looked awfully cozy with her tonight! Got to play the knight in shining armor and everything! Then you give me that ‘Stay the fuck away from us’ look when I was only trying to help! What the hell was that?"
She turned and stomped to her room not realizing Chase was right on her heels. She went in and reached back to slam the door but he caught her arm spinning her around to face him.
"You know what I've figured out about you? You're nothing but a little cock tease." Her arm was immediately in motion to slap him, but he caught it before it made contact. "Not this time, Princess."
They stood glaring at each other, their breath coming hard. Then she started crying. Oh, God, not now. She was so mad at herself for breaking down but she couldn't keep up the show any longer.
"I hate you. I hate that you're here now," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I hate that seeing you with Emma tonight ripped me to shreds. I mean, seriously. I can’t even explain that." She took a deep breath as Chase just stared at her. "I hate that everything with you is so taboo. I hate that this job means more to you than I do." She was literally sobbing now. "But most of all, I hate the fact that I'm falling for you."
Chapter 13
"C'mon, Fish. Whaddya gonna do?" The man with sideburns laughed at the kid to his left. Sideburns knew he was on tilt but would go ahead and stay in. The Kid was a fucking maniac.
"Call." The Kid knew he was in trouble, knew he had a bad hand but he just couldn't fold. Wasn't hard-wired to give in. No, he'd rather take it up the ass instead. Stupid Kid. And this was so not the kind of personnel to be around while having any moronic moments.
The guy with the goatee to the Kid's left smirked. He'd been around long enough to know the Kid never folded. He could have a high-card hand and he'd still stick it out. Dumbass. Goatee raised, throwing in a couple more chips, even though his hand was barely decent; he just wanted to see the Kid sweat.
Sideburns won the hand with a pair of threes. Damn! The Kid was now down a cool ten grand and his balls were swimming in sweat. He knew he was in deep shit, but he just couldn't stop. The next two hands dealt resulted in pretty much the same outcome. He was in way over his head... something to the tune of thirty grand now, so he decided to take a break, sit out the next hand, get some of his mojo back, even though he knew he'd lose the table. Didn't matter anyway since he was pretty much screwed all the way around.
While the Kid was in the bathroom splashing water on his face, a huge guy came in looking at him like he was filet mignon and Gargantua hadn't eaten in days.
"I can help," Jumbo told him.
The Kid looked at the guy skeptically. "Yeah? And how do you propose to do that?"
"You're down for thirty grand in there, correct?"
"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?"
"I got my ways. I also know your total debt... something akin to 500 K. Am I right?"
The Kid's eyes got huge. Shit. Who was this guy and what the hell did he want? The Kid tried to be slick, not letting Behemoth Guy know he was right on target. He put on his poker face... which, if he’d been smart, he'd know from his damned IOU's that said face didn't do a lot of good. "So what if you are? What can you do about it?"
Gigantor slammed the Kid into the wall, holding his fist against his throat. "Don't pull this shit with me, Captain Dipshit. I know you're up to your dome in debt and if something's not done soon, your body parts will be scattered all over New England. I got a way out for you. You in?"
"It depends."
Mammoth Man grabbed the Kid's crotch then, twisting his sac until tears streamed down his face. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Call this number tomorrow and they'll tell you where to go. Otherwise, I ain't responsible for what happens to you." The mountain of a man let him go, threw a business card at the Kid's feet, then walked to the mirror, straightened his coat and left the washroom.
The Kid bent over at the waist, gasping for air, dry heaving. Fuck. He picked up the business card and stuck it in his pocket. Guess he'd be making that call tomorrow.
****
Julia's eyes got great big as she looked at Chase realizing what had just slipped out of her mouth. Uh. Yeah.
Did I just practically declare my love for him amidst a bitching session? Go. Me.
She started crying harder. And that just made things so much better, didn't it?
Chase stood in shock staring at her, his fight or flight response in overdrive at hearing her say she was falling for him. Well, actually just the flight side of it because God knew he wanted to jet out of the room immediately. They'd made a left out of Flirtsville and had taken a detour through Serioustown and he really didn't want to relocate at this time.
"Um, I didn't mean to say that… any of it. Just forget it all." She wished she had a remote control and could back things up, erase what she'd just said, then fast forward to her punching his damned lights out for being such a prick. She was so mad at herself for always blurting shit and for crying at the most inopportune moments. And she was also havi
ng a tough time dealing with the fact that he was just standing there, his mouth agape not saying anything, not even one word of his having feelings for her, too. Ass. She was so humiliated. Well, she'd show him. "But you know what? Why don't we just go ahead and fuck each other and get this over with? The tension is driving both of us crazy, so why don’t we just do it so we can finally move on!"
That snapped him out of his stupor. And now he was really pissed. Fucking furious. First, she says she's falling for him then she turns around and dismisses all of it. Well, two could play this shitty game. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Maybe you're right. If we finally screw each other, things would be better. We could forget about each other and move the fuck on." He grabbed her fiercely, smashing his mouth to hers. She wanted to get it over with? He could do that. He’d teach her to play with fucking fire.
His hands roughly sought out a zipper, something that would get her out of her gown. There was a tearing sound as he groped and Julia gasped into his mouth at the frenzied way his hands were moving over her body. She reached back behind herself, finding the zipper then his hand found hers and took over as he guided it down her back. He stepped away from her as the dress fell to the floor around her, pooling at her feet and a low growl came from deep inside him as he looked at her standing before him, his jaw clenching tightly.
Jesus fuck. She had on the sapphire blue panties he'd seen her in at the lingerie store, but what really made his dick stand at attention was the matching bustier she wore to which her silk stockings were attached. Holy mother of hell.
His eyes met hers and she felt a thrill rush through her at how dark they were, filled with want for her. Desire. She stepped out and away from the dress, still wearing her stilettos, diamonds sparkling at her ears, neck and wrist, and moved toward him. She placed her palms on his abs and ran them up over his pecs. Chase turned her around in a flash, pulling her flush against him, his hand spanning across her flat stomach the other on the front of her neck holding her against him. If he tightened his hand a little, he'd almost be choking her. Yeah, this wasn’t going to be some nice little session of lovemaking. She’d told him what she wanted. He was going to deliver.
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