Being Chased (2 page)

“
You need to watch your step, Ms. Cooke,” he said, his eyes piercing hers.

When Juli
a saw him smile, she gasped. In two years, that was the first emotion she’d gotten out of him.

“
You have teeth,” she murmured, releasing one of his arms and moving her hand up to run her finger over his lips.

“
What?” He gazed into her eyes, frowning a little, still holding her closely, seriously liking how she felt against him and wanting to shock the hell out of her by biting her finger gently, which he decided against last second. God, just a couple inches separated them. All he’d need to do was lean down a little and he could cover her mouth with his, taste her, touch her, feel her more tightly against him.

“
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I thought it might’ve been because your teeth were all rotted out or something.”

He snorted at this. She really was a genuine smartass. He set her back on the curb and holding her hand helped her into the car. As he walked around to the driver
’s side he knew he needed to put the kibosh on his feelings right away. This would go no further. He got in the car, put the club’s name in the GPS and drove away from the Tower.

“
So, you must work out, huh?” she asked him. She’d felt his hard pecs and abs against her, not to mention the muscles in his arms.

“
Yep.”

Oh, they were back to this, huh?
Great.

“
So, if I were to unbutton your shirt, would I find a blue suit with a big, fat red ‘S’ stuck to it underneath?” She snickered.

“
Nope.” And wasn’t he a perv as he envisioned her unbuttoning his shirt, hell, undressing him altogether. Just thinking of this made him have to adjust himself.
Get control of yourself, Murphy. Christ.

His monosyllabic respo
nses just annoyed her anew. She stared at him in the rearview mirror willing him to look at her. He never had before, but since he’d gotten to feel her up, maybe he just might acknowledge her now? She shook her head for acting like such a  desperate fool.
Jesus, Julia. You’re such a loser.
She was about to break a sweat she was concentrating so hard. If only he’d look, then she’d know there may be a chance with him.

And then
it happened.

He looked! He’d totally checked her out in the mirror
. It was just a quick flick of his eyes, but he’d looked! Her heart skipped a beat, which caused her to laugh quietly at her newly found loserdom again. Jeez. But, damn it, he’d looked! She knew it was ridiculous of her to react this way, but, hey, maybe there was something there after all.

Smiling smugly to her
self, she texted Claire and Lily to see if they were at the club. They both were, telling her where they were seated. She pulled her compact out, checking her makeup and got ready to be dropped off.

Chase
was pissed as he pulled up to the valet. Goddamn it! He needed to get it together now. Distance himself. Show her she was nothing but a fucking job. Christ.

After getting out of the car and handing the valet the keys, he went
around to open her door to help her out, escorting her into the club, paying their cover charge. And now Julia was thoroughly confused because Sam usually just dropped her off then left or waited or whatever it was he did while she partied. But Chase was taking her into the club like they were on a date or something. What was going on?

They
’d both remained silent, her not knowing what he was doing, him wanting to show her that this was strictly professional as he accompanied her inside.

As they walk
ed toward the table, both Claire and Lily looked at her confused as to why she was with a guy. Julia looked at them giving them the same look right back, just as nonplussed as they were.

They stopped when they reached her friends and
Chase stood by her not saying a word, his hands clasped low in front in what she called the bodyguard stance. How embarrassing. She got it now. He was being the ultimate professional paying her back for catching him looking at her, trying to make her uncomfortable like he’d probably been. He had to know she hated all this undue attention as people looked at her like she was some celebrity they couldn’t quite place. Whatever.

“
Um, Claire, Lily, this is Chase.” 
My hotter than hell bodyguard.
“Chase, Claire and Lily.” Julia held her arm out palm up toward Chase then brought it back toward her friends during her introductions.

“
Ladies.” Chase nodded at them with a smirk then looked around the club all businesslike. Both girls smiled excitedly looking from him to Julia and back, obviously having heard about him from Julia before. Julia rolled her eyes as she saw him looking around the place acting as if she were in dire danger. Good grief. Feeling like he’d made his point, he looked at her and said with a nod, “I’ll be at the bar if you need me, Ms. Cooke.”

Ms. Cooke?
Lord. She turned, watching him as he left. He was doing this on purpose, just trying to show her that what’d happened earlier had meant nothing. Bastard. When she turned back to Claire and Lily, she saw that they were just beside themselves that he’d walked her in, both knowing she’d been crushing on him forever.

“
What the hell, babe? Why’s Mr. Smokin’ Hot Bodyguard here?” Claire asked all excited.

“
Yeah! What’s going on?” Lily joined in.

“
He’s a dick.” Julia snorted then sat down, leaning close to them, talking conspiratorially and telling them what had happened when she’d tripped. This garnered a squeal from all three of them. “Can you believe that? I mean, if I’d known that all I had to do was be a clumsy oaf to get his attention, I’d have done it long ago!” She cracked up laughing then added, “But now he’s trying to show me that it meant nothing. Whatever.”

Claire and Lily
speculated on the situation, telling her it might lead to their being a couple. They all giggled about it then ordered drinks when the waitress came by. As they sat laughing and chatting about various things, Julia kept sneaking glances at Chase where he stood at the bar and when Lily caught her, she teased that she was in love.

“
Oh, please! Don’t even go there. Let’s dance!” Julia grabbed both girls’ hands and led them to the dance floor. She moved her body to the beat, dancing around Claire and Lily, singing the words to the song.

Chase
berated himself for being an idiot by behaving the way he had with Julia. Damn it. God knew his father had drilled it into his head during his training at Citadel before he’d been given the job to always keep things impersonal. Guards were there for protection not to get cozy with their clients.
He was angry that he’d crossed even the small line that he had when he’d looked at her in the rearview mirror. And the shit he’d pulled by holding her earlier? Wanting to kiss her and do oh, so much more? Stupid.

He now
stood facing the dance floor, leaning back on his elbows that were atop the bar, his legs out in front of him, one boot crossed over the other watching her, making sure no one messed with her. And, God, she was sexy. He’d never come with her to a club before since she only went on the weekends. He hadn’t known what he’d been missing.

As he watched her moving sensually to the musi
c, he felt himself getting turned on, and he tugged his white button down lower in the front over his jeans to somewhat cover the evidence of his arousal. She was definitely putting on a show.

Julia
rubbed her body against Lily then glanced toward the bar, catching Chase watching  her. But this time he didn’t look away. He was watching every move she made, his eyes staying locked on hers as he took a draw on his beer bottle. Well, this was an interesting development, now, wasn’t it? Surprised, she kept dancing while he kept watching. Could he be interested in her? He held her gaze for several minutes, which caused her heart to beat crazily in her chest making her breathing speed up tenfold. It was as if everyone had disappeared leaving just the two of them alone in the club. A shiver went through her body in response to the way he was looking at her like he was hungry, famished. For her.

Chase couldn’t te
ar his eyes away, seeing her dancing so seductively, the thoughts racing through his mind making his eyes darken, his pulse speed up. He wanted her. He knew he shouldn’t. But fuck if he couldn’t help himself. Wanted to take her that very moment. Push her facedown on a table and bury himself deep inside her from behind. Hear her scream his name.

Jesus.

Their connection was broken when several guys came up to the girls, starting to dance with them. Chase’s eyes narrowed and he felt a pang of jealousy seize him when one grabbed Julia around the waist, spinning her. What pissed him off even more was that she smiled at the guy as if she knew him. Knew him well. Though she was now dancing with this new guy out on the floor, her eyes moved cautiously back to meet his, as if she were afraid he’d looked away which made him clench his jaw, and he found himself feeling things toward her that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel up to this point. Their eyes stayed locked for a few more minutes before the DJ screamed something loud and unintelligible, snapping Chase back into reality as he turned his head away from the dance floor.

Oh, t
his was so not good. Eye-fucking the client was never a good thing.

“
Wanna dance?” a woman who wore a skirt about the length of a headband sidled up and asked Chase as she ran her hand up his arm suggestively.

He
looked down at her, an amused smirk on his face, not lost to the fact that she was hot, but, scratching the side of his face, he politely declined knowing he shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. A sarcastic chuckle escaped him at the irony. He watched the woman sashay away on heels so high and thin they should probably have been registered as lethal weapons. Glancing back at the dance floor he saw Julia watching him with a small frown as she continued moving her body provocatively, rubbing against the clown who was dancing with her now. Chase wanted to make the guy eat teeth, which puzzled him, making him not quite sure where his anger was coming from. He turned and ordered another beer, shaking his head at himself.

Over the next half hour, s
everal women came by asking him to dance, all of which he turned down. He was there to do his job, not have a good time. Thank God an acquaintance of his noticed him and came over to chat. She’d been accepted into NYU’s law program the same time he had, and they’d been in a couple of classes together. They stood at the bar talking for the next thirty minutes about the different professors and classes they were now taking, each giving their own strategies on how to do well in them.

Julia
had seen the last woman come up to Chase and her breath caught as he talked to her for what seemed forever. What the hell? Was she his girlfriend? She huffed wondering why she even cared. But after watching them talk so long, and when he only glanced her way every now and then, she finally left the dance floor hitting the bar at the other side of the club where she ordered a double bourbon, downing it right away, more than a little agitated at herself for giving a shit about him. She ordered a second drink, draining it as quickly as she had the first. There. That was better. Now she could dwell in I-don’t-give-a-damn land and go on about her evening.

Chase
had kept an eye on Julia the whole time he’d talked with his friend but now narrowed his eyes as he watched her go to the bar across the way and down two drinks quickly. She looked like she was upset, but he hadn’t seen anything happen on the dance floor, so he wasn’t sure what was wrong.

She went
back to the dance floor, finding her friends again and now she was really going at it. Christ, she was so hot. After several more dance tracks, the music changed to a slow song. Chase saw her reject a couple of guys who asked her to dance and she left the floor going back to her table. She sat alone, ordering another drink when the waitress came by, and was now sitting, cradling her glass in her hands looking a little lonely.

Chase
excused himself from his friend and made his way toward Julia’s table wondering what’d happened. Putting his hands on the back of her chair, he leaned down, breathing in her alluring scent, and moved his face next to her ear asking if she was alright.

She
jumped about a foot in the air, her hand going to her heart, not having seen him approach. After calming down she scowled and replied, “I’m great, why?”

She was beautiful, a few strands of her hair having come out of her ponytail to curl around her face in the sweat she’d worked up while dancing. He wanted to sweep them away but knew he shouldn’t touch her again. God, h
e was playing with fire here and knew he’d be the one to get burned if he wasn’t careful. He sat down in the chair next to her, scooting it closer to where their legs accidentally brushed then frowned when she jerked her leg away quickly. “You just seem a little down.”

“
Nope. I’m peachy. Super. But thanks for asking.” She gave him a smirk. No way was she going to let him know she’d gotten upset because he’d been talking to another woman. How idiotic was she? Jeez.