Authors: Harper Bentley
"Fuck, all I gotta do is turn on the
Wilse charm and she'll be in my bed next thing you know."
Chase
shook his head. Brock was probably right, but thing was, he had a new woman in his bed at least once a week. Guy was as bad as Chase had been the year after his breakup with Tracy. Without all the anger. Or the plot for revenge. Brock just loved women he guessed.
"Yeah, yeah. You gonna take your turn or are you gonna stand there drooling?"
"Think I'm gonna make my way over to her table. I'll be back."
Sure
you will, thought Chase. Whatever. He continued throwing darts keeping an eye on what Brock was up to. As his roommate approached the woman’s table there was a shift in people and Chase saw the guy Julia had come out of work with the night before. The one she’d been laughing with. That got his attention. His eyes narrowed when he saw Julia hand Funny Boy a drink and the guy leaned down and kissed her cheek. Pissed just watching their display of affection, Chase threw a dart at the board so hard, it knocked two off. He turned and caught the eye of the bartender who was a buddy of his, nodded his head, then approached the bar and downed his drink, motioning for another, which he threw back just as quickly. Ordering another, he walked over to the pool table where Boone and Oz were playing. From there he could get a better view of Julia’s table.
"
Brock abandon you for some chick again?" Oz asked, laughing.
"Yeah, as usual,"
Chase replied, sucking down half his scotch.
"How the fuck does he
keep up with them all?" Quaid asked.
"He never sees them again, so he doesn't have to worry about it."
Chase chuckled.
"
Wish I could work it like he does, but I can’t seem to keep them off my dick after they get Quaiderized," Quaid said with a grin.
“Please,” Oz said laughing. “That chic
k put you in your place at Zig’s last week. Too fucking bad I didn’t have my phone ready to take a shot of the mad slap she gave you. Ears are still ringing from that smack.” He stuck a finger in his ear and wriggled it around as he cracked up.
“
Your
ears are fucking ringing? I couldn’t hear for the next two days. Bitch cuffed my damn ear instead of the customary cheek slap. And who knew asking if she’d be up for a threesome with her sister was such a big damn deal?” Quaid truly looked puzzled and Chase had to laugh.
About that
time Julia left her table. Chase watched as she made her way toward him, guessing she was probably going to the restroom. She looked so sexy, her hair down around her shoulders and some strapless number under some see-through thing doing wonders for her gorgeous breasts. He kept his eyes glued on her then saw that when she noticed him, she physically flinched and he couldn't help but sneer at her reaction.
Are you
freakin' kidding me?
Julia thought to herself when she locked eyes with Chase. She stood up taller, not wanting him to know he affected her in any way then turned her head away acting as if she hadn't seen him, making her way to the ladies' room.
What a little snot. Always so
fucking high and mighty. Look at her trying to ignore me.
Chase watched as she walked away, not being able to keep his eyes off that nice ass of hers, looking so good in her tight jeans, her hips swaying back and forth almost hypnotizing him. Deciding that two could play games, and also wanting to make her acknowledge him, he threw back the rest of his drink then made his way down the hallway waiting for her to come out. He'd teach her to ignore him. Give her some of her own damn medicine.
Julia’s
eyes got big as saucers as she exited the restroom seeing him leaning against the wall, apparently waiting on her.
"You followin
g me or something?" he asked, a wicked glimmer in his eyes.
She snorted at his ridiculous question.
"Right. I always make a habit of following my dickhead chauffeurs around. Now, if you'll excuse me." She tried to get by him, knowing this encounter would go nowhere; no matter what happened, he'd just ignore her again afterwards, acting like nothing had happened, all so he could keep his precious job.
Chase
put his left hand on the wall in front of her, keeping her trapped so she couldn't leave.
"Well, since I'm not your chauffeur, I'll let that one slid
e," he said. "You out with Comic Boy tonight?"
"His name is Jacob, and, yes, he's here." Being in such close proximity to
Chase was making her want to do things she knew she shouldn't be wanting to do, like, oh, kiss him senseless. He looked so sexy standing there, his dark hair messy and curling a little around the back of his neck, those gray eyes burning into hers, the light stubble on his jaw just begging her to trace over it with her fingers. She hated that he could affect her this way. And the alcohol in her system wasn’t helping her decision making in any way at all either. Damn it.
"Oh, you're on a date then, huh?" he asked her leaning in closer making her squirm a little.
Julia chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah, I guess. If that's what you want to call it." She flipped her hair over one shoulder nervously.
Chase
moved a piece of hair that she’d missed behind her ear with his free hand leaning in and whispering to her, "So, what do you see in this guy?"
He had her
pinned against the wall, his closeness making her heart feel as if it was about to pound out of her chest. All she'd have to do was move forward one inch and her lips would be on his. As he pressed in closer, she saw the muscles in his arm on the wall flex, which was when she noticed some kind of Celtic tattoo on it sticking out from under the tight sleeve of his t-shirt. Dear God. That just added to his hotness. Gah!
She looked up at him, m
esmerized by his presence, forgetting she was still mad at him, wanting him to close that small distance so she could feel his soft lips on hers again. "What do I see in him? Well, he's smart for one thing," she whispered.
"Yeah, looks like a
fuckin’ genius," Chase said, his gray eyes piercing hers as his fingers trailed lightly up and down her arm leaving goose bumps in their wake, making her shiver, making her want more than anything his lips on hers.
"He makes me… laugh…"
Julia stammered, swallowing roughly, frustrated that Chase could make her body react to his touch, really frustrated that she wanted more of it.
He
pushed her hair back behind her other shoulder. "Is that so," he breathed in her ear, then moved his mouth to the side of her neck, his lips grazing down it to her shoulder that her cover-up left exposed.
"Oh, God,"
she murmured, pressing her hands behind her to the wall, her back arching against it, her breasts pressing into his hard chest. Oh, man, she really wanted him.
Christ
. He was supposed to be playing a game here, but all Chase wanted to do was throw her over his shoulder, take her back to his apartment and fuck her. Now. Especially when she was pushing her breasts against him like she was doing now. God, she made him so hot for her.
“And what else does he do to you?” he whispered
, moving back up, pressing his nose to the space between her neck and shoulder, her scent invading his senses, driving him crazy, his tongue tasting her soft skin.
“He, uh… he…” She was tota
lly lost to him. She ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders then around to wrap in the hair on his neck, but she hesitated and stopped, her head bowing as she took a shuddering breath.
Aware of
her hesitation and knowing that she’d probably come to her senses, which was likely for the best, with regret Chase reverted back to his original plan, and with a soft kiss to her neck, he pulled back to look down at her, false amusement in his eyes and said, "Well, baby, you go enjoy Chuckles, and I'll see you bright and early Monday morning." He dotted her nose with his finger, walking away from her with a forced chuckle and headed toward the men's room.
Julia
stood there dumbfounded, her breath still coming hard. Ugh! He’d bested her again! She was going to kill him. Who the hell did he think he was? Oh, he was
so
going to pay for this.
Chase
shook his head as he pushed on the bathroom door. Score one for him. He guessed.
****
Julia was fuming. She'd promised herself a little over twenty-four hours before that she was going to be in control of this stupid game, this mindfuck, this idiotic sexual tug-of-war she and Chase had going, and yet he'd totally checkmated her. Bastard.
Well, she was going to take the power back. Now.
After their little make-out session, Chase had gone into the men's room all smug and arrogant, but she was going to burst his egotistical bubble as soon as he emerged, so she stayed right where he'd left her, waiting to knock him off his self-assembled pedestal.
But
as she saw him exit the restroom, she was struck again by how good-looking he was—long, muscular legs that stalked toward her, narrow hips with low-slung jeans encasing them, his tight, dark blue t-shirt clinging to his sculpted chest; her eyes continued roaming over him, focusing on how his hips V’d up into that wide, hard chest. Jeez, top it all off with his handsome face and that damn stubble covering his strong jaw, and her tongue was practically dragging the ground.
Being
ga-ga over him wasn’t in the plans at all, damn it. So she shoved her attraction aside and got her second wind, ready to rip into him.
Chase
smirked, surprised to see her waiting for him, but glad that she hadn’t left. He thought surely she'd stomped off, pissed at him for being such a jerk to her. But there she stood ready for round two, he supposed.
"You think you're pretty fuc
king smart, don't you?" she bit out as he walked toward her, his smug look making her pulse quicken in anger. Or was it anticipation of being near him? Ugh. And
that
thought seriously annoyed her.
His smirk turned t
o a crooked grin as he chuckled at her use of foul language. "Oh, I wouldn't go that far. My intelligence hasn't even been challenged yet."
"Let me ask you. Were you born an asshole or was it something that developed with time?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
He leaned into her putting both his hands on the wall on either side, effectively holding her hostage again. Oh, no, that wasn't happening again, so Julia turned the tables, easily slipping under his arm and he had no choice but to flip around to watch as she practically pinned him against the wall standing as close to him as she could without actually making contact, which he found he hated.
"Whoa." The crooked grin
reappeared as he realized that she'd made some kind of ninja move. "Damn, grasshopper. You move pretty fast." He chuckled.
She rolled her eyes at him then arched a brow. "Well?"
He looked confused for a second then remembered what she’d asked. "Oh, thought that was rhetorical. Hm. Was I born an asshole or did it develop over time….” He stroked his chin in thought making her want to smack the crap out of him. “To answer your question, I'd have to say my assholish-ness is probably half and half. See, I was quite a fussy baby which developed into my being kind of bratty in my early childhood.” He paused in thought then began again with a twinkle in his eyes, “In elementary school I liked pushing down the girls that I liked, in junior high my friends and I pranked the teachers, and I was pretty much a love-'em-and-leave-'em kinda guy in high school, so, yeah, I'd have to say my being an asshole's not only an innate thing, but something I've perfected over time."
Jerk
.
"God, you piss me off. Now, look here." Though she wore heels, he was so much taller that she had to stand on her toes, still getting nowhere near his height as she jabbed her finger at his nose, scowling. "I've had enough of this bullshit. You are
not
going to make me look stupid anymore! I have the upper hand here, not you!"
All
Chase could do was grin at her again, which made her that much angrier.
Damn
, she's beautiful when she's pissed.
"This isn't funny! I don't know who you think you are, but I'm no—"
He grabbed her by either side of her face, pulling her to him as his lips quickly captured hers. Her hands immediately went up to grab his muscled forearms, trying to remove them, but she wasn't strong enough, and damn it if she didn't get caught up in his kiss again, melting into him instead. Wow.
He pulled his face away from he
rs, her face still firmly in his grasp.
She tried to make sense of her body's traitorous reaction to him as she breathed heavily, but finally coming out of her daze, she glowered up at h
im. "Just because you can overwhelm me with your kisses doesn't mean tha—"
He smiled down at her. "God, you're so fucking
hot," he said, cutting her off as his lips covered hers again moving sensuously.
Julia
finally gave up resisting him then, with no little help from his amazing kissing prowess, and resigned herself to the fact that he definitely had some kind of control over her. She tasted the scotch on his breath that he'd been drinking, which for some reason made the kiss even hotter.