Authors: Harper Bentley
“But you ended up putting all those guys in their place and, other than that massive shiner, you didn’t get hurt.” She
chuckled and elbowed him softly trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, well, you know.”
Chase chuckled right back, running a hand over the back of his neck. She was just so cute and sweet and he hated the situation they were in. Why couldn’t things between them just be easy? He knew he was gonna catch shit for this, but he had to go there. “Look, that's what I've been trying to explain to you. This," he said, pointing a finger at his black eye, "happened because I was looking at you." He saw her start to protest but cut her off, pointing his finger up now in a “Hold on a sec” way. "I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm saying I was distracted and I can't afford to be."
She looked up at him, her brows drawn down in dismay
. She knew even though they’d crossed the line a couple times, he’d told her that they couldn’t become involved. She
knew
this. So why did it hurt so much to hear him say as much again? He was never going there with her, so she needed to move on.
Chase
reached a hand out, running the backs of his fingers down the side of her face, his gray eyes penetrating hers so deeply she could hardly breathe. "I'm here to protect you, and that's what I'm going to do. I'd die if anything happened to you." His eyes held hers for a few seconds before he realized what he'd said and he drew his hand back quickly, turning away, a look of consternation on his face. He cleared his throat roughly, turning to face the front. Shit. He needed to watch what he said, damn it.
H
e was impossible. And if actions spoke louder than words then he definitely had feelings for her. Julia looked at his profile thinking how handsome he was. "I know you care about me," she whispered, still looking at him.
"I ca
n't allow myself to." He sighed and focused his eyes on the numbers above the door.
God, this was killing her. She knew she had to respect what he was saying.
And he had a girlfriend anyway. So why couldn’t they both just drop this?
"Besides, what would your boyfriend say?" He
now looked down at her, eyebrow raised.
She frowned.
"I don't have a boyfriend."
"T
he guy at the bar with you?"
"Jacob
's one of my best friends."
"Well, you'd better hope you don't need the little
wuss to protect you any time soon. I saw him cowering during the fight the other night." Chase shook his head.
"Oh, what, that makes you a bigger man because you know how to throw a punch?"
Julia narrowed her eyes at him.
"Well, yeah. It's kind of what makes a man a man."
"Jacob's a fine man. He's just… sensitive. Besides, you don't even know him!" she responded, getting ticked off now. She crossed her arms over her chest, staring at the elevator door.
"I don't think I'd
wanna know someone who's as big of a pussy as he is," Chase said with a sneer.
"You’
re such a jerk," she mumbled under her breath, shaking her head.
"What was that?
You think I'm the hottest guy you've ever seen?" He bent down trying to make her look at him. She really was too cute when she was angry. And wasn't he a shit for making her that way.
"I said you're a jerk,
" she repeated through clenched teeth as she stayed focused on the door. God, he was aggravating.
They were silent the rest of the way down and all the way to her office
, Chase thinking it was for the best that she was angry at him and that things could finally cool down between them, Julia still seething over his assessment of Jacob thinking what an asshole he was.
After arriving at her office building,
Julia got out of the car then stuck her head back in to say something to Chase but he'd gotten out.
"What are you doing?"
"Your father wants me to make sure you get inside safely."
"Oh, brothe
r. I forgot. That's so frickin’ dumb."
H
e chuckled.
She
gave him a dirty look for laughing at her, still ticked off at him. "What I was going to tell you is that I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon at three. Think you could be here to take me?"
"Yep. I think I ca
n handle that. Pick you up right here at two-thirty then?"
"Yes, t
hat's fine. See ya, Ricky." Julia smirked when Chase narrowed his eyes at her, not getting her reference that with his black eye he resembled a raccoon.
H
e left her office building making a mental note to look up the name.
****
True to his word, Chase was waiting for Julia in the lobby of her office building instead of in the car when she came down. Damn Allen. Inside the car she gave him the address to her doctor's office and he put it in the GPS.
"So, you sick?"
he asked her, trying to make small talk. May as well get along, loosen the tension between them, keep things friendly, right?
"No. Why?"
"You're going to the doctor."
"Oh. No, just a yearly check-up."
Ugh. She was too embarrassed to tell him it was a gyno appointment.
"Physical?"
"Not really."
What the hell else could be a yearly check-up for her?
"Eye doctor?"
"No."
"Dentist?"
God, he was so damn nosy.
Well, he asked for it.
"No,
Chase. I'm going to the gynecologist. Happy now? I suppose you'll wanna be in there when he examines me? Just to make sure he's not some kind of terrorist or anything? Check that the stirrups aren't going to explode or the speculum’s not made of C-4 or something?"
His face turned bright red. God
, she was crass sometimes.
"Oh. And, uh, no, I'll s
tay in the waiting room, thanks," he mumbled.
She snickered at his being embarrassed. Served him right.
****
Chase
sat in the waiting room feeling about as uncomfortable as he'd ever been. There were several women waiting and kids galore running all over the place.
A little boy
who was about four years old looked up at him from where he was playing with blocks on the floor. "Hey, mister? Why are
you
here? My mommy says this is a doctor for
ladies
.” The kid eyeballed him then practically yelled, “Are you, like, really a lady or something? And did someone beat you up? You have a
big
circle around your eye!"
Every kid in there looked at
Chase, which made his face turn scarlet for the second time that day. Good God. The mother told her son to be quiet, looking sympathetically at Chase, but the damage had been done. The kids watched him warily the rest of the time, keeping their distance, wondering if he might really be a woman disguised as a man. Who’d been beat the hell up. Great.
"Ready?"
Julia asked when she finally came out.
"More than you know," he mumbled.
She looked curiously at him.
"You don't
wanna know."
"Uh, ye
ah, I do," she pushed.
He held the door for her
out of the doctor’s office then to get in the car and walked around getting in the driver's side.
"So what happened?"
she asked as they pulled out into traffic.
"Nothing. Drop it."
"C'mon, you can tell me."
Irritated, he snapped at her,
"Jesus, would you just let it go and stop acting like we're best friends or something."
Ouch.
"You know, you've had your friggin’ tongue rammed down my throat, Chase, so it's not like we're complete strangers, you douche." She huffed out an exasperated breath.
He looked at he
r in the rearview mirror. She had a point. And she never failed to shock the hell out of him. He had to laugh.
"Okay.
It was just this little boy asked why I was there since I was at a doctor’s office for women. Not a big damn deal."
"That was it? You didn't think y
ou could share that with me? Wow. That really hurts."
He had to look
again in the rearview mirror to see if she was being a smartass but she wasn't. She genuinely looked hurt.
He took a breath.
"I'm sorry. I was just embarrassed. Well, the most embarrassing part was the stupid kid asked me if I was really a woman."
Julia
met his eyes in the mirror then cracked up. Yeah, he was so damn glad he'd shared that info with her now.
"That's so cute!"
she said giggling.
"Yeah, adorable."
He sounded annoyed.
She snickered some more.
He looked at her again then started chuckling too. It
was
kind of funny, he guessed. After that, on the way back to the Tower, they chatted about various things, both somewhat surprised at how easily their conversation went.
"I'll see you in the morning,"
Julia said with a smile, after Chase had walked her into the Tower.
"Bright and early," he replied,
smiling back then walked out to the car. He was glad they were getting along and there was no longer any tension between them. Well, regular tension. He thought the sexual tension could still be cut with a knife. But it was just nice being friendly; he hadn't realized how much he'd missed her when she hadn't been talking to him. He just hoped like hell he could keep his feelings for her under control.
****
"I hate to do this to you, but I'm meeting the girls to shop tonight," Julia said after getting in the car the next evening.
Chase
inwardly groaned. Women and their shopping. "Okay. Where to first?"
"Agent Provocateur on Mercer."
He had no idea what Agent Provocateur was, so he put the address in and headed to the store.
They parked in a nearby parking garage and he walked with
Julia to the store. Upon entering, he felt his face flush. Fuck. It was a lingerie store. Holy God.
"You okay?"
Julia snickered at him.
"Uh, yeah, I'm good," he replied, his hand going to his collar tugging at it a little.
"Jules!" Claire hollered, walking up with an armful of items. She giggled when she saw how uncomfortable Chase looked. "First timer, huh?” She patted his forearm sympathetically which brought the lacy bits and pieces closer to him making him pull back a bit. Both Julia and Claire chuckled at him. “Just remember, Chase, it’s a few minutes of pain for a lifetime of hotness!” She waggled her eyebrows at him, which made his face turn redder. Laughing, she jerked her head toward the back and said to Julia, “Lily couldn't make it, but come look!"
"Find anything good?"
Julia asked as she followed, stopping to look at a couple items on the racks.
"Yes! Oh,
my gosh! They've got the prettiest bra and panty set I've ever seen! C'mon!"
And
they were off.
Chase
stood at the front of the store mortified, trying to remain inconspicuous until a salesgirl came by behaving all flirty asking if he needed help. His face flushed and he swallowed loudly declining her help. Jesus. Not knowing where to go, he stayed put and finally got his phone out to play some mindless game to keep himself occupied.
In the meantime,
Julia and Claire were shopping away. They both had armfuls now, Claire had added a little more to her stack, and they went to the dressing rooms. Julia stepped out to look in the mirror wearing a sapphire blue bra and panty set, turning this way and that to see the fit.
About that time,
Chase happened to look up and froze like a statue… a statue with its mouth agape and its dick hardening that is. She was beautiful. He knew she didn't know that he could see her, and he really tried turning away, but being the bastard that he was he didn't.
Claire
came out in some kind of negligee that was long and didn't show a lot, thank God, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Julia. Stunning. That was the only word that came to mind as he looked at her. As she moved to see herself at different angles in the mirrors, he stood mesmerized.
G
roaning quietly to himself and starting to feel like a perv for gawking at her for so long, he finally tore his eyes away to move to another spot in the store. He found a chair and sat down, having to adjust himself in the crotch area to get comfortable. Damn it, he had to keep reminding himself why he needed to stick to the plan.
The girls
finally finished trying things on, coming back out to the floor. Julia looked around not finding Chase at first, but then she spotted where he was sitting and moved to where he was. She couldn't help teasing him reaching above his head.