Chase:: A Bad Boy Romance

by Kylie Walker

  Just then she heard a noise in the quiet office. She froze in the act of getting her things together. Was it the maintenance crew? Probably. It was so late, after all. Who else could it be? She heard a throat being cleared and then footsteps. She held her breath, a little unsettled once she knew she hadn’t been alone. Not like she was singing loudly to herself or belching. She hadn’t done anything embarrassing that she remembered. It was just different, thinking she was alone and finding out that she hadn’t been. Unnerving really. The footsteps drew closer and at last a figure appeared in the doorway. She simultaneously relaxed and tensed at the same time almost, something she wouldn’t have thought possible before meeting Chase Louis.

  “Hey. I thought you had left your light on and was going to turn it off before leaving,” he said with what looked like a genuine smile on his handsome face. He was almost heartbreakingly handsome, like a cross between Jon Hamm and Channing Tatum. He could rock a suit and look dapper and sophisticated—but he had a killer body underneath. She just knew it.

  “I’ve been going through these proofs all evening,” she said. “I finally got the time after my last meeting ended.”

  “You went through all of them?” he asked, eyebrows shooting up.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “I hadn’t expected you to get through all of them at once. Didn’t Brigitte tell you? You had a few days if you needed them.”

  She chuckled. “She didn’t add that part, but you wanted to get started on this right away. Right? So why wait?”

  He shot her one of his half-grins, one corner of his mouth going up while the other stayed put. Her panties started dissolving then and there, while her heart clenched in her chest and she forgot how to breathe. He was so fine.

  “I’m not one for waiting, either,” he admitted. “When I want something. I want it right away. I don’t like to wait. It’s nice to see you feel the same.”

  “I do. I jump in head-first.” When his grin broadened, she could tell he took a double meaning from what she had said innocently. A flush started rising over her skin, starting at her chest and moving up to her neck, then, her cheeks. She looked down at her desk, willing herself to keep her cool.

  “So, what’s a woman like you do for fun on a night like this?”

  She blushed even deeper, keeping her eyes on her work so he wouldn’t catch sight of how flustered he made her. “A woman like me? And what does that mean?”

  “Are you just breaking my balls, or do you really not know what I mean?” She took the chance of glancing at him. He leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed, a smug smile on his handsome face. She felt her heart skip a beat, maybe a couple of beats. She pulled her eyes away before the very sight of Chase killed her.

  “I’m not a ball breaker,” she grinned, flipping through a pile of proofs. “I can see why you weren’t entirely happy with the first set of photos, by the way.”

  “Oh?” She had only wanted to change the topic, but her comment drew him to her side. That was the opposite of what she wanted. The closer he got, the faster her heart beat and the ache between her thighs deepened. He smelled so good, she had to struggle to control her breathing.

  “Yeah, I mean, they say nothing about the brand. The lighting’s all wrong and they don’t speak to the message you want to get across.”

  “And how would you get the message across?” For once, it seemed as though he wasn’t being flirtatious. He wanted her actual thoughts. It was a little jarring.

  Be smart, Jordan. Show him what you’ve got. “You want to convey class, style, sophistication. Upscale. Elite. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “This has all been done. All of it. The girl in fine clothes, the bored rich guy standing off to the side. Blah. Cliché. What about a location shot? There are plenty of places right here in the city that would lend themselves to a perfect background for this.”

  “Such as?”

  “Umm, I don’t know. Central Park? A couple foregoing the normal carriage ride in favor of a tour through the park in the comfort of their luxury automobile. Or glamping!” She was getting more excited the longer she talked about it.

  “Glamping?” He cocked an eyebrow. “What the hell is that?”

  “Glamor camping. Oh, come on. You’ve never heard of it?”

  “No, but I was never one for camping. Too many bugs.” He grinned, his mouth screwing up at one corner.

  Did he have any idea how sexy that single expression was? Or how tough it was for a woman who had been without a man for so long to restrain herself? She quickly cleared her throat. “Glamping is comfort camping. Think massive tents with lanterns and fire pits, satin bedding, portable showers, TVs. That sort of thing.”

  “So how would we tie that into this?”

  “What if we set up a glamping situation and in the middle of it all was the car our couple chose to glamp in? I don’t know. I’m just spitballing.”

  He grinned, nodding. “I like it. You think outside the box. Come up with a list of ideas like that and I’ll float them past the company CEO in the morning. He’s pretty open-minded, and he trusts my judgment. I think he’ll love it.”

  “You know him that well?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “He’s my best friend’s father,” Chase admitted with a smile. Jordan blushed, lowering her eyes. Of course—all rich people knew one another. She wondered if he felt comfortable with her knowing about his inside connection to the job.

  “That’s why it’s important for me to take a hands-on approach. I don’t normally. You won’t find me working this closely on other projects.” He moved just a half step closer. “Though I enjoy the excuse to work closely with you.”

  Her mouth went dry, her knees went weak. Her nipples went rock hard inside her lacy bra. She felt her heart pounding against her ribs, threatening to break them. “You do?” she managed to croak.

  “Yes, I do. Can’t you tell?” He was close, so close. Almost close enough to brush his lips against hers. He held her gaze with his deep-set eyes. They flashed and burned, inviting her closer…she sighed softly, leaning in…

  Then she came to her senses, straightening up and taking a step back. “I’m glad to hear it. I enjoy working with you, too.” She busied herself then in hopes of hiding her shaking hands. If she kept moving, he might not see how flustered he had made her. How close she had come to giving in to what every nerve in her body screamed for.

  “Are you all right, Jordan?” His voice was light, teasing. Like he knew all too well what her problem was and loved it.

  “Just fine. I caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall, is all.” She pointed to the large timepiece which read eight-thirty. “If you want me to have a list of ideas by morning, I’d better get home and start thinking.”

  “I had hoped we could brainstorm together. Maybe over a late dinner?” It didn’t seem to bother him that she had already backed away when it would have been so easy to give in. It hadn’t phased him. He was just that confident.

  “I do my best thinking alone,” she said, hoping he would let it go. She couldn’t stay strong for much longer.

  He seemed to get the hint, straightening up and putting a little more distance between them. “Understood. I’ll leave you to it, then.” He walked back to the open door and then started down the hall. “Have a good night,” he called over his shoulder.

  Only when he was a safe distance from her did she let out the breath she hadn’t known she had been holding.

  Chapter 6

  Chase

  It took everything inside of him to stay at his desk all morning. He was dying to go find Jordan and ask why she didn’t want to go to dinner with him the night before. To say he wasn’t used to women turning him down would be an understatement. In fact, it never happened before, she was the first. There was a first time for everything, or so he reminded himself at home afterward.

  Knowing that she had a list for him was a good excuse to find her, but if he went after her first
thing she would know she had gotten under his skin. He couldn’t let that happen, even though the thought of her was enough to make his cock strain against his zipper yet again. Would she even be into the sort of things he was into? Would she like it rough? He had a feeling she would, and he was usually right about things like that. He could read women. He could read all people. A gift, some would call it. He saw through words, facial expressions. He saw what was underneath it all. Sometimes it was unpleasant knowing what was in a person’s heart or mind. It depended on the person and the situation. God knew it had gotten him through eight years of prison without a scratch. That was worth something. He had kept out of trouble because he knew right away which people to stay away from, who he could trust and who he should avoid.

  He could read Jordan too. He knew she wanted him even if her turning him down had made him question his ego just a little bit. Her breath caught in her throat whenever he came too close to her, and he wasn’t imagining the way that she flirted with him during her interview. The way her blue-gray eyes deepened with need whenever they were close convinced him as well. He had been able to see her pulse racing in her throat when he stood close to her in her office. Yeah. She wanted him.

  So all he needed to figure out was why did she keep pushing him away? Was it because he was her boss? It wouldn’t be the first time a boss fucked his employee. She couldn’t be that naïve, could she? No, not with a body and face like hers. She couldn’t be all that innocent. Maybe she was just a good girl, one with principles. Chase could respect that and if anything it made him like her more. He didn’t just want her body. He liked her too and that made the situation that much worse.

  He forced himself to stay in his office rather than seeking her out and even thought it might be best to have Brigitte call her to ask for the ideas. He wanted her to know he hadn’t forgotten their professional relationship. Hell, maybe she would sweat it out a little. She might wonder why he had asked Brigitte to call instead of calling her on his own. Good. Let her question herself. She might be less eager to turn him down next time.

  When his phone rang minutes later, he wasn’t thrilled with the way he jumped to answer. Like he had been waiting for Jordan to call.

  It wasn’t Jordan, and it wasn’t news of her conversation with his assistant. Instead, Brigitte informed Chase of an outside call.

  “Your mother is on line two.” He heard the wry smile in her voice like she knew just how thrilled he would be to get the news.

  He groaned and pressed his fingertips to his temples before even getting on the phone. Sharon Louis rarely called in the morning and almost never in the middle of the week. She was too busy with tennis lessons and golf games and brunches with her girlfriends. He could tell Brigitte to give her an excuse, but she would only call back. Sometimes it was better to rip the Band-Aid off all at once.

  “Mother. How are you?” He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He wasn’t a praying person, but something about a random phone call from his Mom got him talking to God about a short conversation.

  “Wonderful, sweetheart.” She sounded wonderful, too. He wondered if mimosas hadn’t been on the breakfast menu.

  “Good. What can I do for you?”

  A pause. “Do I only call when you can do something for me? Is that the message you’re trying to get across, Chase?”

  A headache. It was already starting, throbbing softly, steadily. “No, not at all. Boy, you’re testy today. That was a nice way of asking you why you’re calling since I have a meeting in about fifteen minutes that I need to prepare for.”

  “Isn’t that why you pay an assistant?” she sniffed.

  “Mother…”

  “All right, all right. I only wanted to tell you that we’ve set a date for the wedding.”

  That got his attention, at least. He picked up a pen to take note. “And when’s the happy day?”

  “Two weeks from Friday, at the St. Regis.”

  “So soon?” He asked, surprised to hear it.

  “Yes, well, Troy has a business trip that Monday that will take him out of the country for three weeks, and then Cecil has something to do after that…”

  “Oh, right. I assume Cecil is the best man,” Chase said, drawing on his notepad. It was a habit he had picked up over long years of not much to do but study, work out, eat and sleep.

  “Yes. I hope you don’t mind,” Sharon gushed.

  “Why would I mind?”

  “I didn’t know if you wanted to be the best man or not.”

  He snorted. “Hardly. I barely know the man and I realize as I say it that it’s not something to brag about.”

  “You’ve met him,” she sniffed.

  “A few times, sure.”

  “Is it Troy’s fault you’re always busy?”

  He gritted his teeth. There she went, making drama where there wasn’t any and defending her man at all costs. He had learned the hard way how far she could take something like that, no matter what else hung in the balance. He couldn’t go through it again. He didn’t understand how she could.

  Troy seemed like a good guy at least. Sharon’s taste seemed to have improved. They’d had dinner together on a few occasions and had spent a weekend on the yacht and Chase could sense the vast difference between him and his father. Troy commanded attention because he deserved it. He was an intelligent, accomplished person. Chase’s father had demanded it just because he was a narcissistic asshole. Big difference.

  Another way in which they differed was temperament. Chase knew a lot could happen behind closed doors. The things that had happened behind the closed doors of their Park Avenue penthouse had been terrible, but Chase couldn’t imagine Troy behaving as Charles, Sr. had. Troy was mild-mannered, even a little fussy sometimes. He was the polar opposite of the man his mother had married when she was only eighteen.

  He reminded himself of her shortcomings before he spoke. “I wasn’t laying blame. I was showing that I understood why Troy would ask his son to be his best man instead of me. There’s no offense taken.”

  “Oh, good.” They were friends again. She sounded bright and sunny.

  “Will there be a rehearsal dinner the night before?”

  “Yes, dear, a nice quiet dinner at the hotel. No fuss.” Chase smirked as he made a note. No fuss. He was sure she would keep the guest list around one hundred and only serve two kinds of champagne to go with the lobster. His mother was never one for half-measures.

  “I’ll be there.”

  “I’m so glad,” she said. “This is the beginning of something really great. I can feel it in my bones.”

  When she put it that way, he softened. She deserved something really great. God knew she had already spent more than enough time in hell. Poor woman. No matter how many times he had begged her and flat-out pleaded with her to leave his father, she always had a reason why she couldn’t go. While studying for his degree, he had made it a point to learn all he could about psychology. He had needed to understand why a woman would stay with a terrible, brutal man like Charles for so long. He didn’t get any answers from textbooks. There was no way of knowing what went on in a person’s head.

  The best Chase could tell, she was a woman who had been raised believing she needed a man to protect her. The thing was, she had needed protection from her man, but she never saw it that way until it was too late. She had Troy to protect her now and she was obviously happy about that. Chase couldn’t give her grief for it, even though he had been the one to pay for the choices she had made. She had been through enough. Besides, it wasn’t like he hadn’t come out all right in the end.

  “Will you bring a guest?” she asked. He had to grin. Their history wasn’t exactly typical, but there were a lot of ways in which she was just a typical mother. Asking questions that went a lot deeper than the surface.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  “Nobody special right now?”

  “Nobody worth bringing to my mother’s wedding if that’s what you’re ask
ing. You know how women are,” he cracked.

  “Chase…”

  “I’m kidding. In seriousness, let’s keep the option open. I might bring somebody, I might not. Maybe I’ll kidnap Troy the night before. Cecil and I can show him a good time before he settles down for good.”

  She chuckled. “I’m sure Cecil would just love that. You know how stuffy he is.”

  He didn’t know him at all, actually. Cecil had struck him as being a little dry and boring when they had met, but that had been maybe twice in two years. It was funny too since from what Chase had heard about him, he had been a real hell raiser in his youth. He must have gotten it all out of his system and then some.

  “Do you need anything from me?” Chase asked. “Anything at all.”

  “No, I think I’m all right. Your Aunt Penny is helping with a lot. She was too young to help me plan…before.” Her words fell heavy on his ears. Her tone of voice changed. She didn’t like thinking about that first, tragic marriage. He couldn’t blame her. His blood began simmering a little as images of years’ worth of brutality came to the front of his mind.

  “You deserve your happiness,” he reminded her.

  “I wish you would find yours,” she murmured.

  “I find happiness with a new woman every other night of the week,” he joked.

  “And with that, our conversation is over,” she concluded in a dry tone of voice. He chuckled as he hung up, both looking forward to and dreading her wedding day. He would have to find somebody to bring to the event if only to keep him from dying of boredom. He was never one to schmooze. He could do it, of course. He just dreaded it with his entire being.

  Only then did he remember Jordan, and the fact that she hadn’t called. He glanced at the laptop monitor in case she had emailed. Sure enough, she had. He smiled a little, thinking of the hoops she was willing to jump through to stay away from him. What was it that compelled her to go against what she wanted? And what would he have to do to break her down?