"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.
Groaning 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.
"Is this a hint?" she asked him.
"What?"
"This." In her hands she held a whip and a mask that was sold as a set as she smirked down at him.
He stood up quickly. "Uh, no, I, uh, didn't even, uh, know that stuff was there," he stammered.
She giggled at his nervousness. "Uh, huh. Sure you didn't," she said playfully, running the end of the whip down his chest to his abs, locking eyes with him, biting her bottom lip. "I had no idea you were into kinky, Chase." She chuckled at the look of shock on his face then put the things back and walked to the counter to pay.
Chase stood there speechless. What was wrong with him? He was usually never bothered or embarrassed easily by anything, well, except when little kids were questioning his gender, but Julia had managed to make him friggin' stutter just then. Thing was, he knew why. He just didn't want to admit it.
Seeing her holding that whip had turned him on for some damn reason. He wasn't into that shit, but she just made it all look so hot. And damned if he wouldn't let her use the thing on him if he ever had the chance. God, he was in so much trouble.
Regaining his composure, he walked behind the girls to the door, opening and holding it for them. Outside, Claire told them good-bye, walking to where she'd parked her car and Chase and Julia walked back to the garage.
"Did you have fun?" Julia asked, laughing.
"Loads," he said dryly.
"I'll bet." She couldn’t help but laugh at him again.
He gave her a gimlet eye as he held her door open while she got in which made her chuckle even more. Upon getting back to the Tower, Chase parked in the garage, not letting Julia off at the front.
"What are you doing?" she asked him.
"Walking you in."
"Oh."
He grabbed a duffle bag out of the trunk. She wondered what was in it, but didn't bother to ask. She just wanted to take a shower, fix something to eat and relax for a bit.
Julia saw Ben the minute they entered the lobby. "Ben-eficial! What's up?" She high-fived him.
"Same ol', same ol', Julia Gulia."
She snorted. "That was just too easy. Better work harder on your research."
Ben laughed. “That I will do, baby girl.”
“Better or you won’t be able to keep up with me.” Julia gave him a huge smile then walked to the elevator where she pressed the button then jumped in when the doors opened. Chase got on with her. Um. Hello? "What are you doing? I think I'm safe in my own building."
"Allen," Chase said, shrugging. It was apparent her father hadn’t told her. Oh, this was gonna be good.
"This is so ridiculous. He left this morning. He wouldn't even know if you let me go by myself." He raised an eyebrow at her and she just shook her head.
When they got to the penthouse level, they both got off and walked to the apartment door. Julia entered the code and opened the door, stepping inside to punch numbers on a panel to disarm the alarm.
"Okay, I'm good," she turned and told Chase, who'd followed her in. "You can leave now."
"Didn't Allen tell you?" he asked.
"Tell me what?"
"I'm staying with you until he gets back."
The look of disbelief on her face made him chuckle.
"Can you show me to the guest bedroom? I'd like to get settled in," he said with a smirk.
"Uh." That was all she could get out. She was shocked that Allen hadn't at least told her.
"That's okay, I'll find it myself," Chase told her with a grin, walking toward the hallway where Allen had informed him his room was.
Julia stood there in shock. Holy shit. Chase Murphy was going to be sleeping in the room across from hers. They'd be in the same apartment. Alone. With nothing but a couple of doors separating them.
Dear Lord, kill me now.
Chapter 7
Stupid Allen. He never tells me any damn thing. God, I hate him so much sometimes.
"Um, yeah, keep going. It's to your right." Julia tried acting as if she hadn’t been taken off guard as she hollered to Chase while he headed down the hallway.
I will so put some liquid laxative in Allen’s coffee when he gets back. How could he have forgotten to tell me this? What an ass. Julia groaned. How is this gonna work? What if I sleepwalk into Chase's room, slip and fall, and my vagina just happens to land on his dick? She snorted at this thought. Oh, to hell with him. He’s made it clear he doesn’t want anything to do with me, and he's got a girlfriend anyway.
Bastard.
Chase came out of the room, his eyebrows raised, looking at her.
"What?" Julia looked back at him through narrowed eyes. "Not good enough for you, Murphy?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's nice. I just didn't know if I needed to order out dinner or what?"
Julia sighed. "Do you like spaghetti and meatballs? I was going to make it anyway." She mumbled something about it being her mother’s recipe.
"Yeah, sounds good, but before you start, can you show me around first? I'd like to see each room, if you don't mind."
Julia led him past Allen's office, since he’d been in it before, then down the hallway to the library. Next, she showed him Allen's bedroom and finally the den.
"Thanks for the tour. Now, about dinner? Need me to do anything?" he asked as they walked back to the living room.
"Not yet. I'm going to take a shower first then I'll be out. I can trust you out here alone, can't I?"
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna be walking out with the silver or anything. Although this is kinda tempting." He picked up some swirly bronze sculpture, of what, he had no idea.
Julia snickered. "Be my guest. I call that The Giant Vagina."
Chase set it back down quickly, feeling his face redden. Leaning back to look at it, he realized it did look like a giant vagina. Christ.
Satisfied with embarrassing him once again, Julia went to her bedroom with a sneer on her face.
Chase cursed under his breath that he’d let her best him once again. Suck it up, stupid, he scolded himself as he looked around at the various sculptures and art pieces in
the living room. What was all this crap for anyway? He was sure they were expensive, but for the most part they were the ugliest things he'd ever seen. He guessed rich people had so much money they ran out of shit to spend it on.
He let out a low whistle when he looked at the TV. He'd seen it the other morning and was still awe-struck by it. Sucker was freakin' huge, like a damned movie theater screen. He sat on the couch and quickly figured out the remote, turning to ESPN where the Yankees were playing. Now this was good watching.
Julia had gotten out of the shower ready to put on her usual evening wear, shorts and a tank top, but remembering that Chase was there, she changed her mind, putting on an old pair of jeans and a sweatshirt instead. She was going to respect his my job is dangerous so I can't be with you because my cock might cause me to be inattentive to potential stalkers who want to kidnap you and make Allen cry because he might have to part with a Benjamin or two standpoint and not try to lure him with sleazy apparel... although it was tempting. She also decided she’d ignore him as best she could along with any feelings she may have for him. If he wasn’t letting things go any farther between them, may as well save herself some grief. Let Operation Forget Chase begin.
"I see you've made yourself at home." Julia smirked as she walked into the living room.
"Yep. Give me a sports channel, and it's all good." Chase smiled that sexy crooked grin at her. Ugh. Why'd he have to be so gorgeous?
She rolled her eyes then went into the kitchen getting things ready to make dinner. Peggy had made a double batch of meatballs the month before, so Julia pulled the extras out of the freezer. As she turned around, she all but ran into Chase.
"Holy shit! God, what are you, like, a ninja?"
"Wanted to see if you needed help. Need me to do anything?" he said, chuckling at her reaction.
"First of all, why don't you let me teach you about that little rule concerning people's personal space? You know, each person has like a one to two foot space around them that's all theirs and no one's allowed in it unless they get permission. Jeez. Didn't you ever play basketball? Because if you had, you'd have known what you just did? Foul." She shook her head, rolling her eyes once again.
He laughed at her. "Damn, you're a picky little thing."
"I just like my space. And I don't like being snuck up on either."
"Okay, duly noted. Now, what do you want me to do?" One side of his lips tilted up a bit.
Jerk. She was tempted to tell him to go watch his game, but, hell, if he was going to be eating, he may as well help. Why should she cook for his ass?
“There’s a bottle of wine in the refrigerator. You could get that out and pour us drinks, first.” She pointed to the cabinet where the wine glasses were.
“Done. What now?”
"In the cabinet under the microwave, you'll find a Dutch oven. Get it out and fill it two-thirds full of water."
She turned to get some spaghetti noodles out of another cabinet then got spices out of another. Turning back around, she saw him digging around in the cabinet looking for the pot.
"Need help?"
"Uh, yeah. What exactly is a Dutch oven?"
"It's a big pot. It should be right there in front of you."
"Why didn't you just say 'big pot' instead of being all fancy and shit?"
"What's fancy about saying 'Dutch oven'? It's a very common cooking utensil. There's nothing fancy about it at all."
Chase pulled the pot out, taking it to the sink to fill with water, all the while mumbling to himself, "Dutch oven. Looks like a big damn pot to me. What's Dutch about it? What, was it made in Dutchland, wait, Holland, no, the Netherlands, shit, I don't know, Jesus."
Julia chuckled to herself as she put the garlic in the press to mince it.
"Now what?"
"Put it on the stove and turn the burner on high."
After doing as she said, Chase paused to look at her, checking her out while she had her back to him. Her old jeans with the holes in the knees and one patched over on her ass were too adorable. She'd really gotten under his skin. He'd never had to control himself around a woman like he did around her. And wasn't this a great predicament for him to be in, staying the night with her? Yep. Just fine and dandy.
He came over to her. "Mm, that smells good. Really garlicky."
"I wonder why since it's… um, garlic?" she snarked.
"Oh. Maybe that's why then."
"Is this your first time to cook?" She looked at him out of the side of her eye.
"Uh, yeah. I guess it is."
She turned and stared full-on at him.
"What?" he asked.
"How old are you? Twenty-four? And you've never cooked before? You're kidding me!"
"Almost twenty-five, and, no. So?"
"So? So? So, what the hell do you eat?"
"Lots of take-out. Sandwiches. I don't know, stuff."
"Wow."
"Why 'wow'?"
"Because you're eating shit. How do you function on greasy take-out?"
"Well, that 'shit' has been sustaining me for the past five or six years. Guess it's okay since I don't weight 300 pounds."
"Keep eating that way and one day you will."
As Julia mixed together the sauce, giving him orders on things to do, she gave him her spiel over how he should eat better, clucking her tongue at him. Chase let her ramble on as she drained the noodles because she was too cute, behaving like a mother hen toward him. And he sort of loved it that she even gave a damn about him.
"You finished?" he asked when she finally took a breath.
"Well, yeah, but you really should take what I've just said seriously."
He snorted, thinking of Brock and him standing in the kitchen together preparing dinner together. Right. That so wasn't happening.
"You can get the plates out of that cabinet. Forks are in that drawer, napkins in that one."
"God, you're bossy."
"Look, if you want to eat out of the stupid pots, that's your prerogative. I, myself, would rather eat like a human being."
He chuckled when she huffed and got a plate, fork and napkin for herself, filling her plate with spaghetti, covering it with the sauce and meatballs, got a piece of bread then sat at the bar eating while not waiting on him. Chase did the same, sitting down next to her. They ate in silence for awhile until he broke the ice.
"This is amazing."
"Thanks."
"Your mom's recipe?"
"Yeah."
Okay. He took a drink of his wine.
"So, how long have you lived here?"
"All my life."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Well, hell. He was getting a whole lot of nothing out of her. Let's try this again.
"So, you like it then?"
"Uh huh."
Now he knew how she must've felt trying to get him to talk to her the past two years. God, I'm a dick.
When they finished, they scraped their plates, putting them in the dishwasher then cleaned up the mess, Julia giving him more orders on where to put things.
"So, what now?"
"What do you mean, what now?"
"Well, what do you usually do after you eat?"
"I don't know. Check emails, bake something, fly to Paris. Jeez, I don't know." She eyed him suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"
"Damn. I was just wondering."
"It's late so think I'm going to bed. There's apple pie in the fridge if you're interested. G'night."
"Good night. Oh, you need to leave your bedroom door open."
She turned to look at him in shock. "What? Why?"
"I need to be able to hear you."
She gaped at him, nonplussed.
"In case something were to happen," he explained.
She still said nothing.
"Or I guess we could get one of those baby monitors so I could hear what was going on in there?"
Guess Johnny's gonna have the next several days off, she thought then blushed
profusely, mortified at the thought of Chase hearing her like that.
"Oh, okay. I'll make sure to open it before I go to sleep then."
It was already ten o'clock, so Julia picked up her cell phone and headed to her bedroom. After shutting her door, she called Claire and Lily on three-way calling and keeping her voice low, told them that Chase was staying with her since Allen was gone.
"Someone's gonna get some!" Claire sang.
"Oh, yeah! You go, girl!" Lily chimed in.
"You guys are so ridiculous. He's already told me that he can't get involved with me," Julia said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, he has a girlfriend."
"Have you asked him again if he does? They could've broken up since then. Just because you saw pictures doesn't mean it's true! Or the pictures could be old ones, anyway," Lily replied.
"Exactly! Have you seen her in real life?" Claire seconded.
"No, but you should see how happy he looks in them." Julia sighed. "And whatever happened between us only happened because of some stupid tension. And, oh, yeah, because he was stinking drunk!"
"You never know, Jules. He might really have it for you good!" Lily said.
"Yeah! And I could hook up with one of his bodyguard friends and we could double date with you!" Claire squealed.
"Okay, girls, time to return from La La Land," Julia said sarcastically, telling them goodbye and hanging up. She put on her pjs, brushed her teeth then cracked her door open feeling really uncomfortable about it and lay down. It felt weird to have Chase in the apartment, but she did feel rather safe. She drifted off shortly after.
After Chase had told Julia good night, he'd walked around the apartment again becoming more familiar with each room. After making his round, he checked the alarm again, making sure it was set. He watched TV for a half hour, ate a piece of pie, then went to his bedroom, stopping and listening at her door. It was dark and quiet. She was asleep. Good.
He showered then put on a pair of sleep pants. He usually slept in his boxer briefs, but if he had to check something out in the middle of the night, he didn't want to take time to throw something on. He laid his Glock on the bedside table then turned off the lamp and lay back, closing his eyes. Sleep overtook him quickly, but he was restless all night long, dreaming of Julia being just out of arm's reach from him as he tried to keep her safe from some vile, covert presence.
Being Chased Page 9