Hank nodded slowly, looking back and forth between them. "I see," he said slowly.
“Mr. Murphy, it's not like we planned it! Please don't fire Chase! It's my fault, really. I all but threw myself at him!"
Allen raised his eyebrows at this, giving Chase a look.
Shit! Allen was going to think he’d taken advantage of her! "That's not true. I was the pursuer. She put me in my place several times, but I couldn’t help myself. She’s just so beautiful." He looked over at her and saw her melt at his words which made him smile.
Hank's eyebrows went up then.
After they all sat there a minute just looking at each other, she'd had enough. Julia was going to clear the air whatever the consequences. C'est la vie and all that, right? "Look, Dad, Mr. Murphy. Here's the dealio. Chase," she held her hands palm up at Chase, "and myself," she moved her palms back toward herself, placing her fingers on her chest, "love each other. After all we've been through, nothing's going to keep us apart. So do what you have to do—tell us we can't be together, scream at us, call the cops, try to exert your authority over me—" she glanced at Allen, “nothing's going to change how we feel." She looked at Chase all, "You agree, right?" He winked at her then grabbed her hand, squeezing it, proud of how brave she was even if she was being a veritable smartass… and risking his manhood. He felt himself cringe once again at the thought.
Allen had wondered how long it'd take for the smartass that was his daughter to return. He pursed his lips to hold back a chuckle.
Chase looked at his dad. "If this means I lose my job, then so be it. I love her, Pop. She's worth it."
Hank had gotten a huge kick out of all of this. He steepled his hands, elbows on his desk looking at his son. "You remember signing a no-fraternization policy don't you, Chase?"
"Yes, sir, I do." Shit. Here came the part where he was relieved of his duties.
"Yet you chose to ignore it."
"Look, Pop. I had no intention of falling in love with Julia. It… well, it just happened. I mean, how could I resist?" He mumbled the last part, as he looked softly at her, running the backs of his fingers gently over her still-bruised cheek. She smiled at him, taking his hand with hers and leaning her cheek into it. At Hank’s cough, Chase suddenly came out of the little "moment" he'd been having with her and turned to face his dad. He straightened in his chair, acting more professionally and said, "I understand that you have to do what's right. I'm guilty of malfeasance, no doubt about it."
"Well, then I have no other alternative but to take you off this job, Chase."
"Now just a goddamned moment here!" Julia was up and out of her chair in a flash. "It's not his fault! Seriously, I was the one who pushed things. Chase kept telling me he needed this job, that he wouldn't be able to go to law school without it, but stupid me kept goading him into a relationship with me. You can't fire him! It's all my fault!" She was livid now, animatedly flailing her hands everywhere, punctuating each sentence with a finger pointed at Hank.
"Julia," Chase said, trying to get her attention.
She turned to him. "What, Chase? It's not fair and you know it! I've ruined your life!" Turning back to Hank she begged, "Mr. Murphy, you can't do this to him!"
"Julia," Chase called, trying to calm her down. She was just making things worse with her outrage.
She ignored him, continuing her tirade. "Dad, please don't let him do this! If he doesn’t have this job, he'll have to drop out of school, then he'll…" She looked at Chase. "You'll…" Her voice lowered to a mutter. "You'll drop… me…" Oh, God! She hadn't thought of that until now. If she'd gotten him fired, how could he want to be with her?
She stood looking at him, her brow creased with worry. She didn't want to lose him. Not now. Not after all they'd been through.
"I'm not going to drop you, baby," Chase said, smiling softly at her. No way would he leave her. But he knew their time together would lessen since he'd have to take another client, and between another job and his classes, they’d hardly see each other. And how the hell was he going to find another assignment that paid as well? He'd saved a couple thousand, but that'd, what, pay for maybe two classes next semester?
Allen's heart broke for both of them. He knew what it was like to love someone desperately only to lose them. He had to let them know immediately what he'd planned before Julia broke down even more. "Julia? Honey, have a seat."
She stood, her eyes locked on Chase's as a tear spilled over, falling down her bruised cheek, looking at him almost as if she were memorizing his face knowing he'd be leaving her soon.
"Julia?" Allen said softly, standing to move closer to her. She snapped out of her trance and looked half-dazed up at her father. She sat down silently, wiping the tear away. "Julia, I've been thinking the past several weeks about this, and I hope it'll work out. Chase? How would you like to do an internship with my company this summer?"
Chase was stunned. Was he serious? Hell yeah, he'd like that. He couldn't help but grin. He looked at Julia, reaching over, taking her hand in his then looked back at Allen. "Yes, Allen, that would be perfect. Thank you, sir."
"Well, it'd be almost like I'd hired you on, so you wouldn't quite be making six figures, but if you stayed on until you graduated, a seven-figure salary wouldn't be too far off in the future."
Chase's mouth fell open as he stared at Allen. Had he just said six and seven pertaining to digits? As in salary? For him? Holy shit!
Julia shot out of her chair again but this time to wrap her arms around Allen’s neck, a new wave of tears slipping down her cheeks. "Thank you, Daddy," she whispered.
He hugged her back as tightly as he could, knowing he only wanted to make his daughter happy. Though he'd decided to ask Chase to join his company some time back, it couldn't hurt that he now looked like a hero in his daughter’s eyes.
“You knew all along, didn’t you?” Chase looked at his dad knowing he’d made him sweat just for the hell of it.
Hank chuckled. “Yes, son, Allen and I discussed it earlier.”
“Brutal, Pop. Pretty fucking brutal.”
Hank laughed. “Yeah, I know. I’m pretty proud of your mother for keeping this to herself, too.”
“Mom knew too?” Chase just shook his head as his dad’s eyes sparkled with mischief at him.
When Julia was finished hugging her father, Chase stood and shook Allen's hand, thanking him for the job offer.
"I see good things in you, kid." Allen clasped Chase's shoulder with his hand. "It really had nothing to do with making Julia happy, but let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?" he said quietly then winked at him.
"Yes, sir," Chase said, chuckling. He wouldn't have said anything either way. He knew Julia and her dad had just patched things up, and he knew she needed her father.
Julia hugged Allen again. She was so excited about what he'd done for Chase. He'd definitely earned major "Dad" points for it. "You're the best, Daddy," she said as she kissed his cheek.
Allen's eyes welled with tears as he hugged her; he was so glad to have his daughter back.
***
Allen made arrangements with Hank for Chase to stay on the job for two more weeks until things settled down. It was business as usual when Allen had to fly to California two days later to attend a week-long conference, but still being wary of things, he asked Chase to stay overnight with Julia.
It hadn’t been a tough decision for Chase to agree to stay. He and Julia alone for almost a week in her apartment? Uh, jackpot!
Friday night they planned to meet friends at a neighborhood bar. Julia had only talked to Claire, Lily and Jacob on the phone, not wanting them to see the damage done to her face because she knew they’d freak out over it. Her eye still had some redness in it and there was still some bad bruising on her cheek, but she could cover most of it with makeup. She missed her friends too much, so she was willing to meet them out and allow them to go all gaga over her for a while.
Since it was such a nice evening, she and Chase ended
up walking to the bar, which was only a couple blocks away. He held her hand and couldn't stop grinning at the fact that he could. He could also kiss her in public and hug her if he wanted.
"How fucking awesome is this?" he asked her as he grabbed her and kissed her right there in damn near downtown Manhattan. She laughed at him, wrapping her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his chest as they walked.
"Pretty fucking awesome," she replied with a giggle. She, too, was giddy in the fact that they didn't have to hide their relationship anymore. He laughed at her repeating his words and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
“Julia!” Claire squealed when they walked into the bar, and she, Lily and Jacob all literally ran to her to embrace her.
“God, baby girl, we’ve missed you so much,” Jacob told her. “We were so damn scared for you.”
Julia started crying then, her mental state still a little out of whack from all that’d happened.
“Don’t weep, little sheep,” Lily said, petting her hand down Julia’s hair, tears of her own falling down her cheeks.
“Lily, I hate your stupid animal sayings,” Claire said as she cried right along with them.
“Yeah, they are pretty ridiculous,” Jacob added.
Julia couldn’t help but laugh at the look of indignation on Lily’s face.
“Thank you for getting her back safely, Chase,” Claire said as she tiptoed up to kiss his cheek.
“Just doing my job,” he replied then couldn’t help but grin when they all looked at him in a Yeah, right, it had nothing to do with the fact that you’re in love with her or anything way.
They found a table and jumped right in, telling Julia how they could barely even tell that she’d been hit, complimenting her on her makeup job, telling her how brave she’d been, which made her feel much better just having their support and being with them again. When the conversation steered toward Claire’s latest hottie, Chase went to get everyone drinks and that was when Boone, Oz and Gunner showed up.
“Add three more to your order, prick,” Oz said with a laugh as all three men approached the bar where Chase was waiting.
“I’ll do that, dickface. I’ll just have the bartender put it all on your tab,” Chase said laughing.
“Damn, hero. That was harsh,” Boone said, punching Chase lightly in the arm.
Chase shook his head at that. “I’m not a hero, man.” He looked at Gunner. “We were just doing our job, right, bro?” He held his fist out and Gunner knocked it with his.
“Wish I’d have been there,” Boone commented. “Would’ve loved to get in on the action.” He pursed his lips in regret, then immediately cheered up as he looked to his left. “Jesus Christ, would you look at that hot, little piece of ass?” he muttered as a woman in hot pants walked past.
The guys all checked her out, of course, then laughed when Boone grabbed a drink the bartender was placing on a tray for Chase and told them he was out as he followed her to her table.
They ended up closing the bar down. As everyone left, hugs being given all around, Chase and Julia decided to walk back. Holding hands, they took off.
"Isn't this nice being able to be ourselves in public? To be 'normal'?" he asked her.
"I don't know, Murphy. I don't want you to become a distraction to my job or anything." She spun and walked backward facing him.
He chuckled. "Oh, yeah?"
"Oh, yeah." She twisted back around walking beside him again. "My having feelings for you could be dangerous," she teased, lowering her voice like she was him talking then playfully knocked into him with her shoulder.
"For someone who acts so cocky and brave, you sure are a chickenshit," he mocked her texted words she'd sent him what seemed like forever ago.
"I'm also a dickhead, a fucktard and an asshat. What's your point?" She giggled.
"All I can say is, your loss."
"But I'm finding it so hard to stay away from you."
"Then don't. Just for tonight. Then things can go back to normal tomorrow," he mimicked.
"You're nothing but a little cock tease," she said with a snigger.
"I hate the fact that I'm falling for you."
"So, you want to be fucked, Princess? You sure you can handle it?" She couldn't help but giggle more.
He grabbed her then, pushing her back against a building, not caring who was around them to see. Julia let out a little squeak at his having moved so fast. His hands were against the wall on either side of her face as his eyes burned into hers. "My God, you're beautiful."
She self-consciously moved her hand to her bruised cheek, feeling ugly because of it. He took her hand, moving it away from her face and kissed her palm then leaned in and tenderly kissed her cheek. "Always beautiful." Covering her mouth with his, he kissed her deeply, his tongue moving languidly against hers. His lips went to her neck and he breathed her in knowing he'd never tire of her clean scent.
"Take me home and make love to me, Chase," she said in a breathy voice.
"Thought you'd never ask," he growled. Snaking his arm around her waist, he pulled her back out to the sidewalk.
He and Julia walked back to the Tower, arms wrapped around each other, just another couple in love walking through town.
Epilogue
"I’ve got another date with Brad!" Lily squealed to Julia over the phone.
"What? You do? That's awesome!" Julia said, laughing with her best friend.
"I know, right? We’ve been going out for two weeks! I just might break a record with this one." She giggled.
"That's great, Lil. I'm so happy for you! Make plans to double date soon!"
"Will do, cockatoo! Bye!"
Julia snickered as she hung up. At least Lily was staying optimistic, having gone through at least ten guys in the last two years. Julia went back to work when her phone rang again. Good grief!
"Julia Cooke," she answered.
"J! We still on for tonight?" Claire asked.
"Your place at seven, got it marked down on my calendar."
"Good! Joe and I are going to kick your and Chase's asses all over the place!"
Claire had been dating Joe for a little over a year, which was really a record, especially for her. And she’d practically become a domestic goddess, cooking, cleaning the house, even buying her own groceries. Julia was beyond shocked since she’d never seen Claire do anything of the sort; her family’s maids or butlers or whatever they were had always taken care of all that daily crap for them. Julia thought it was cool that Claire loved Joe so much that she wanted to take care of him in that way. It was also cool that Joe helped her with it all.
Chase seemed to really like Joe, his being a cop probably having a lot to do with why they got along so well, having similar backgrounds with protecting people and all. The past several times they'd all gotten together, Claire had been on some damned Pictionary kick, so that’s what they did. Played Pictionary. Yay. And Chase and Julia got their butts whipped every time. They both sucked badly at drawing; if her object to draw was, say, a shoe, it came out looking like a damned pickle. Chase wasn’t any better in that his people all resembled chimpanzees, and the one time he’d tried drawing a monkey, it’d actually looked like a person. The whole thing had become a running joke between the two of them. If one of them screwed up something at work, or anything went wrong, well, anywhere, they’d say to the other, “Man, you Pictionaried that up bad!”
Oh, and it didn’t help that Claire was an interior designer who had a knack for drawing. And who would’ve thought that Joe could draw like freakin' Rembrandt?
"Probably," Julia murmured.
Claire laughed. "Okay! See you at seven!"
When Julia got off work, she headed back to the apartment. When she opened the door, she saw a trail of rose petals leading into the bedroom. Smiling great big, she called, "Chase?" No answer. She set her valise on the hall tree, taking off her raincoat and hanging it up. She followed the path of petals into the bedroom. Still no sign of hi
m. "Okay, you're kinda creeping me out now."
Chase walked out of the closet, where he’d been hanging his suit jacket, loosening his tie and looking sexy as ever. He came over to her, cupping her face and kissing her then pulled back. "Happy anniversary, baby."
"I can’t believe you remembered! Happy anniversary, sweetheart," she replied, tiptoeing up to kiss him again. "Did a bouquet of roses explode in the apartment or what?"
He rolled his eyes. "Two years we've been together," he said.
"Damn. Has it only been that long? Seems like at least ten." She giggled.
"Smartass. C'mere." He kissed her again, then sat her on their bed.
They'd moved in together the summer before, right after Chase had taken the bar exam. With his new salary, they could afford their own apartment. Even though Allen had offered them a place in the Tower at a discounted rate, Chase felt that Allen had done enough by giving him the internship, and he didn't feel it'd be right to accept an apartment too. When Chase had gotten the results that’d he’d passed the bar the previous fall, he’d applied for and received a job offer at a very prestigious firm that he’d be taking as soon as he finished up a case he was working on for Allen’s company. He was definitely grateful to Allen for the opportunity he’d been given, but Chase’s pride wouldn't allow him to sponge off Julia's father, so he'd interviewed at various firms finally landing the job he'd be taking in a month. Allen had been disappointed but his respect for Chase had grown even more because of his decision.
Chase now knelt in front of Julia, taking her hand in his. Her eyes got great big as she realized what he was doing.
"Chase! I'm not ready for this!"
He drew back to look at her, the hurt apparent in his eyes.
Julia noticed then backtracked. "I mean, look at me! Here you are looking all fine and yummy in your oxford shirt with that sexy as hell red power tie going on, your hair all messy and hot, and I'm all grungy from just getting in from work! At least let me put some fresh lipstick on!"
He barked out a laugh as relief washed over him. "Julia, you just don't get how beautiful you are, do you? Now, shut that gorgeous mouth and hear me out."
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