He felt a hesitancy it her words. "But?"
"No buts. I just have to get my things from his condo. Make sure he knows I'm really done."
"Want me to go with you?"
Jamie considered. "I don't know. That could get awkward. But I really don't want to go alone, either."
"How about I go with you, but wait in the lobby?"
"That would work," Jamie said. She pushed Chase toward the bathroom. "Now go clean up. You're crusty."
Chase showered and dressed, and they left the hotel. Chase felt as if something in the world had shifted, as if everyone should know how completely his life had changed since the last time he was outside. When he and Jamie had entered the hotel, he had been bursting with need, every fiber of his being aflame with frustration and love and lust. Now, leaving the hotel not even a day later, he felt like he was almost a different person. One night with Jamie, and she'd stolen his soul, hidden it within herself. She had shown him what he'd been missing his entire life, and now he couldn't fathom being without it...couldn't fathom being without her.
They caught a cab, and Jamie gave the driver the address. A few minutes later they pulled up in front of an upscale high-rise condo building right on Lake Michigan. Chase went into the lobby with her, holding her hand. He stopped with her at the bank of elevators.
"I'll come up with you," Chase said.
Jamie shook her head. "It's fine. It's not like I'm scared of him or anything. He's a good person, and...I don't know. I just feel like if I leave your side, even for ten seconds, this whole thing will pop like a bubble. Like you and I finally being together is a dream that I could wake up from any second."
Chase laughed in relief and put his forehead to hers, one arm around her waist, the other tangled with hers at their sides. "God, I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling that way."
The elevators dinged, and the doors whooshed open. A disbelieving huff of male laughter sounded from within the elevator directly in front of them.
"Fucking bollocks, Jamie. Didn't imagine you'd move on quite that fast." The British voice from Jamie's cell phone.
Jamie jumped in Chase's arms, gasping in surprise. "Ian...I--um..."
Chase felt her pulse leap into a frenzy. He stepped away from Jamie, still holding her hand.
"I don't guess there's much to say, then, is there?" The man, tall and good-looking with sandy hair and blue eyes, flicked his gaze from Jamie to Chase, his eyes alternating between angry and hurt and confused. "I'll just go."
"Ian, wait. I'm sorry for this, but--well...I don't know. I told you it was complicated."
"Complicated?" Ian laughed, a sarcastic sound. "Complicated is having feelings for another bloke when you're with me. Complicated I can deal with. Having a tumble with him in the lobby of my flat building is a bit different, I'd say."
"I wasn't--" Jamie started. "Listen, I just need my stuff, okay?"
"You've been fucking him all along, haven't you?" Ian said, fists clenched at his sides.
"What? No! Ian, don't make this into something it's not--"
"You stormed off yesterday, and I thought you'd just need some time to cool off. I thought...I thought you'd come back, and we'd discuss it a bit, figure things out. I--you--" Ian turned away, paced a few steps, and then turned back. "You ran straight to him, didn't you? Straight from his bed to mine."
Chase couldn't keep himself from intervening. "Now, hold on just a minute, pal. You don't have to like the situation, but you've got no call to insult her."
"Sod off. I'm not talking to you, Yank." Ian dismissed Chase with a flick of his fingers. "I'm talking to Jamie, so you can just shut your fucking mouth."
"Fuck you. You're being a dick."
"Chase, don't." Jamie pushed at Chase's chest. "Just let me talk to him."
"Like I said," Ian punctuated his next words with a finger poking hard into Chase's shoulder, "sod...off."
Chase knocked Ian's hand away and stepped in front of Jamie, putting his back to her so he was inches away from Ian. "Don't touch me."
Chase heard Jamie moan in frustration when Ian's fist flashed up and into Chase's stomach, knocking the wind from him. He saw red, lunging.
4
Jamie groaned in irritation. Fucking stupid posturing males.
She saw Ian's fist move in slow motion, slam into Chase's stomach, then watched a transformation overtake Chase. He grunted, sucking in a breath, then straightened. His face was a rictus of rage.
She had to stop this before it got really ugly. She stepped in front of Chase and shoved him back as hard as she could, taking his face in her hands. His eyes dragged from Ian to her.
"Don't, Chase." She spoke so low only he could hear it. "Do not do this."
"Motherfucker sucker-punched me," Chase snarled.
"I know," Jamie said. "I know. But please just let it go. It's not worth fighting over. I hurt him, okay? He has a right to be angry--he's just being a child about it. Taking it out on you instead of me. Just walk away, okay? There's a pub a couple doors down. Go have a drink while I get my stuff. Please?"
Chase's chest heaved, and she saw the rage warring with his desire to please her. "Fine. Only for you." He spun on his heel and stormed off, fists clenched.
"Pansy," Ian's voice said from behind her, goading.
Jamie whirled, seeing Chase's shoulders tense and his strides slow. "Shut the fuck up, Ian! You're being a shithead. I just diffused the situation you created." She shoved him onto an elevator as it opened to let off a businessman. "Get on, Ian. Don't piss me off."
She stepped onto the elevator behind Ian and stood against the far wall, away from him. The ride up to Ian's condo was long and awkward and tense. Jamie followed him down the hallway and to his door, waiting while he opened it up, then stood in the foyer. Ian set his keys on a thin table by the wall, sighing deeply. His shoulders slumped, and he turned in place, scrubbing his face with one hand.
"I'm sorry, Jamie. I shouldn't have done that. I was just...I'm right pissed, and I've got every reason to be, I'd think."
Jamie flopped back against the closed door. "I know. And I'm sorry. I know you're hurt, and you do have a right to be. I haven't been fair to you."
Ian ran his hands through his hair, tilting his head and peering at Jamie as if exhausted. "Did I mean anything to you?"
"Of course you did, Ian. It was just...I don't know. It's hard to explain."
"You've said that before. I don't care to hear it again. Try to explain."
Jamie let her head thunk against the door. "You did mean something to me. I had a good time with you. You...you're wonderful. In any other situation, I think we really could have had a good chance at something long-term together."
"But?"
"But you never really had a chance with me, through no fault of your own. I've just...I've been in love with Chase for a long, long time. Since before I met you. I was running from my feelings for him when I met you. I told you all this yesterday."
"Feels like a thousand years ago."
Jamie blew a long breath out. "You have no idea." She looked up at Ian, who was leaning against the wall with one shoulder. "Look, I don't really know what to say to you that I haven't already said. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry you saw me with him like that. It's not like you think. I never even talked to him on the phone until yesterday. I literally ran into him in the street, and I just...I couldn't deny how I feel for him any longer."
"And how you feel about me no longer applies, is that it?"
Jamie couldn't answer, since it was true.
"I see," Ian said. "Well, then, there's only one thing left for me to do."
Something odd in his voice had Jamie glancing up to see Ian inches away and closing, hand scooping around the back of her head, his lips crashing against hers. Jamie froze in shock, felt herself melting just slightly--Ian was a damn good kisser, after all--and then she felt the rush of outrage and anger blast through her.
She pulled back, shoved him as hard as she c
ould, and then slapped him. "Seriously, Ian? You kiss me? All that, and you kiss me?" She scrubbed her mouth with her palm, as if to wipe away the fact that she'd nearly let herself enjoy the kiss.
Ian shrugged. "I had to see. There is nothing left, is there? Was there ever anything?" Jamie opened her mouth to answer, but Ian cut her off. "That was rhetorical. Wait here. I'll get your things."
Jamie dug the heels of her palms into her eye sockets hard enough that sparks flashed in the blackness of her closed eyes. She heard his tread, lowered her hands to see Ian holding out two small duffel bags, the kind given out as freebies at the tech conferences Ian frequented.
"Pretty sure this is everything. If there's anything else I discover, I'll ship it to you."
"Thanks." A long silence expanded between them until Jamie broke it. "You're a good man, Ian, and I'm sorry for...using you, I guess. Wasting your time."
Ian sighed, and rubbed his jaw with his wrist. "You didn't waste my time, Jamie. You just broke my heart." He ran his hands through his hair, and Jamie had to look away from the raw splinters of emotion in his blue eyes. "I was falling in love with you. I'd thought about proposing."
Jamie let out a sound that was half-sob and half-laugh. "You were going to--? Ugh. I wish there was something else I could say besides 'I'm sorry.'"
Ian shook his head. "There really isn't anything, is there? Goodbye, Jamie."
She turned and opened the door, pausing to pick up her bags and glance at Ian. "I really am sorry. You deserved better treatment."
Ian didn't answer, besides a shrug. Jamie left, and the elevators closed on her vision of Ian standing in his doorway, one hand in his pocket, the other rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes betraying pain even from a distance.
She found her car in the garage, tossed her things in the back seat, pulled it out into traffic, found a parking spot on the street near the pub where she'd told Chase to go. She sat in her car, trying to collect herself. It had been harder than she'd thought it would be to say goodbye to Ian. To see him hurting. To know she'd been the one who hurt him.
The passenger door opening startled Jamie into alertness, but she knew it was him even before she opened her eyes. She smelled him first, body wash, cologne, faintly of beer, that male scent and the unique essence of Chase, comfort and desire turned olfactory.
"I'm sorry I made it a scene, babe," Chase said as he settled into the seat next to her.
She glanced at him in amused disbelief. "It was going to be a scene regardless. An ex and a current is always messy, no matter what. You were defending me, and that's...so sweet. And really, the fact you were able to walk away from the fight? I love you so much for that. Any guy can beat someone's ass for his girl. It takes a real man, a strong man, to walk away from a confrontation for his girl."
Chase reached out and took her hand. "Neither of us needed that." He examined her face. "It was pretty rough, huh?"
"That obvious?"
Chase laughed. "You look emotionally wrecked. Gorgeous and glorious as always, but you look like that took it out of you."
"He kissed me after I told him I'd been in love with you since before I met him. And then he told me he had been falling in love with me and that he was thinking about proposing."
"Shit."
"Yeah. It hurt."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Chase said.
"It's over now." Jamie noticed Chase had his bag on his lap. "You checked out?"
Chase shrugged. "Yeah. I figured we've spent enough time in Chicago."
"Sounds good to me. I have to be back in Detroit for work on Monday, but that's it. I'm free till then."
They headed away from Chicago, going vaguely west and north toward Wisconsin. They stopped at a Holiday Inn off the freeway about halfway to Milwaukee, checked in, and had dinner. Jamie felt antsy for most of the time, wanting nothing more than to erase the bad taste in her mouth left by the scene with Ian. She wanted to feel more of Chase, experience more of his many mercurial sides. She'd only scratched the surface of him, she thought. He seemed just as tense, just as full of coiled intensity. His head was freshly shaven, his jaw and chin clean and the hard lines of his handsome face accentuated by the low lights of the diner. His arms stretched the sleeve of a charcoal henley shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows.
She wanted those arms around her, those hands holding her.
They went back to the hotel, and the door had barely closed behind him when Chase's voice washed over her. "Strip."
She turned in place to face him, her heart thudding. "Excuse me?" He was leaning back against the door, one leg crossed over the other, arms akimbo.
A faint smile traced his lips. His eyes twinkled. "I said, strip. Take your clothes off."
Her chin lifted. "Oh, yeah? Just like that?" She wanted to strip, but she also wanted to see where he'd take it if she refused.
He took a step forward, his gait loose and powerful, his eyes predatory. "Yeah. Just like that."
"And if I don't?"
"You will." He smirked again. "Well...you'll be naked in about thirty seconds either way."
Jamie sucked in a deep breath and let it out, then crossed her arms beneath her chest. "No."
Chase lifted an eyebrow and stepped toward her again, arms uncoiling. Jamie took an involuntary step backward at the intensity in his gaze. An excited smile played over her lips, and her heart crashed in her chest.
He lunged, catching her in his arms, squeezing them to her sides. She gazed up at him evenly.
"Now what are you gonna do to me? Spank me?" Jamie asked.
"Tempting," Chase said. "But no."
He returned her even gaze, and then, before she could blink, he had spun her in his arms so her back was to his front, both of her hands pinned in one of his, firmly but gently. Jamie struggled to free her hands, but she couldn't. She went still, waiting for his next move. His breathing was hot and loud in her ear, his chest hard at her back. With his free hand, he traced her cheek, following the line of his grazing fingers with his lips. Jamie tilted her head to the side as he lined kisses down her neck. Chase moved them forward so her torso was pressed to the wall, pinning her there with his hips, his erection against her jeans-clad ass. Jamie was wearing an old Counting Crows concert T-shirt, thin and tight; Chase released her hands, gripped the collar of her shirt, and ripped it open down the back and brushed it off her.
"I liked that shirt!" Jamie protested.
Chase just chuckled. He grabbed her hands again before Jamie could think about finding a way to get free, and besides, she didn't really want to. She was interested in where he was going with this. But, for form's sake, she had to put up a fight. So--in the name of the game--she writhed her ass against his erection, a distraction, and then when he sucked in a breath and loosened his grip on her wrists, Jamie shoved him away and broke free. Chase laughed and caught her around the waist with one arm, jerking her back to his chest.
"I don't think so, sweetness. You could've done a little striptease for me, and I'd already be inside you, making you come for me." Jamie couldn't quite stifle a whimper. "But no, you had to play tough girl, hard to get. So...we do this the fun way."
"Fun for who?"
Chase dragged a finger down her chest, between her cleavage, and then traced the rim of the bra cup. "Fun for me. It'll be fun for you...eventually. But you might get a bit...desperate before I'm done with you."
He tugged the cup down and a breast popped free; he did the same to the other side, and then began toying with the nipples, one and then the other, pinching and rolling, flicking and cupping each breast with the taut bud caught between his middle and index fingers. Jamie's breath caught, and she couldn't stop herself from arching her back into his touch. He slid his hand down her belly, dipped his fingers beneath the denim to cup her mound over the silk of her panties. Jamie froze as he stroked the damp line of her entrance with one finger, making the silk even wetter. She found herself panting and on the verge of begging him t
o put his finger inside her. She didn't beg, and he didn't touch her skin to skin. He seemed content to stroke her through the silk, digging in slightly to put pressure on her clit. Her hips writhed on their own, despite her attempts to stop them.
"Chase..." she heard herself whisper, and then clicked her teeth together on the rest of the plea.
"Yes, love?"
She only panted in reply, resting her head back on his shoulder.
Chase released her hands, withdrew his fingers from her jeans, and placed her palms flat on the wall, pulling her hips back until she was forced to take several steps backward. She was now standing as if she'd been arrested, feet shoulder-width apart, palms flat on wall.
"Stay like this," Chase ordered, his voice gentle in her ear.
"Or?"
Chase's finger trailed up from her hip to her side, and then up to her armpit. Jamie tensed, realizing what the punishment would be if she moved. He ever so gently traced her underarm, and she choked back a giggle, flinching away.
"No, no! Please don't tickle me," she said, putting her hands back on the wall. "I hate being tickled."
Chase rumbled in amusement. "Good to know."
Jamie cursed herself for having given him leverage. She lost her train of thought when his fingers came back around her belly, both hands dipping beneath both denim and silk to cup her flesh, one hand remaining on the dip of her hip. His middle finger dove down to press against her clit, and Jamie hung her head, gritting her teeth against a whimper. He circled her once, twice, and she couldn't stop a single gasp from escaping.
"I want to hear you," Chase said.
So, of course, Jamie decided to make a game of her own out of how silent she could stay. He made wide, slow circles around her throbbing nub, and she had to clench her jaw to keep from panting. He increased his assault, circling faster and faster, and, just as she was about to lose her own game, he stopped. That was almost her undoing. She wanted to beg him to keep going but bit her lip to keep quiet.
He unbuttoned her pants, then slowly unzipped her fly. She tensed, waiting for the pants to be pushed down, but he didn't do that. Instead, he skated his palms up her sides, cupped her breasts in both hands, tenderly kneading the soft flesh. He abruptly unsnapped her bra but left the straps on her arms. Jamie wriggled her shoulders, hating the feel of the loose straps, but Chase stilled her with a single press of his palms to her shoulders.
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