Enjoying the Chase (21 page)

 I pressed my lips to the corner of her
mouth, kissing gently. She whimpered and closed her eyes as her whole body
tensed against mine.

“You want me to prove to you that not all
guys are lying, cheating scumbags.”

 I kissed her nose lightly.

“You want me to restore your faith in men.”

 I kissed the other corner of her mouth; I
could feel her trembling.

“You want me to need you back…” I
whispered, my lips brushing against hers. I wasn
’
t going to kiss her though; I wanted her to do that. I wanted her to
take down the first brick in that wall that she
’
d built and then I
’
d
work on the rest, she just needed to make the first move and take a chance.
“Don
’
t you?” I whispered, silently
praying for a yes.

She didn
’
t say anything, didn
’
t
open her eyes, but she didn
’
t pull
away from me either which I thought was a good sign.

I swallowed my nerves and continued. “You
need me to need you too. Don
’
t
you, Rose?” I whispered again. 

She opened her eyes at that. She looked
like a deer trapped in the headlights again; I literally terrified her
,
by the look of it. This Josh guy really had ripped her heart to
pieces, and not just once
,
either.

“Don
’
t you?” I repeated, looking into her eyes, praying that she would
just give me one chance, just one.

“Yes,” she croaked, her voice all husky and
sexy.

Without saying anything else, she pressed
her lips to mine making a small whimper as she did it. My heart constricted as
I wrapped her tightly in my arms, crushing her body against mine as I stepped
forward and pressed her against the wall. I smiled against her lips as her
hands gripped the back of my hair, pulling me to her closer, kissing me almost
desperately.

The kiss was sweet, but hot at the same
time. It made my whole body ache because of how good and right it felt. When
the kiss finally broke, I pressed my forehead against hers.

Her big brown eyes opened slowly and locked
on mine, they were shining with excitement but fear at the same time. I gulped
at the fierce intensity I saw there, it would have scared me a month ago if a
girl had looked at me like that, but right now scared was the total opposite of
what I was feeling.

“Just one chance,” she whispered, her arms
tightening around my neck.

I nodded and smiled, dipping my head and
kissing her again. This time her lips curled into a smile against mine. In that
moment, I could almost feel the angels smiling down on me. I had another
chance, and there was no way in hell I was wasting it.

Chapter
Thirteen

~ Rosie ~

With Nate’s mouth pressed against mine,
my knees weakened. Luckily though, he was pressing me against the wall
otherwise I would have surely sunken to the floor like a quivering mess. His
kissing just seemed to set my whole body on fire. One of his cocky little
smiles and I was reduced to a silly little schoolgirl again, crushing on the
bad boy.

His tongue slid along my bottom lip, and I
couldn
’
t
not
kiss him back.
It was like some magic pull that he seemed to have. It was no surprise to me
that he
’
d had so many girls – he
was beautiful. I knew he wouldn
’
t
appreciate that word much, because it wasn
’
t manly enough, he would have probably preferred something along the
lines of ‘ruggedly handsome
’
, but
he was way beyond that. The way his natural blond hair seemed to have a mind of
its own and stick up in a sexy, ‘I just got out of bed
’
kind of way. The way his piercing blue eyes locked onto mine, and
held a confidence, a self-assuredness that said he knew exactly what he was
doing to my insides, but at the same time they seemed somehow scared. Maybe he
was just as scared as me. I was pretty sure he
’
d never put himself out there like that before, and in some strange
way it made me feel special.
I
was the one that made him give that
little speech,
I
was the one he was looking at like he wanted to know
all of my secrets,
I
was the one that he was kissing like he wanted to
devour my soul.

Instead of opening my mouth to allow him
access, I gripped his bottom lip between my teeth and bit down lightly, pulling
a little. As a result, his fingers dug into my back as he crushed his groin
against my hip. I gulped when I felt how hard he was for me already. The lonely
part of my body that hadn
’
t been
touched for way too long, was begging for him to rip my clothes off and give me
the Nate Peters special, the full works. My body desperately wanted him to make
me fall into oblivion with his name on my lips.

My mind started to wander to all the things
he could do to me, what his, obviously skilled, hands would feel like caressing
my skin. I could hardly breathe. For a couple of seconds I actually considered
allowing myself one night of passion with him, letting myself feel that
closeness to someone else. But then I started to panic that I hadn
’
t been with someone for so long that I might
have forgotten what to do. Had I forgotten? When he was kissing me the way he
was my body seemed to respond of its own accord, I didn
’
t need to think… but maybe things had changed since the last time I
’
d had sex.

Another part of me was terrified of him
taking off my clothes and seeing the look on his face when he saw my body for
the first time. I was a mother for goodness
’
sake; it showed on my body that I
’
d had a baby. I had a couple of stretch marks on my stomach that,
although faded, still were imperfections on my skin. Would he take one look at
them and think they were disgusting and a turn off? Josh was the only person I
had been with since having DJ. He hadn
’
t exactly thought they were disgusting, but obviously my body wasn
’
t enough to keep him interested. I obviously
wasn
’
t woman enough to hold a
player like Josh, so what exactly made me think that I was good enough to hold
Nate?

Nothing. I
didn
’
t
think I was good
enough, and that was the problem.

I said I would give Nate one chance though;
I just needed to protect my heart from him while I gave him that chance, before
he left me anyway, which I knew he would. Problem solved. Rosie and DJ back on
their own, back to the hard but uncomplicated life of being a single mother.
That didn
’
t mean that I couldn
’
t enjoy his time and his personality while I
was waiting for him to run away from me though.

I traced my finger along his strong jaw as
I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth, nibbling on it gently making him moan
breathily. He had slight stubble on his chin, fine little blond hairs. The
rough, scratchy feel of his stubble against my finger made me shiver and long
to do naughty things to his body. Things that I
’
d been thinking about doing to him since the first time I met him.
Hell, things I
’
d been dreaming
about doing to him for five years, since I saw the photos of Anna
’
s wedding, with Nate as the best man.

Years ago, I
’
d seen photos of him standing next to Ashton on the beach, wearing
cream pants, a white shirt and a sexy little smile. I clearly remembered
stopping at that picture and my mouth watering as I dragged my eyes over Nate
’
s face. I
’
d been with Josh at the time, eight months pregnant, but that hadn
’
t stopped my mind from wondering what Nate
’
s fingers would feel like trailing down the small
of my back, heading lower and lower…

I pulled myself out of the little fantasy I
was starting to play in my head. The funny thing was, when I saw that photo of
him all those years ago, all I wanted was his body, his touch, his kiss, but
now that his body was pressed against mine, as he kissed slowly, sensuously,
down my neck, all I wanted was to hear him talk some more.

I gripped my hands in the back of his hair
and pulled his mouth back to mine; my brain was too fried to talk right now. He
was slowly turning me into a mindless shell, a body that couldn
’
t think, only feel. I was so turned on that I
could barely remember how to breathe. It was like he invaded all of my senses,
and I was struggling to differentiate where I stopped and he began.

Nate pulled away from me too soon, way, way
too soon. My heart was crashing in my chest with need and desperation for the
pent up sexual frustration – that I didn
’
t even realise I
’
d been
carrying around with me for so long – to finally be relieved. Nate looked at me
softly. A little smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, not a smirk, a nice
smile. The way his eyes seemed to hold a passion, a burning need to match my
own, made me tremble from head to toe.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Oh God, is my voice going to work if I
try to speak? I
’
m going to
make myself sound like an idiot…

“Just one chance, Nate,” I repeated my
earlier words, my voice husky.

He grinned and nodded, brushing his hand
across my cheek before pushing a loose curl of hair behind my ear. That one
gesture, that one soft little act, was actually more sensuous than the kissing
we had just done. My body felt ready to spontaneously combust.

Be strong, Rosie, do not let this player
take your heart. Do not let him take your heart…

He rubbed his nose against mine in a little
Eskimo kiss, and I couldn
’
t help
the little whimper that escaped my lips.

Don
’
t let him take your heart…

“Want to watch a movie or something with
me?” he asked, slipping his hand down my arm before taking my hand and
interlacing our fingers.

I nodded, unable to speak and he stepped
away from me. Instantly I missed his closeness.
Oh shit, I
’
m in trouble. I should make him leave before
he breaks me irrevocably.
He gave me a little tug
towards the sofa, and I followed behind him helplessly.

“You have any DVDs?” he questioned, looking
at me curiously.

I chewed on my lip. “Not really, they
’
re still in a box somewhere.” I frowned at the
few remaining unpacked boxes that lay around the apartment.

“You
’
ve been living here three weeks and you still haven
’
t finished unpacking?” he teased, his fingers
playing with mine as he sat on the sofa and pulled me down next to him.

I dragged my eyes over his face. He looked
so happy, contented and relaxed that it made me smile, despite my best efforts.
I really was in so much trouble. Nate was going to make it extremely hard for
me to keep my heart to myself.

“I
’
m lazy, what can I say?” I answered, trying to sound confident.

He grinned. “I actually like what you
’
ve done with the place. The cardboard boxes
stacked in the corner of each room give it a certain homey charm.”

“I actually put them there on purpose.
Those boxes are strategically placed for feng shui reasons. They
’
re part of my design.” I ignored the little
thrill that went through me at the sound of his laugh.

“Maybe you should come design my
apartment,” he suggested.

“What
’
s your place like?” I asked, settling back against the sofa, wanting
to hear him talk some more.

He looked a little uncomfortable and seemed
to squirm in his seat. “Er, well, I
’
m not a very good housekeeper,” he answered. I grinned, imagining
his place being littered with dirty clothes and plates. I didn
’
t dare think about what his bathroom would
look like. 

“Oh, I get it, you
’
re a slob.”

He laughed and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I
’
ll tidy up before you come stay with me
though, don
’
t worry.
”

Wow, confident much?
“What makes you think that I
’
ll be staying at your place?”

He licked his lips, and I tried not to
watch the sweep of his tongue against his kissable
bottom
lip. Did he know how hot that tiny little movement was? I
’
d bet the answer to that question was yes.

“When you see what a crap hole my place is,
you
’
ll be begging me to let you
sleep there,” he joked, squeezing my hand lightly. “I guess that
’
s actually a bad choice of words,” he added,
nodding, looking a little thoughtful.

 I looked at him confused.

“Sleep. It was a bad choice of word; we wouldn
’
t sleep much because if I had your
hot little ass
in my apartment, I
’
m sure that sleeping would be the last thing
on my mind.” His eyes wandered over my body lustfully.

“You
’
re so overconfident. I
’
m
pretty sure that it
’
ll be the
other way around, and you
’
ll be
begging for me to stay at your place,” I flirted, tapping my finger on his
nose, trying to look sexy. In reality, I had no idea how to look sexy at all. I
’
d never known how keep a guy interested. I
’
d had one serious relationship in my life, and
that had ended with me being a single mother, heartbroken and bitter. I had no
idea if I was doing or saying the right things to him.

“I
’
m pretty sure you
’
re
right,” he whispered, kissing me lightly, pulling me closer to him. “So, can I
ask you something?”
he questioned.

“You don
’
t need to ask, the answer is no. I
’
m not into bondage,” I
deadpanned.

He laughed and his eyes twinkled as he slapped
his leg in mock disappointment. “Dammit.”

I couldn
’
t help but giggle. There was something about Nate that made me more
brash and outgoing. He seemed to make all of my inhibitions fade to the
background.

“Seriously though, I had a proper
question.”

He looked at me a little uncomfortable, so
I nodded for him to continue.

“I was wondering if you would tell me a
little more about you. I want to know how you came to be on your own with DJ.
You said that you were scared to be a single mother, so I just wondered what
made you change that
.
”

I took a deep breath. I didn
’
t really want to talk about this, but for some
reason, looking at his face as he
studied
me
like
this w
as
the most interesting thing he
’
d ever heard, I found myself telling him the
truth that I
’
d never spoken to
anyone about before.