Killer: A Bad Boy Romance (8 page)

“Chase, please,” I begged. “Touch me more, please!”

He laughed shortly and stepped away. Suddenly, there was a crashing sound coming from outside. I whipped my head up and looked out the window. All of the desire and sauciness that I’d felt a moment before drained out of me and I was afraid.

“What was that?” I hissed, looking at Chase. He didn’t answer and I curled up under a spare blanket on the couch, wanting to cover myself as much as possible.

“Stay here, Lacey,” he said gruffly. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” I said in a shaky voice. I spied my clothes on the floor and tugged them on, finger-combing my hair as best as I could.

Chase opened the door and walked out of the apartment. I listened to his heavy footfall all the way down the side stairs. There were some quiet voices, and then I heard him walking back towards the front door. Quickly, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a big knife.

“Lacey,” Chase said as he opened the door. “Pizza’s here!”

Chapter Ten

Chase

I could have killed that pizza guy. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know that I was about to have some of the hottest pussy that I’d ever had. He couldn’t smell her sweet scent on my fingers, or in my mouth. He had no idea how fucking lucky I was about to be, that was, until he knocked on the wrong apartment downstairs.

After we ate, Lacey excused herself and took a shower. I went out on the balcony and chain-smoked my way through a pack of Marlboros so I didn’t have to think about her delectably body, covered in warm water and suds…
Pull it together, man
, I told myself.
It ain’t about the snatch this time
.

Predictably, after that little encounter, I couldn’t sleep. I was pissed at myself for not just throwing the pizza down, storming back into the apartment, and fucking her into next week. But she was fucking irresistible. Every glance, every look, every touch from her just made me freeze. I was helpless to her charms, and the hell of it was, I didn’t even think she understood. She was a complete liability, and I didn’t know what the hell I was gonna do when this was over.

I sighed when I realized that when this was indeed over, I’d never be seeing little miss Lacey ever again. She’d be better off, for sure, but I couldn’t lie; part of me was going to miss her. I liked the way she said whatever came to her mind, and her fierce independence, and her scrappy little attitude. If it wasn’t for me, she probably would have been dead by now. Thinking about that gave me a sense of responsibility that I hadn’t felt since Rose was killed. It was a scary, heady thing, but I liked it.

It was pretty stupid of me to get involved with her in the first place. I knew that now. But I swear, if anyone had been in my shoes, they would have done the same thing. She was made to be obsessed over, just like I was made for prison. If I was lucky, I could stay out of prison. But no matter how lucky I was, I didn’t think I could stay away from Lacey.

Peyton and I had a short talk that night; he promised that he’d have an assignment for me tomorrow. I didn’t tell him about my call with the contact. He didn’t need to know that he’d sent me on a wild goose chase. Half of the guys I was friends with now were crooks, this one didn’t seem to be any different. Lacey had a singing gig the next night, and I wondered if I could slip away for a while and make some phone calls. This whole PI thing was proving to be a little difficult when I had a five foot nothing troublemaking girl with me.

***

Lacey

When Chase brought the pizza back inside, I could barely eat. It was like my appetite had just gone away with my desire when I was scared. But when he was back inside and I knew things were safe again, I started thinking about what would have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted. Surely he wouldn’t want to have sex with a virgin—what guy would? No, it was probably for the best that we weren’t able to carry through with it.

I couldn’t sleep when I got back to bed. And I couldn’t study. All I could think about was Chase, and the fact that I’d almost just lost my virginity to my bodyguard.
My bodyguard
! It sounded so weird when I thought about it like that. I wondered if Chase had ever thought about doing it for hire; it seemed like he would actually be pretty good.

Before I got in bed, I took a shower and tried to relax. As I washed my hair under the relentless stream of warm water, I thought about my gig the next night. Would Chase let me go? Would he make an ass out of himself? Or would he flirt with other women when we were there? I hated to admit how much the last idea rubbed me the wrong way.

Even after my relaxing shower with lavender body wash, I still couldn’t get my mind off Chase. I blushed as I lay in my bed, thinking of all the ways he’d touched me and the things he’d done to me. I never would have thought about myself as a passionate woman, but that was exactly the response he inspired in me. My blush turned scarlet as I remembered how he’d tugged my panties across my swollen clit, bringing me close to orgasm. Slowly, I slipped my hand down my belly and rested it on my labia. The skin was sensitive and soft to the touch, and I moaned quietly as I slipped my fingers further into my panties. My hands were soft and slight, but I closed my eyes and imagined that Chase was touching me. As I got wetter and wetter, I thought about his face between my legs, his tongue licking me carefully between my thighs. The thought made me shiver; no one had ever gone down on me before. The farthest I’d ever gotten with a guy was when I went on a date with someone and we made out afterwards. It hadn’t been fun, and though he’d seemed to enjoy himself, he’d never called me afterwards. I’d wondered if I was the problem.

Chase didn’t make me feel like a problem. He made me feel sexy, womanly, and confident. I wondered if it was possible that I was falling in love with him. Sure, he was annoying and rude and chauvinistic at times, but he couldn’t be all that bad; he was taking care of me, after all. He was protecting my life when he didn’t know anything about me.

The sun was starting to peek through the blinds when I realized that I hadn’t slept at all. I’d stayed up all night, thinking about Chase. With a groan, I realized I had a shift at Dawning Center
and
a singing gig tonight, both after my final. I got dressed in black cloth pants and a pink sweater, putting my hair up in a high ponytail with a bow. I looked cute, but nothing I owned came close to sexy, with the exception of the dresses I wore at The Pink Diamond. I knew it would be impossible to look good for Chase, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel frustrated. At least I’d be able to wear something hot that night when I sang.

When I walked out into the living room, Chase was sitting on the couch and drinking some coffee. He grunted in my direction and I felt a bit stung.

“Is that how we’re going to talk to each other when we’re not about to have sex?” I blushed furiously.

Chase gave me a weird look. “I didn’t say anything,” he said in a suspicious voice. “Why you always gotta be on my case like that?”

I shook my head. “Forget it,” I said. “I have to work at the Dawning Center after my final today, and then I have a gig tonight.”

“Okay,” Chase said. “I’m going to do some business when you’re working at the daycare. I won’t be gone long, maybe an hour, tops. I’ll give you my phone, and you can page this number if you’re in trouble, okay?” He handed me his cell phone with a sticky note on the top. I nodded.

“Sounds good,” I said hesitantly. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Chase stretched, grazing his knuckles across my ceiling like he always did. “Do you want a ride?”

I nodded. The ride to school was awkward. Chase followed me into the classroom like he’d done before, but I didn’t feel the same strange nervousness. Instead, I was able to focus on the final. I was the first one done, but instead of feeling proud, I just felt empty. Part of it was that I dreaded apologizing to Anne after disappearing last week, but part of it was that Chase was ignoring me. I didn’t know how he could go from being so hot to so cold in an instant. In fact, it was almost insulting the way he’d waltzed back inside with the pizza. As if he cared more about eating a third dinner than he did about having sex with me.

When we pulled into the Dawning Center parking lot, I expected Chase to leave. Instead, he hopped out of the car and followed me inside.

“I have to piss,” he pointed out when I gave him a weird look. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I’ll be gone in five seconds.”

Thankfully, Anne wasn’t around to see him again. I pointed to the bathroom and Chase slunk along the wall, ignoring the stares of the toddlers. They were captivated by Chase.
It’s like they’ve never seen an ex-con before,
I thought to myself with a giggle.

“Lacey, it’s so nice to see you again!” I turned around at the familiar voice and saw Mark.

“Hi, Mr. Simpson,” I said, still giggling. He grinned at me and I felt myself blush. For once, his attention didn’t seem annoying.

“I hope you’re feeling better,” he continued. “Anne told me you were sick.”

I watched as Shaunna and Peter ran up and wrapped themselves around their dad’s legs. He didn’t notice, but instead kept smiling at me.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “But that was a rough couple of days.”

“You should have called me,” Mark said, winking at me. “I would have taken great care of you.”

“I’m sure,” I said politely. “How are you?”

“Well, Lacey, I’m doing okay,” Mark drawled. He seemed to enjoy taking his time with me. “But I’m lonely, you know.”

I nodded. “I get that,” I said. “I feel lonely too, sometimes.”

“Lacey, someone as pretty as you shouldn’t ever feel that way!” Mark scolded me playfully, and I blushed again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chase hulking in the corner. He glared at me and I felt my stomach lurch.

“Mr. Simpson, if you’ll excuse me,” I babbled. “I have to go see about something over here.”

Mark waved at me and waddled outside with his kids still clinging to his legs. I stalked over towards Chase and grabbed his arm, yanking him down the hall and into one of the storage rooms. It was cold in there, and I instantly felt goose bumps break out over my body. Flicking on the fluorescent light switch, I whirled around and stared Chase down.

“You wanna tell me why you’re glaring at me?” I demanded, putting my hands on my hips and glaring at him.

“You wanna tell me why you’re about to fuck that guy?” Chase snarled. He leaned into my face until he was so close that I could feel his damp breath. “You put on a show like that just to piss me off? You think you know anything about being lonely?”

Anger boiled inside of me. “Fuck you!” I spat, blinking so tears wouldn’t come to my eyes. “You want me one minute, and then you don’t! I’m sick of trying to play your game!”

Chase growled and closed the distance between us in one instant. He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close. I could feel his heartbeat thudding through my shirt and I shivered, looking into his face. The mix of anger and desire that he inspired in my body flooded every cell and I felt captivated by his glance. We were both breathing hard and I leaned forward, kissing him savagely.

Chase groaned into my mouth and shoved me against the wall, hard. It felt cold through my thin sweater and I shivered, wrapping my legs around Chase’s waist clinging tightly. He shoved his hips against mine and I felt the familiar erection poking me through his jeans. Moaning, I reached down and undid the snap of his pants. Chase grunted into my ear as he shoved his hand up my sweater and savagely caressed my nipples. I shrieked loudly and he covered my mouth with his, sticking his tongue into mine and caressing my tongue.