Being Chased (19 page)

"There's my
girl, that's right. Deep breaths, nice and easy. That’s the way."

The waitress brought her a glass of water. Chase thanked her and picked it up from the table.

"Do you think you could take a drink?"

Julia nodded and took the glass with both hands from him. She closed her eyes and took anoth
er deep cleansing breath. Ugh. That had been scary. Thank God he’d been there to help her. She took a drink then brought the glass down to her lap.

"Thank you," she said to him.

"No problem. Feel better?" He brushed her hair back again.

"Much." She took another drink.

He stood. "You think you could make it back to the car? If not, no hurry. We can stay here as long as you need to."

"If I could sit for just a few more minutes," she said. He nodded at her then took his phone out.

"I'll be right over there, okay?" he said, pointing to a hallway from where he could see her clearly. He needed to call Allen to let him know what'd happened.

As he talked to Allen, Chase saw the waitress come over to Julia checking on her. What a sweetheart. After hanging up, he went back to the table.

"I'm ready," Julia told him.

"You sure?"

She nodded. Chase helped her stand and she paused for a second making sure she wasn't dizzy then turned to the waitress. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it," she looked at the waitress's name tag, "Sue."

"You're welcome dear. You sure you're okay? You're welcome to stay as long as you need."

"No, thank you, I think I'm fine now."

Chase
put his arm around her guiding her to the car. He helped her inside it then crouched down on the sidewalk to talk to her, holding her hands. "You want me to take you home?"

Julia looked at him with a frown. She'd never missed a day of work, so she couldn't even imagine starting now. "No! I've got to go in. I'm working on an account that I've got to get completed before the fifteenth."

"Julia, I think the world of financial management could make it one day without you there." He looked at her, his eyes full of concern.

"I'm fine
, Chase. I need to go in. At least for half the day. Please take me to my office."

“Baby…”

“Please, Chase.”

He took a deep breath, nodded, then got to his feet, closing her door.

Julia was finding it hard keeping this tough exterior up when what she wanted to do was break down and cry. Maybe it was from everything that’d been piling up lately. Or maybe it was that she was in love with Chase and knew if he didn’t feel the same about her she’d be devastated. Or it could be that someone was following her now and she was likely to be the next victim of these insane kidnappers. Or maybe she'd have all of the above, please, with a shot of hysteria on the side.

They drove in silence to her office, Chase checking the entire time looking for the ominous Cadillac that'd followed them earlier and watching
her in the mirror making sure she was okay. Her nerves were frayed, but she had things to do and she wasn't about to let some idiots control her life. So, after arriving at her office building, Chase walked her in, riding up in the elevator with her, asking several times if she thought it was a good idea for her to be going to work and wouldn't it be better if she went home and rested.

When they got to her office
floor, they stepped out and he walked her to her desk asking again if she thought this was a good idea. That did it.

“Chase?”

“Yes?” Good, she was going to let him take her back home.

“Shut up.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. God, she was so damned stubborn.

“Look, I know you’re just watching out for me. I get it.
But I’ve got things to do. I’m not going to let some assholes scare me into hiding.” She looked up at him, her big, hazel eyes pleading with him.

“
Think you’ve got me figured out already, don’t you?”

“I do?” She blinked
up at him.

He ran a finger down the side of her face. “
Yeah. You do.”

She was confused, but when he dipped his head and kissed
her, she could live with confusion.

“Listen, I’ve got a
final, but I’ll be back here right after to take you home, okay? Around two?”

“Okay.” She smiled when he kissed her again, giddy in the fact that he’d done it in public as if he couldn’t have cared less
who saw.

“Bye, baby.”

“Bye.” She sighed in contentment as she watched him leave.

****

“Heard you had a little problem this morning,” Allen said when he arrived back at the apartment that afternoon.

"Yeah, Allen, it was great
. Should've been there. Very entertaining stuff, that!" Julia shook her head, rolling her eyes at how bland he’d made her being followed appear. Allen could make Armageddon sound boring. She guessed he hadn’t become the businessman that he was by being easily rattled.

Chase
had picked her up after his class and brought her home. He couldn’t have gotten there at a better time since her nerves were just about shot. She’d found herself jumping at the tiniest things around the office, the worst being every time the elevator dinged then opened and she’d visualized some villain coming in to nab her.

“I’ll need to go in
tomorrow to make up what I missed today. I don’t want to get behind,” she told Chase.

"Oh
, you're not going to work tomorrow." Allen barely bothered looking up from his phone.

"What?
 
Yes
, I am. I'm in the middle of an account that's due in a week." Julia looked at him like he’d lost his gourd.

"Taken care of."

"Taken care of? What'd you do, Allen?"

"I took care of it. With all that's going on righ
t now, you don't need to be there. Now, go get packed."

"Packed? For wh
at?" She was flabbergasted. What the hell was going on here?

"In the morning, w
e're heading to the Hamptons for a bit. Chase? Can you manage that?"

"Yes, sir. I had
my last final this morning." The Hamptons? He hadn't been to the Hamptons since he and Tracy had stayed the weekend with her grandparents years ago. And hadn't that been a blast. Those people had been so damned stuck-up that he couldn't wait to get home to hang with Brock, listening to him belch and fart almost on command.

"Okay, I expect to be heading
that way by eight in the morning. Julia, believe me. Everything's taken care of."

"How long is 'a bit,'
Allen?" Julia asked.

"Not sure. We'll just play it by ear; how's that sound?
And it’s ‘Dad,’ Julia."

Even though she was pissed that
Allen had done this, Julia found that she was actually looking forward to spending some time at their beach house and getting away from all the shit here in the City. It'd been years since they'd gone. When her mother had been alive, they'd gone at least once a season. Gwen had loved getting out of the City and Allen had almost seemed like a regular dad when they were there, taking Julia and her mother for long walks on the beach. Julia's cousins, Nick and Paul, had a house close by and when they were all little, they'd spend the night with her, sneaking out of her bedroom window to lie on the roof watching for shooting stars. Her mom had even joined them sometimes.

Julia
left the kitchen with a small smile on her face at the memory and went to her room to pack.

Julia sat in the backseat texting Lily, Jacob and Claire, letting them know what was going on. She looked up, glancing at the rearview mirror watching Chase. Allen was talking to him about how at one point he'd thought of going into law. Chase looked in the mirror catching her watching him and winked. She smiled back with a blush. She still couldn’t believe that things between them were so good. She hoped it stayed that way.

When they arrived,
Julia was excited to see the beach house, having not been there in over ten years. As they got out of the car, Allen gave her the keys telling her to go ahead and open the house up to let it air out a bit. A housekeeper still came at the first of each month, but the house had been shut up for a week now, so Julia opened every window letting the breeze from the ocean inside. She was checking out the kitchen pantry when Chase came in with her luggage. She thanked him and told him her room was down the hallway, second to the right and his was third to the left. He nodded at her all sexy as hell and she blushed. Was she going to get all flustered every time he looked at her now? Jeez.

Looking around the house,
she hadn't realized how much she'd missed it. A part of her was sad because it reminded her of her mother, but another part felt as if she were seeing an old friend again. She went into the living room plopping down on the couch, watching Allen messing with the TV cable hook-up.

"We're having dinner here tonight. Collin and hi
s crew are here for the weekend too, so they'll be coming over."

What?
Did he expect her to cook for everyone? And, yuck. Was Hadley going to be there too?

"I've hired some caterers. They should be here soon."

Thank God. "Okay, sounds great. Need me to do anything?"

"You might get the dinner service out and give it all a fresh wash. I don't think the maid does that when she's here."

Julia went to the huge hutch in the kitchen and got out her mother's china and the Waterford drinkware, carrying them to the sink counter. The china was Royal Doulton's Old Country Roses, which to Julia had always seemed so gaudy, but looking at it now, she only thought it beautiful because her mom had picked it out. The glasses were always her favorites. She remembered pretending she was drinking fine wine out of them when she was a little girl. They were so beautiful and delicate. She recalled her mother only letting her use a glass if she promised to be very careful and she smiled once again at these memories that were so precious to her. Lastly, she found the silverware and took it to be washed, too.

She filled the sink with water and dish soap and began washing and rinsing everything.
Chase came into the living room and Allen asked for help with the TV connection. Julia couldn't help but stare at that fine ass of his, and the way his back muscles flexed under his t-shirt left her instantly wet for him. Damn.

He and
Allen finally figured the thing out, and Chase turned to see Julia staring at him. The dark, lustful look he gave her all but did her in. God, the man could almost make her come with just a glance. Just then the caterers showed up, interrupting their eye fucking, and now the house was alive with people everywhere. Chase smirked at her then sat on the couch flipping through channels.

"Knock, knock!" Collin stuck his head in the d
oor then came inside.

Allen
went to his cousin holding his hand out, clasping Collin's to shake it, and clapping him on the shoulder. "Collin! It's been too long, buddy!"

Collin was
Allen's second cousin. Julia had no idea how that worked. She'd always thought it meant he wasn't good enough to be his first cousin, but she'd known him since she could remember and he really was a nice guy. But the poor man was henpecked deluxe by his wife Paula who was a big woman with a big voice. Their daughter Hadley was a spoiled brat who used to bug the hell out of Julia and her other cousins when they were little. She hadn't seen Hadley in years, but she was willing to bet that she hadn't changed much and was still as big a brat as ever. Hadley had been the biggest tattletale ever too, always narcing on Julia, Nick and Paul for stupid shit. To get her back, the trio would play hide-and-seek with her, making her be "it" then they'd run away and hide together in the basement for the rest of the afternoon, knowing Hadley had no clue they were down there.

Allen
introduced Collin to Chase then he spotted Julia in the kitchen.

"
Julia! How are you, beautiful girl?" Collin held his arms out for her, walking toward the kitchen so she grabbed a dish towel to dry her hands and hugged him back. He, too, was big like his wife but somehow he didn't seem so damned imposing. Probably because his wife's attitude made everything about her seem imperious. Julia wrapped her arms around Collin's waist squeezing him hard. She hadn't seen him in so long and had missed him.

"Hi, Collin! It's so good to see you!"
she said after pulling back from him.

"You too, my darling girl, you too." He was such a sweetheart.
Julia wondered why in the hell he stayed with Paula who was such a bitch to him.

They chatted for a bit then
Paula and Hadley came inside.

"You could've waited for us, you know!"
Paula huffed at Collin walking toward him.

"Dear, look at our
Julia! Hasn't she grown up into a beautiful young woman?"

Paula
looked at Julia and put on a fake smile. "Hi, Julia. It's good seeing you. My goodness, that tank top is cute. But it's just not your color is it?" Paula was queen of the backhanded compliment. Julia just laughed, not surprised in the least that Paula was still the same.

Then she saw
Hadley standing in the living room ogling Chase. Oh, brother.

Now, the weird thing was that
Hadley was gorgeous and she had a very nice body. She had lovely red hair that hung just below her shoulders and piercing blue eyes. She'd modeled some and was trying to get into acting. Julia and her other cousins figured Hadley must've been adopted since she looked nothing like Collin or Paula.

"
Hadley, come say hi to Julia," Paula called out.

Hadley
walked into the kitchen wearing the same fake smile her mother had worn. She might not have been built like her mother but she'd definitely inherited her attitude. "Hi, Julia. Gosh, it's been so long! I see your nose is still the same."

And
I see you're just as big a hag as ever! 
"Hi, Hadley. Yes, it has been a long time! Yep, same old nose. Guess it's just gonna be with me till the end." It was no use trading insults with Hadley. She was a bitch regardless of what was said or done, so over time, Julia had learned to just blow her off.

"And who is that incredibly yummy man?"
Hadley whispered, glancing at Chase who sat in the living room, oblivious to being the object of Hadley's lust.

"That's
Chase, my bodyguard." 
Stay the hell away from him.
 

"Oh, well, he could guard my body any
ol' day," Hadley said, giggling. 

Like no one's ever used that line
before
. Julia rolled her eyes. "Well, he just so happens to be guarding mine at the moment, so guess you'll have to find your own." Julia tried saying this as apathetically as she could. She knew Hadley loved competition; she'd been competing with Julia from day one, and Julia didn't want to give her any inkling that she cared about Chase or she knew it'd be all game on if Hadley found out.

"And why do
 
you
 need a bodyguard?" Hadley huffed out with a condescending chuckle.

Allen
jumped in to save the day. "Because I hired him, that's why." He'd never really taken a liking to Hadley since she'd always been so rotten. He blamed this on her mother.

"Oh,"
Hadley replied. But now she was all but drooling, staring at Chase, and Julia wanted to cut her. Badly. She wondered how she could accidentally stab her with one of the knives in the sink without getting in trouble. 
Oops! How did that happen? I was drying it and it just stuck itself in the side of her head! Sorry!

Julia
finished washing up as everyone visited with each other. The caterers started taking her cleaned dishes in to set the table. Dinner was ready and they all went to be seated. Allen and Collin sat at opposite ends of the table. Julia had sat down and Paula came over to sit next to her. Hadley practically dragged Chase to sit next to her. He glanced over at Julia with a
Help me
look, but Julia just shook her head, not wanting to challenge Hadley. Chase was a big boy. He could take care of himself. Or so she thought.

The dinner was fantastic—prime rib, sautéed asparagus, and twice baked potatoes. They drank a cabernet sauvignon that came from one of the vineyards in Napa Valley that
Allen had invested in and it was superb. As dinner went on and Julia had to watch Hadley flirting with Chase, and seeing that he didn't seem to be minding it so much, she kept the wine flowing. By the time they got to the cheesecake, she was feeling pretty good.

Chase
had kept an eye on Julia noticing that she was drinking the wine like it was going out of style. After glass number three, he'd lost count. Oh, God. She was pissed at him. And what the hell did Hadley chick think he was, some kind of gigolo? Jesus. He couldn't wait for dinner to be finished so he could get away from her. She was so annoying with her fake personality.

Everyone was finished, so they got up to retire to the living room.
Chase was heading toward his room when Hadley caught him by the arm.

"
Chase, come out on the front porch with me." She pulled him to the front door and out.

Well, shit. This was strange territory he was in. He couldn’t very well be rude to her since she was related to his employer.
Damn it.

"Why don't we go out on the back deck?"
Allen suggested to everyone. "I'll light the fire pit."

The deck was actually part of the big wrap-around porch, so where
Julia was sitting, she had a perfect view of the beach. As she sipped her wine, she kept getting angrier thinking of Chase being out front with Hadley. This was torture not being able to have a relationship out in the open with him. Not that he'd said he wanted one. 
Did
 he want one? She didn't even know which depressed the shit out of her and she got up to go pour herself another glass of wine.

Going in the
house she heard giggling, so she sneaked to a front window to see what was going on. Hadley and Chase were standing on the beach holding hands. What the hell was his deal? She turned away, going back to the kitchen, pouring herself another glass, downed it, and went to her room. To hell with him. She was so sick of all the bullshit that came with wanting to be with him. It was just ridiculous. She showered then put on her tank top and shorts and climbed into bed, lying there listening to the familiar sounds of the house, trying to keep the ceiling from spinning.

Chase
had been doing everything he could to ward off Hadley's advances. She’d grabbed his hand, swinging it like they were some cute little couple. He finally put his hands in his pockets to keep her from trying that shit anymore. He kept yawning like he was really tired and needed to get some sleep, but she didn't catch on. Wasn't she just the picture of perception? He finally told her he had to use the restroom, that the wine had just run through him, and told her good night.

Fifteen minutes after she'd lain
down, Julia heard a door open and close in the hall. Assuming it was Chase, she got out of bed, going on liquid courage alone, and went to his door knocking fairly loudly. They needed to talk. Now.

Chase
answered the door warily, afraid that Hadley had followed him in. When he saw that it was Julia, he breathed a sigh of relief. But then he saw the scowl on her face and knew he was in deep shit. She stood glaring at him and he almost wanted to see how long she could stand there and keep it up. But then she wobbled and he knew the wine had caught up with her and he had to hold back his chuckle. "Do you want to come in?" he asked. Julia stomped into his room and turned to face him, standing with her arms akimbo.

"So, did you have fun tonight with
Hadley?" she hissed at him.

"Keep your voice down. And, no, not in particular."

"Chase? You
do
know you could’ve said no to her? I
 know
 you know how to say it to me."

Hardly.
"Julia. She’s your relative,
Allen's
relative. He’s my employer. I can't just be rude to her."

"But you don't have to be he
r goddamned date either! I think you enjoyed the fact that she was drooling all over you."

Chase
took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes not wanting to get into it with her. She didn't understand that he couldn't treat the woman rudely.

"Look, you've had a little too much to drink. Why don't we talk in the morning?"