Being Chased (34 page)

"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 in
to 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 fa
ct 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.

"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 him. "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 mov
ed 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."

She huffed then giggled giving him her full attention.

"Julia, I love you so much, it pains me sometimes.” He raised an eyebrow at her that made her snort. “And even though it took us years to finally come together, and even after all your smartass remarks, I still love you."

She smacked him on the chest as she laughed. "Um,
Chase, this isn't quite what I had in mind when I was a little girl dreaming of how I'd be proposed to."

"The only way I can get your attention is if I'm
a smartass right back to you. Now, shhh." He put a finger to her lips.

"Okay, okay, I'm listening,
" she acquiesced, kissing his finger before he pulled it away.

He took a deep breath then, fidgeting
nervously with his tie.

Wait a minute.
He was nervous! Oh, God! And then it finally hit her—he was proposing! Crap! Oh no! She knew she was going to lose it and start crying any second now.

"You mean everything to me
, Julia. When I thought I'd lost you, I knew then how much you meant to me, and I swore that once I got you back, I'd never let you go. This is me not letting you go, baby. Please help me keep that promise and agree to be my wife." He pulled a box out of his pocket, opening it up and taking a ring out, looking at her expectantly.

Tears were now falling freely down
her face as she sobbed out, "Of course. Of course I'll be your wife, Chase. I love you."

He put the ring on her finger knowing she'd made him the happiest he'd ever been. "Now let me show you how much
 I
 love 
you
," he said, standing and easing her to lie back on the bed, then coming down to cover her body with his. “I’m so lucky to have you,” he told her, first kissing her tears away then moving his lips to hers and kissing her thoroughly.

“I’m the lucky one
,” she said breathily, wrapping her arms around him.

“God, I love you.”

"I love you too. So, so much.” She couldn’t believe Chase would soon be her husband. And she’d be his wife. Wow. How domesticated were they becoming? Which reminded her. “Oh yeah. Dinner with Joe and Claire tonight," she murmured against his lips.

He moved back to look at her.
"Don't feel like going out," he mumbled.

“No?” she asked as she grabbed his tie, p
ulling him back down to kiss her.

“No,” he replied,
moving his lips down to her neck then her collarbone, as he slipped her suit jacket off her shoulders.

"Don't want Jo
e’s famous chicken Marsala?" she asked breathlessly as his hand found its way under her skirt.

He groa
ned when she arched up under him, her breasts pressing against his chest. She reached down and cupped him over his trousers, moving her hand over his hard length. “No.”

“I already promised Claire we’d be there,” she breathed out
, trying to tease him a bit, but his mouth on her was very distracting.

“Don’t care.”
He slowly unbuttoned her blouse, splaying it open to look at her gorgeous breasts, bending to bite her nipple through her lacy bra causing her to gasp.

“
It’s Pictionary night, babe.” She moaned again when he pulled her bra down to expose her breasts to him, his mouth capturing a nipple between his lips. Oh, she was losing herself to him now; couldn’t keep up the teasing for much longer.

“No.”

“Don’t want to lose again?”

“Mm,” he grunted.

“But, babe, c’mon.”

“Julia, shut up,” he hissed out.

“But Pictionary…”

"Pictionary
, my ass," he said in a graveled voice, pulling back to look down at her.

She ran her hand down over his toned backside digging her fingers in.
"Now 
that
, I could draw," she replied with a hoarse giggle.

H
is mouth came down hard on hers, passionately covering her lips, as both of them unthinkingly vowed through that one kiss that they would always be each other’s forever.