Enjoying the Chase
Enjoying the Chase
By Kirsty Moseley
Copyright ©
2014 Kirsty Moseley
All rights
reserved.
The right of
Kirsty Moseley to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by
her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted , in any form or by any means without the prior written
permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding
or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All
characters in this publication are fictional and any resemblance to real
persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Acknowledgements
As usual, my
first thanks goes to Mollie Wilson at M J Wilson Design for making the gorgeous
cover. Secondly, thank you to Emily Ruston of Ruston Hutton, and Hannah for
editing. My third thanks goes to a blogger whom I’ve had the privilege to get
to know, Whairigail Adam. Whairigail, thank you for taking me under your wing
and helping me negotiate the blogging world. I’d be lost without you!
Dedication
This book is
for my sister, Toni. Yes, you may see her name crop up in the book, but that’s
only because I wanted to gift Rosie with the best sister in the world too.
Love you,
Frodo. X
As a subtle vibrating started against
my leg, I looked up at my captain, wondering what he would do to me if I pulled
out my cell phone and checked my incoming message. No doubt he would be
seriously pissed if I got caught not listening to his briefing about the raid
tomorrow.
Unable to resist peeking to see if it was
from Sarah, or Sasha, or whatever the girl
’
s name was I was supposed to be taking out tonight, I pulled my
phone out and took a sneaky look
beneath the desk
. I
already knew that even if I got caught I wouldn
’
t be taken off point for the operation tomorrow. I was the best
sharp shooter he had, so that afforded me a little leniency.
But instead of seeing a message from my
date for the night, there were two picture messages from my best friend, Ashton
Taylor. As I opened the first one, I was greeted by a cute little scrunched-up
and messy-looking baby. My eyes widened as my breath caught in my throat. A
moronic grin slipped onto my face as I scrolled to the next message. I saw
Ashton
’
s wife, Anna, holding the
baby and smiling proudly. The message underneath read:
‘Anna and baby Cameron both doing great’
“Oh, shit yeah!” I shouted excitedly,
forgetting where I was as I leapt from my seat and pumped the air with one fist
in celebration.
“Nate Peters, what the hell do you think
you
’
re doing interrupting my
briefing?” Captain Elder snapped as all eyes in the room turned to me.
I swallowed, shifting on my feet. “Ashton
and Anna had their baby,” I announced, holding the phone up proudly, showing
the rest of the team the photo as evidence.
“Yeah? What did they have?” Captain Elder
asked, his face softening. He had always liked Ashton, and of course, the whole
world was waiting with baited breath on the birth announcement. To say that
Anna
’
s father was an important man
would be the understatement of the century. Her father, Tom Spencer, was
currently serving his second term in office as President of the United States.
Anna, as first daughter, was a celebrity in her own right because of that. The
press hung on every word that she and Ashton said and it seemed as though the
whole world was gripped with ‘Annaton
’
fever, and had been for the last five years since they were first
photographed together.
“Little boy,” I answered.
“
Well
,
that
’
s awesome; I take
it everything
’
s fine? How is
Annabelle holding up?” Captain Elder checked.
I nodded in confirmation. “Apparently she
’s doing good.
”
“That
’
s great. Now can you sit the fuck down so I can finish my briefing?”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” I slumped down in
my seat, trying to look chastised but, to be honest, I wouldn
’
t have pulled it off. I couldn
’
t help but smile proudly. Ashton deserved
this; I
’
d never seen him as happy
as his wife made him. Anna was an incredible person, and I couldn
’
t help but be a little jealous that Ashton had
met her first. She was beautiful
,
smart and funny –
everything I hoped I
’d find in
a girl one day.
I could barely concentrate on the rest of
the briefing. All I wanted to do was go to the hospital and meet the newest
member of the Taylor family. When we were finally dismissed, I headed into the
middle of the team in a bid to get out of the room before Captain Elder spotted
me and kicked my ass down to the filing room as punishment for the
interruption. Luckily for me, I made it without being called back.
As I walked out of the building, I called
the hospital to find out what time visiting hours
began
in the maternity ward. I was told it wasn
’
t until seven thirty, so I had a couple of hours to wait. That would
give me just enough time to buy a gift for the baby.
As soon as I walked through the door, I
knew I was out of my depth. My twenty-five years of life had not prepared me
for walking into a baby store. There were all sorts of baby clothes surrounding
me: sleep suits, body suits, normal-looking outfits, bibs, blankets… I had no
idea what to buy. After looking around hopelessly for ten minutes, I spotted a
young, pretty blonde saleswoman standing at the counter.
My game smile slipped onto my face as I
headed over to her, leaning on the counter.
“Excuse me, ma
’
am, do you think you could offer me a little help? In return, I
’
d love to take you out to dinner.” I
smirked
as a subtle blush covered her face and
a little giggle escaped her lips.
“Sure, Officer, what were you looking for?”
she replied, leaning in closer and twirling a lock of her hair around her
finger. I wouldn’t even need to buy this girl dinner to get her into bed.
Staying on track and remembering what I was
here for, I stood back up and gestured around the store helplessly.
“My best friend just had a little baby boy,
so I wanted to get a present or something. Is there anything in particular that
I
’
m supposed to buy?”
She smiled and pushed herself out from
behind the counter, swaying her hips as she walked. I couldn’t help but let my
eyes slide down to her ass. “How about this?” she suggested, grabbing a little
blue and white outfit from the rail, barely even looking at it. “Or we have a
bigger selection out back.” She raised one eyebrow suggestively.
I grinned at that. Sure, she was easy, but
I wasn
’
t going to turn down a
little backroom action if it was on offer
.
I knew what
this was about – it was the uniform. Chicks dug my S.W.A.T uniform. It probably
helped my cause that I was a good-looking guy, even if I did say so myself. I
kept myself in shape because of my job; my blonde hair was always styled, my
blue eyes stood out and a lot of girls complimented me on them.
“I
’
d
love
to see what you have out back,” I
replied
.
When we were finished fooling around, I
made my excuses and headed out of the store without even buying anything for
the baby. The girl – Carly she had said her name was – was getting all clingy
and kept asking when she was going to see me again. I’d ducked out of there as
fast as I could.
A loud groan escaped my lips when I looked
at my watch to see that it was already a quarter to seven. I didn
’
t have time to go anywhere else now so I
’
d just have to show up without a gift today.
On the way to the hospital, I pulled up and
jumped out at the corner store, buying Ashton the biggest, fattest cigar they
had. I chuckled as I shoved it in my pocket. He hated even the smell of them,
but I was confident I could get him to smoke it if I told him it was tradition.
When I finally arrived at the hospital, I
was directed to the maternity ward on the fifth floor. My insides were churning
with excitement as I pressed the buzzer on the outer door and waited for the
ward sister to let me in. After explaining who I was, and watching her check my
name on her ‘approved visitors’ list, she motioned down the hall. As I looked
down that way, I spotted Anna
’
s
secret service bodyguard, Rick, sitting on a chair outside room three.
“Hey, man, how you doing?” I greeted,
plopping into the seat next to him.
“Yeah good, Nate. You?” He smiled, running
a hand through his hair.
“Awesome. You seen him?” I asked, nodding
at the door to Anna
’
s room.
“Yeah, I saw him a couple of hours ago. He
’
s cute.
”
“Did the birth take long?” I asked
,
genuinely
curious.
He winced and sucked in a breath through
his teeth. “Yeah, I was in there with her for a little while, while we were
waiting for Ashton. Damn, I don
’
t
ever want to see that kind of thing again. It looked fucking painful. The
screams… damn.” He shook his head as if trying to shake the memories of it. “She
went into labour this morning at about eight o
’
clock and we came to the hospital at about two. She looked like she
really
felt it, if you know what I mean.”
I frowned at his answer.
Anna has been
in labour all day? Ouch! Mental note: don
’
t make fun of Anna today.
“Wow, that
’
s a long time. I guess I
’
d better head in and see what all the fuss is about,” I joked.
I pushed open the door to her room. I was
so excited to see the baby that my cheeks hurt from
smiling so hard
. Ashton was like a brother to me, so the new baby was family.
Anna and Ashton were sitting up on the bed
as I walked in. Ashton
’
s head
snapped up as the door opened – ever protective. He smiled and moved off the
bed as I walked in the room and wrapped my arm around him, patting his back
proudly.
“Holy shit, you two are parents!” I
enthused. “Come on, Ashton, move out the way and let me seduce your girl,” I
joked, shoving my best friend out of the way as I leant over and kissed Anna
’
s cheek. She smiled up at m
e wearily –
it was clear she needed to rest; I wouldn’t stay long
. “
Well done, Anna,
” I congratulated. “So, where
is he, can I see him?”
“He’s here.” Anna beamed proudly, motioning
towards the side of the bed at the plastic crib.
Okay, first it
’
s time to tease the new dad!
I gripped Ashton
’
s
shoulder tightly and pulled the cigar from my pocket, holding it out to him.
He laughed nervously, subconsciously
scrunching his nose up in distaste. “
A cigar?
”
“Tradition.” I nodded, trying to look
serious; I couldn
’
t wait to get
him to smoke it. He
’
d probably
puke his guts up.
“Dude, I hate cigars and so do you.” He
looked a little horrified, and I knew just by his face that it was worth the
seven bucks I spent on it.
“Taylor, it
’
s in the movies
; t
he dad and
his
best friend have to smoke a cigar to welcome the baby into the
world. I also have to take you out to get you drunk to wet the baby
’
s head.” I grinned and turned to walk around
the bed to see the baby.
“I guess if it
’
s in the movies then it must be true,” Ashton mumbled sarcastically.
Anna smiled.
“I
’
ve seen that movie too. Nate
’
s right, it
is
tradition, Pretty Boy.”
When I got to the little crib, I looked
down at the tiny sleeping baby. “Damn, he
’
s so small,” I mused. I couldn
’
t take my eyes off him. He was just so perfect. I
’
d never really looked at a baby before and
thought it was cute; usually all I thought about was the responsibility and the
expense that went with one. “He
’
s
so beautiful. I
’
m so glad he looks
like you, Anna, and not his dad,” I joked, sneering at Ashton with mock
disgust.
Anna chuckled and shook her head. “Want to
hold him?”
“Hell yeah. Can you pass him to me though?”
I asked, wincing and wondering how I would go about picking him up. I knew you
needed to support a baby
’
s head,
but that was about as far as my knowledge went. Instantly, she slipped her
hands under Cameron
’
s little body,
lifting him effortlessly and holding him out to me.
He didn
’
t even stir in his sleep as he was placed in my arms. I smiled down
at him affectionately as my heart swelled in my chest. I would make sure that
this little kid never wanted for anything.
Ashton sat back on the edge of the bed.
“So, Anna and I have been talking, and we wondered if you wanted to be Cameron
’
s godfather?” he asked, cocking his head to
the side and grinning at me.