The Chase Read online

  ‘Should I put on some coffee?’ I ask, thinking it might be a good idea to give them a moment alone. Especially since the way he’s holding her is making me want to beat my chest like a bloody caveman.

  ‘Thanks, but I can’t stay that long,’ Tyler says, looking over at me. He takes his time, checking me out from my bare feet up to my own sex-wrecked hair, and there’s another smirk on his lips when he says, ‘Wow, Em. I figured the day would come when you finally decided to give my type a try. Way to go, baby girl.’

  She shoots him a sharp look, then takes another deep breath and says, ‘Tyler, this is Jase Beckett. Jase, this is my best friend and a sometimes complete pain in the ass, Tyler Landon.’

  Tyler and I are both laughing as I shake the hand he’s offering me. ‘It’s good to meet you,’ I say, thinking this meeting might go better than I’d expected.

  But then the guy pulls his hand back, crosses his muscular arms over his chest, and snorts under his breath. ‘I wish I could say the same.’

  ‘Ty,’ Em snaps, but he’s not listening to her. No, he’s too busy giving me a steely look that tells me she’s told him everything. That I fucked her, and then made my stupid offer to stay with me in London until we’d had our fill of each other.

  Shit, when I think about it, I guess I don’t blame the guy for looking at me like he wants to take me out for a special hunting trip. One where he comes back, but I don’t.

  He opens his mouth again, no doubt about to lay into me, but I cut him off at the pass. ‘I’m not going to hurt her.’

  He gives another snort as he jerks his chin at me. ‘Too late, man. You already have.’

  ‘And I’ve flown over five thousand miles to say that I made a mistake. I’ve left behind my business. My life. Everything. Because I realized she’s more important.’

  Emmy gives a soft gasp, my words obviously taking her by surprise, but Tyler just arches one of his golden brows. ‘And now you’re here and the two of you have had what I can tell was the motherfucking bomb of reunions, seeing as how my girl looks like she can barely walk straight. So what’s next, Jase?’

  ‘Ty, don’t,’ she says low, glaring at him.

  ‘Sorry, Em, but I love you,’ he mutters, scraping a palm over his bearded jaw, ‘and I can’t help worrying about the pieces I’m gonna have to put back together when Brit boy here gets his fill of you and scampers back home.’

  ‘Ty!’

  ‘I’m not going to hurt her,’ I say again, my narrowed gaze locked in hard on his green one. ‘And I know damn well that I’m never getting my fill. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not years from now. She’s mine.’

  ‘So you’re moving here?’ he laughs, giving me a knowing smile. ‘Should I start planning a citizenship party for you?’

  Tension slides up my spine. ‘We haven’t got that far yet.’

  ‘Well, when you do, Jase, make sure I’m the first to know.’ He steps towards me, and we’re nearly nose to nose. ‘Because I’m watching you, big guy.’

  I brace, thinking he might actually take a swing at me, but it never comes. Instead, he just grins and gives me a wink, before turning and walking back over to Emmy. He grabs her up in his arms, squishing her tight as he leans down and whispers something in her ear that I can’t hear. But it makes her blush, and then he presses a kiss to her cheek that I know is for my benefit, making sure I get just how close they are.

  ‘Fuck,’ I mutter to myself as he heads out and Emmy shuts the door behind him, knowing I’ve made a shitty first impression. Still, I can’t help but like and admire the guy. And I can see why Emmy cares about him, because it’s clear that Tyler Landon would take a fucking bullet for her. To be honest, I’m a little in awe of him, because he doesn’t have a single guard or shield or wall in sight. He isn’t afraid to show whatever motherfucking thing he’s feeling, and I feel like there’s a hell of a lot I could learn from him.

  ‘So, um, yeah,’ she says with a sharp sigh, as she locks the door and turns to face me. ‘That was Tyler.’

  EMMY

  I don’t think I’ve ever actually been relieved to see Tyler leave before, but damn. That was so uncomfortable, and I know my face must be beet red from the heat pulsing in it.

  He’s always been protective, but I had no idea he’d go so mama bear on Jase. I love him for it, but that . . . That was so embarrassing!

  I get where Ty is coming from though. This was the first I’ve seen him since flying home, but we’ve talked every day on the phone, and he knows how wrecked I’ve been. I’m taking a huge leap of faith by accepting Jase with open arms, and I haven’t been able to explain any of it yet to Ty.

  Am I scared? Of course I am. But after the incredible morning I’ve just shared with Jase . . . Let’s just say that the fear is completely worth it.

  I loved the intimacy of sleeping in his arms today – something I’ve never done before with a man, except for when Jase and I were together in England. Loved the warmth and weight of him beside me, his hair all spiky and the beard on his jaw even darker than it’d been when I found him leaning against the beautiful car that’s currently parked out on the street. But it’s the way I keep catching him looking at me, and the things he’s said, that have thrown me. Changed me. Completely undone me.

  Still standing in the middle of my living room, Jase pushes his hands into his front pockets, and I’m sliding an appreciative gaze over the hard muscles in his chest and abdomen when I hear him say, ‘I like him.’

  My jaw immediately drops as I jerk my wide-eyed gaze back up to his. ‘You do? Because I’m pretty sure he was acting like a total ass to you.’

  ‘Only because he’s looking out for you, sweetheart. And I’m sure as hell not going to fault the guy for that.’

  ‘Huh,’ is all I can manage as I walk past him, and I’m thinking that maybe I need some serious levels of caffeine before any of this starts making sense.

  ‘By the way,’ Jase drawls with a crooked smile that I catch in the mirror hanging over my dresser, as he follows me into my bedroom, ‘in case you missed it, Tyler totally thinks I’m hot.’

  ‘You are so freaking cocky,’ I say, rolling my eyes. ‘Not to mention conceited!’

  His laugh is deliciously low. ‘And you’re the only woman in the world who would dare insult me.’

  I snort as I grab my hairbrush. ‘That’s just because they’re all so busy kissing your ass,’ I tell him, trying not to cringe as I finally take a good look at myself in the mirror. God, I’m surprised Tyler didn’t fall down with laughter when he saw me, because I definitely look like I’ve been ridden hard and put away wet.

  Before I even realize what Jase is doing, he comes up behind me and drops down on his knees. With his hands on my hips, he lowers his head and nuzzles his mouth up under the frayed hem of my shorts, pressing his lips to the under-curve of my right butt cheek. ‘That’s what’s so different about you,’ he murmurs, flicking his tongue against me. ‘Because here I am, kissing yours instead.’

  ‘Only because you’re getting what you want.’

  ‘We both are,’ he says roughly, running his hands up my sides as he moves back to his feet.

  ‘Are you so sure you’re what I want?’ I tease, meeting his heavy-lidded gaze in the mirror.

  ‘I have to be, Em. If I don’t believe it, I might start bawling my eyes out.’

  I shiver at those telling words, and he just leans down, kissing my shoulder before he walks back out to the living room, where the T-shirt he was wearing this morning is still lying on the floor.

  We finish getting dressed and head into my ridiculously tiny kitchen, where he helps me make some sandwiches for lunch. We eat them with chips and some sodas, sitting at the small table that’s pressed up against the wall in my living room, and I use the time to ask about his flight over. He tells me that they were late getting in yesterday, and he didn’t land until after midnight, which is why he waited till this morning to come over. I curl my feet around the bottom rungs of the chair a
nd spend more time just staring at him than I do eating, unable to believe he’s really sitting here at my table. That he left a multi-million-pound company in the hands of his most trusted employee, and dropped everything just to come after me.

  It’s the most amazing, stunning thing that anyone has ever done for me, and my senses are buzzing, my skin tingling like I’m touching a live wire. It’s like he’s woken me up from a deep and heavy sleep, and now I’m turned on and fully charged, ready to drag him back into my bedroom and feast on him until I’m gorged.

  When we’re done, we load the dishes into my slimline dishwasher, and before I carry out my bedroom plan, he drags me into my bathroom, strips my clothes off along with his own, and pulls me into the shower with him. Then he pushes me up against the tiled back wall, and goes down on his knees again.

  Only this time, it’s not my ass Jase is kissing, but my drenched pussy. And he’s taking it like he owns it. Like he’s the only man I want between my legs, not just today, but for . . . always.

  For forever.

  Oh, God. I shove that thought out of my head, unable to deal with it, and focus instead on the sensations. On the lush, exquisite pleasure.

  ‘I can’t get enough of you,’ he growls, licking me like a cat with cream, the slow, intimate strokes of his tongue making me tremble and pant.

  I’ve read about guys who like going down on women so much that they did it all the time, but never imagined they really existed. Much less that I would have one in my life . . . and in my shower.

  ‘Are you always like this?’ I gasp, trying to catch my breath.

  ‘Like what?’ he asks, flicking that molten gaze up to my face, and I can’t help but notice that his lips are wet with my juices.

  ‘So . . . intent on giving oral sex.’

  His dark brows knit together, and his gaze turns sharp. ‘Don’t do that, Em.’

  I blink down at him. ‘Do what?’

  ‘Start getting scared.’ His deep voice is rough and low. ‘You’re trying to piss me off so you can put some distance back between us.’

  ‘I . . . wasn’t,’ I lie, knowing damn well that he’s right. That I’d started freaking out, because of that particular F-word that just threw me for such a loop. ‘I was just . . . curious.’

  He doesn’t believe me, but he goes with it anyway. ‘Have I eaten pussy before? Yeah. Have I done it with every woman I’ve fucked? Hell no. And I’ve never . . . I mean, I don’t . . .’

  ‘Don’t what?’ I ask, when his voice trails off.

  ‘You’re different,’ he says in a gritty tone. ‘Don’t ask me to explain, because I can’t. I just know that I’m addicted to the taste of your hot little cunt, so instead of trying to start a fight, why don’t you just open your legs wider and let me eat you out until I get what I want?’

  ‘Which is what, exactly?’

  Instead of answering, he just gives one of those low, wicked laughs that always make me melt, and I hear him rasp, ‘You’ll know when it happens,’ as he lowers his head again, and keeps licking me until I come so hard that I’m actually shouting and begging him not to stop. And that’s when I understand what he was going for. My complete and total surrender.

  I can barely stand by the time he moves back to his feet, and we thankfully have enough hot water to soap up and wash our hair. My legs are still wobbly when we finish, but I manage to stumble out of the shower and grab two towels for us, handing the bigger one to Jase. I try not to drool as I watch him run the white cotton over his gorgeous physique, and I swear he looks even more ripped than he did last weekend, as if he’s spent some grueling sessions in the gym since I last saw him.

  I’ve just wrapped my towel around my body and knotted it in front, when I hear a soft chime come from my bedroom.

  ‘What was that?’ he asks, tying his own towel around his lean hips.

  I look up, catching my reflection in the mirror. My eyes are wide, and though my face is pale, there are twin bright splotches of pink on my cheekbones as I say, ‘That was the email notification on my laptop.’

  Jase frowns. ‘Why do you look so scared?’

  ‘Because it might be from the editor at Luxe!’ I hurry down the hallway, and can hear him following me. ‘But that would be crazy. I only just sent her the article this morning.’

  ‘You’ve already finished it?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I say excitedly, rushing over to the little desk that’s set in front of the window and sliding into my chair. ‘I worked on it nonstop since getting home, and finished it not long before you got here.’

  I pull up my email and start reading, unable to keep my legs from bouncing with nerves.

  ‘Emmy, I’m trying to be mature here by not reading over your shoulder, but it’s killing me,’ he grumbles. ‘Is it from the editor? What the fuck did she say?’

  I can’t keep the smile off my lips when I turn my head, looking at him over my shoulder. ‘She says she loved it!’

  He gives me a blinding smile, and I swear I can see his happiness for me shining right there in those beautiful blue eyes.

  Twisting around in the chair to face him, I can’t stop grinning as I tell him the rest. ‘She wants to set up a time to talk on the phone next week, and says that she’d love for me to write another piece for them. They want me to put together some ideas, and then they’ll choose which one they like best.’

  ‘Emmy, baby, that’s awesome.’

  I blush as I surge to my feet and throw my arms around him, giving him a tight hug. ‘I wouldn’t have been able to do it if it weren’t for you,’ I tell him, which is the truth.

  But he just shakes his head at me. ‘Like hell you wouldn’t.’

  ‘Jase, you know—’

  He cuts me off. ‘I mean it, Em. You would have found a way to get the information you needed on Harrison.’ He gives me another sexy smile as he lifts me up and spins me around, adding, ‘And tonight, I’m taking you out to celebrate.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that,’ I say a little breathlessly, knowing he must still be tired from his flight.

  ‘But I want to.’ A cocky smirk kicks up the corner of his mouth as he says, ‘And you deserve it, for being brilliant and brave. I mean, you faced down the fire-breathing dragon himself.’

  I smirk right back at him. ‘Now, Jase. You’re not that bad.’

  ‘I was talking about J.J., you little smart-arse,’ he says with a playful growl, and I laugh so hard I almost cry as he starts tickling me like crazy, while still holding me off the ground. ‘Are you going to let me read it?’ he asks, when he finally sets me back on my feet.

  I blink up at him as I try to catch my breath. ‘You really want to?’

  His gaze is warm. ‘Of course.’

  ‘If you give me your email address, I’ll send you a copy.’

  He gives me the address, and I go back over to my computer and send him the file. Then his phone rings, and he says that he needs to take it when he sees that it’s Martin who’s calling him. I need to dry my hair before I end up having to wet it down, so I use the time while he’s talking to Martin to go back into the bathroom and get it done. I moisturize next, focusing on each individual task, since I’m too afraid to pay too much attention to the chaos in my head. My emotions are all over the place, zinging between elation and disbelief, hope and fear.

  When I walk back into my bedroom, I see that Jase is no longer on his call. Instead, he’s dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, sitting on my double bed with his back propped up against the headboard, flipping through one of the sketchbooks that sit on the nearby bookshelf.

  ‘What are you doing?’ My face instantly goes warm, and I have to fight the urge to go over and rip the thing out of his hands. ‘You’re such a snoop!’

  He looks up at me. ‘Yep,’ he says with a smile that’s totally unapologetic, and yet somehow completely charming. ‘Once I started looking at your sketches, I couldn’t stop.’

  I bite my lip while the heat in my face starts to burn.

>   He sets the sketchbook aside, then throws his long legs over the side of the bed and braces his elbows on his spread knees. ‘Why don’t you do something with your art?’ he asks me, and I love the little growl that he makes in the back of his throat when I drop my towel.

  As I pull on a pair of panties and a bra, I tilt my head at his question. ‘You mean like as a career?’

  ‘That’s exactly what I mean. You’re more than talented enough.’

  ‘But then it’s work,’ I say, scrunching up my nose as I slide on my favorite pair of jeans. ‘I can work for a passion – which is why I want to write about something I love – but people also need to have something that they hold close that’s just for . . . For joy, I guess. Because it simply makes them feel good.’

  His thick eyelashes make it difficult to read the look in his eyes from where I’m standing, but he’s staring at me like he’s trying to read me. Read my thoughts, my dreams.

  ‘What?’ I ask softly, before pulling on a T-shirt. ‘You probably think that’s stupid, or childish, right?’

  ‘No,’ he husks. ‘I think it’s fucking hot, Em.’

  ‘You think everything is hot,’ I tease, though I’m secretly pleased that he’s not mocking what I’ve just shared with him.

  ‘When it comes to you, I certainly do.’ He knifes up off the bed and grabs his phone, sliding it into his pocket. ‘All my clothes are back at the hotel, so I need to run over and change. But it shouldn’t take me more than an hour, even with traffic.’

  ‘Can you make it three?’

  ‘Why?’ he asks, and I get the feeling he’s worried I’m trying to get rid of him.

  ‘I just need to run out for a few things,’ I explain. ‘But I’ll be ready to go when you get here.’

  I walk him to the door, where he gives me a deep, breathtaking kiss goodbye, and I’m grinning like a fool as I lock the door behind him. Then I hurry over to my phone to call Tyler, hoping he can go shopping with me. Because I want an outfit for tonight that’ll knock Jase back on his gorgeous ass, and I know Ty will be willing to help me do some damage to my credit card. He’s been harping on me to upgrade my wardrobe for years now, and even though he’s wary of Jase’s intentions, there’s no way he won’t jump at the opportunity to help me pick out something that’s edgy and sexy, and perfect for the occasion.