Enjoying the Chase (Guarded Hearts 2)

“What?” I asked innocently, taking her hand and pulling her down the corridor after her son.

“You’re teaching him bad habits,” she scolded playfully.

I shook my head, faking innocence. “Actually, I was correcting a bad habit. You never push all buttons while you’re in there, it’s a rookie mistake. You should have taught him better than that. I was just helping the kid grow up.”

When we got to the door, Anna opened it, and DJ threw his arms around her legs. “Auntie Anna!” he practically screamed.

She laughed and hugged him back, kissing the top of his head. “Hey, DJ! How’s that arm?” she asked, nodding at his cast.

“Cool beans,” he stated, grinning and heading into the apartment without waiting to be invited – yet another thing the kid had in common with me.

Anna laughed and mouthed ‘Cool beans?’ to Rosie, who just shrugged. “Who knows where he got that from,” Rosie said, shaking her head looking a little bemused.

Anna waved us in and I pulled her into a hug. “Hey there, best friend’s wife,” I greeted, kissing her cheek.

“Hey there, best friend’s boyfriend,” she answered, winking at Rosie who just blushed and walked off, looking slightly embarrassed.

DJ ran into the lounge, and Ashton immediately swept him up into his arms, hugging him. “Hey, squirt, long time no see. How you been, little guy?” Ashton greeted.

DJ was clinging to him, grinning. “We went to the zoo, and I got a toy guin and I sawed the lions getting feeded, and we rode the train!” he gushed all in one breath. Then he leant in close to Ashton’s ear and looked back at me and Rosie, obviously checking to see if we could hear him. “Guess what Momma and Nate were doing,” he whispered to Ashton, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ashton looked over at me, one eyebrow raised suggestively. “What were Momma and Nate doing?” he asked, his voice coloured with amusement.

“They were kissing!” DJ hissed.

Ashton gasped, faking horror. “Oh no! Has Nate got the girl cooties now too?” he asked, shaking his head sadly. Rosie, Anna and I, burst out laughing, but Ashton was keeping up the serious act as DJ nodded with wide eyes. “Didn’t you warn him that you can’t kiss girls without catching their germs?”

DJ sighed sadly and shook his head. “It’s too late now. They kissed more than one time; he’s definitely got the cooties.” He looked at me sadly as Ashton clicking his tongue and shook his head. Suddenly DJ brightened and turned back to Ashton. “Hey, if Nate has the same as you, does that mean that him and Momma are gonna have a baby, like you and Auntie Anna did?” he asked, a smile stretching across his face.

I literally swallowed too much air and had a coughing fit from the shock of what he’d said. Rosie’s mouth dropped open as both Anna and Ashton burst out laughing – probably at me and my pathetic attempts to get my lungs to work properly.

Ashton shook his head. “I think Nate and your momma have a long way to go before they start to think about having a baby.”

Rosie looked at me apologetically, so I shrugged and coughed a couple more times, trying to act like a mature adult but failing miserably.

Ashton put DJ down and he immediately jumped on the sofa, looking at Ashton expectantly. “Can we watch TV?”

For the next couple of minutes, Rosie spoke to Anna about bedtime routines, while DJ, Ashton and I flicked through TV channels until we found some cartoon that he wanted. When a hand slid down my back, I turned back to see Rosie smiling at me. We said our goodbyes to everyone, Rosie gave DJ one last talk about being good and being careful with Cameron, and then we slipped out of the apartment.

As we stopped outside the elevator, she laughed. “Stairs?” she suggested as the light above the door showed it stopping on 34th then 35th floor. I grinned and nodded, and we walked down the stairs holding hands.

“So, I thought I’d ask you now before you claim I’m too drunk to know what I’m saying,” Rosie started, blushing.

I looked at her curiously, not knowing what on earth she was talking about. “Ask me what?”

She smiled nervously. “I’ve got the place to myself tonight, want to stay over and keep me company?”

I resisted the urge to throw her over my shoulder and run to her place as fast as I could. I bit my lip and tried to remain calm, trying desperately not to think about sleeping in a bed with her, having her cuddle up to me in the night. I’d been dreaming of that for weeks.

“Sure, if you’re scared to be on your own.”

“Oh, I definitely need a big bad SWAT agent to protect me.”

I grinned and kissed the top of her head. “Then I’ll stay over. It’ll be a chore, but I’ll do it if it makes you feel better,” I joked. “Want to get some dinner then a couple of drinks?”

“Sure, sounds good.” She frowned and looked down at herself. “I think maybe I should change first, I look a mess.”

I looked her over in her cropped black pants that hugged her ass, strappy sandals and red, sleeveless, V-neck top that was just tight enough to raise my pulse every time I looked at it. She looked pretty damn fine to me.

“You don’t need to change. You look incredible the way you are.”

She laughed disbelievingly. “Incredible?”

I faked shock. “Did I say incredible? Sorry, that was rude of me. I meant edible.”

She pressed herself closer to me. “You look pretty edible yourself.”

I smiled and kissed her. “So it’s settled. Food, then drinks. By the way, I’m gonna get you drunk again because, damn, drunk Rosie can flirt!”

After dinner, we headed to a bar. I was having a fantastic night. Actually, the whole of the day had been incredible and, to use her words from earlier, I’d loved every second of it. Who knew spending time with a girl and her kid would be so rewarding.

My face and stomach hurt from smiling and laughing so much with her. We were playing a spot the lookalike game, finding regular people that looked like celebrities, then we had to rate the other person’s find out of ten. I was currently winning with a Nicole Richie lookalike that had scored me a very respectable eight and a half out of ten.

Suddenly, her body stiffened and she frowned at something behind me, her eyes narrowing accusingly. “You have got to be f**king joking,” she growled, before stalking off after whatever had caught her attention. I turned around, confused, wondering what she’d seen that had upset her.

I watched as she stalked over to a group of four guys. She slapped one of them around the back of the head, making him spill his drink everywhere. He turned around, his face angry, until he saw her and his face dropped immediately, looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

She slammed her hands on his chest forcefully, making him stumble back a couple of steps. “You finished work early, Josh?” she spat.

Wait, Josh? He’s out drinking with friends after he told her he was busy working and couldn’t have his son? Fucking asshole!

His mouth dropped open as she punched him in the arm. “You inconsiderate, stupid, waste of space, good-for-nothing jackass!” she shouted angrily, drawing a few odd looks from the people around her. “Why did you do it again? Why do you do this to him all the time? To me?”

I immediately walked to her side. If she asked me to, I’d happily beat seven shades of shit out of him. He smirked at her, looking her over obviously, and I felt my back stiffen. Holy shit, I’m going to kill him!

“You’re so sexy when you’re angry,” he stated, taking a gulp of his drink.

“Then I must be sexy all the time, because you always make me angry!” She hit his chest again for emphasis.

“Oh you are, bunny, you are,” he flirted, winking at her.

Bunny? That was why she’d once told me she didn’t want me calling her that – because this douchebag did.

“Grow up, Josh! Seriously, what’s your excuse this time at being caught out? You’re supposed to be working today, so what’s it to be? A fire drill and you had to evacuate, a dirty bomb went off outside your building, a case of cholera going around your work and they sent you all here to wait why they try to find the cause of it?” she asked sarcastically, her voice acidic.

He smiled at her, a lopsided smile that told me he’d been here a while and was already half drunk. “You’re funny,” he told her, looking her over again.

“And you’re a jerk,” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest, making his eyes drift down to that region.

Oh yeah, I need to kill him. Where the f**k is my rifle when I need it?

He sighed. “I was working all day. I was supposed to be on until ten, but they let me out early. I finished about an hour ago, and I figured it was too late to call you to come pick him up,” he replied, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

She eyed him curiously. “You were actually working?”

He nodded and bent down, putting his face to her level. “Of course I was, bunny. I told you, didn’t I?” he cocked his head to the side and gave her the innocent little boy face that DJ seemed to have inherited. Funny how I found it cute when DJ did it, but when Josh did it I wanted to shove my fist through his face.

“Stop calling me that, Josh, it’s beyond inappropriate,” Rosie snapped angrily.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say… bunny.”

I shifted on my feet. I could almost taste the anger in my mouth. This was the guy that hurt my girlfriend over and over; this was the guy that made his son cry this morning because he let them down again.

His eyes snapped to me, and he stiffened, his face hardening. “Who’s that?” he asked her, nodding in my direction over her shoulder, his eyes not leaving mine.

Rosie turned to look at me and smiled apologetically. “Josh, this is Nate Peters. Nate, this is DJ’s dad, Josh Brody,” she introduced, waving a hand between us.

His jaw tightened as I slipped my arm around her shoulder and held out my other hand to him. He shook my hand, his eyes boring into mine and I could see that he was fighting with the urge to rip my arm off, the same as I was his.

Josh was the complete opposite of me. His hair was dark brown, almost black, his eyes a deep brown, his skin had a natural tan. He was well built, almost the same height as me, so probably about six foot one. He was a good looking guy though, I had to give him that.

“Hey. I’ve heard a lot about you,” I greeted, shrugging casually. I couldn’t help but smirk at him. Practically everything I had heard about this guy was bad, but yet he still thought he had a chance with Rosie. Fat chance, that was all he had.

Josh didn’t look too impressed as his eyes finally left mine, and dragged down my body as if assessing what type of threat I was. There was a sneer on his face that I wanted to punch off for him.

“Wish I could say the same, but neither of them have mentioned you.” He shrugged, smiling wickedly, obviously pleased with his little dig. He turned to Rosie and smiled. “This the new boy toy?” He jerked his chin in my direction.

“He’s not a boy toy!” she snapped, glaring at him.

He laughed. “Fuck buddy then, whatever.” He waved his hand dismissively as he smirked at me again, obviously thinking he was annoying me with his macho show. In reality, it kind of made me want to laugh. Sure, I wanted to smack the life out of him, but he was only doing it because he was jealous that I was with her and he wasn’t. Anna said that he wanted things he couldn’t have, this looked to a prime example of that.

“Josh, just…” Rosie groaned in frustration before she continued, “…you annoy the shit outta me, you know that?” she cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

He smiled, playing innocent again. “I’m sorry, bunny. I’ll stop now, okay? Can I buy you a drink?” he asked, looking at her curiously. He turned to face me with a wicked smirk. “Boy toy, want a drink?” he asked, laughing quietly as she slapped his arm again.

Rosie shook her head at him. “I take it that you’re feeling flush tonight then, Josh. Does that mean you won’t be late with my child support this month?” she asked, clearly annoyed with him still.

“Definitely won’t be late,” he promised, crossing his heart with one finger. “Hey, wait, if you’re here, then who’s watching DJ?”

Rosie laughed bitterly. “You’re such a good dad sometimes. It’s taken you all of,” she grabbed my arm, looking at my watch, “four minutes, for you to finally realise that I don’t have our son with me,” she stated. She gave him a sarcastic little round of applause. “You should be proud of yourself for that.”

He smiled. “You’re definitely sexy when you’re mad.”

She sighed in defeat. “He’s staying with Anna for the night.”

He frowned and nodded. “Great, the Taylors,” he muttered, sneering lightly. I got the distinct impression that he didn’t like Anna and Ashton – probably because Anna wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and Ashton had thrown him out of his apartment.

“Whatever,” Rosie answered, rolling her eyes.

He sighed and bent down to talk in her face again. “I honestly was working, bunny. I swear to you I was. Don’t be mad at me, please? I hate it when you’re all mad at me.” He reached out and touching her hip, and I fought with my urge to grip his hand and break every single one of his fingers for touching my girl.

She nodded. “Okay, fine. But just try not to keep breaking your prom-” she started but, at that exact moment, one of the guys Josh was with was pushed from behind and tipped almost a whole pint of beer down her arm and side, making her squeal and jump from shock. “What the hell?” she cried, obviously shocked.