Enjoying the Chase (Guarded Hearts 2)

“Love you too. Bye, Momma, bye, Nate,” DJ chirped happily. Nate smiled and waved as Josh led him out the door.

“See you tomorrow night,” I said, trying not to show any emotions so that DJ wouldn’t get upset. “Josh, please try,” I begged.

He frowned and nodded. “I’ll try, but no promises.”

No promises? The stupid as**ole had already broken his promise so why would another one make a difference? I gritted my teeth so I didn’t make some bitchy comment to him in front of our son. When the door closed I grabbed the nearest pillow and screamed into it until all my breath was gone, then I threw it as hard as I could at the front door. His stupid waste of space father was going to break my baby’s heart, and there was not a damn thing I could do about it.

My tears started to fall as I imagined the look on DJ’s face when I told him he wouldn’t be able to go, and it would be my responsibility to tell him. Josh ruined it, and I got to break the news to his son, the same as every other time he screwed up. Something gripped my shoulder, turning me around, and I suddenly remembered that Nate was there, and had just seen my little outburst that I usually only let out when I was alone.

Concern was clear across his face as he shook his head lightly.

“I’ll pay for DJ’s ticket, you don’t need to get upset about it,” he said, bending down so our faces were level as he wiped my tears with his thumbs.

My heart stopped at the adorable gesture. I couldn’t help but make direct contrasts between him and my ass of an ex-boyfriend. Why couldn’t a guy like Nate have gotten me pregnant? A sweet guy that took his responsibilities seriously, and would provide for his child, no matter what the cost. Or, better yet, just turned up when he was supposed to and didn’t disappoint his kid over and over.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. I couldn’t let him pay for DJ, he wasn’t his responsibility and I couldn’t take advantage of him like that. As much as I wanted to let him just so I wouldn’t have to see the disappointed look on my baby’s face, I just couldn’t let him do it.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to do that,” I whispered, pressing my face against his neck, letting his delicious smell fill my lungs.

“I want to, Rose.”

I sniffed and pulled back, wiping my face, trying not to sob like I felt like doing. I was actually surprised that Nate wasn’t running a mile from me after seeing Josh and I argue in front of him like that. I pulled him over to the sofa and pushed him down, then sat on his lap, straddling him, tangling my hands into the back of his hair. His beautiful, soft, caring blue eyes were locked on mine.

“Nate, that’s really, really sweet of you to offer, but I can’t let you do that. DJ’s my responsibility, and I can’t accept,” I rejected. “But thank you so much for the offer.”

I pressed my lips against his, silently showing him how much that offer had meant to me. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer to him, pressing my chest against his as his soft lips moved in synchronisation with mine, making my whole body crave for more. More of his touch, more of his taste, just more of him. I’d never be able to get enough.

“Let me pay for his ticket,” he whispered against my lips.

I pulled back to look at him, trying to ignore the cute, pleading puppy dog expression that was plastered on his face. “I can’t, Nate. Thank you, but I can’t let you do that.” I pressed my forehead to his and closed my eyes.

He sighed, his forehead scrunching up under mine so I knew he was frowning. “Stripes, I don’t-” he started, but I cut him off by kissing him again. He kissed me back hungrily; I pulled away when I was getting slightly breathless.

“Don’t say anything else,” I said sternly, ending the conversation. I kissed his lips again, trying my best not to let his obvious disappointment affect me. He was probably doing it thinking he needed to spend money on DJ to get him to accept him, when, in total honesty, I could already see that he adored him.

“Okay,” he muttered, forcing a smile as he brushed my hair behind my ears.

I decided to try and lighten the mood; I didn’t want him all disappointed and us to feel uncomfortable all day. This was our day, and I was going to make sure we both enjoyed it.

“Do you know that you’ve made my son want to be a cop?” I asked, cocking my head to the side, raising one eyebrow accusingly.

“Really?”

I nodded. “Yep. He wants to know how to shoot a gun so that you two can arrest all the bad guys and be partners like Buzz and Woody.”

He burst out laughing, his eyes shining with what looked like pride, and I couldn’t help but smile back. He really had a beautiful smile, it lit his whole face. “I’ll be Buzz, I don’t want to be the skinny sheriff doll,” he joked.

I laughed wickedly. “You do know he can’t really fly though, right? And the laser is just a light bulb,” I teased, using one of the lines from the movie that I knew word for word.

His eyes widened and he shook his head in mock disapproval. “Must you ruin all of my fantasies?”

“I ruin your fantasies? Or are you just annoyed because I haven’t made any of them come true yet?” I teased, trying to look sexy as I raised one eyebrow, going for the cocky, teasing face that he did to me all the time.

His hold on me tightened. “Yet?”

I nodded and inched my face closer to his. “Mmm hmm, yet being the right word, Officer Peters,” I whispered, biting his bottom lip softly.

“Damn it, Stripes, we need to go out otherwise I’m going to pin you on my lap all day and have you flirt with me until you lose your voice,” he whined, looking me over slowly. His eyes were so lustful that my body tingled in all the right places. He was right though, we did need to go.

I sighed dramatically and pushed myself up off his lap, laughing as he playfully swatted my ass. “Come on then, let’s go meet the parents,” I suggested, trying to sound more confident than I felt.

He grinned and stood up. “Just to warn you, my family, they’re not exactly… normal,” he said, wincing slightly.

I recoiled at his choice of words. “Not normal?”

He shrugged. “You’ll see.”

Wow, that doesn’t sound good.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nate took my hand at the door, squeezing a little too tightly for comfort.

“Okay, so here’s the deal. If you hate my family then we only have to see them an average of four times a year, just on birthdays and special occasions.”

I inwardly cringed at that statement. Why on earth would I possibly hate his family? Were they going to be mean to me? Did they not like me having a child? Was my job not good enough? Why was he pulling that face?

“Nate, seriously, you’re scaring me now. Are your family going to lock me in a cupboard and not talk to me, or just not acknowledge me or something?” I asked nervously.

“No,” he said grimly, “but you may wish for that.”

“What?” I yelped, looking longingly back at his car. Why had I agreed to this in the first place? Oh yeah, because I was starting to fall in love with the guy, and he wanted me to meet his family. I inwardly scolded myself for not asking Anna what they were like beforehand so I could have prepared myself.

“Ready?” Nate asked, his hand on the door handle.

“No,” I groaned.

He smiled apologetically and pushed the door open anyway. Almost immediately I saw a girl speed walking down the hallway, a big grin on her face as she bowled into Nate with wide arms. He laughed and hugged her tightly. “Hey, Paige, have you been drinking already? It’s not even midday!” he scolded playfully.

She grinned and pushed his hand off as he went to ruffle her hair. I shuffled on my feet, not knowing what to do or say. Should I stick out my hand and introduce myself or wait for him to do it? Should I turn and run? Maybe that would be the best option…

“Paige, this is Rosie. Rosie, this is my sister, Paige,” Nate introduced, smiling proudly.

So much for the running plan!

I smiled awkwardly and held out a hand to her. “Hey, nice to meet you,” I greeted.

“You too, I’ve heard a lot about you.” She turned back to the stairs and shouted, “Mom! Nate’s brought his girlfriend!”

I winced and cringed into Nate’s side.

“Paige, seriously, the longer we put this off, the better. Could you not have at least let her get in the door before we set our batshit crazy mother on her?” he complained.

“I heard that, Nathaniel!”

I looked up in time to see a pretty lady almost skipping down the stairs; her face was stretched into a huge smile as her eyes latched on me. A blond guy was following behind her; he was incredibly handsome and looked like an older version of Nate. One of my eyebrows rose in appreciation.

“Please tell me you guys weren’t up there… Ugh, I can’t even finish that sentence without throwing up. Actually, I think I just did in my mouth a little,” Nate stated beside me, shuddering.

Paige and I both burst into laughter. I slapped his stomach to get him to stop pulling that face he was doing right now, the disgusted ‘I-saw-my-parents-having-sex-once’ face. I needed to stop laughing and that face wasn’t helping at all.

His mom stopped right in front of me. I opened my mouth to say hi, but she cupped my face in her hands, kind of smooshing my lips together. “Aww, you’re such a beautiful girl! Oh, Evan, look at her, isn’t she beautiful?” she gushed with wide eyes.

I blushed and flicked my eyes to Nate, who was just standing there with his mouth open, looking at me; a mixture of horrified and apologetic.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, sweetheart! I’ve heard so many great things about you,” Dawn breathed, pulling me into a hug.

Wow, batshit crazy is right!

“You too,” I answered, a little stunned by her forwardness and affection.

She pulled back and looked around the hallway excitedly. “Where is he? Did you bring him?” she chirped, almost bouncing on the spot.

Bring who? Seriously, had someone slipped something into my drink this morning and this was some weird trip I was on?

“Mom, I told you he couldn’t come,” Nate answered, taking my hand and squeezing it gently. “Will you calm down the craziness a little, I swear to God if you scare her away from me…” he trailed off, shaking his head warningly.

She waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, psht, whatever.”

I smiled politely. “Who are we talking about?” I asked, a little confused as to what I was missing out on.

“DJ,” Nate answered, at the same time as his mother proclaimed, “My grandson!”

What. The. Fuck?

My body reacted before my mind even finished registering what she’d said. My mouth dropped open in shock, a little pop sounding where my lips parted so suddenly. My forehead creased with confusion as I tried to work out exactly what kind of level of crazy I had just walked into.

Nate groaned and his hand tightened on mine. “That’s it, we’re leaving!” he stated, turning and starting to drag me back through the still open door.

I had no idea what to think. This woman wanted to meet DJ? She was already calling him her grandson? Seriously, who did that?! I looked at Nate, wondering what exactly he’d been saying to his mother about our relationship. Had he lied and told her we’d been seeing each other for a year instead of eight weeks? Did she think DJ was Nate’s son? What else would explain her excitement?

“Oh, come on, I was just asking!” she cried.

Nate turned back to her and shook his head, waving his hand at her. “This craziness needs to stop. I’m putting my foot down,” he said sternly. “Now, Rosie and I are going to knock on the door like normal people, and you’re going to answer the door like a normal person. Deal? Let’s just start over.” He practically dragged me outside and slammed the door in her face, leaving us outside again and her inside, giggling excitedly.

I could hear her in there talking to Nate’s dad. “Oh, Evan, how adorable is she? What a cute couple!” she gushed.

I looked back at Nate, still flabbergasted and confused as to what was going on. Seriously, his mom was like a whirlwind, you couldn’t help but get swept away by her enthusiasm.

He winced and pressed his lips to mine, kissing me fiercely. When he pulled away, he looked at me pleadingly. “Just four times a year. After this visit we won’t have to see them again until Christmas,” he whispered.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, shaking my head trying to make sense of the situation.

“That,” he blew out a big breath, “was my mother.”

I laughed uncomfortably and chewed on my lip at his horrified expression. “She’s… enthusiastic.” I struggled to find the right word to describe what I’d just witnessed.

He closed his eyes and nodded. “Ready for meet the parents, round two?” he asked, raising his hand to knock on the door. I nodded and shrugged. I wasn’t sure I would ever be ready, but we needed to get it over with. Nate smiled and knocked on the door a couple of times.

“Oh, I wonder who that could be, I wasn’t expecting anyone,” Dawn sang, laughing inside the house. I burst out laughing and pressed into Nate’s side. I was already in love with his mom, crazy or not.

When she opened the door, she had a big grin on her face. Meet the parents round two went a lot better than the first round. Everything was polite and semi-normal; I say semi-normal because she still hugged the life out of me and gripped my hand, grinning at me like I was the best thing since sliced bread – but at least Nate didn’t drag me out of the house this time. His dad and sister were really nice too. I blushed when I saw Evan slap Nate on the shoulder and whisper something that sounded like, “Score for team Peters, that’s a keeper right there,” in his ear. Nate just laughed and looked at me proudly before kissing the side of my head which made his mom “aww” at us.