Enjoying the Chase (Guarded Hearts 2)

“Well, if you already know then that’s going to make this speech a whole lot easier. Maybe I’ll just give you the abridged version,” I joked, nodding towards the chair that was at the side of my bed. He laughed and sat down. “Right, so here goes nothing… I know I’m not the greatest guy in the world. I’m never going to earn a fortune or change the world, but I promise to make them both happy. So, I just wanted to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”

He didn’t look shocked at my revelations at all. He smirked at me as he sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. The same hard expression was on his face like when I first met him, but I knew it was an act. I knew he liked me, so this was just a joke – at least, I hoped it was a joke; otherwise I was in big trouble.

I grinned before adding, “Just so you know though, George, I’m doing the right thing by asking here, you know, the old fashioned thing, but if you say no then I’m marrying her anyway.”

The hard expression fell of his face as he rolled his eyes playfully. “So, you want to marry her. Have you knocked her up?” he asked, raising one eyebrow at me curiously.

I shrugged confidently. “Not yet, but I will.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I bet you will too!” he replied. “I should cut that thing off while you don’t have a chance to run away from me,” he joked, nodding down at my crotch.

I laughed, remembering his threat from a few weeks ago about hunting me down and chopping it off if I knocked up his daughter.

He smiled and looked up at the ceiling, seeming to think for a few seconds. When he looked back at me, he blew out a big breath before he spoke. “You’re probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, Nate. What you did for my daughter and my grandson showed what type of person you are, and how much you care for them. I always hoped that one day she would find a guy that she loved, but I never expected her to find someone like you. I would be honoured to call you my son-in-law,” he said, his voice coloured with emotion.

His eyes seemed to glaze over as he spoke and for one god-awful second I thought he was going to cry. I totally panicked; I wasn’t good with tears at all. A man hug or punch on the shoulder was about as far as my emotional support went.

“Alright, George, chill buddy, less of the emotion, huh? Otherwise people will think we’re the ones getting married,” I joked. He chuckled and seemed to compose himself, which I was grateful for. I liked the guy and everything, but I wasn’t ready to be hugging him while he cried it out.

“You really are a cocky little shit,” he stated – but the grin on his face told me that it was an affectionate term.

“You’ll get used to it eventually,” I replied, winking at him.

He laughed and stood up, shaking his head. “I’m sure I will.” He patted my shoulder gently. “I’m gonna go, our train leaves in half an hour. You want anything?”

“I have everything I need,” I replied. I smiled at the double meaning in my words – I really did have everything I needed now, life was just about perfect.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

~ Rosie ~

“Are you sure it’s straight?” I asked, frowning at the homemade banner with the words ‘Welcome Home’ emblazoned across it that was now tacked to the wall of the lounge.

“It’s straight. The same as it was straight before you climbed on the chair and started fiddling with it. Will you stop stressing?” Anna teased, chuckling.

I hopped down off the chair and nodded, forcing myself to take a couple of deep breaths. I’d planned this day out for the last two weeks that Nate had been stuck in the hospital for, I just could hardly wait to have him home so I could fuss over him and treat him like the hero that he really was. Seeing him for an hour at a time at the hospital just wasn’t enough for me.

“How much longer do you think they’ll be?” I asked, checking my watch for the hundredth time today. I could barely wait another second.

Anna shrugged, selecting a cupcake from the table that was laden with buffet style welcome home afternoon tea we’d made. “Shouldn’t be too much longer, Ashton said he’d text when they got downstairs.”

I nodded absentmindedly, wringing my hands, checking through everything in my mind to make sure that everything was in hand for the mini party DJ wanted to throw. It wasn’t exactly a party, just Anna, Ashton and Cameron over for some sandwiches and a couple of drinks, but DJ had insisted on party poppers.

Suddenly Anna’s cell phone announced a new message, and she checked it before grinning. “They’re downstairs and now getting into the elevator.”

My eyes widened as the excitement bumped up another couple of levels. I hadn’t seen him at all today. “Nate’s on his way up,” I told DJ. His eyes lit up as he immediately grabbed a party popper from the bowl on the table. I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Don’t aim it at anyone’s faces, remember?”

He nodded in agreement. We’d already had a few practice runs with them this morning; he knew how they worked.

I held my breath, watching the door eagerly, unable to stand still. When a key slid into the lock, my heart stuttered, but as the door swung open and Ashton pushed a wheelchair ridden Nate into the apartment, my heart stopped altogether and then began thumping wildly in my chest.

As DJ set off a party popper, Nate’s eyes widened before a dazzling grin broke out on his face. “What’s all this?” he asked, shaking his head and looking around at Anna, DJ and I standing there surrounded by balloons and a Batman themed cake that DJ and I had attempted to make.

“Welcome home!” DJ cheered, reaching for more party poppers and firing them off one by one, making Cameron burst into tears.

“Thanks, Kid.” Nate laughed, and his gaze drifted to me. Even from across the room I could see the affection sparkling in his eyes. He raised one hand, beckoning me with one finger. As if in a dream, I sauntered to his side and smiled down at him before bending and pressing my lips against his, sighing contentedly because he was now home and at my side and I could hold him whenever I wanted without visiting hours being imposed. As his good hand reached up, cupping the back of my neck and holding my mouth to his, my body weakened and my knees trembled. He always managed to cause this reaction in me.

Behind Nate, Ashton fake coughed dramatically, before coughing the words, “Get a room.”

I chuckled and pulled back, chewing on my lip as I looked at the guy I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. “Welcome home, Nate.”

He nodded, drawing one fingertip across my cheekbone. “Thanks. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“And me!” DJ chimed in at my side, shoving on my leg, trying to get me out of the way as he grinned at Nate.

Nate chuckled. “And you. I think I’ve missed you the most actually,” he answered. “You been looking after my computer for me?”

DJ beamed up at him proudly, nodding in confirmation, before stepping forward and raising one leg as if going to climb onto Nate’s lap. I opened my mouth to scold him, but Nate’s grin widened and he carefully wrapped his one good arm around my son and hoisted him onto his lap, wincing as he did it.

“Nate,” I scolded, shaking my head in disbelief.

“Oh hush, woman.” He winked at me playfully, before his hand slipped into mine, squeezing affectionately.

“I mades you a cake,” DJ announced. “Me and Momma mades it this morning. It’s a Batman one. That was Momma’s idea.”

Nate burst out laughing, hugging DJ tightly before smiling up at me so tenderly that my heart melted to a puddle at his broken feet.

Anna and Ashton didn’t end up staying long, just long enough for Ashton to polish off the rest of the tray of sandwiches and potato chips. When Anna stood and started gathering Cam’s things, DJ got up and headed to his bedroom without being asked and came back with his overnight bag strapped to his back.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Nate asked, clearly confused as DJ started putting his shoes on.

“Auntie Anna’s,” DJ answered as if it was obvious. “Momma saids I could stay the night there.”

Nate’s eyebrows pulled together as he looked at me. “How come?”

Embarrassed heat crept up my neck and over my cheeks, and I hoped no one else noticed. “Just thought we could do with a little alone time, you know, to help you settle in properly.”

One of his eyebrows rose in response, and his full lips pulled up into that sexy smirk that made my tummy flutter. “Oh really? I like where this is going.”

DJ cocked his head to the side. “Where what’s going? You going outs too?”

Everyone laughed, and I stood, chewing on my lip, trying to ignore the excited flutter of my heart. It had been a long time coming, but tonight, come it would.

It took a painful amount of time for them to finally leave. As I stood at the door and waved, watching DJ walk off with Anna and Ashton and Cam, I could barely stand still. Once I’d closed the door, I turned back to see Nate attempting to clear away the table, loading plates and trash onto his lap before awkwardly wheeling himself to the kitchen with one hand.

I couldn’t stop the moronic grin stretching across my face as I looked at my fiancé. I loved him more than I ever thought possible to love a man.

I walked to the kitchen, leaning on the doorframe and just studying him, taking him all in and memorising him as he was in that exact moment. When I couldn’t stand not touching him for a moment longer, I walked over and took the plates that he was currently scraping into the trash, and placed them on the counter.

“I’ll tidy up in the morning. Right now I just want to go to bed.” The words evoked a powerful lust inside me, and I sank my teeth into my lip just thinking about what was about to happen.

“It’s not even eight o’clock yet,” Nate answered, glancing at the clock on the wall.

I grinned and, without saying another word, reached for the bottom of my sweater, tugging it off over my head and dropping it onto the tiled floor, leaving me in a long black camisole with lace trim that barely came to the tops of my thighs. Nate’s eyes widened before his lips parted and his tongue made a tantalising slow sweep of his bottom lip. I knew then that we were both on the same page.

“Oh, fuck. Yeah, I’m ready for bed,” Nate hissed.

I smiled and stepped to the side, taking hold of the handles of his wheelchair. “Let me help you,” I whispered, bending and planting a soft kiss on the side of his neck, loving the smell of him and the warmth of his skin as I pushed him towards our bedroom.

By the time we made it into the bedroom and I’d wheeled the chair to the side of the bed, my breathing was already coming in pants. As I went to help Nate out of the chair, he cringed and shook his head.

“I can do it. I don’t want you to think I’m less of a man or anything,” he rejected, awkwardly manoeuvring himself out of the chair on his busted knee and broken leg. He hopped unsteadily and then plopped down on the bed, wincing as he shuffled up the bed, using his one good arm and the elbow of his broken one.

I laughed at his absurdity. “Less of a man? Nate, you’re the manliest person I know. Helping you out of a wheelchair isn’t going to ruin that image I have of you, you know.” That was the truth. If I was honest, I actually quite liked fussing over him and having him need me for things. In a ridiculously small way, it made me feel like I was paying him back for what he did.

“Manly is a much better word than sweet.”

I chuckled, pushing the wheelchair to the side of the room. “Oh, you’re still sweet.” I turned back to him and smiled, chewing on my lip as the lust inside me built to preposterous heights. His eyes were wild and excited as I gripped my leggings and pushed them all the way down, kicking them off. I smirked over at him, raising one eyebrow. “Now something of yours,” I suggested, nodding to his fully clad body.

Without needing another prompt, his T-shirt was wrenched over his head and tossed onto the floor, exposing all of his brilliance and tightly bunched muscles. I giggled at his eagerness and made sure I had his full attention before taking hold of the bottom of my camisole and, ever so slowly, easing it up. With every inch of skin that I exposed, his jaw seemed to tighten, and his eyes narrowed in appreciation. When I finally tugged it over my head, his bottom lip rolled up into his mouth as he made a low groan in the back of his throat.

I smiled to myself; happy with my choice of lingerie for our first time. I’d chosen it especially for tonight – a pink and white stripy set that left very little to the imagination.

“Oh, I like those.” His eyes latched on my underwear, alternating between the top half and bottom half as if he couldn’t decide which he liked the most. “Striped underwear. You’ve thought of everything, huh?”

“I’ve been thinking about this night for a while, yeah,” I admitted, not even ashamed to say that I’d played this night out hundreds of times in my head since we’d first met.

“Me too,” he whispered, as I climbed onto the bed, crawling up his body but being careful of his injuries.

As I straddled his hips, resting my forearms either side of his head, our chests pressed together, and the warmth from his skin made my mouth water. I just looked down at him, not having any words to describe how I felt about him. He was my hero, my saviour in more ways than one, and the love of my life. My heart ached as one of his hands slid up my back and guided my mouth to his.

The kiss was earth shattering, passionate and full-on panty-moistening. My body was a mess of nerves, sensations and emotions as we peeled each other’s clothes off carelessly. I pulled back, smiling down at him, revelling in the lustful, loving expression on his face as I reached into the bedside drawer for the box of condoms that I’d purchased for tonight.