Enjoying the Chase (45 page)

Rosie came out into the hallway then,
prying DJ off my legs, kissing my cheek lightly as she took his hand. “Anna
said do you want a drink?” she whispered.

“Sure. I
’
ll be right in,” I replied, ushering her inside the apartment and
closing the door, wincing as she looked at me a little bewildered. I put the
phone back to my ear and closed my eyes. “I need to go, Mom. I
’
ll speak to you later in the week.”

“Okay, have a great week. Be careful at
work.”

 “I always am. I
’
d better go, apparently DJ wants ice cream. See you soon.” I
disconnected the call and let myself into the apartment, grinning as DJ ran up
to me and held his hand up for a high five. “
Hey, Kid.
Been good?
” I looked up in time to see Rosie shoot Anna
a look that I had no idea what it meant. It was like they were having a silent
conversation. 

DJ nodded enthusiastically. “Yep. I sleeped
all night and didn
’
t wake up
Cameron. I washed Uncle Ashton
’
s
car with him this morning. I eated all of my dinner, and I even helped clean
the dishes after!”

I grinned and ruffled his hair, looking at
Ashton. “Well that sounds like child labour to me. You should ask Uncle Ashton
if he
’
s paying you for that,” I
suggested, winking at him.

DJ raised his eyebrows and looked at
Ashton, who held his hands up innocently. “You wanted to help, no one forced
you!” he protested.

I bent down to DJ
’
s level and looked at him, trying to keep my face deadly serious.
“If you
’
d helped me wash my car
and cleaned all my dishes, I would have paid you at least five bucks. I think
Uncle Ashton
’
s a cheapskate.
”

DJ frowned looking a little puzzled. “What
’
s a cheapskate? Like a roller-skate?
” He questioned. Suddenly, his face brightened, his eyes widened,
and his mouth pulled up into a grin. “I want to go roller-skating! Can we,
Momma?” he sang, looking at Rosie excitedly.

Rosie
’
s mouth dropped open and she looked at me accusingly, as if I had
suggested it or something. “Baby, I can
’
t roller-skate, last time I tried that I almost broke my butt, you
remember?”

Ashton burst out laughing and nodded. “Oh
that was too funny. We should definitely do that again. That was epic!” he
stated.  

“It wasn
’
t that funny! I couldn
’
t
sit right for days,” Rosie scowled, pouting at DJ playfully.

He grabbed her hand, jumping up and down on
the spot. “Can we, Momma? Pleeeeeeeease?” he whined, giving her the cute face
that he seemed to be the master of.

Rosie groaned and shook her head. “I
’
m not doing it again. Ask Daddy, he might take
you next weekend.”

Before I could even think about what I was
about to say, the words burst from my mouth. “I
’
ll take him.”

Everyone stopped laughing and looked at me.
Anna and Ashton looked shocked, Rosie looked like she thought I was joking, and
DJ, well DJ was looking at me like I
’
d just suggested that I buy a real live penguin of his own.

Rosie opened her mouth and then closed it
again, seeming a little lost for words. She looked at Anna again, and they
seemed to have that whole silent conversation again. I really wished I was
privy to it, I
’
d love to know what
went on in my girl
’
s pretty head.

Rosie looked back at me, chewing on her
lip. “Really?”

I nodded and shrugged, silently hoping she
would say yes, because that meant that she trusted me with the most important
thing in her life. “Sure, we could go Friday, after I finish work,”
I suggested.

DJ pumped the air hissing a ‘yes
’
as he grinned. I looked at Rosie, waiting for
her to say something. Instead, she walked up to me quickly, gripped the front
of my T-shirt and kiss
ed
me passionately.

“Eww!” DJ cried.

I smiled and pulled back looking at Rosie
with mock horror. “Yeah, eww! Girl cooties!” I wiped my mouth on the back of my
hand and she burst out laughing, her eyes soft and tender as she looked at me.
I smiled proudly that she was looking at me like that, I
’
d never really had a girl look at me like that before, the only way
they looked at me was lustfully. I
’
d never had anyone just gaze at me like I was the only man on the
planet. I actually loved that look.

I gripped my hand on the back of her head,
tangling my fingers into her hair and pulling her mouth closer to mine again,
my eyes locked on hers. “So, that
’
s
a yes then?” I whispered, my mouth brushing against hers.

Her breath was blowing across my lips, making
my mouth water and my whole body ache to pull her closer to me and never let
her go. “If you really don
’
t mind
taking him,” she answered, her voice a little weaker than normal.

I pecked her lips again, wanting nothing
more than to press her against the nearest wall and kiss her until we both
couldn
’
t breathe. Well, that wasn
’
t all I wanted to do to her up against a wall,
but I tried not to let my mind wander to those things, it would only make
things harder for me.

I pulled back and looked at DJ; he was
practically bouncing on the spot with excitement. “It
’
s a date then, Kid. Friday night when I finish work, that alright
with you?”

“Yes!” he shouted, making Cameron cry from
the other room. “Sorry.” He winced and looked at Anna.

She smiled and shook her head. “Don
’
t worry about it. He was due to get up and say
goodbye to his little playmate anyway.”

“Can I get him?” I asked, already heading
towards his room without waiting for an answer. I hadn
’
t seen him much for the last couple of weeks, I
’
d been too busy trying to worm my way into Rosie
’
s heart and pants. I headed to his room and
leant over the side of the crib. He was all snuggled up in his blankets, his
eyes wide and looking up at me as I smiled down at him. He was such a cute
baby; I really did love the kid.

 “Hey, Cam,” I greeted, reaching out and
picking him up.

I studied him closely. A couple of weeks
ago his eyes had started to darken from the blue that all babies were born
with. His eyes were now a light brown colour, with flecks of Ashton
’
s green around the pupil.

Someone cleared their throat behind me, so
I turned to see Ashton leaning in the doorway. “Want one?” he asked, nodding at
Cameron, who was gripping the collar of my T-shirt, chewing on his other fist.

I laughed; I didn
’
t really know the answer to that question any
more. If he
’
d asked me that question seven weeks ago, before I
’
d met Rosie, then I would have laughed in his
face and made some stupid comment about being tied down and how I liked to play
the field. But now that I had her, I couldn
’
t help but wonder if a child of ours would have my blue eyes, or her
brown. I
’
d never really understood
when Ashton said that he wanted his baby to look exactly like Anna, but now
that I was with Rosie I could understand it. She had the most beautiful
chocolate brown eyes that would look great on a little baby.

“Only when they
’
re clean,” I answered, shrugging. That should answer the question
and stop him asking things that I didn
’
t know the answers to. I sat down on the little sofa they had in the
room, settling Cameron on my lap. “Can I ask you something?”

Ashton nodded and sat down next to me.
“Sure, bud.”

I frowned, not really knowing how to ask or
how to phrase it. “Okay, well, are there like rules? I mean, is there like a
book or something that I
’
m
supposed to be studying that
’
s
gonna make this all easier for me?” I asked hopefully.

“What the hell are you going on about,
Peters?”

I blew out a big breath. “This dating thing
is hard! How do I know what I
’
m
supposed to be doing or saying to her? She made this really nice comment to me
last night, and I just started talking about jacking off. I mean, what the hell
is up with that?” I rolled my eyes at myself when I remembered the conversation
we had in bed last night.

Ashton laughed harder and sat back, looking
at me like I was the funniest thing he
’
d seen in ages. “Jacking off?” he repeated
between
laughs.

I punched him in the arm. “Taylor, get your
head out of your ass and give me some advice before I screw it up!”

He composed himself, a grin still stretched
across his face though as he ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, rule number
one, don
’
t talk about jacking
off,” he said, laughing quietly. “Other than that, just be yourself and don
’
t lead her on. If you
’
re not feeling it, then break it off sooner rather than later. She
doesn
’
t deserve to be hurt, and
neither does DJ. They
’
ve had
enough of that shit in their lives
.
”

“
I met her ex last
night.
” I frowned at the thought of that douchebag.

Ashton hissed a cuss word through his
teeth, his jaw tight. “And what did you think of him?”

I smiled sarcastically. “He was lucky I
didn
’
t lose my fist down his
throat,” I muttered, closing my eyes and trying to stay calm and not think
about him. “The fucker actually had the nerve to tell me that he was going to
win her back. His exact words were ‘game on
’
,” I told him.

Ashton snorted through his nose at my
comment. “He always was a cocky, arrogant little shit. Man, I hate that guy! I
have no idea what she saw in him in the first place.” 

“You and me both.” I shifted Cameron on my
lap, smiling as he took my hand pulling it to his mouth and chewing on my
knuckle. “So, about this book.” I raised one eyebrow, hoping there was a
magical guy manual for how to win the heart of a fair maiden.

Ashton smiled and patted me on the
shoulder. “You don
’
t need a book.”
He looked at me knowingly, so I raised one eyebrow, waiting for him to
continue. He laughed. “I
’
m not
going into it because I don
’
t want
to violate the husband and wife code, but I
’
ve heard some stuff.”

I gasped. Stuff? I needed in on this stuff
he
’
d heard. “Like what?”

He grinned. “Girls talk. From the things I
’
ve been told, you don
’
t need a book at all. Just keep doing your thing. The Nate Peters
charm seems to be working,” he assured me, winking proudly.

“Oh yeah? Does she speak to Anna about me a
lot?” I asked, thinking about her gossiping about me to her best friend – just
like I was now doing with Ashton. 

He laughed, holding his hands up in a
halting gesture. “I
’
m not saying
anything else. I was told that if I told you anything then I wouldn
’
t be getting any for a week.”

“Ashton, you
’
re like a brother to me, you have to give me more than that! What
sort of things does she like that I
’
m doing? Please?” I begged. If I knew what I was doing right then I
’
d be able to make sure I did that more!

He looked back at the door before scooting
closer to me on the sofa. “If this gets back to them that I said anything, you
and I are gonna have a problem,” he warned.

I sighed dramatically. “As if Anna would be
able to go without for a week.”

“Not the point. I don
’
t want to be caught gossiping like a freaking woman!” he protested.
I gave him a sarcastic look, waiting for his pearls of wisdom advice. “Okay,
fine. I
’
ve heard that she thinks
you
’
re funny, and hot, and very
thoughtful. I can tell by looking at her just now that she loves the way you
interact with DJ, so that
’
s a
major plus. Just keep doing what you
’
re doing and you
’
ll be
fine
.
”