The Final Chase (Final Love Book 2) (2 page)

Chapter Two

I woke to the sound of an annoying alarm clock. I was too tired for that shit.

“Turn it off, for crying out loud. You don’t even need to wake up this early anymore,” I grumbled, rolling back over.

“I’m still trying to figure out why you’re in my bed this morning.” Rayne, my best friend for life, yawned. I rolled back towards her and opened one eye.

“Cammy Jr. needed me.” I closed my eye, attempting to go to sleep even though I knew it wouldn’t happen. I heard Rayne chuckle. I like hearing her laugh. Rayne and I had been best friends since our freshman year of high school. Up until six months ago, Rayne was the top female MMA fighter in the world. Now she was pregnant and happily married to her hot stud, Arson, who was a retired fighter as well. He was gone this weekend and I was sort of missing Rayne and our alone time. While I loved Arson, and he was the sweetest, most amazing man I had ever met, he hogged her sometimes. Not that she was complaining, but I definitely was! I needed my bestie time.

“Baby needs breakfast. Want to go get waffles with me, since you’re here?”  My head perked up. I did love food, and I was so excited now that Rayne wasn’t on her training diet for fighting. We could totally be fat together.

“I think I can fit it into my schedule.” I slowly sat up, wishing I had some coffee right now. Rayne looked cute in her shorts and tank top. She had me cut her black hair short for the summer. It was a little above her shoulders and she rocked it. Combine that with her little baby bump, and she was adorable. She rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. Slowly I got up and changed into a cute blue sundress and one-inch sandals. Rayne and I traded places in the bathroom and I twisted my long red hair into a stylish messy bun. Next I grabbed the pink eye shadow to make my blue eyes pop, and finished it off with some black mascara. I hardly ever went out in public without make up. It was just barbaric to even think about it.

Together we left her and Arson’s apartment to go get some waffles.

“I think once Arson is back from his trip, we are going to start looking at houses,” Rayne mumbled while chewing on her large Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. Cammy Jr. was like me, an eater.

“Awesome, you guys staying close to the bay or wanting to find some more privacy?” I could see them living in a house on the water, where they could buy a boat and do happy family things together. She finished her bite this time before speaking.

“Not sure yet. I like living by the water. It would be a nice jog with the stroller once the baby arrives.”

“Cammy Jr.,” I corrected her. It was more of a tease than anything. I remember back when we first talked about her needing to have little babies with Arson, she was so flustered. So, to continue to ruffle her feathers, I kept the name. She rolled her eyes.

“How was the party yesterday?” She went back to chewing and speaking. I shook my head. That baby was making her nutty.

“It was like something out of a movie. First there was a hot guy with blond hair. He was all, here baby come feed this wallaby with me. But the damn thing bit me!” I flashed her my bandaged middle finger.

“Then I flashed all the kids my bright pink panties before running into an even hotter guy with his arm up a horse’s ass!  Then in the lodge, he is all I’ll-bite-you-like-an-animal intense. It was crazy, Rayne.” I finished telling the events as they happened and took a deep breath. Rayne had stopped eating and was staring at me like I was insane.

“Seriously?” She thought I would make that shit up?

“Yes, seriously!” I exclaimed.

“Why was his arm up a horse’s behind?” she asked curiously. Couldn’t blame her, it was a shocker in itself.  I explained what the old man told me. I wondered briefly if the horse was preggers. Hopefully Jake got his answer before coming to tend to me. That would suck for the horse, if not. Thoughts of Jake’s face ran through my mind.

“I know that face, which hot guy are you thinking about?” She was looking at me with sparkles in her eyes. I could never hold back from her.

“Jake, the horse fister.” Sadly, calling him that did not diminish how hot he was to me. Nope, not at all. Something was wrong with me.

“Ah, tell me about him. You said he was all I’ll-bite-you-like-an-animal. Details, woman! It’s my turn to pester you about men.” I was about to remind her that she pestered me about a guy I was dating a year ago, but I didn’t feel like going down that path. There wasn’t really a reason why Daniel and I didn’t work. He was perfect in every way I wanted a man to be, but something was missing. I was lost at a loss to what that missing thing was.

“He’s tall, brown hair that you could run your fingers through, light stubble, hot build, strong arms, a squeezable butt and a nice smile.” Not that I saw a true smile. Just the smirk.

“Oh, he sounds hot.” I nodded, he was.

“But I’m not going to give it a second thought. I have no plans of going back there. He is an outdoor man. He works at the animal rescue. He is probably covered in sweat, dirt, and animal stank all day. I don’t even like to walk around barefoot outside. We are complete opposites!” I huffed. She watched me as I officially stated I was not interested in Jake.
“I’m curious to see how this goes.” She sat back in her chair and rubbed her baby belly.

“How what goes?” I was confused.

“You and Jake. Something tells me you will be getting Arson’d soon.” She smiled smugly. I laughed out loud, probably disturbing the old biddies sitting behind us. I would not be
Arson’d
. When Arson had shown up into Rayne’s life, he left no room for arguments. She belonged to him. She fought it for a little while, but he made her fall for him in record time. Yeah, that would so not be happening to me.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. I think those hormones are making your brain mush.” She just smiled. That smile made me want to stomp my feet in a toddler fit.

“I will not be Arson’d!” I pouted. There would be no earthly reason for my path to cross Jake’s ever again. Like I said, we were completely opposite. Rayne raised her hands in submission but I know she didn’t actually concede on her statement.

I moved us on to lighter subjects as we finished eating.

“I have to head to the salon. Need me to do anything?” I asked, as she hopped into her little sedan. She shook her head.

“Nope. I think I’m going to swim in the pool a bit, then hang out. Morning sickness has been hitting me a little in the afternoons.” All in all, Rayne’s pregnancy was going pretty well. They recently had an ultrasound, but didn’t want to know the gender of the baby. Crazy, but I was still beyond happy for her.

“Ok. Catch you on the flip side, hooker!” I blew her a kiss and walked over to Bambi, my orange beetle car. I loved Bambi. It didn’t take me long to drive over to the salon.

The salon was something I had worked hard for. Lots of hours spent working for an overly-made-up middle-aged woman, gaining as many clients as I could. I worked so hard for so long, and now I owned one of the hottest salons in Sarasota. I had every type of client, from the super-rich to strippers. I loved them all.

Just last year though, I started to take a back seat out on the floor and started managing my business. I had six hair stylists, four nail technicians, two skin care ladies, and three massage therapists.  Yeah, my salon was kick-ass. I should have named it that, Kick-Ass Salon, but knew some old ladies would get their panties in a twist over that. So I deemed it Prism Salon. The inside was decorated with many bright colors. Each station was a combination of pastels to bright blues, pinks, corals, greens, and more. You would think it would be a disaster. But it wasn’t. I had someone come in and do it. I can proudly say it looks absolutely fabulous!

I pulled into my parking area, which looked pretty full. As soon as I opened the door, I saw everything was in control. Everyone was being tended to, which was magnificent.

“No worries, all. Your fearless leader has arrived!” I alerted them of my entrance. Most of them rolled their eyes. Obviously I was not an intimidating boss.

“Can I get you anything, Ms. Jennings?” My newest receptionist jumped into action.

“Yes. Can you get me a bull whip, a full leather cat suit, and a hockey mask? I obviously need to toughen up my rep so my employees take me seriously,” I asked, trying to hold back my laughter when her face paled.

“Uh.” I liked making her sweat a little. Hell, I loved to get reactions out of people. It was either a curse or a gift, the great debate of my life.

“I’m just pulling your dick, babe. I’m fine.” I air-kissed her cheek and walked back towards my office. I had to look over the new advertising designs. Something was lacking last time, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. But this time, I was going to make those designs my bitch.

Chapter Three

An hour later, I had an epiphany. Realizations like this one don’t come around too often. It’s the type of epiphany that changes your life.

I, Cammy Jennings, wanted a family.

While looking over the files of papers designed to draw women and men to Prism so they could be turned into beautiful butterflies, I decided I wanted to throw those files away and sponsor a little kids’athletic team. It would look so awesome to have a Prism Salon’s softball team jersey. Or a basketball team. And I would have to go to games and support the local team that had my name on their backs.

It was then that I realized I wanted that life. I wanted to be the kick-ass soccer mom that was always on point with her hair. I would rock the shit out of bringing juice boxes and snacks after practices. I wanted a husband to pester, who would love me anyway. I was still undecided on a family dog; it was something I would maybe do for the kid but only because I loved him.

I wanted what Arson and Rayne had. The way he stared at her, as if she was the very air he breathed. They were so in love; it was beautiful to be around.

The thoughts that were running through my mind were making me sad. I had no boyfriend. The last one I had, I dumped, because he just didn’t light my fire like I wanted. I was thirty, which wasn’t old, but it seemed like my crazy clock was ticking, telling me my ovaries were going to shrivel up and turn to dust at any minute.

I needed to get my mind off my lack of future plans, so I left my office and decided to get my hands in the water and do a few walk-in pedicures. I enjoyed every part of it, from scraping the dead skin off the bottom of someone’s foot, to chatting them up about whatever, then painting a pretty color on their nails. It kept my mind distracted.

The next time I looked at the clock, it was closing in on six. We were about to clean up and close down for the night. Tomorrow being Sunday, we were closed, so everyone could spend time with their families or just be on their own. The thought made me depressed all over again. I was heading home to nothing but my pretty apartment.

“Hey, Cammy, want to go to Jackie D’s tonight? We could get hammered and do some karaoke,” asked Mary, one of my hairstylists. My frown turned upside down really quick. That was one way not to be alone tonight! I was so down with that plan.

“Heck, yeah!”

In the salon, I encouraged us to be more like a family. I’ve found that I keep employees better that way. They knew I still meant business, but I treated them well and they respected that. There were a few of the girls I could call friends. Mary was one of them. She knew how to have a good time.

I closed up the shop about half an hour after everyone left and went home to change.  I cleaned up and dressed in black, wide-legged dress pants and a strapless shirt that hugged my waist. I looked in the mirror. Oh yeah, I was looking like my doppelganger, Amy Adams. Petite, red hair, blue eyes, and elfish features staring back at me. I shot a text to Rayne to see if she just wanted to come and hang out, but she said Arson came home early. She would be one busy lady for the next day or so. Lucky bitch.

Time to get out of my lonely apartment.

Jackie D’s was a fun bar with lots of drinks flowing, people dancing like no one was watching, and drunkies doing terrible karaoke covers to hit songs. It was fabulous. I loved to let loose.  Mary and I threw back a few shots and were getting our freak on out on the dance floor. While twirling with my arms in the air, my eyes caught sight of something familiar. I stopped and looked towards that something, only to feel my nether regions start to tingle. Jake was sitting at a nearby table, nursing a beer with wallaby man. His eyes were on me. Watching me intently. I wish I could say I was plastered, and that was why I decided to walk over to him, but I couldn’t. I honestly don’t know what drove me over.

“What’s up, animal bitches?” I waved. Blond man was grinning and Jake was still looking at me, his expression unreadable.

“Hey, Cammy, how’s the finger?” Blondie asked. I looked at him and smiled, while showing him my middle finger.
Just
that finger.

“It’s doing okay, thanks for being concerned. Well, have a good night.” I was starting to regret my decision to walk over there. I twirled and walked away quite gracefully, but instead of heading back to the dance floor where Mary was getting low with some guy, I beelined for the bathroom. After doing my business successfully, I exited the bathroom and ran into a hard body.

“Ow! What the hell?” I stumbled back, but big arms wrapped around me, steadying me.

“You have a way with words,
Just Cammy
.” I looked up and met beautiful blue eyes, which also had a dark blue ring around the outside.

“I have to be good at something,” I shrugged, then bit my lip, feeling unsure as to why his arms weren’t letting go of me. I was quite stable. Or at least I thought I was.

“I feel like we should explore this,” he announced. I stared at him like he sprouted two more heads.  Speaking of heads, I was feeling something pressed against my tummy. Something hard and delicious.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tried, going for plausible denial.

“I’m an animal, remember? I like the chase and I will catch my prey.” He walked us back so I was against the wall with his arms caging me in. Why was this so hot? He was a stranger! Well, sort of.

“I’m not prey. And I don’t like to be chased,” I countered, even though I’m pretty sure it was a lie.

“Of course you do. Ask me how I know.” His head leaned in, close enough that I felt his breath caress my lips. Oh Lord.

“Tell me, oh wise one.” My voice was breathy and hoarse.

“You’re an alpha, a leader. You need a man who will pursue you for your affections, and who will prove he is the better man overall. A man who will take care of your every need. Hard. Slow. Soft. Fast. A man who gives you the world, while giving you stability. You need an equal. An alpha,” he purred and I think I just orgasmed. God, now I know what Rayne felt like when Arson was all “I’m your fucks and flowers.” I wanted to jump up on this man’s cock and go to town.

“That’s where you’re wrong, kitten. We are completely different. We wouldn’t even know what to do with each other, let alone try for stability. It would never work. But lovely words.” It was better for me in the long run. He was hot and wild. He was an animal.

“So the chase begins. Remember my words, sweetheart. The longer you run, the sweeter it will be when I catch you. And I will catch you.” Orgasm number two? Maybe? For a moment, we just stared at each other. A sort of challenge, if you will. I was determined to fight this. He was determined to chase. This was going to be interesting, one way or the other. Either we would collide and fuck like animals, or it would end in nothing. I was pretty damn strong-willed. He pulled back, releasing me from his arms.

“Enjoy your run, sweetheart,” he smirked. I arched a brow and walked back out towards the dance floor. Mary was still dancing with her hunk of burning love. I pondered if I should grab another drink or dance some more when a bolt of genius hit me. I looked at the table where the boys had been, to see Jake was back at the table. Watching me, of course. That smirk still on his face. Oh, buddy, you have no idea what you signed up for. I strutted over to the karaoke area and told the DJ my song selection. The latest performer was almost done belting out her Kesha song, so I was up next. I felt like doing some fist pumps in the air for what was about to happen.