Page 55 of Chase

“Busy doing what?” I ask nosily.

“Stuff,” Kade says tonelessly.

“What kind of stuff?” Come on, throw me a bone here.

“Stuff that doesn’t involve nosey little princesses,” he says, smirking.

“What stuff does involve nosey little princesses?” I wonder out loud.

“Keeping busy in the bedroom and the kitchen,” he says chuckling.

“Just for that, you’re not getting any!” I huff. Chauvinistic bastard.

“I wasn’t getting any from you anyway, Layla,” he says, through a fit of laughter.

“I meant food! Cooking! You’re a jerk, Kade!” I hiss.

These men! Ironically, I was heading to the kitchen to bake some chocolate chip cookies before my little interlude with Kade. It was time for some comfort food to assist me in feeling sorry for myself. I’ve made three batches by the time Chase gets home. Kade is sitting at the kitchen table, like a little school boy, waiting to taste anything he can get his hands on. I keep slapping his hand away, telling him he wasn’t getting any after the comments he made. Chase takes in the scene and attempts a small smile.

“Get rid of the she devil?” Kade asks, grabbing one of the macadamia nut cookies when I wasn’t paying attention

“Yeah, I cancelled the shows. And as of next week, it’s not my problem anymore. I don’t wanna step foot in that club again.” He stares at me while he says it.

“What do you mean? Kade asks.

“I’ve sold Heat. I don’t want anything to do with it anymore.” His eyes are still on mine, searching, filled with hope.

Chase walks over to me and pulls me into his arms.

“After that night, when you pulled that shit on stage, when I didn’t come home, I went to my apartment to calm down. The next morning I went looking for a buyer.” He whispers to me. “Fuck, when I saw you up there, I’ve never been so angry in my life, Layla. Seeing those men, look at you like that, like you were easy, a piece of fucking meat, just there for them. Fuck. I wanted to kill each and every one of them just because they saw your beautiful body. You are mine, Layla, no man gets to even look at what is mine. To think those men are at home probably touching themselves with the image of you, makes me want to hunt them down.”

“What do you mean Layla was on stage at Heat?” Kade asks his tone nothing short of menacing.

I cringe. “It’s kind of a long story,” I evade.

Kade looks at Chase. “What the fuck bro?”

Chase looks at Kade, and they must have a conversation with their eyes, because Kade simply nods.

I wrap my arms around Chase and sigh, breathing in his masculine scent. “I’m glad you don’t have to go there anymore Chase.” I say into his shirt. I was freaking thrilled. I try to pull away, but he holds onto me tightly, almost desperately. I hear Kade leave the room.

He lifts my face up to look into my eyes. “Anything to make you happy, Layla. Anything.” He kisses me tenderly, and I let him. A small grin graces his lips before he pulls back.

“Sleep with me tonight?” he asks hopefully.

“No, Chase.” I sigh. I look at him and hold out a cookie. “For now, how about a cookie?”

He chuckles, hiding his disappointment. “I’m not going to turn down one of your cookies, that’s for sure.”

He takes a huge bites and moans. “They are so fucking good, Layla.” He grabs a handful. Kade walks back in and grabs a handful himself. They nod at each other in agreement of goodness.

“Where’s James?” I ask Chase.

“Out.” Is his reply. I mean seriously. Where the hell is James?

Chase jumps in the shower and I decide to give James a call. I pick up my phone and dial his number. It rings a couple of times before he answers.

“What?” James barks out in a tone I’ve never heard from him before. I’m shocked into silence. I hear him curse and hang up. What the hell was going on? After sitting for a few moments in silence I get up and head to my room. Later that night, when I go and say goodnight to Chase, he lingers as long as he can, I know he doesn’t want to leave me. But I still have a few things to think about before I jump, head first, into a relationship with him again.

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