Chasing Bliss (6 page)

Chapter 5

W
hen Bliss got to her apartment, she was playing another game of beat-the-clock. She
spent the rest of the morning getting her hair done. Now her long brown hair hung sleek,
straight—and hopefully rain proof—with fresh highlights. Then she spent the next two hours
getting her nails done, and of course that meant all twenty of them. You can’t get a mani without
a pedi.

She spent more time that she didn’t have at the perfume counter at Macy’s, and then she went
upstairs and spent money she shouldn’t have on a cute little lilac dress and a pair of strappy sandals
in the same color. Bliss felt guilty dipping into her savings to doll herself up, but thanks to Chase,
help was on the way. She refused to meet him looking like a ‘hood rat.

When she got back to her apartment, she ran a hot bath and got into the tub. She used some of her roommate’s
bath salts, hoping Tasha wouldn’t mind. Tasha was usually pretty good about sharing stuff, but she drew the line
at what she called her “relaxation therapy.” She said she needed it to help her unwind after a long day in the ER,
and Bliss couldn’t blame her. Natasha Lowery was doing her first year of residency at New York Presbyterian,
and Bliss was extremely proud of her best friend. She was a neurologist, and Bliss was impressed—big time,
even if Tasha was something of a pothead in her downtime. Bliss was just getting out of the tub when she heard
Tasha come in.

“Bliss? You home?”

“I’m just stepping out of the tub!”

“Well, hurry up. I gotta tell somebody about the day I had.”

“Good, ‘cause I gotta tell you about mine.” Bliss toweled off and put her robe on.

Tasha startled her when she banged on the door. “Bliss, you better get your little ass outta that
bathroom and quit using up my damn bath salts! You used so much I can smell them through the
door!”

Bliss opened the door with a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry, Tasha. I’ll buy you some more…
promise.”

Tasha looked at her dubiously. “Oh yeah? With what? Your ass ain’t worked in a month.”

Bliss looked at her loftily. “I got a job,” she said and stuck her tongue out at Tasha.

Tasha laughed out loud and did a little dance. “Hallelujah and thank you, Jesus!” She grabbed
Bliss’s hands, and they did the happy dance together until they were reduced to girlish giggles.

“I gotta get dressed, Tasha, or I’m gonna be late.”

Tasha frowned. “What? You start working tonight, Bliss?”

Bliss shook her head dreamily. “No…I have a date—or at least I think it’s a date.”

“
Stop playin’!
Your ass ain’t had a date in 2,000 years.”

Bliss gave her a dark look and started spraying on perfume. “Later for you, Tasha.”

“Who is it?” Tasha asked, sitting on Bliss’s bed and lighting a joint.

“His name is Chase Brown. He gave me the job this morning.”

Tasha frowned through her reefer smoke. “You dating your boss, Bliss?”

Bliss put her panties on and started rubbing lotion all over herself. “No. My boss’s brother.”

Tasha nodded, looking confused. “Oh…all right. Well, you go girl and all that good shit. Is he
cute?”

Bliss slipped her dress over her head and grinned lewdly. “
Hell, yes!
” She sat down and put on
her sandals, then stood back up, taking the pins out of her hair. “Can you zip me up?”

Tasha obliged, with the joint still stuck in her mouth.

Bliss made a face and waved the smoke away. “Come on, Tasha! Don’t blow that stuff in my
hair. I don’t want him to think I smoke that shit.”

“Spray some more of that perfume on, and he’ll never know.”

Bliss sucked her teeth. “You make me sick. Tell me about your day while I do my hair.”

Tasha told her about the horrors of the ER while Bliss combed her hair and did her makeup.

When Bliss was finished, Bliss picked up the small purse she’d be carrying and shrugged into a
short black trench coat. “I gotta go, Tash. I’ll see you later. Wish me luck.”

Tasha got up and followed her to the door. “Later for luck. I wish you sex—and plenty of it!”

Bliss smiled at her. “From your lips to God’s ear, girl. See ya later.”

******

Bliss didn’t bother with the subway; she had no intention of showing up late twice in one day.
She hopped into a cab and took it a little farther downtown to Delight. When she got out of the cab,
she saw Chase’s Ducati sitting right out in front. Delight was a supper club, so there was no velvet
rope or outdoor line waiting to get in.

Bliss opened the door and stepped inside. The place was vibrant and colorful. A live band was
playing somewhere off to the left, and the bar ran along the back wall, an area was crowded with
people. There was another room to her right that looked like it held a dance floor, and it seemed to
just be coming to life. Bliss walked over to the hostess and smiled. “Hi. My name is Bliss Riley,
and—”

The hostess smiled at her brightly. “Come with me,” she said. “Chase is in his office, but he
wanted to know the minute you came through the door.” She glanced at Bliss like she had a million
questions for her, but she stayed quiet while she walked and smiled. She knocked on the door.
“Chase, Ms. Riley is here.”

“Send her in.”

It was funny, but Bliss wasn’t nervous until that very second. She had sudden and total recall of
his face, and her knees went a little wobbly.

The hostess pushed the door open and smiled at her.

Chase was on his cell phone, leaning back in his chair, and he didn’t look pleased. Bliss caught
the tail end of his conversation: “I ain’t gonna talk to you about this right now, Cyrus.
No!
I’m
busy. Bye, Cyrus.” He ended the call and threw his phone on the desk. Chase stared at Bliss for
a moment, then stood without taking his eyes off her. “Oh shit,” he said. “I think my heart just
stopped.”

Bliss smiled at him coyly. He’d said exactly the right thing. She felt the first stirrings of something
special. “Well, then how do you suggest we get it started again?”

Chase smiled at her and came around the desk. He walked up on her and ran the lapel of her coat
between his fingers. “
Bliss
. Where’d you get a name like that?”

She was very aware of his fingers sliding down her lapel. Her lips parted to say something, but
she couldn’t find her voice.

Chase dipped his head like he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t. “You’re not gonna answer
me?”

Bliss blinked and realized she was breathing hard. She wanted to throw her arms around him,
but she didn’t. “My dad named me. He was happy to have me, I guess—you know…blissful.”

Chase’s hand left her lapel, and he put his lips close to her ear. “So am I. You gonna make me
happy…Bliss?” He was so close she could see the weave of the fibers that made up the royal blue
shirt he was wearing, untucked, with black jeans.

Bliss licked her lips. “Are you gonna make
me
happy?” she countered.

Chase smiled and whispered in her ear, “Don’t answer a question with a question, Bliss.”

“You’re going to kiss me, aren’t you?”

He grinned a bit lasciviously. “I was thinkin’ about it, but I don’t want you to slap me,” Chase
said, pulling back to look at her.

Bliss felt dizzy, as if nothing else mattered in the world except for what was going on right there
in that small patch of space. “I might slap you if you don’t,” she said in a voice that didn’t quite feel
like her own. It wasn’t, for Bliss would have never said a thing like that. But the words had come
from her own lips, and she didn’t care how it sounded.

Chase stepped away from her, but he took both of her hands in his and pulled her forward.
When his lips touched hers, Bliss felt like she stepped outside of herself and was watching all this
go down. Chase put his lips against hers, slightly apart. Their mouths touched, and they savored
the feel of their collision. He kissed her again, and she caught the teasingly, tantalizing, taste of
his tongue. He let her go and moved away from her, but not too far. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done
that.”

Bliss looked surprised. “Are you sorry?”

He smiled. “Nah.”

She smiled back. “Me neither.”

Chase nodded. “Well, all right then.” He took his jacket off the back of the chair. “Let’s go.”

“We’re leaving? I thought we were staying here.”

Chase slipped his jacket on. “Nope. I gotta bounce up outta here. Cyrus is on some shit, and I
don’t want him showin’ up here and fuckin’ up my night.” Chase picked up his helmet and was
about to put it on when he stopped suddenly and looked at Bliss. “I shoulda drove. I can’t put you
on the back of my bike in that dress.”

Bliss looked down at herself and had second thoughts about the dress too. It might have been an
error in wardrobe choice, but she was glad she’d worn it. She was also game enough to get on his
bike anyway. She didn’t want to pass up a chance to be that close to him. “If you’ve got another
helmet, I’ll be okay.”

He went to the closet and got a midnight-blue helmet off the shelf. He looked at it like it was
suspect and handed it to her. “It’s Corey’s. I’d look it over before I put it on my head.”

Bliss checked it out. “Looks okay to me.”

Chase put his helmet on and flipped up the faceplate. “It’s gonna mess your hair up,” he
warned.

Bliss smiled. “I don’t care, Chase…if you don’t.”

His eyes twinkled. “Just want to be with me, huh?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

He took her hand, and they left his office.

They walked past the hostess, who noticed Chase was holding her hand and gave Bliss a subdued
look of hating. Chase turned his head her way. “Goodnight, Maya. If Cyrus shows up, send him to
Jayson, okay?”

“Not a problem, Chase. Goodnight. Goodnight, Ms. Riley.”

Bliss smiled at her and wiggled her fingers in her direction. “‘Night,” she said, wondering if that
woman had been with Chase or just had a crush. She felt Maya’s eye daggers in her back as they
headed for the door.

Chase paused by a good-looking, chocolaty, diesel brother by the door. “Hey, J.T. What’s good?”
They dapped each other, and Chase put his hand low on Bliss’s back. “This is Bliss Riley. Bliss,
this is Jayson Taylor. You need to know him, ‘cause you’ll be seeing him a lot.”

“Hey, Bliss. I hear Chase has you workin’ for Cyrus?”