Dr. Chase Hudson (The Surrogate Book 2) (14 page)

“Why?” I asked, knowing I was taking
advantage of her with her inhibitions down. But, hell, I wanted to
know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

“Because I like it,” she said easily.

“Isn't that even more reason that I should say
it?” I asked, liking it way too much that she liked what I said
to her. I reached out, grabbing her legs and pulled them over my lap.

“I don't know,” she said, sounding
genuinely confused. “I feel like no.”

“Hey,” a woman's voice cut in and I looked
up to find a gorgeous dark skinned woman with long dreads and a face
that could grace a catwalk standing near the coffee table. “She's
wasted. Back off,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument
and I found myself smiling at her.

“That's Ava's...” Jake started, walking up,
fumbling for a cover for what I was, “Friend,” he went
with, putting an arm around Shay. “It's fine. She's fine...”
he said, leading her away.

“I like Shay,” I told the top of Ava's
head.

“She's good people,” Ava said, sounding
sleepy as she scooted closer, resting her face on my chest like I
liked.

It was my only chance.

“Who is Dr. Bowler babe?” I went with,
knowing she was one of her shrinks. It was in her paperwork.

“She's my shrink. My other shrink. She's good
people too. Even if she's right.”

“Right about what?”

“But I think she might be wrong. But maybe not.
That's how it works, I guess.”

“How what works?”

She just shook her head though, taking a deep breath
and snuggling closer. My arm went around her, pulling her close.
“This is my spot,” she declared, tapping my chest with
her hand.

Her spot.

Fuck.

Fuck yeah it was.

God damn it.

My other arm went around her too and I kissed the top
of her head, not wanting to kill the moment with things like proper
code of conduct. In that moment, I wasn't her doctor. She wasn't my
patient. We were just two people.

“Yeah, baby, it is,” I agreed.

“Safest place in the world,” she said,
drifting off to sleep.

Safest place in the world.

She thought my chest was the safest place in the world.

Fuck me.

Then I felt it. Strong. Sure. More sure than I had ever
felt about anything in my life.

I loved her.

And it was nothing like I had thought.

It wasn't like sunshine. It wasn't like warmth.

No.

It was just an easy feeling.

It was knowing that given the choice between spending
my night with her asleep on my chest or doing anything else in the
world, I would choose her every single time.

Without thinking.

Easy.

What the fuck was I supposed to do now?

I held her to me, stroking up and down her back,
through her hair, over her cheek, as the party dwindled down around
us and all that was left was Shay and Jake. The former came over,
dropped down on the coffee table right in front of me, her brown eyes
seeming to x-ray right into my soul.

“So, you're really attractive,” she said,
ripping a surprised laugh from my chest.

“Thanks.”

“I mean the tall, dark, scruffy, sexy thing is
really working for you.”

“Thanks again,” I said, smiling. She would
be good for Ava. Bold. Confident. Some of it could eventually, little
by little, rub off on her.

“Now there's something I know about really
attractive, tall, dark, scruffy, sexy men.”

“What's that?” I asked, Ava stirring
against me and my arms instinctively tightened around her.

“They tend to trample shy and sweet girls with
fragile hearts.”

“I have no intentions of trampling Ava,” I
said honestly.

“Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you won't. So
let me just get this straight
right fucking now
,” she
said, her tone going from light and almost flirtatious to deep and
stern in an instant. “You hurt my girl here, I am going to buy
a cactus, find you, and shove it up your ass,” she said in a
way that I didn't doubt her for a second. “'Kay?”

Again, I laughed. “I like you, Shay,” I
told her honestly. Had I met her two weeks earlier, she would have
been just my type.

“I like me too. And I like my girl. So toe the
line and you won't have reason to
dis
like me.”

“Jesus Christ, Shay,” Jake broke in,
sounding frustrated. “Leave the man alone.”

“I am just making it clear where things stand.
Something I am assuming your ass forgot to do.”

“You don't underst...” Jake's eyes went to
me and he sighed. “Whatever. I don't want to fucking argue over
this. You're killing my buzz.”

“You should hit the sack anyway. Alone,”
she clarified with a pointed look.

“Yeah. Okay, Mom.”

“Just saying... six o'clock is going to come
before you know it.”

“I don't get up at six o'clock.”

“Well,” she said, slapping her hands down
on her thighs before standing, “tomorrow you do.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

“Because you are helping me clean this apartment
before Ava gets up.”

“Like hell I...”

“Go to fucking bed,” she said again,
firmer. And damn if Jake didn't turn and go back to bed.

“See you in the morning, Dark and Sexy,”
Shay said, not looking at me as she made her way to, what I assumed
was Ava's bedroom. “I'm making breakfast.”

I was awake for a long time, trying to figure out how
to get myself out of such a clusterfuck of a situation. I came up
with nothing. Because Ava
needed
me. But she needed me to be
Dr. Chase Hudson. She needed to have those boundaries so she could
let down her guards and learn to be comfortable with men. She needed
me in a professional capacity. She didn't need me pining for her.
Admitting my feelings for her. She didn't need that pressure. That
confusion.

She fucking needed me to get my shit together.

So that was what I needed to do.

The next morning.

After breakfast.

True to her word, Shay was up and showered in a pair of
pajama pants and a tank top at six in the morning, banging down
Jake's door until he opened and stepped out, bleary-eyed, but
surprisingly following her orders.

Once the apartment was cleaned, Shay and Jake moved
into the kitchen, working side by side to make breakfast and I got
the distinct impression that something was brewing there. It was in
the playful banter. In the arguing. In the long stares when the other
wasn't looking.

Those two were going to have something going on. Soon.

I wondered how Ava would handle that.

As if on cue, Ava groaned, her eyes opening to squint
at the bright morning light.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty.”

She shot up, body going tense, tilting her head to look
at me. “Chase?”

“Yeah, babe,” I said, registering the pain
in her brown eyes.

Then those eyes went wide as she, I imagined, tried to
go over the events of the night. “Oh, god...” she said,
burying her face in her hands. “Please tell me I didn't say
anything stupid.”

“No, babe. You fell asleep almost as soon as I
got here.”

She was silent a moment, still trying to piece the
parts of the night together. “Why did you come?”

“I heard you yelling at someone to stop touching
you. He didn't seem to get the message. So I just wanted to make sure
you were okay. If I had known what a guard dog Shay is, I wouldn't
have been so worried.”

“Hey, us gals got to stick together,” Shay
called from the kitchen, waving a spatula.

Her head snapped in the direction of Shay's voice and
her mouth fell slightly open. “Okay. I think I woke up in some
different dimension,” she said, looking around the clean
apartment like it didn't make sense.

“Jake and I got up early to clean for you. I know
you like things neat.”

“That was really sweet,” Ava said, sounding
almost emotional. Like she never expected anyone to do anything nice
for her. She probably didn't. “Wait. Did you say
Jake
got up early and
cleaned
?”

“Yeah,” Shay said, shrugging.

“Did you have him at gunpoint?”

“Girl, all you need to handle a man like him is a
sharp tongue and a withering stare. Boy got sisters. He's trained to
obey.”

“She's not wrong,” Jake said, giving me a
'what can 'ya do' look.

“Then how come you never do what I ask?”
Ava countered, lowering her eyes at him.

“Because,” Shay answered. “You can't
ask. You tell.”

“I'll have to keep that in mind,” Ava said,
then as if suddenly realizing what position we were in, moved away
from me, reaching to pull down the hem of her dress which had ridden
up high on her thigh. “Alright. I need to go get some less...
binding clothes,” she said, getting off of me and quickly
making her way to her room.

“You looking to talk to her,” Shay broke
in, not even looking up, “better go now before she gets herself
all thinking on shit.”

With that, I got up off the couch and made my way into
her bedroom to find her in her closet.

“I'll have the dress cleaned for you and bring it
to work on Monday,” she said, obviously expecting Shay.

She turned slowly at my silence. “Hey baby.”

“Hey,” she said hesitantly, grabbing a
towel and piling it with her clothes.

“Turn around,” I said, making my way toward
her.

Her eyes flashed with desire and she slowly turned
around, giving me a glorious view of the heart-shaped cut out in the
back of her dress. My fingers went out and stroked the exposed skin
and she shivered. “You look so sexy in this dress,” I
told her.

“Thank you,” she said, accepting the
compliment easily. Which was a step in the right direction.

My hands went to her shoulders, pressing into the
knotted muscles she had from sleeping sitting up all night. She sank
back into me, her head tilting to the side, a low groan escaping her
lips. And, fuck, I couldn't help myself.

I leaned forward, tracking down her neck with my lips
as her breath got more and more unsteady, as a tremble moved through
her body.

“Okay. You should stop that,” she said
weakly.

“Why? Are you getting wet for me baby?” I
asked, half teasing.

She shocked the shit out of me when she answered,
“Yes.”

“Good,” I murmured, moving up to nibble her
earlobe. “I want you thinking about me every minute until
Monday night. And every time you think of me, I want you to be wet.”
There was a heavy silence and I knew my words were pushing her
further and further toward the edge. “Think you can do that for
me?”

“Yes.”

“Good. And when you get to my office,” I
said, my nose moving across her neck, “you are going to be
wearing a dress.”

“Why?”

“Because I am going to push you up against the
wall, rip off your panties, lift up your skirt, and lick your clit
until you are begging for release.”

She swallowed hard. “Anything else?”

God, she was going to kill me.

“You're not allowed to touch yourself at all
until then.”

Not even a hesitation before, “Okay.”

“Good girl,” I praised her, then stepped
away before I couldn't control myself anymore. “Now go get
showered. Shay and Jake are almost done with breakfast.”

I walked out before she could say anything else, moving
out toward the kitchen to where Jake was already holding out a coffee
cup toward me.

“Talk go well?” Shay asked, scooping
breakfast potatoes onto four plates.

“I guess,” I said, looking at Jake.

“You know... she's not as weak as everyone thinks
she is,” Shay said, piling pancakes next to the potatoes.
“Don't go walking on eggshells around her. She can put up with
me being the badass bitch I am, and Jake being the pain in the ass
jerk he is,” she said, her words almost affectionate when she
raised a brow at Jake as if daring him to defend himself, “then
she can put up with you being your normal alpha self.”

“My normal alpha self?” I asked, raising a
brow, wondering how the hell she could read me so easily.

Her gaze met mine and her brow lifted in challenge.
“You know what I mean. I'm just saying. You ain't doin' her or
you no favors by hiding that. Honestly, I think she would eat that
right up.”

“We are not having this conversation,” Jake
broke in, looking uncomfortable.

“This guy fucks everything with legs capable of
spreading and he thinks I'm being inappropriate,” she said,
handing me a container of orange juice and nodding toward the table.
I took this as some kind of instruction to fill the glasses she had
Jake set on the table. So I did.