Chase Me (Broke and Beautiful #1)(42)

Her body stiffened a little, then relaxed. Green eyes opened to meet his. “Why are you sorry?” A smile tugged at her lips. “I got the part.”

“What?” Relief powered through him. “That’s amazing. Why didn’t you say something?”

“I just did.” She untangled her limbs from his waist and stood. If she’d removed her arms from around his neck, he might have panicked. But she didn’t. She kept them there. “I believe Strassberg’s exact words were You blew us away.”

Louis wanted to smile along with her, wanted nothing more than to be happy for her, especially knowing Johan didn’t dole out compliments like that unless he meant them. No, he was more the type to receive compliments. Something still ate at him, though. He felt as if he was missing something. Her happiness seemed . . . strained. “Are you sure everything is okay, Rox?”

“I just landed the part of my dreams and an orgasm. All before dinnertime.” She brushed a piece of hair out of his face. “ ‘Okay’ is a gross understatement.”

He leaned down and kissed her slowly, groaning when she opened her mouth for him without hesitation. “I still want to see you tonight,” he said against her lips.

“I think that can be arranged.”





Chapter 14



ROXY USED HER finger to stir the ice around her glass of Diet Coke. She sat perched on a stool, elbows propped on top of the kitchen island. Somewhere in the apartment, the television buzzed with studio audience applause. Her movements felt lethargic, kind of like when she was in middle school and would to sneak into her neighbor’s backyard to sit in their Jacuzzi. They’d won it on The Price Is Right, making them neighborhood celebrities for the better part of a year, but they’d never used the damn thing. She’d watched through the broken fence separating their yards and waited, wondering when they’d light their stupid drugstore-bought tiki torches and sip daiquiris while the hot water swirled around them, like the bikini-clad models had done on the show. Finally she’d gotten fed up and snuck over the fence while they’d been at church, filling it with their own hose and turning on the heater.

That first time she sunk beneath the surface and let the hot water cover her head . . . that’s how she felt right now. Boneless, drifting, and without a single worry. In the back of her mind, there was a ticker clicking away until reality intruded again, but for now she was content to sit and enjoy the warm fizziness she’d been walking around with all afternoon.

The front door slammed loudly, jolting her in the stool, making her slosh Diet Coke all over the counter. Abby stomped into the apartment and wrestled with her camel-colored trench to get it off before throwing it into a heap on the floor. She acknowledged Roxy with an unladylike grunt as she made her way to the living room and threw herself onto the couch.

O-kay, apparently not everyone had lucked out with a midday orgasm. Wait. In order for Abby to be home, it had to be past five o’clock. How long had she been sitting there? Since coming home from the courthouse, she must have been in a Louis-induced orgasma-coma, because she hadn’t even bothered to take off her shoes or jacket. The subway ride back to Chelsea was just a blur of faces and voices now. With a grimace, she remembered trying to get into the wrong apartment, one flight down.

Louis. Good. God. She hadn’t gone to the courthouse looking to hook up, nor did she get some secret thrill from getting busy in a public place. Although that very well might have changed after this morning, because holy screaming O. As she’d watched Louis work, watched him argue on behalf of a pack of rag-tag kids and their teachers, she’d been kind of, well, dazzled. And Roxy didn’t do dazzled. The way those kids had watched him pace the courtroom, he might as well have been wearing a superhero cape instead of a suit. He’d been confident, but not cocky. Even the judge hadn’t been able to hide his obvious fondness for Louis.

Before today, when she’d pictured him working, he’d been buried in books, looking for legal loopholes for corporate jerk-offs in suits. She’d never thought to ask him what he actually did at the office, so it had taken her by surprise. Seeing him so passionate and competent had stirred her up with a quickness. Fine, she was also woman enough to admit that listening to him spout legal terminologies with such ease got her motor running.

Unbelievable. She was falling for an Ivy League lawyer.

Not good. Not good at all, a nasal Jersey accent chanted in her head. As much as she wanted to forget, she’d met him the morning after a one-night stand. A one-night stand he’d been totally blasé about, not even remembering the girl’s name. Guys like Louis dated around. Why shouldn’t he? He had everything going for him. A well-paying job, a ridiculous apartment, looks. Yeah, he might be into her now, might be excited by her refusal to let their association play out his way. What would happen if she stopped leading him on a chase, though? If her past experience with guys served as any indication, he would be onto the next girl in a short skirt so quick she’d be choking on Armani eau pour homme–scented dust.

She hated thinking this way. It’s why she hadn’t wanted to get involved with him in the first damn place. Now instead of being happy with one steamy session in a file room, she was worrying about more. The beyond. The desire for it had snuck up out of nowhere. Louis had snuck up out of nowhere. She was leaving herself open to having her heart obliterated, and it made her want to jump ship. Now. Before it got any worse. Then she thought of how it had felt to be filled by him, over and over. How it had felt when he’d shared her excitement over getting the part of Missy. His asking to see her again, even after they’d had sex. When she thought of those things, she didn’t want to jump ship. She wanted to snuggle up in the life raft.