Bless The Beauty - By Stacey Kennedy Page 0,2
than vampires. And by Chase’s rules, leading him to believe we could have more was wrong. Mortals didn’t commit twice—well some did—but they were considered scum. Which is exactly why I’d chosen this approach.
Chase reached out, grabbed my arms and pulled me tight against him, breaking me away from my thoughts. “Never say that to me again.” His entire body was tense and his expression severe. “You know I don’t want to look elsewhere.”
I smiled at his tough demeanour and leaned up to kiss his lips, knowing just how to placate him.
“Then no more talk of the C word, got it? You know how I feel about you.
Let’s not ruin it with that kind of talk.” I placed my lips against his tight mouth and leaned in giving him a good hard peck.
When I drew away, his look hadn’t wavered. He stared down at me intensely and I had to hold back a laugh at his typical mull-over-it-and-keep-quiet behavior. When I stepped out of his arms, he said nothing as I made my way to the door.
Once out of the bedroom, I glanced around Chase’s bachelor apartment as we walked toward the front door. The small space consisted of leather couches, a big entertainment center against the wall, white washed paint on the walls and not a decoration in sight. The idea of stepping one foot into this man-hole and calling it home was absurd.
“Your car or mine?” I asked over my shoulder as I opened the front door of the townhouse and made my way down the porch steps.
“Mine of course,” Chase called behind me. He shut the front door with a loud bang, locked it, then quickly made his way to the black ‘69 Dodge Charger, grinning with pride.
“You think you’d have better things to spend your money on than this old piece of tin.” I hoped to get his goat in the off chance to ease the tension from earlier.
Chase stopped dead in his tracks to glare at me across the roof and frowned. “Knock the car again and I’ll flatten you on your ass.”
I opened the passenger door and sat with a loud thump. “I’d like to see you try, tough guy.”
Chase slid into the driver’s side and when his gaze met mine, we both laughed. I loved the playfulness he and I shared. When we first met, I broke through his tough cop façade quickly to discover what lay beneath was a gentle soul. Getting him to laugh was the only way to break his irritation and I was pleased to see the attempt had worked.
What I didn’t need was him pissy while we were on assignment.
I settled in and buckled my seat belt—we do enforce the law after all—as Chase started the engine. A soft purr came around us as he put the car in gear and drove off.
As we made our way downtown, the streets of Washington, D.C. were busy tonight.
It didn’t surprise me to see the city booming with tourists. It always was and I’d grown to love it for just that reason—it hummed with energy.
Within minutes, we began our approach down America’s Main Street toward the J.
Edgar Hoover Building. My gaze fell back to Chase and I couldn’t help the smile that rose within me. “It feels good to be home.”
“You live a sad life.” Chase snorted.
“Sorry to break it to ya, you live the same life, jacko.” And one we both loved. It wasn’t only the love together that was the reason for our happiness—it was this poured concrete Brutalist architectural style building where our heart and passion lay.
Chase dismissed my remark with a grin before he pulled into the basement parking garage. Only a few feet in, he steered the car into an empty spot, then cut the engine.
Quickly, I exited the car and Chase trotted up beside me as we walked through the dimly lit space. Just as I reached the elevator doors, I pulled the security card from the back pocket of my pants.
When we met the reinforced steel door, I swiped it through the card reader to identify myself.
It only took moments before my picture showed on the screen above the reader, as it said in the annoying woman’s computer voice I had grown to hate. “Voice identification.”
I leaned forward, levelled my hand against the cold concrete wall. “Screw you.” For months, I used my name to identify myself, but after time, I realized it was smart enough to recognize voice levels.
Now, it just annoyed me.