The Chase

Clare had been surprised and pleased when Jim called and asked if she’s want to go to JC’s little celebration. She wondered who had instigated the invitation. Could JC Chasez have decided he wanted to see her again? She graciously accepted – glad to have another crack at the man who could bring out the true vixen in her. What would she wear?…

JC kept craning his neck, trying to see everyone who entered the club. Jim informed him that Clare would be coming, albeit a little late. It was midnight and still no Clare. Okay, so it was still early for partiers…What sort of hours did an over-achiever, techno nerd keep?

He would have sworn the decibel level of the throbbing music and murmuring crowd lowered considerably when a hot blonde in a tight, flame red mini dress entered. It only took a moment for him to realize it was Clare! Damn! She looked so hot! An engraved invitation to sin. He raised a hand to catch her attention, but at that moment, Kyle shouted to her. Her warm smile of greeting would turn a snowman into a puddle on a January morning in Minnesota.

Clare spotted Kyle at the bar and made her way towards him. She normally avoided these sorts of places. Too noisy. Too crowded. Too hot. Her idea of a night out was dinner and a glass of wine at a piano bar or jazz club.

“You made it!” Kyle practically shouted above the din.

“Yes, I just got back in town,” Clare raised her voice to be heard.

“You’d better find the mother hen and let him know,” he said of his partner. Jim had taken the role of everyone’s protector when they were in their teens.

“Where is Jim?”

Kyle waved towards a small cluster of people around a table on the opposite side of the dance floor.

“Okay.” She looked to the bartender. “May I have a coke, please?” When it was placed before her, she opened her small bag.

“No, ma’am, Mr. Chasez is paying for everything tonight – even the gratuity,” the young man told her and moved away to help another customer.

“Wow, that’s generous.”

“JC doesn’t throw his money around like a lot of celebs, but for his friends…” Kyle let his words trail off.

“Then I’ll have to track him down and thank him for including me.” Clare picked up her drink and said, “Catch you later. I’ll go tell Jim I’m here.”

Kyle lifted his glass in salute as she moved away.

JC watched as Clare strolled along the edge of the dance floor. She sipped her drink, her eyes scanning the crowd ahead of her. Didn’t she realize men were drooling in her wake? She didn’t seem to have a self-conscious bone in her body! When she neared him, he called to her softly, “Hello, Clare.”

She turned her head at the sound of his voice and smiled, coming to him. “I’d hoped to find you sooner or later.”

JC moved away from the current group he was with and took her hand. “Glad you could make it.”

“Thank you for letting Jim invite me.”

“You can be part of my posse any day, Clare. You give it class.”

She chuckled at that. “Well, I am on my way to speak to Jim.”

Not relinquishing her hand, he said, “I’ll join you.”

“All right.”

They weaved through the bodies of couples dancing to the frantic music.

“You like to dance?” JC asked.

“Yes, but this isn’t my scene.”

That closed that idea down quickly. “What is?

“Something quieter.”

He imagined, despite the dress, she wasn’t a club girl. “For instance?”

“Popular music is okay – and it is great to drive to…but I prefer jazz.”

“Cool!”

“CG!” Jim spotted the couple and rose to greet his friend. “You made it.”

“I told you I would.”

“It was getting late—“

“Jim, she is over twenty-one and can drive a car,” a pregnant woman standing behind Jim announced.

“Anne Marie!” Clare reached around Jim to hug the pixie-faced brunet. “It’s wonderful to see you! How far along?”

Ann Marie put her hands over her round belly. “Six months.”

“You look wonderful.”

The woman beamed at Jim. “My husband spoils me.”

Jim grinned down at her. “You deserve it.”

“That she does,” Clare agreed.

“Speaking of looking wonderful…Where did that roomie of mine go? The one with glasses and braces and matronly clothing?”

Clare’s warm husky laughter did hot things to JC’s blood. “That was a few incarnations ago and you know it.”

“Well, now you look like a real woman.” Being Clare’s college roommate, Anne Marie had seen her at her frumpiest. The out of college, Clare had been no-nonsense and all business.

“I am well established enough to be who I am, screw the old boys club.”

Jim put a protective arm around her. “Yep, our baby’s all grown up.”

“Gee, thanks, ‘Dad’,” Clare taunted, then looked to JC. “Wanna dance?”

Taken by surprise, JC stuttered out an, “Huh?…I-um-sure.”

Clare handed her drink to Jim. Grabbing JC’s hand, she led him to the center of the floor. The deejay was in the middle of a slow set, so she put her hands on the back his neck as his hands rested on her waist. “I don’t bite,” she assured him as she moved closer, her arms around his neck.

“I’m not to sure I’d mind if you did,” JC mused as his arms went tightly around her.

Teasingly, she nipped at his throat, surprising him.

“Hey!” he laughed.

“I guess I do bite.” Clare grinned up at him.

He swayed her to the slow music. “And I don’t mind,” he murmured in her ear.

Clare rested her head against his shoulder. “This is a nice thing you’ve done for all these people.”

“They deserve it.”

“But I don’t.”

“Sure you do. Because of you, my website is updated and running.”

“Just a bit of code—“

“Was enough to throw the whole thing off.”

“You paid me.”

“Clare, I have an idea how much your time is worth.”

“It took me fifteen minutes—“

“I hardly think my kisses are worth fifty bucks.”

That husky chuckle again. “You must be joking. If I could bottle them, I’d be an Ebay millionaire!”

JC shook his head. Removing one arm from her waist, his hand tipped her chin up for a soft kiss. “How many do you need to make your first million?”

“Already have. But I’ll take the kisses. You have nice kisses.”

“You can have all you want.” He leaned forward…

“My turn!” Kyle clapped JC on the shoulder. “No hoarding, CG.”

JC wanted to growl in frustration.

So did Clare, but instead, she kissed JC’s cheek. “Maybe later,” she murmured for his ears only as Kyle tugged her away.

Clare was the belle of the evening. She never wanted for a partner or a drink. JC watched as guy after guy tried to grind with her. They must have been rebuffed kindly enough. After a few words from her, they all kept a respectable distance. What was it about her? She wasn’t flirtatious with them as she had been with him. Or was that just wishful thinking on his part?

Clare snagged JC’s arm and playfully drug him onto the dance floor once more. “Whatever the next song is, it’s my last dance for the night. I want it to be with my host.”

“No complaints here,” JC told her as the Kylie Minogue song Can’t Get You Out of My Head started.

She backed up against him as she moved, her butt brushing him intimately.

JC bit back a groan of pleasure. She hadn’t allowed her other partners to grind, but here she was doing it to him! His hands moved down her sides from shoulder to thighs, skimming the sides of her breasts as he went. When she made no protest, he was emboldened to turn her to face him. Pressed together, the moved sinuously against each other, Clare riding his thigh. He could feel the eager heat of her; he could smell the want…

The hardness pressed against her made Clare want to grab his hand and drag him to the nearest secluded corner to have her wicked way with him. She loved the scent of him, expensive cologne and desire…

“Clare…” he whispered in her ear.

The song faded to the last notes and she pulled away slowly. “ Good night, JC,” she murmured before she slipped into the crowd.

Good night? Good night! How in the hell was he supposed to have a good night without her there? More importantly, how was he supposed to have a good night without her in his bed? “Dammit, Clare!” he grumbled to himself.

It took a while, but JC found Jim and his wife as they prepared to leave. “Where did Clare go?”

“She offered to take Kyle home since he’s had too much to drink.” Jim hugged Anne Marie to his side. “This is my designated driver.”

“Can’t drink anymore but that’s fine.”

“So, Clare is gone?” JC questioned.

“Yeah. Didn’t she find you? She said she was going to say good night.”

“She said good night.” And JC hadn’t been pleased about it.

“Well…Thanks for the party,” Jim said as towed Anne Marie towards the exit.

“Welcome,” JC muttered. His reason for enjoying the night was gone, maybe permanently gone.

JC went home alone.

Clare hadn’t known who would be attending Stewart and Camellia’s beach party. Her neighbor’s had invited her more or less as a courtesy. The noise from the party was bound to reach her home – and if invited, she would be less likely to complain. As it was, it had sounded fun. An afternoon of volleyball and sun followed by cocktails and a barbeque. She had been tempted to call Jim and ferret out JC’s number. This was more her type of date – with plenty of time to get to know one another. In the end, she had decided not to make the call.

He wished he had been bold enough to ask for Clare’s number, JC though grimly – and not for the first time in more than a week. She said she preferred a quieter place – this beach outing would have been perfect. Sighing heavily, he got out of his car. Next week, he told himself, next week, he would call and ask Jim for Clare’s number.

JC scanned the volleyball players. One female blonde head in particular caught his eye. That gilded, dark honey color was something he recognized. Clare! She wore a white teeshirt over her suit, but he could see as much of her sun-kissed arms and legs as he had at the club – in the full light of day! Damn! Tonight she was not going to get away from her without him knowing how to contact her. His unconscious mind had been creating some steamy dreams about that flirtatious blonde – and most of them had had horizontal themes.

Clare looked up to see familiar blue eyes focused on her. She flashed a smile at him and broke from the game. “JC!” She waved and started towards him.

He met her halfway. “I’m glad to see you.”

Her lips quirked up at the corners. “Then kiss me,” she suggested.

JC didn’t hesitate. His mouth closed over hers firmly as his tongue swept between her lips. He groaned and tightened his hands on her waist when she sucked on it. He tore his mouth from hers. “Damn!”

Clare smiled dreamily up at him. “You didn’t want me to kiss you back?”

He shook his head with a grin. She was amazing. “I’ve never come across anyone like you, Clare.”

“Is that bad?”

“No.”

“So what brings you here today?” she asked as she took his arm and they strolled towards the sprawling beach house.

“Camellia has worked with us on costuming and I wanted to get out of the studio a while. How about you?”

She pointed to a much smaller house down the beach. “Neighbors.”

“Now I know where you live.”

“It’s never been a secret.”

“JC, good you could make it!” a tall brunet called from the deck.

“Glad you invited me, Camellia,” he answered as he and Clare made their way up the steps. “Especially since Clare is here.”

“You know Clare?”

“We worked together once.”

“Well, you go get into your play clothes,” Camellia instructed as she walked away.

“Did you bring ‘play clothes’, Mr. Chasez?” Clare taunted.

“Yes, I did, Miss Gatlin.” He kissed her cheek softly. “Give me a minute and we can go ‘play.”

“Oh, goodie!”

In a wife-beater and shorts, JC joined the volleyball game. He was thankful he was on the same team as Clare. She was a tough competitor, but he had the notion half the guys on the other team missed because they were concentrating more on long legs and nicely bouncing breasts of the girls on the opposing team.

“Eeeh!” Clare shrieked happily when she made the final spike. She jumped into JC’s arms and kissed him soundly. Her brilliant smile blinded him. “We won!”

“Yes, ma’am we did,” he laughed, pleased at her excitement – she seemed to be enthusiastic about everything she did. Girlish pleasure was a delight to see.

“Rematch!” the big blonde guy on the other team demanded.

“I want to go play in the water and cool off. How about you?” Clare asked as she extracted herself from JC’s arms.

“Whatever it is you want to do, Clare.”

She was like a sea sprite. Clare played and swam and splashed, giggling happily. “This is why I bought this place,” she told JC as she tread water. “I love the ocean.”

“I can see that.”

“You think that I’m a goof, right?”

“No, honey, whatever else I may have thought, a goof isn’t one of them.”

“You’ve thought of me?”

“Oh, yeah – and I am pretty sure you wanted me to.”

She grinned. “Uh-huh.”

“And I think you have been thinking of me, too.”

“Oh, yeah…” She swam so she was directly in front of him. “JC…”

“We’ll drown if we do what’s in your eyes, Clare,” he warned. To his surprise, she swam towards the beach. “Clare?”

“I’m going to go shower,” she announced as she got to her feet in the shallows.

JC followed closely. “You mad at me?”

She tossed him a towel. “Why ever would I be mad at you?”

He shrugged. Damn, she could be hard to read.

“I am simply going to get the sand and salt off before I get itchy.” She smiled. “If you want to bring your clothes over, you’re welcome to use the shower under the deck at my house.” Having him in her house would be too big a temptation, thinking of him just downstairs with water sluicing down his body…She had the urge to fan herself.

“Thanks. I think that’d be nicer than the communal showers here.”

“You go get your things and I’ll meet you at the shower.”

Only moments later, JC found Clare placing fluffy pink and rose colored towels on the bench along with a comb, herbal shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

“This is all I have that isn’t really girly,” she apologized.

“It’s fine, Clare.”

“If you like you can dress in the living room so you don’t have to dress half-damp,” she told him.

“This is very thoughtful of you, honey.”

She gave him a teasing wink. “Maybe I’m just hoping to see something.” With that she departed.

Clare was something else, JC mused as he took his time washing the sand from his hair and body. She was unexpected. Sexy and forward as hell. A little girl at play. From what little he had heard, she was a sharp businesswoman who knew her worth. A techno nerd. Unbelievably beautiful without knowing her appeal. From what Anne Marie had said at the club, Clare had once been forced to hide her feminine assets for people to take her seriously. That must have been difficult for an intelligent woman like Clare. But, now, she had abandoned her disguises – and, man, was he ever glad.

Clare dried her hair and pulled on her favorite dress. The creamy lace dress went to her ankles and made her feel incredibly feminine. The nude slip she wore beneath made her appear naked at first glance. That made her feel sexy and decadent. She took her time doing her hair, sweeping it up artlessly and securing it with ivory picks. She hadn’t heard JC come in, but surely he was done with his shower and dressed. Men didn’t usually take too long with hygiene, did they?

JC had just pulled on his sport shorts when he heard the rustle of fabric from above, the master bedroom loft, he’d guessed. What he saw made him drop the teeshirt in his hands. Clare wore her golden hair up loosely. The lacy dress…she looked naked beneath it. She was a goddess…”Damn, honey!”

He had a lovely physique, Clare discovered. Whipcord lean but well muscled. The light sprinkle of hair on his upper chest led to a treasure trail that disappeared beneath the waistband of his shorts. Hairy, muscled arms and legs added to his beautiful masculine perfection. “JC…” as if mesmerized, she floated down the stairs to him. She placed a small hand in the center of his chest as her mouth found the throbbing pulse beat above his lion medallion.

JC groaned with pleasure. One hand moved behind her neck as the knuckles of the other hand tipped her chin up so he could find her lips. Their tongues tangled and mated hungrily as they caught fire. She buried her fingers in his hair as he molded her soft curves to the hard contours of his body. Caught off balance, they tumbled to the sofa, their mouths never breaking apart. They feasted on each other as if they were starved for the taste of the other. JC grabbed a fist full of fabric, tugging upward to bare her thighs…

Sanity slowly reasserted itself when Clare felt his big, warm hand on her thong-exposed bottom. “JC…JC, we have to stop!” she whispered breathlessly.

Lifting his head, he gazed down at passion-hazed eyes and a kiss-swollen mouth. “Give me one good reason why,” he demanded hoarsely.

She smiled helplessly. “I-I can’t think of one at the moment, but I am pretty sure we should.”

Her vulnerability reached him as nothing else would. Rolling away, he dragged oxygen into his scorched lungs. “You make me lose it way too easy.”

Clare rose from the sofa and smoothed down her dress. “I-I’m sorry, baby.”

Getting to his feet, he brushed a soft kiss along her nape. “Don’t be sorry, honey.” He wasn’t. “Let me finish getting dressed and we’ll go back to the party.”

Everyone assumed they were a couple – and that was fine with JC. They moved through the party together during cocktails. They sat together at dinner. Afterwards, they took a stroll on the beach, chatting about their lives and schedules. It was nice. It was comfortable.

Later, when the party moved inside, they stayed on the deck. She sat on the rail and he leaned against it with his forearms, looking out over the ocean. They sipped wine in silence long before she spoke.

“You mentioned a movie premiere next week…”

“Yeah, a friend of mine worked on the score. I wanna support him.”

“I’ll be your date.”

He almost said he hadn’t planned on taking one, but he wanted to be with Clare. “That’d be cool.”

She pulled her business card from her pocket and handed it to him. “My cell and office/home numbers are on this. Call me with details.” She hopped down from her perch. “It’s time I go home.”

JC moved from the rail. “I’ll walk you.”

She smiled. “No need. You stay and enjoy the rest of the evening. I’m glad we got acquainted today.”

“Me, too, Clare.”

She reached up to brush a kiss on his lips, one of the tamer kisses they had shared.” “Good night.”

“G’night, honey. I’ll call.”

“You do that.”

“Sweet dreams.” JC watched as she unhurriedly made her way back to the house. He didn’t feel the panic this time. He knew he’d see her again – and he knew how to get in touch with her.

Clare wanted to see him again.

Life was good.