The Allure Of Julian Lefray Part 32

"Go, go, go!" I yelled, pounding the dashboard.

Lily stepped on the gas and the truck tires squealed against the concrete as we made our getaway.

"Did he really have a shotgun?" Julian asked, turning to look back.

I started to laugh, and then I couldn't stop. Lily flew down the street, putting as much distance between us and Randy's house as possible. I sat on the center of the bench seat with Lily on one side and Julian on the other, lost in a fit of laughter. The last twenty minutes had been too funny to be real. Randy Jensen had almost shot me. What a way to go.

"Can you believe that just happened?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

"Your stupid a.s.s almost got us killed," Lily said, shaking her head.

"Me?!"

She shot me the evil eye. "Yes, you!"

Laughter gave way to a s.h.i.+t-eating grin as I stared out the front window. The night sky was expansive, surrounding us from every angle. Lights flashed by us like shooting stars, one after the other, granting my wishes one by one. I fell back against the seat and turned to find Julian watching me with his steady gaze. I found his hand on the seat and laced my fingers through his.

Not ten minutes earlier, I'd been daydreaming about him, wis.h.i.+ng I could somehow talk to him, and suddenly there he was. He was sitting beside me, studying me with a bemused smile. Before I'd finished my thought, I was leaning closer, inhaling his cologne and pressing my lips to his. We fell into each other like a person falls into bed after a long day: with a heavy, happy sigh. I grasped the front of his t-s.h.i.+rt and pulled him toward me. He inhaled sharply. The kiss was soft and sweet. He tilted his head and gripped the back of my neck, holding me steady.

I wanted to climb onto his lap and wind my fingers through his hair. How else could I get closer? I wanted to touch him from every angle, put all the pieces together, and prove to myself that he was really sitting there beside me, that he'd come to Texas for me.

He gripped my shoulders and pulled back, breaking the kiss and staring down at me. I could feel my heartbeat in my stomach. I couldn't ignore the kick drum feeling of excitement at having him right there in front of me.

I stared up into his hazel eyes and whispered, "You're my knight in s.h.i.+ning armor. I love you."

And then I promptly clutched my stomach, leaned forward, and threw up all over his lap.

Chapter Fifty.

Julian I'll be honest, I hadn't antic.i.p.ated that my trip to Texas would be marked by so much throw-up. I mean, sure, some throw-up is a part of life. However, the amount of vomit Jo could apparently produce seemed disproportional to her size.

I also antic.i.p.ated meeting Jo's parents over a quiet dinner, not while delivering their daughter home drunk after a crazy night out.

Yup. That's right. I had the pleasure of delivering Jo back home, completely drunk and only half lucid.

I stood on her parent's front porch and knocked, thankful to have Lily standing beside me for backup. My gut clenched when the porch light flipped on and a very tired woman answered the door with a confused scowl.

"Lily? Is everything all right?" the woman asked, shooting a glare in my direction. "Who are you?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to comprehend how the situation could possibly look any worse.

Oh right. I was covered in throw-up and smelled like last week's trash.

Her mom was still glaring at me, waiting for a reply.

"Oh, hi. I'm Julian. I work with your daughter."

Her brow quirked in curiosity, but she didn't ask for me to elaborate.

"Is she drunk?" Mrs. Keller asked, glaring at me as if I was the one who'd put her in that state.

In turn, I glared at Lily. Now would be a great f.u.c.king time to speak up.

"She and I were just hanging out and she had one too many beers. Julian found us and helped me get her home."

Mrs. Keller stared down at Jo with clear disdain and then pulled the door open so I could carry her inside.

"C'mon," her mom said, waving me down the hallway.

I dipped past the doorframe and did a quick onceover of Jo's childhood home. My mother would have hated it. Unless a home had curated antiques from floor to ceiling, she thought it was tacky. I didn't agree. Sure, the furniture was old, but there were photos of Jo covering every spare surface. She was framed around the room in various stages of life. As I trailed down the hallway after Mrs. Keller, I caught one gem of a photo where Jo was sporting braces AND lopsided pigtails. I held in my smile and locked the image away for blackmail purposes.

"Lily, you can go," Mrs. Keller said with a tone that definitely warned against argument.

I glanced back and met her eye. Don't leave me with her, I begged with my gaze.

"Uhh." She froze and shot me an apologetic look. "Okay."

I shook my head. No. She'd made this mess and she was not about to leave me to clean it up without her.

"Well, I'll come back and check on her in the morning then..."

I mouthed, "Do not leave."

"Julian? Are you coming?" Mrs. Keller asked, clearly annoyed.

I squeezed my eyes shut, worked up the nerve, and then turned back to continue carrying a now sleeping Jo to her childhood bedroom.

I turned the corner into Jo's room to find Mrs. Keller pulling out pajamas for Jo. I walked toward her bed so I could set her down. She stirred as I placed her against her pillows but stayed asleep.

"How fortunate that my daughter had you to help carry her home," Mrs. Keller said with a tone that said the exact opposite.

"I found her when she was already drunk with Lily, but yes, I'm glad I was there too."

She tsked and shook her head. "Is this normal behavior for her in New York? She never acted like this when she lived here."

I crossed my arms. "She's never once been this drunk with me."

Her eyebrows rose. "Oh, and is she with you a lot?"

"Nearly every day."

She glared at me and I knew she wanted me to elaborate.

"We work together. I hired Josephine when she first moved to New York."

She grunted and dropped Jo's pajamas onto the corner of her bed. "So then why are you in Texas? Do you regularly follow your employees when they travel cross country?"

"Carrie, everything okay in there?" a gruff voice called from the back of the house.

s.h.i.+t. Was I about to have to explain myself to Jo's dad too? Lily is going to owe me so much.

"Yes. Go back to bed, Rick."

She glared back at me and crossed her arms. "Why don't you let me know what's really going on between the two of you? You have my daughter's throw-up all over you, so either she's fired or you're in love. Which is it?"

I had to hand it to her. I'd been in meetings with some of the toughest guys in business and I hadn't sweat as much as I was in that moment. I snuck a peek at Jo and watched her chest rise and fall gently. She looked so angelic in her sleep, completely unaware of the havoc she'd caused.

"I'm in love with her," I said.

There was a long pause as her mom and I stood and processed my declaration. I'd yet to admit my feelings aloud to anyone, not even Dean. Suddenly, my love had roots. There was no turning back.

When I glanced up at her mom, she was watching me with a wistful smile.

"All right then, I'll grab a new s.h.i.+rt for you and then you can help me get her cleaned up. I think it's time for you to experience all the joys of loving my daughter: the good, the bad, and the ugly."

Chapter Fifty-One.

Josephine I knocked on the door of room 208 and inhaled the scent of coffee and donuts. It was a winning combination by anyone's standards, but it'd take a lot more than breakfast from Suzie's Sweet Shack to earn Julian's forgiveness. My mother had delivered the Cliff's Notes version of the night as soon as I'd stirred from my beer-induced slumber. I'd tried to ignore the sledgehammer banging against my brain as she spoke, but as soon as she'd broken the news of what I'd put Julian through, I'd known I had to make it up to him before it was too late, even if I couldn't exactly walk straight.

I'd inhaled two Advil, two cups of coffee, and two gla.s.ses of water, and then finally felt semi-human once again. After a shower and some makeup, I felt nearly good as new.

I knocked on the motel door again and then heard someone stir in the room. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Julian: s.h.i.+rtless, disheveled, and squinting to keep out the harsh glare of the sun.

I smiled and held up the supplies in each hand.

"I come bearing gifts," I said, tipping the donut bag left and right so that the aroma would hit him.

Who can pa.s.s up donuts? Seriously.

He ran his hand through his hair, grunted some form of greeting, and then opened the door all the way for me.

I stepped into his motel room and glanced around. The bed was a mess, with covers thrown to the side and pillows splayed out in random directions. He must have showered the night before because I could smell his body wash over the normal stench of the motel.

"Fitful night of sleep?" I asked with a perked brow.

He shot me a glare and then took the coffee from my hand.

"Okay, here." I dropped the bag of donuts on the TV stand and pulled out a chocolate iced donut with a napkin. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching me as I turned and handed it to him.

"You just sit there and drink your coffee and eat your donut as I talk. Okay?"

The edge of his mouth lifted in a half-smile as he glanced down to the coffee. I was definitely winning him over, but he wasn't going to make it easy for me.

"Okay, well first off," I said, straightening my back and preparing myself for the speech I'd rehea.r.s.ed in my dad's truck on the way over. "I'm so sorry that I, uhh, threw up on you last night."

I glanced over his bare chest. It was tan, broad, and toned with no remnants of throw-up anywhere. Still, the memory would haunt me for the rest of my life.

"That was admittedly not one of my finest moments."

He nodded and stayed silent, clearly giving me the stage.

"Okay, also, I'm really sorry that you had to take me back to my parent's house after Lily ditched you. It's hard enough to meet someone's family for the first time, even under the best circ.u.mstances."

His brows perked up as he took a giant bite of donut. Good, let that sugary goodness sink in.

"On the plus side, my mom really likes you. She said that most men wouldn't have had the b.a.l.l.s to bring me back home like that."

He laughed. "Did your mom actually say 'b.a.l.l.s'?"

I smiled. "No. Not exactly."

He nodded and finished off his donut.

"Okay, I apologized about the throw-up and my mom," I said aloud, trying to think of what else I had subjected him to the night before. "Oh, and sorry for almost getting you shot by Mr. Jensen."

"Is that all?" he asked, tilting his head and watching me.

"All that I have to apologize for?" I asked.

"No," he said, shaking his head.

He stood from the bed and stepped closer to me. I watched him approach, curious what he was about to do. He leaned forward and dropped his coffee and donuts on the TV stand behind me. His chest brushed against mine as he moved and I pressed my lips together to stay quiet.

He slipped his hand around the back of my forearm and then slowly dragged it up around my bicep.

"All that you have to say."

I swallowed, recalling the declaration I'd made in the truck the night before. I'd been drunk and exhilarated by the fact that Julian had flown to Texas for me. Could I be blamed for telling him the truth about how I felt?

Julian and I could go back to being friends, just the same as before. We could have amazing s.e.x without the labels and responsibilities.

This didn't have to end just because I'd accidentally told him I loved him.

I could take it back.

He leaned forward and wrapped both hands around my arms, pulling me against his chest. His mouth found my ear and he whispered the next few words against my skin.