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His movements were brisk as he began flipping through the pages. “So either tell me what you want, or I’ll pick for you.” “You can pick.”
“Who’s going to eat all that?” “You,” he replied flatly. “And me.” “Jul—” “If anything, I came this weekend to make sure you eat and sleep. So pick which side of the bed you want, and relax until the food comes.”
“When you and Gemma got stranded on Lock Island.” I couldn’t help but laugh as I dug through my luggage, searching for clothes. “Which time?” Even though I couldn’t see Julian’s eyes, I could feel him rolling them. “The skinny-dipping time,” he said tersely. Oh, that. Yep, I was definitely naked except for a towel that time. “This towel barely covers my ass, though.”
“Your skirt barely covered your ass on Halloween,” Julian grunted after a pause, sounding…irritated by that memory. I peeked around the corner, clutching my towel tighter. “I thought we were trying not to recreate Halloween.”
“You’re not wearing a shirt.” Julian had been in the middle of appraising my pajamas—a cute, striped set of pants and a short-sleeved top—when his gaze flicked up to mine. “I never wear a shirt to bed.” “But we’re…eating.”
“And then going to bed.” He raised a brow. “Didn’t realize you were afraid of a little bare skin, Rosie.” Damn him for using words from that night in the garage. Bristling, I walked around to my side of the bed and sat on the edge of it. “I’m not.” “Then why are you perched on the bed like you were the other day on your desk?” I could hear the slight humor in his voice. “I don’t bite, remember?”
“You sure were in there a long time,” he said. I shrugged. “Well, I had to ensure I washed all my perfume off so it doesn’t suffocate you tonight.” He laughed, but it was humorless. “Your perfume is the least of my worries at the moment.” “What are you worried about?” “That you eat.” He shoved a fork into my hand. “Eat, Daisy.” I ate.
“You ate your whole plate.” I nodded, suddenly a little embarrassed that I’d wolfed my food down. Julian’s lips pressed into a small smile as he reached to clear my empty plate for me. “Good girl.”
I winced, wondering if my tossing and turning had been louder than I realized. “I’m sorry if I’m keeping you up, but—” “Come here,” he repeated. “Put your head on my chest.” “On your chest?” Did he think that would help me sleep? I had very little confidence that would be the case. “Yes.” Exasperation touched his voice. “Like you did when we were in the office and you practically fell asleep standing up.” “You had a shirt on then.”
“You’re very stuck on this no-shirt thing,” he said, his voice low. “I can put one back on if you need me to.” Need, not want.
“No, it’s fine.” “Then what are you waiting for?”
“You smell different,” he muttered. “Like mint.” It took me a moment to find my voice. “I used the hotel’s shampoo and conditioner and didn’t reapply my perfume. You’re welcome.” Julian didn’t say anything, continuing to play with my hair. I felt myself melting into him, that slow awareness that sleep had a partial grip on you. Reality and dreams mixed. I couldn’t be sure if it was real or in my head, but I thought I felt something press against the top of my head. And I thought I heard words that didn’t make sense. “You know, I think I like the flowers better.”
“Wouldn’t want anything to happen to my girls when I’m not around,” he added. “Nothing is going to happen to your sisters,” I said dryly, crossing my arms over my chest. Julian looked at me oddly, his suddenly dark gaze wandering over my face.
his hand, the one that had been in my hair when I fell asleep, was tightly gripping my hip. “Careful with that hand there, Lily.” His voice was raspy and guttural, only making this entire situation worse. Why did he have to be so…so hot? Literally, of course. It was roasting beneath these sheets. “I wasn’t trying…I’m sorry.”
“Go back to sleep,” he grunted. “I’m hot, Julian.” “I know you are.” He cleared his throat. “Peel back the top layer, then. We still have two hours until our reservation.”
“Yes, I made a reservation for brunch.” “When?” “It’s for eleven o’clock.”
kicking the sheets the rest of the way off. Nope, having Julian further exposed while lying in bed did not help the heat situation. I hadn’t noticed last night, but dear Lord, his pajama pants were gray—of all colors, they were gray—and they were also way too thin for this situation. The morning after the Halloween party, I’d felt more than my fair share of Julian Briggs, but seeing all that outlined was— Julian cleared his throat, interrupting the free show I was enjoying. Fuck, and he knew it. When he spoke, it was with a gruffness
“Save those looks for tonight when you’re trying to fool everyone into believing we’re dating.” I opened my mouth to say a downright lie. “I wasn’t looking—” “It’s okay, Juni.” He pushed off the bed without looking at me. “I was, too.”
“Do you need help?”
“Don’t make fun of the curlers,” I warned. I really needed Nice Julian right now. Not any other versions. “I wasn’t going to,” he said earnestly. “I wanted to know if you need help. You look beautiful, but I’m guessing this isn’t the final look.”
“Do you know how to take out curlers? You have to sort of twist them when you unroll them, so the curl falls the right—” “Do you know how many sisters I have, Rosie?”
don’t usually do my hair like this,” I admitted.
know.” “How do you know?” “Because this isn’t what your hair usually looks
isn’t right,” I said. Julian raked his eyes over me in the mirror, assessing the result, and I suppressed a shiver at how focused his attention was on me. “It isn’t you,” he muttered before lifting a single finger. “Hold on.”
“Did you go through my suitcase?” “Yes,” Julian said without any further explanation.
“I saw your dress in the closet. It’s black. This is black. Ergo, it goes.” “Julian—” “Trust me.”
When Julian finished, he stepped back, appraised his work, and then muttered three words beneath his breath that momentarily halted mine.
“All done,” he muttered. “Ready?” The words lingered on my skin, and I closed my eyes. He was close—too close. And this was…this was all going to go terribly, wasn’t it? Julian breathed my name. “Juni.” A slight pause, and my heart skipped a beat. “Juni, turn around for me.” I did. Slowly, one step at a time.
the air in the room with him. “Fuck, Juniper.” “What?” My hands flew to my dress, smoothing it over my body self-consciously. “Is something wrong?”
“God, yes—” “Yes?” I repeated in horror. “I mean no.”
“No,” Julian intoned. “Nothing’s wrong. You just shocked me.” Shocking wasn’t really what I was going for tonight, and I stared at Julian, looking for more. Shocking how? “In a good way or a bad way?”
supposed. At least for the rest of the night. His lips brushed against my ear as he leaned in to whisper his response like it was a secret no one else could know.
“A good way, Daisy.”
I WAS SO FUCKED. Juniper wore dresses all the time to work. But there were dresses, and then there were dresses. And the one Juni had on looked so unbelievable that I couldn’t look at her for more than five seconds without imagining things I shouldn’t be imagining. Namely, taking it off. Fuck.
Was she trying to torture the hell out of me with that thing? It was silky and tight and highlighted all those curves pressed against me this morning.
“Mom’s just not quite ready, and I wanted to respect what she needed.” She brightened again. “But today’s my wedding, and I wanted my only sister here.” “I’m thrilled to be here,” Juniper said earnestly, a bit of shininess in her eyes.
hoped it was because her sister seemed genuinely ecstatic to meet her. I hoped that was it and nothing else. In case it wasn’t, I grabbed her hand.
least Collins can be the voice of reason, right?” “True,” Grayson agreed without
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Julian didn’t reply, guiding me by the hand toward our table in the ballroom attached to the atrium. I wondered if I should tell him that he could probably cool it a bit with the dating act, but at the same time, I didn’t hate it. His touch was…distractingly nice. “Julian,” I persisted.
was respecting Grayson’s privacy. He asked me to keep it under wraps since they haven’t announced Nessa’s pregnancy.”
just brought it up in front of me. Clearly, he isn’t all that concerned.”
I’d known…” I began before cutting off and shaking my head, turning back to Julian. “If I’d known that this case was about your friend’s son, I would have helped you—” “Gabriel’s actually my godson.”
“Why?” His brows furrowed as he flicked a tiny tear off my cheek. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset.” “Because I feel like such a bitch,” I admitted, trying to blink the tears away. “I made you take me to that game, made you set me up with Noah, made you drive all the way to New York, and you were just trying to support your best friend. He’s probably not even an official client, is he?” “No, he’s not. But Jun—”
“You didn’t make me do anything, Daisy. You didn’t ask me to drive all the way to New York. I offered, didn’t I?” “Because you felt obligated,” I muttered, refusing to look at him. “Because I knew it meant a lot to you,” he said like it was a correction. Like it was the truth.
not acting,” he said when our eyes met. And then he didn’t look away. It must have been an illusion caused by the lighting, but his eyes were an unusual deep shade of blue, midnight sparkling in them. They warmed as he held my gaze. I warmed.
“Julian was worried about you.” Worried? That was a stretch. Although, Julian undoubtedly thought of me as his responsibility this weekend, and he did get a little strung up over his responsibilities. “Look, about Julian…” I sighed. “He’s not… we’re not dating. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.” She blinked twice. “I don’t think I have the wrong impression.”
“Well, he’s worried.”
“He’s overprotective sometimes,” I reasoned. “He’s like that about everyone.”
expression. Julian was like that with everyone. “I had to stop him from coming into the bathroom after you,” Nessa said, shocking me. “What?”
“The DJ is calling all couples onto the dance floor.” “We’re not a couple, Julian.”
