Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Laurel
My eyes flew open at the sound of an alarm ringing. Suddenly, it stopped, and it took my aching head a moment to process where I was. Fear crept inside me as I slowly turned my head and saw Julian propped up on his elbow, staring at me.
“Good morning,” he said.
My eyes widened as I noted I was completely naked under the covers, as was he.
“Oh, hell no!” I held the sheet tightly against me and sat up. “What the fuck, Julian!” I smacked his arm.
He put both his hands up. “Calm down, Laurel.”
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! Turn around!” I shouted as I kept the sheet covering me and pulled it entirely from the bed, shrouding my body in it. “How the hell did this happen? What did you do to me?”
“Well, I made you feel really good.” He grinned.
I grabbed one of the pillows from the floor and tossed it at him, hitting him in the face. I penguin walked myself to the bathroom and slammed the door. Sitting on the toilet, I cupped my face in my hands.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I screamed.
“Uh, Laurel? I have your clothes here.”
“Get out, Julian!”
“This is my house, and I need to take a shower. I advise you to start getting ready. You have a client meeting this morning, remember?”
I stood up, flung open the door, and pushed past him, waddling my way to the other side of the room.
“I need you to go to my car and get my extra suit, which is hanging in the backseat,” I said.
“Okay.” He opened one of his drawers and pulled out a pair of sweatpants. “I’ll be right back.”
I sat on the edge of the bed. “What have I done? Oh God,” I whispered to myself.
Julian walked back into the room and set my suit on the bed.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But for the record, I told you we should stop when you raped my mouth in the kitchen. Your exact words were, ‘We should, but we don’t have to.’ I’m a man, Laurel. There was no way I could resist you.”
I stared up at him. “I was drunk, Julian.”
“So was I. Listen.” He sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed my hand. I quickly pulled it away. “We had a good time. It meant absolutely nothing. This doesn’t have to make our work relationship complicated. It was only sex. It’s no big deal.”
I turned my head and stared out the window at the palm trees slowly blowing in the wind.
“It never happened,” I said.
“What never happened?”
I shot him a look, and he winked before standing up and walking into the bathroom .
When I heard him get in the shower, I grabbed one of his T-shirts and slipped it on. Grabbing my purse, I pulled out my small makeup bag and hairbrush and took it into the bathroom.
“Can you grab me a washcloth? I forgot to get one before getting into the shower,” he said.
“Where are they?”
“In the tall cabinet next to the toilet.”
I opened the cabinet and removed two washcloths. Opening the shower door, I handed him one, and my eyes involuntarily diverted to his large manhood, hanging thick and heavy between his legs—an endless world of possibilities as far as I was concerned. Good lord. A tingling sensation hit down below, and I immediately shut the shower door.
“Thank you,” Julian said.
“You’re welcome.” I grabbed my things and used one of the bathrooms upstairs to get ready.
After applying light makeup, pulling my hair back into a ponytail, and dressing in my suit, I walked down to the kitchen, where Julian was leaning against the counter, sipping a cup of coffee.
“You look great.” He smiled. “Here.” He handed me a cup of coffee. “I just brewed it for you.”
“Thanks.”
The front door opened, and Parker walked into the kitchen.
“Morning.” He grinned. “What’s going on here?”
“Morning, Parker. Nothing is going on here. Nothing happened. I had too much to drink last night and couldn’t drive home.”
He walked over to the island and picked up the empty wine bottle.
“Ah, the Italian wine. No wonder you couldn’t drive home.” A smirk crossed his lips. “I’m heading to the firm. Are you two coming into the office today, or are you going to stay here and play house?”
“Very funny, bro,” Julian said. “We’re coming.”
I grabbed my purse, hooked it over my shoulder, and climbed into my car. He gave me that wine on purpose. I know he did. Asshole. But there was no denying he was a sexy asshole. With one hand on the steering wheel, I placed my other fingers against my lips, for I swore I could still feel his on them. I vaguely remembered a feeling of warmth and comfort.
“Stop it, Laurel!” I spoke. “Just stop. You screwed up, and now you have to deal with the consequences.”
I pulled into the parking garage, parked my car, and headed toward the elevator. Julian was standing there, holding the door open. I couldn’t even look at him.
“Laurel—”
I put my hand up. “You knew how potent that wine was, and that’s why you gave it to me.”
“That is not true! I haven’t had it in a while, and I forgot. Now you think I get women drunk and take advantage of them?”
“Yes.” I glanced at him. “I do.”
The elevator door opened, and we stepped out. “Follow me to my office. I want you to hear something,” he said.
I reluctantly stepped into his office, and he shut the door. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped it, and I heard our voices, specifically mine, saying what he told me I said.
“What the actual fuck? You recorded us?” My eyes narrowed.
“Only the part in the kitchen. I knew this would be an issue today, so I needed proof that I said we should stop, and you said we should keep going. What can I say? It’s the lawyer in me. My phone was sitting on the island; I only had to push the record button. I’m not a monster, Laurel, regardless of your beliefs.”
I sat in one of his chairs across from his desk. It wasn’t like I hadn’t fantasized about what he was like in bed from the moment I saw him because I did.
“I don’t think you’re a monster, Julian. It’s just?—”
“Just what?” he asked.
“It can’t happen again, and I mean it.”
“Okay. It won’t happen again. Can we just move on?” he asked.
“Yeah. We can move on.” I glanced at my watch. “My clients will be here any second.” I stood and headed toward the door.
“Laurel?”
“Yeah?” I turned around.
“Have a good day, okay?”
“You too.” I softly smiled.