Chapter 24
“I will fucking remember this,” I hiss, ending the call, watching the phone slide across my desk. “Fuck!”
Kat took Juliette out for facials this morning, and she texted me an hour ago saying they were going to go shopping for a couple of hours after.
It pleases me that she’s spending time with her best friend, and that they’ve been able to maintain their friendship through these changes.
But the warm and cozy feeling I got from Juliette and Kat being together has long since faded, replaced by the rage of the fucking fashion industry.
“Cursing and stomping your foot before noon,” my brother says, taking far too much pleasure in my angst as he enters my home, hanging his coat near the door.
Dressed in a pressed, long-sleeved shirt, pressed black slacks and Italian loafers that better be willed to me, he slaps me across the shoulder blades in standard greeting. “What’s the issue?”
I ruffle my fingers through my hair, pulling at the ends in absolute exasperation.
“Juliette wants to get into fashion photography, so I’ve been on the phone all morning with all of my fashion contacts.
” I shake my head. “Apparently, New York Fashion week, the biggest and most photographed fashion event in the fucking United States, already has enough photographers.”
Geo’s brows pull together as he moves away from the table to the bar in the living suite.
He starts fixing us each a drink, an Old Fashioned for him and – “fuck the garnish. Give me three fingers of bourbon,” I tell him, frustrated beyond reasonable.
“What, there aren’t any photographers who can be bought out of their position?
” My brother asks when he walks over, passing me my drink.
It’s too early to hit the hard stuff, but with the morning I’ve had, it’s lucky this is just my first drink.
I shake my head, and take a long pull from the glass, feeling subtle relief from alcohol in my veins immediately.
“I didn’t word it that way but I asked if there was any donation size which would free up a spot.
I mean hell, once she’s in, her talent will keep her there, of that I have zero doubt.
It’s just getting her in that seems to be a struggle. ”
Geo sips his drink, sifting through her photos, which are now kept in a binder, protected by plastic. “Clearly. The woman was born to take photos.” He tips his head sideways, a bit confused. “You told them who they’re turning down?”
We aren’t the type of men to use our wealth and influence unless it’s for a good cause.
Take my brother, for example. He’s only ever used his position as Mercer Properties CEO once, to get an exclusive interview with a reporter after his wife passed, so he could shape the narrative to protect Sutton.
Outside of that, me asking for strings to be pulled for my super hot girlfriend is the only other thing.
“Not only was she supremely unimpressed by my offer to donate whatever it takes–and I used those words, whatever it takes–but she also said it’s just not going to happen. Period.” I’m not used to hearing no, and I’m realizing now, I don’t like it.
Geo finishes his drink. “Okay. Was her heart set on New York fashion week?”
I shake my head. “No. We haven’t discussed this specific event at all but we have discussed her career, and this was meant to be…
a surprise, of sorts.” I look into the amber liquid left in my glass and peer up at my brother, a touch hesitant, though I’m not sure why.
“We want to start a family. And… I just want to show her that she can have both, motherhood and a career.” I shake my head, because that’s not right.
“I want her to have it all, and I want to be the one that gives it to her.”
Geo nods. “Understood.” We stand silently for a moment before his snap sends a jolt through my shoulders, jarring me. “I have an idea.” He pauses. “Financially, do you have a ceiling?”
I shake my head. “No limits.”
A grin creeps across his face, and it’s the kind that tells me two things: one, he’s got a killer idea and two, it’s going to fucking cost me. But I meant what I said.
There are no limits to making Juliette happy.
Two hours later Geo and I have successfully planned the bones of San Francisco Fashion Week, with Juliette Wilson as the primary event photographer.
Geo used his connections to lock down renting the top two floors and roof access of The Armory, one of the most beloved buildings in the city.
After a phone call to Avery, we also have a team of designers and stagers ready, paid triple their normal rates to come in and get The Armory red-carpet ready.
Lights, film, equipment–all the rentals have been taken care of thanks to Geo’s friend and former owner of The Armory, Augustus Moore, an adult film director here in the city.
I’m doing my best to hunt down any model I’ve ever taken out to dinner or drinks, hoping to gather up enough to keep the runway going for an entire day.
“Where are we at with the designers?” I ask my brother as he slips his arms back into his jacket. I glance at my watch, and see Juliette is slated to be home soon. And fuck–I’ve taken my brother’s attention for most of the day. “Shit, I’m sorry. I stole your whole day.”
Geo shrugs. “Ah, don’t worry. You can’t seal the deal without my help, I get it.”
I don’t care how old we are. I give him the middle finger. “I sealed the deal. This is just… a bonus surprise.”
His smirk is the last thing I see as he’s heading out the door. In a handful of hours, knowing very little about fashion shows, he and I put together the meat of a great event here in the city.
Now I just need to keep it a secret from Juliette.
Quickly, I gather all the notes and evidence from the table, and shove them into my briefcase.
I’ll admit, I’m not a briefcase guy. It was gifted to me by Kat years ago, and I’ve kept it because it’s sentimental, but it’s the digital age, and most paperwork I need I can pull up on my phone.
Smirking, I shove all the evidence into the leather briefcase, thinking how funny it is that Kat is inadvertently helping with a surprise for Juliette. She’d like it, if she knew.
After locking the briefcase, I place it on the counter between the back door and mud room, where I’ll see it tomorrow before heading into the new Velvet to meet the backsplash guy. Realizing I have a handful of calls that still need to be made, I grab my phone and call Elle.
“Oh so you remember I’m alive,” she teases, pointedly making it known that since I have been with Juliette, she and I have seen each other far less.
“You’ve been in Greece,” I remind her. Even though she did not plan to be away while I courted Juliette, the space we’ve had has been good, and it feels somewhat fated to have worked out this way.
Juliette will come to understand that Elle and I are just friends, but giving her time and space to do so is respectful.
“And Juliette will adore every bone in your body. I promise. But she needs some time.”
Elle sighs. “I was a young girl once, too, you know. Or did you forget?”
“Thank you for understanding,” I tell her, then, because I have very little time before Juliette comes back, I launch into a need. “I actually need your help with something. For Juliette.”
Elle doesn’t waste a moment to think, and replies immediately. “You have me.”
The door clicks, and the security cameras whirr to catch Juliette walking in the backdoor. Just a few months in and she’s comfortable enough to use the backdoor. The small thrills in life are what it’s all about, I swear.
In baggy jeans a black crop tee that shows off a smooth strip of skin on her belly, her long hair twisted into a messy bun atop her head, Juliette sinks into my chest, and I wrap my arms around her, pressing a kiss into the top of her head.
“I missed you,” she sighs.
“I missed you more,” I admit truthfully, rubbing up and down her spine with one hand, temporarily ignoring the swell of her ass that makes my bottom lip fill with saliva.
Instead, I keep my other hand at the base of her neck, letting my fingers knead at her hairline.
She melts against me, humming, “I had a great day with Kat. God, I’ve missed her. ”
“Family dinners,” I tell her. “We need to do them weekly. Or plan a weekly coffee date with her. Or… I don’t know.” I love seeing Juliette and Kat together, even if I jealously want her all to myself.
“She’s in her honeymoon phase,” she says, pulling away to smirk up at me. “You know, getting married life figured out and everything. They didn’t live together first. Living with someone is as big of a step as marriage, in my opinion. I think they’re… adjusting to it.”
I quirk a brow. I’m not used to hearing parts of my daughter’s life like this.
Normally I hear them from the source. But being in a relationship with my daughter’s best friend has ultimately conflated the way in which I receive information.
I have to get used to that. “Everything’s okay though, right? ”
She sinks against me again, and this time my hands find their way up her shirt, caressing her back and neck, my palm against her bare skin.
My cock thickens, and her breathy little sigh against my throat doesn’t help.
“Yeah, everything’s okay. Kat’s just learning that she has to be less of a slob, for her wife’s sake. ”
I peer down at Juliette. “She didn’t get that from me.”
Juliette laughs, but I catch her mouth in a kiss, because we’ve been in the same room together now for a minute and I need to taste her. She pulls back, lips already flushed. “That was a really good kiss.”
“Aren’t they all?” I ask, letting my hand slide down the back of her jeans, filling my palm with her smooth, bare asscheek. I grab it, and groan, my cock pressing into her stomach without hesitation.