Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Julius
I had no idea how early or late it was when I woke up the next morning, but it was daylight outside, and I needed a cup of coffee like I needed oxygen.
I rolled over to find Gator crashed out beside me.
The sheet was down around his hips, showing off his toned, muscular body.
It was easy to tell he spent a lot of time in the gym downstairs, and it paid off.
We hadn’t talked about what happened when this was all over, but I sure wouldn’t mind waking up to this view every morning.
I let out a small sigh. Laying here enjoying the view wasn’t going to get a pot of coffee made, so I sat up on the side of the bed.
I reached for my phone and headed to the kitchen.
I pressed the brew button just as my phone buzzed, multiple times.
I flipped it over to find a series of messages from Migs.
Migs
I know you have a lot going on, but we would love to see you at brunch.
Migs
You could bring that sexy thang with you if you wanted.
Migs
We can sit inside if you want.
Migs
We can tell them he’s your arm candy so you don’t have to answer a bunch of questions.
I smiled. That was so Migs, and truth was, I missed my friends. Or Migs anyway. I missed him. I hadn’t been in the salon much at all, and I’d missed the last couple of Sunday brunches.
I didn’t answer Migs. Instead, I waited until Gator got up so I could check and see if brunch would be a problem.
I put some of Trixie’s food in the bowl on top of her cage and then helped her up there.
Then I took my coffee over to the big window in the living room.
I stood there and watched the people down below as they started their day.
A few minutes later, Gator came out of the bedroom bare-chested and wearing a pair of sweats that rode low on his hips. Damn, he was sexy.
He walked straight to me and brushed a kiss across my lips. “I woke up and you were gone.”
“Yeah, coffee was calling. There’s a fresh pot in the kitchen.”
He gave me a smile and went straight for it.
“So usually on Sundays, my friends all get together for brunch. Do you have anything to do today? Do you think we could go? Migs said he would get us an indoor table if you thought that would be best.”
He finished pouring his cup of coffee and took a long drink. “I don’t have anything to do today, so if you want to see your friends, we can go. Migs is right, though, an indoor table would be for the best.”
I didn’t think that his offering to go had anything to do with being my bodyguard and everything to do with the fact that he wanted to be with me.
It seemed I had acquired myself a Daddy.
And not like a oh, let’s play Daddy/boy for the night.
I mean, like an actual Daddy. The question was, did I want one?
I smiled to myself because if it was Gator, then yeah, I thought maybe I did.
“Great. I want you to meet them, anyway. You know Migs already from the salon, but I don’t think you’ve met the others.”
“I guess we’ll see when we get there. Now, what time is this brunch?”
A couple of hours later, we were almost halfway to Sweet Madeline’s when Gator’s phone rang.
“Hey, Kat, you’re on speaker, but it’s only me and Julius in the car. What’s up?”
“I have an update for you. Chance finally got his warrant to search Wade Roarke’s place, and it’s been cleaned out like he was never there.”
“So what does that mean, exactly?” I looked at Gator, but his face gave nothing away.
On the one hand, I thought it was good news because if he’d cleared out, he wouldn’t be after me, but on the other hand, who knew what that meant for Noah?
He shrugged. “It might mean they’ve moved on, and it might mean they’ve just changed locations.”
“Exactly,” Kat agreed. “Chance said to give him a few days and see if he can locate him, but odds are if they think the operation’s been compromised, they would’ve moved it.”
“So we might not find Noah then. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have someone snatch you like that and then no one be able to find you,” I said.
“We’ll keep trying, mon petit.” He didn’t say it, but I could tell from his expression that if they’d moved on and left the area, he didn’t think they would find him. “Anything else, Kat?”
“No, I just thought you would want the update right away. I hope this doesn’t ruin your day.”
“It doesn’t, Kat,” he reassured her. “We definitely wanted to know right away.”
He ended the call and reached for my hand. “Are you okay?”
I took in a deep breath. “Yeah, I just really thought we would find him.”
“We haven’t given up. Chance is determined to bring this guy down.”
I knew he was right, but the odds had also just gotten a whole lot slimmer.
“So, does that mean it’s safe for me to go back to my place?”
“Not yet. Odds are he moved on, but I’m not willing to bet when it comes to your safety.”
I nodded. I hadn’t even realized it until I asked, but that wasn’t the answer I wanted.
I wanted him to say that it didn’t matter if the guys were still here or not, that I never had to go home.
I bit back a sardonic chuckle. I was always the first one pointing out that forever wasn’t real and that happy ever after was a fantasy, but after just a few weeks with Gator, I was starting to sound like Harper.
“Okay, that sounds logical.” Because that was exactly how he’d sounded. I asked him if I could go home, and he’d given me a very logical answer without even a touch of emotion.
He must have picked up on something in my tone because he reached for my hand. “I know you’re worried about Noah, but we’ll keep looking.”
I sighed, because of course he thought that was what I was worried about, and of course I was.
And that just made it worse. It was silly of me to be so worked up about this when that poor guy was suffering.
But I couldn’t help it. I took a breath and painted on my smile.
The last thing I wanted to do right before brunch with my friends was have this conversation.
“I know you will. I’m just worried.”
He gave me a look that told me he wasn’t quite buying it, but he let it go. We drove the rest of the way in silence.
We pulled into Sweet Madeline’s, and I reached for the door, but Gator stopped me.
There was no way he felt the need to go check out the restaurant before we went in.
It was full of strangers, so it wasn’t like he could tell if any bad guys were in there.
I started to say as much, but before I got the chance, he spoke.
“Look at me, mon petit.”
I looked up into those gray-green eyes, and my breath caught. I had this feeling that he was about to say something, and that whatever he said was going to change everything. Part of me wanted to get out of the car and run inside so he couldn’t say it.
“Now listen to me. That fake cheery smile you give to your clients and even to your friends sometimes? That has no place here.” He motioned back and forth between us. “I want the real Julius, the good and the bad, and all the things in the middle. You got me, cher?”
I nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Good, now tell me what was really wrong earlier.”
I licked my lips nervously. I wanted to tell him, but what if he thought I was being needy, or moving too fast, or was too dramatic? Most people usually did once they got to know me.
“Mon petit. For this thing between us to work, we have to communicate. I know it’s still new, but I’m a firm believer in starting as you intend to go on.”
He wasn’t wrong, so I took a deep breath and jumped in with both feet. “I asked you if it was time for me to go home, and you said not yet.”
His brows furrowed. “Okay, did you want to go home?”
“No, but I wanted you to at least act like it mattered to you if I did. You just said not yet and talked about safety like it didn’t really matter to you if I left or not.” I was trying to keep my voice steady and act like I wasn’t so… well, so me, but I could hear the pitch of my voice rising.
Then, to make matters worse, he laughed.
He actually fucking laughed at me. I reached for the door again because I wasn’t going to sit here and be laughed at when I actually put myself out there, something I never did anymore.
I pushed the door open, but before it was enough for me to get out, he reached across me and pulled it back shut.
“Julius. Don’t go. I’m not laughing at you.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Really?”
“I mean, not just at you. I’m laughing at us.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re upset because I didn’t act like it matters if you wanted to go home, while I’m sitting over here all worried that you do. Mon petit, understand this right now. I don’t want you to ever go home. I want to be your home.”
My eyes filled with tears at that, but I hurried to swipe them away.
I sniffed and then sat up straight. “You can’t say shit like that to me when my friends are inside watching us, waiting for us to come in.
” I motioned towards the restaurant where, sure enough, three faces were staring right at us from the window.
“Let them watch.” He reached for me and pulled me into a kiss. I relaxed against him and let myself get lost in the feeling of his mouth against mine.
After a minute, I pulled back and took a deep breath.
“Let’s go in and eat before I make you take me straight home instead.”
“I like it when you call it home.”
“Good, since you basically just asked me to move in with you.”
“I did, but I didn’t hear you agree.”
I knew it was fast, and I knew if any of my friends told me they were moving in with a guy this quickly, I would tell them they’d lost their mind, but if that was the case, then call me crazy, because I was doing it.
“I would love to live with you, Gator.” He reached for me again, but I backed up against the door. “Nope, don’t touch me. If you do, we’re never going to make it inside for food.”
We walked into my friends whistling and cat-calling us like a gaggle of drunken sailors, but it didn’t bother me.
I would’ve done the same thing if it was one of them, so instead I just pasted on my best Julius Petros smile, placed my hand on one jutted out hip, and said, “Don’t be jealous I’ve got such a good man. ”
Alberto eyed Gator up and down. “Oh, sugar, trust me, we’re all jealous. How did you get lucky enough to find him, and where can I get one?”
“Oh, Gator’s one of a kind.” And to prove my point, he gave me a kiss and pulled out my chair for me.
He grinned at my friends as he took his seat. “Trust me, boys, I’m the lucky one. Now, what’s good to eat? I’ve never been here before.”