Julian (Diver Downeast #4)

Chapter 1

Julian looked out the large, plate glass window for the tenth time in what felt like hours. In reality, only minutes had passed. He tried to tell himself he wasn’t being obsessive.

Uh, seriously? Epic fail.

Julian was, indeed, obsessed.

The subject of his preoccupation? One very compelling, intriguing UPS driver, whom he knew only as P. Bothswait from the badge on her truck; a woman who ran hot and cold with her interactions. She was due to deliver a box to the dive shop soon. Hopefully.

Please let it be soon, before the gang gets back.

Julian, for the first time since he’d joined Diver Downeast nearly three weeks before, was the only one in the store besides Jett’s two dogs, Langley and Tinker, who were sound asleep on their office beds. They’d been left behind when Trask and Jett had flown north for a quick job.

Normally there were several other pups in residence, as well, but Cooper, Duck, and Reyghan had all gone with their prospective humans today.

Tabbi and Spence, with Duck, were currently on the road headed home from Marshfield, Massachusetts with an arrival time of two hours.

The pair—before they attempted to run their first diving class at Diver Downeast—had been receiving some hands-on experience at a sister shop, North Atlantic Scuba, learning the ropes from old friends.

Buck was supposed to be in-house today, but his wife Bobbie, a caterer, was having troubles with her main oven, and he’d gone to see if he could cobble together a fix until the appliance repair-person arrived. He’d taken their two fur-babies, Reyghan and Coooper, with him.

Shiela, Tabitha’s sister who was their office manager, was out sick today, or at least that’s what she’d said when she called in. Julian had his suspicions though, that she wanted to stay home with her cat, Rugby, who had just been spayed.

Hence, Julian being alone; two canines being the exception.

Manning the shop, solo, was an anomaly for sure, but it was perfect, because Julian wasn’t certain he’d make any kind of move with his siblings watching, even though he wouldn’t be able to hide his attraction to the delivery woman from them much longer.

They were tenacious bastards. Once the cat was out of the bag, Julian would get an endless ration of shit from Spence, Buck, and Trask until he was either coerced into bringing his interactions with the lovely driver to the next level, or he flipped his brothers off and gave up altogether.

No. There was actually one more option, and it had been rattling around in Julian’s brain for a few weeks, since the first time he’d set eyes on the perplexing delivery woman.

He could enlist the help of Tabitha, Bobbie, and Jett to keep their husbands off his back.

But that would mean admitting out loud—even if it was just to the women—that he had a serious, secret crush going on; a pill that would be hard to swallow.

Crushes…and interactions of any kind with women on an intense personal level, were not something with which Julian had ever been completely comfortable, and declaring it would be gut churning.

Julian sighed.

One would think, being part of the handsome and gregarious Sothard clan, that Julian would never have a problem declaring his interest in a woman. But Julian didn’t have thr intrinsic magnetism of his brothers. He never had.

Thinking back, Julian sighed.

All through middle school and for the majority of high school, he’d been the runt of the litter; his complexion pimply, his teeth in braces, and his coordination a work in progress.

His larger-than-life siblings had been busy quarterbacking football teams, heading debate clubs, and seeing how many girls they could make fall at their feet, while Julian…

? He’d simply been trying to navigate life.

He'd tried like hell to keep up for a while, to no avail and a lot of teasing, and had subsequently done his best to stay under the radar, which became pretty easy with the oversized shadows his brothers cast. When he did get noticed, unfortunately it was by bullies who wanted to check another box on their asshole-credentials by beating him to crap.

Of course, when they attempted it, the joke was inevitably on them.

When someone dared pound Julian into the pavement outside of school, they’d quickly come to regret it; victims of their own stupidity when Julian’s brothers found out and made them pay with far more bruises than Jules ever sustained.

It was…nice having body guards, but it had done nothing for his self-esteem.

By his senior year, Julian’s long awaited growth spurt finally kicked in, putting him firmly in the middle of his tall, family pack, and—thank the lord—well beyond what any schoolmate-thugs might want to tackle.

His siblings, in the ensuing years, had also taught him some self-defense techniques so he would no longer be vulnerable.

He’d never had to use those skills, however, because he’d already perfected the art of blending into his surroundings to become invisible.

It was a trait that had eventually aided him well as he’d followed his brothers into service for the United States.

After graduating high school, Julian had chosen to enlist in the Airforce, where his aptitude for all things covert guided him straight onto a Guardian Angel team.

His legendary stealth became part and parcel of who he was for the next eighteen years, with Julian eventually rising to the rank of Combat Rescue Officer in charge of taking hand-picked teams into dangerous territory for covert ops and risky personnel recovery.

No man left behind had never been a motto for Julian, it had been a way of life.

But on the female front…

Julian shook his head as he glanced out the window again.

His dorkiness during high school meant that he’d never dated then, and once he was a “Doolie” in the Air Force, fraternization amongst the troops had been frowned upon, so he’d continued his virginity streak.

Julian had, however, learned how to be good friends with his woman team members, which had given him a little more confidence.

It had been nice, chatting up the female sex, but that had been the extent of his interactions.

It wasn’t until his first thirty day leave when he’d gone on a “beach holiday” with a couple of his buddies, that he’d hooked up for the first time.

Had it been awkward? Absolutely.

Had Julian enjoyed it? Hell, yes.

For a while thereafter, down-time had been an excuse to hit the bars and see if he could talk a woman into a night of pleasure. It had all been done openly and above-board with no expectations from any females he picked up. Still, he felt…awkward, and never once had his heart become involved.

Eventually the new-found joy of getting laid, lost its luster.

Not that he’d become a monk. Hell, no. He’d just become more discerning, hoping to eventually find someone who sparked more than just his libido, but that hadn’t happened.

Until P. Bothswait.

Which begged the question, why?

Why now, when he was just another civilian working in a family business; one Sothard face in a sea of impressive brothers, instead of being a decorated officer who stood out amongst his peers?

Julian doubted whether P. Bothswait saw him at all. He knew he practically disappeared every time he was around his boisterous and overachieving sibs.

The locally based brothers who weren’t partners in Diver Downeast, were Mason and Kyle, cops and SWAT team members who stopped by the shop quite often.

And don’t even get him started on Vincent, the liveliest-wire of the bunch who was still in the Navy.

For now. Vince kept talking about getting out and joining the new “family business”.

God help Julian, then. If he hadn’t made a move on P.

Bothswait by the time Vince got home, it would be game over, considering Vincent’s over-the-top charm.

Today, however, Julian might finally be alone when P. made her delivery.

Perhaps he could engage her in a way that would make him stand out from the pack.

At least, that was his goal.

Two dog heads popped up, suddenly alert, and Julian’s heart began to pound.

P. Bothswait always gave the pooches biscuits when she came around. Could it be…?

Julian heard the distinctive rumble of the UPS van moments after the dogs had alerted.

They were already headed to the door, and so was he.

Damn.

His insides roiled.

It was now or never.

Running his hand back over his hair that had gotten longer since he’d separated from the Air Force a month earlier, all Julian’s well-rehearsed greetings went right out of his head.

The dogs were whining now that the truck had come to a complete stop out front, and Julian tripped over his own feet as he took an anticipatory spot between the tongue-lolling pups, glancing out to ogle the woman surreptitiously.

Beautiful.

Auburn hair in a long ponytail, a button nose, and a firm chin. He wondered what color her eyes were, but she was too far away to see.

He yanked the door open.

Tinker and Langly bolted out, nearly knocking him down, then almost put P. Bothswait on her ass as they stormed her petite body.

She held her own, however, planting her legs…

Legs.

Holy crap. It was only March, but the woman who’d been starring in his fantasies was sporting shorts, and looking damned fine. Not only were they short enough to give Julian a glimpse of her toned thighs, he noted that her legs weren’t stark, winter-white, as he was sure his own were.

“Are you normally that color?” The question popped out of his mouth as his feet took him closer to where P. was navigating between the two rambunctious furballs.

“What?” she laughed while accepting kisses from the four-legged pair.

Damn, that sounded incredibly dumb. He clarified. “You’re, uh…tanned.”

“Why, Mr. Sothard,” she scolded politely while giving the dogs a “sit” sign which they oddly obeyed, “are you examining my legs?”