Chapter Twenty-Three
Georgie
On Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. on the dot, I turned the sign to Closed and then hurried to the back. Everyone had already left, and I had twenty minutes to get ready before Julian was picking me up for our dinner. It was a good thing he'd told me that I had to put on warm clothes so I wasn't tempted to forgo comfort for sexiness. I did have super-sexy lingerie underneath my jeans and sweater, though. My sweater was hanging off one shoulder, but it was wool, so I was certain that it would keep me warm enough. I also had an office-style suit jacket that I could put on in case it became too chilly.
Since I couldn't wash my hair at the store, I couldn't really style it the way I wanted, so I just ran my hands through it before brushing it. My curls were loose, and I liked the way they fell over my shoulders. I applied minimal makeup, only foundation and some blush. My pièce de résistance lately had been the perfume. I loved it so much, and I couldn't explain it. I'd never been a big fan of fragrances—I typically bought one and had it for years because I kept forgetting to use it—but if I continued at this rate, I’d run out of this one soon.
Even though I thought I’d changed quickly, I must have procrastinated a lot, because there was knock at the front door before I'd even finished putting on my blush. Julian was already here.
I took one last look at myself, put my small makeup set in my bag, and hurried toward the front door. I forgot that I'd locked it, too, as I'd only meant to turn the sign around.
I immediately unlocked it, seeing my man, and said, "We can go. I'm ready."
Julian took a step back, looking me up and down. "Nah, we have a few minutes. Let's go inside first."
"Why?" I asked, baffled.
"Because I need to kiss you."
"Oh, in that case, by all means, come in." I gestured for him to step inside the store.
The next second, he grabbed my hand, leading me to the back room.
"You know, with the lights off, no one can see us from the street, I think." I couldn't be totally sure.
"It’s better in the back."
His voice was completely uneven, making my entire body tingle. We didn't make it too far before he plastered me against the back wall and immediately covered my mouth. I sighed against him. The kiss was deep and so damn desperate that it only fueled my own desire more.
I felt his hand at the waistband of my jeans and then moving farther up, onto my bare skin. I hiked a leg up him on instinct. He grabbed it, pressing my thigh into him. Groaning, he trailed his mouth down my neck, inhaling deeply at the nook where I'd applied my perfume.
"Georgie..."
He skimmed his fingers farther and farther up my torso until they brushed my bra. Then, just as abruptly, he let them drop and straightened up.
"Why did you stop?"
"That's the only way."
It was too dark back here for me to see his expression and determine what he meant by that. But from the way he sounded, I felt that he was very close to tearing off my clothes.
He grabbed one hand, interlacing our fingers. I liked that a lot. It felt more intimate than kissing, somehow.
"Let's go. Dinner is waiting for us."
"You're right."
I thought he might try to kiss me again or something, but nope, he just led me to the front door.
"Where's the restaurant?" I asked after locking up.
"Toulouse Street."
"Hmm. I'm trying to guess which one it is...” But I wasn't such a restaurant connoisseur that I knew all the places in the Quarter, and there were a lot of them. "Does it belong to your family?" I asked.
He turned to me, grinning. "Of course. I know most people love LeBlanc & Broussard, but I like this one more. It's more intimate."
"I can't wait to see it."
Music resounded through the streets, along with the sound of chatter. It was surprisingly warm, and the air wasn't as humid as usual. Even the weather wanted us to have a great date.
"Spring is in the air," I murmured.
Julian squeezed my fingers. I loved that he wasn't letting go.
"What makes you say that?"
"I get this feeling when the air changes slightly. I'm usually not wrong."
"It is a very pleasant evening," he agreed as we arrived in front of The Apothecary.
I blinked a few times, then glanced through the window again to make sure I wasn't having vision problems.
"This is a restaurant?"
Julian nodded. "Yeah. It used to be an apothecary. When my family took over the lease on the building two generations ago, they decided to keep the name. It had been an apothecary for hundreds of years, and I think it’s fair to honor that.”
"Your family is big on tradition, huh?"
"We usually try to keep the name of the places we acquire. And there’s even an entire wall dedicated to the family who owned it."
"Do they still have heirs?"
"No. That's how my family ended up snapping up this place. They wanted to close it down. Couldn't find anyone to continue their business. Ready to go in?"
"Sure."
Julian opened the door for me, and I looked around in wonder when we stepped inside. The tables were generously spaced out, and even though half of them were occupied, it was still pretty quiet. Jazz music played in the background.
I immediately noticed the ode to the apothecary in the decorations. They had shelves filled with all sorts of bottles on every wall.
"Julian, hi," an elderly man said.
"Good evening, Oliver. May I introduce you to Georgie," Julian said, then asked, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, sir, follow me."
He was taking us to the back—maybe to the inner courtyard?
Nope, we walked up a staircase, where there was nothing except for some boxes and other supplies on the next level. But then we went up another flight, and Oliver opened a door to the rooftop.
I instantly smiled. There were two big trees in huge pots that were completely leafless now. But they looked absolutely romantic with twinkle lights entwined among the branches.
A table for two was set in the middle of the space, and there was an ice bucket next to it. We were completely alone up here.
"I've taken the liberty of bringing you a bottle of white wine." Oliver pointed at the bucket. "The red is on the table."
"Thank you," I said as Julian held the chair for me. It was a bit chillier up here, and I was glad I had my jacket on underneath my coat. I did take off the coat but kept the jacket on.
After we sat down, Oliver asked, "Would you like me to serve you some wine?"
"I would like the red," I said, looking at Julian. “I don't even care if it pairs well with what I order. I always prefer red.”
"What the lady wants, the lady gets," Julian said, and I shimmied in my seat for no reason. "And you can pour me some too."
"Right away.” Oliver opened the bottle quickly and poured us a very generous amount. I'd have to make sure I didn't drink it too fast. He then pointed at the table. "These are the menus, and bread’s in the basket."
I immediately grabbed some, as did Julian. I saw a hint of a smile on his lips.
After taking a bite of the roll, I glanced at the menu.
"This all looks so good." I turned to Oliver. "What's your favorite entrée?"
"I might be biased, but I think we make the best jambalaya in the Quarter." He looked at Julian. "My apologies to the chef of LeBlanc & Broussard."
Julian laughed. "Don't worry, Oliver. My lips are sealed. I won't give you away."
I smiled. "If you're such a fan, then I’ll order just that."
"And what would you like for appetizers?" he asked.
I looked at Julian, who deferred again to Oliver. "Surprise us."
"All right. I'm starting to like this evening. It's good to see you," he told Julian. "It's been a while."
After Oliver left, I grinned at Julian. "I love this place. I love, love, love it. All these twinkle lights."
"I had a feeling you’d like them."
"So, what did they do with the other tables?"
Julian frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I assume this is usually open to the public, right?"
"No, there's no rooftop service except specifically for us." He pointed. "Including the twinkle lights."
"Wow. This is so romantic."
"I wanted you all to myself. I like the restaurant downstairs, too, but this feels better. Like exactly what I need." He reached for my hand over the table. "I'm very happy to be here with you tonight."
"So am I."
He was looking at me intently, and I was melting inside. I couldn't keep his gaze for fear that I might say something stupid, so I glanced at the two candles sitting on the table. The jars that held them were very intricately painted.
"I know that this all started... Well, I guess that's always going to be a good story to tell," I said.
He chuckled, and that made me relax, so I finally glanced up at him. "That's true. But the more time I spent with you, the more I realized I wanted you. I didn't care about pretending."
Sweet heavens. I loved where this conversation was going.
I moved my legs under the table, feeling a bit jittery. Julian somehow seemed to know, because he immediately put his legs on the outside of mine, rocking them lightly from one side to the other.
"I've wanted you for a very long time, Georgie. Actually, from the first time I saw you. Everything after that was more or less an excuse."
"That can't possibly be true."
"I swear. You think I couldn't have sent that moron Kyle flying out of my bar any other way? But I thought, 'Hey, here's an opportunity to kiss her.' And before I could think about any pros and cons, I went ahead. My brothers had such a field day with it."
"What exactly do they know?"
"Almost everything. Probably what happened at the Marriott too.”
"What? How?" My stomach lurched. Embarrassment crawled up my throat.
"Mom knows. The grandmothers know. But they usually don't share everything with my brothers, so I guess time will tell."
"Goodness. How are you so blasé about this?"
He chuckled. "I've been dealing with my family for a long time. I've learned that it's easier to just roll with the punches. I can't say I mind them getting into my business because I'm also in everyone's business too."
"I like that you aren’t pretentious. I mean, you don't hold yourself to different standards than everyone else. And you could because your family made this town, but you... I don’t know. I guess I’m rambling..." Good God, Georgie, what are you saying?
Julian smiled. "I hate people who do that. Think they’re better than the next guy."
Oliver came through the metal door then, holding a tray with what looked like mussels with baked cheese on top.
"Yum, that looks good," I exclaimed.
"It's our specialty. And we got some excellent cheese in today’s delivery. I'm certain you'll enjoy it. If you want seconds, call me."
"I think we're good," Julian said, and I could only nod.
There were two dozen. No way would we need another round.
"I’ll check back later. You want me to pour more wine?" Oliver offered.
"I'm good." I'd barely taken a few sips.
Julian also shook his head, so Oliver left us alone.
"This looks delicious,” I said.
“I forgot they serve mussels. I usually only come here for a quick lunch, so I never order appetizers."
"How often do you come here?"
He shrugged as we each reached for a mussel. "Not too often. I try to stop by every establishment we own in the Quarter once a month."
"Why?"
"It's just a habit I started and kept. I like feeling the pulse of the Quarter, so to speak, and to people watch. I want people to be happy in our establishments."
"So, you mostly go as a client." Understanding dawned on me. "That's so smart."
"It also gives me a chance to catch up with my brothers if they're there. I mean, Xander never is. He's got an office in the finance district. He's my polar opposite. He can get a sense for how a business is doing just by looking at the numbers. But I need more than that. I need to be in the middle of things."
"Do all of your brothers have offices at one of the locations?"
"Most of them, yeah. And somehow we all ended up in the Quarter, so it's easy to run into one another." He leaned closer. "It's also very difficult to keep secrets."
"Apparently so." I moaned in delight. "These are divine." I realized with shock that I'd already eaten four. "Wow. I thought I was going to feel full after a few."
"Nah. I mean, there's more cheese than actual mussel in it, but I still don't think we're going to need seconds. I wouldn’t recommend it. The main courses are big enough, especially the jambalaya."
“So...” I tried to gather my courage to ask what I couldn't when he'd first asked me out, but my words fizzled. I was very nervous all of a sudden.
I took a bigger sip of wine and then ate another mussel, checking to see if my courage had returned. Nope. So I took a few more sips of wine. That seemed to help more than the mussels.
"Georgie?" Julian asked.
I nearly choked when I looked at him. He was staring at me so intently, it made me wonder if he'd been doing that for a while.
"You’re hesitating. What?"
"How do you know?" I was miffed.
"You started to say something and then cut yourself off. And you've gone from relaxed to very jittery in a span of seconds."
Right. There was no more prolonging this. Maybe it was for the best.
I bit the inside of my cheek. "I was wondering what this all meant... this evening."
He tilted his head slightly, eyes still fixed in me. "I already told you it's a date, Georgie. "
"So, you and I are dating, as in actively?"