35. Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
He pulls it from a hidden pocket inside of his jacket, turns on the flashlight, and shines it on the floor in front of us.
It’s not as bad as I thought. The candle has only broken into about six pieces.
I’d have to wait until the power came back or tomorrow to clean it up so I don’t miss any pieces that one of the students could step on.
“Can you grab some of the candles and help me bring them to the studio?”
While he works to collect all the candles, I grab my phone and a blanket. Five minutes later, the battery-operated candles are on and spaced around us, casting a soft warm glow that shines against the floor and doubles in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
The storm still rages outside, the sound of the rain pattering against the windows. It all feels very romantic, but neither of us says anything about that—obviously.
Remembering the blanket I grabbed, I abruptly say, “Take off your jacket and shirt.”
A dark brow lifts in amusement. “Are you trying to get me naked, Andrea?” His tone is mischievous, but I blush anyway. Thank god for the power outage or I’d be telling on myself.
I roll my eyes. “If I was trying to get you naked, you wouldn’t even have to ask me that.”
His eyes flare with curiosity and something else.
Something I shouldn’t want to uncover, but damn it, I do.
A slow smile seeps across his face as he shrugs the jacket off his shoulders.
He hangs it neatly over the barre. The dampness of his white button-down shirt causes it to cling to his skin.
My mouth goes dry and every rational cell in my brain fizzles out.
I’ve never found a man as lickable as I do him.
It’s kind of embarrassing. If I wasn’t standing, I’d cross my legs to relieve the insistent ache between them.
His eyes flick to the column of my throat as I swallow. He undoes the buttons on his shirt slowly and it feels like he’s messing with me on purpose. Per our contract, I shouldn’t be looking at him this way, but I don’t know that I can get myself to stop.
“My eyes are up here,” he teases.
My eyes reluctantly stop staring at his ridiculously toned chest and meet his. “I know where they are.” At my words, his gaze heats. Does this count as flirting? It feels like it. Past me would be so pissed if she knew I broke rule #2.
Under no circumstance should there be flirting when alone together.
He finishes undoing the last few buttons, keeping his eyes glued to mine.
I decide it’s best if I change the subject to distract myself.
“Have you ever—” My sentence comes to a halt as his shirt falls open and he slides it off his body.
It’s not even seductive, it’s just that he has a really nice body.
I realize I didn’t look that closely when I had to sleep in his room.
“Wh—” I try again and fail as he hangs it next to his jacket.
My eyes trail along the ripples of his muscles.
The air thickens and I briefly wonder what the hell is wrong with me that an upper body is giving me this reaction.
Pull yourself together.
“You were saying?” he asks, turning to face me.
At the smug look on his face, my eyes narrow. “I don’t remember.” I lift my chin, trying to regain some of my backbone since my feminism has taken leave. “It must not have been important.”
“If you say so, ma cerise.”
I ignore his bait as I unfold the blanket.
I step forward to lay it around his shoulders but freeze.
He has a few jagged pink scars along his chest and abdomen.
I don’t know why the sight of them has me fighting against the burning sensation in my eyes.
I don’t even know the story behind them, but I know they were open wounds once.
When I look at his face it’s completely unreadable, almost indifferent.
Stepping forward, I lay the blanket over his shoulders. He has to bend some to help me. “Undressing me just to cover me up?” He tries to joke, but it comes out flat.
I fixate on wrapping him up in a tight cocoon.
My fingers brush the cold skin on his chest and his body responds with another shiver, but I tell myself it’s the cold.
It is forty degrees outside. It’d be best if he also took off his pants, but I don’t mention it.
Once I’m finished, I rub up and down his arms to get him warm.
“There,” I say, smiling as his body loosens in tension.
I find him staring at me with a peculiar look.
It causes my smile to fade and my hands to pause on his biceps. “What?”
He blinks and with a shake of his head, the look is gone. “Nothing.” He clears his throat. “I just—I’m not used to anyone fussing over me.”
My brows fall. Do I fuss over him? Maybe I do, but he’s the one who ran here in a thunderstorm to see if I was ok. “You’re very easy to fuss over, Julian Havord.”
“You always say my full name like it’s important,” he murmurs, his eyes darting between mine. I have a feeling that if I hadn’t trapped his hands under the blanket, they’d be reaching out to touch me.
“It is important,” I say, “It’s yours.”
We stare at each other, and everything starts to feel slow, even my blinks.
In the back of my mind, I know I should look down to check just how far over the line we are, but I don’t.
Instead, I look into the drown-worthy eyes of a man who has been nothing short of wonderful to me since we met.
A man whose presence I can’t seem to stop craving.
My eyes dart to his mouth and back to his eyes, which darkened. Swallowing my sanity, I make a decision. Whether it’s completely irrational or rational is yet to be decided. “I want to try something.” The sound of my voice is strange and breathy to my ears.
“Ok.”
His quick and non-hesitant answer has a soft laugh escaping me. “That easy, huh?”
He steps closer and the faintest scent of a woody spice on his skin caresses my nose. Something about it is intoxicating and cozy all at once like I could bury my face into the aroma and stay there forever.
“Yeah,” he responds, his voice husky. “That easy.”
Clearing my throat, I throw my caution to the wind.
“I was thinking that we should kiss.” Even though my voice shakes a little, his eyes heat and it causes my skin to prickle in awareness of what I’m suggesting.
“I think it’ll help sell our relationship and.
. .” I trail off, losing my focus at his intense stare.
It’s as if he’s peeling me open, baring me to him and I’m a willing participant.
“And what?” he urges, his eyes grazing each of the features on my face like artwork he’s studying.
I hesitate and then admit, “It’s been a while since I’ve kissed someone. Everyone does it differently and so, maybe we should practice?” I do my best not to wince at myself for sounding like a total dork. A part of me is also hoping it’ll help snuff out whatever I’m starting to feel for him.
One of his brow’s arches playfully. “How long?”
“Really?” I roll my eyes, crossing my arms. “That’s what you chose to grab onto?”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “Oh, I’m going to kiss you, Andrea. I’m just curious as to how long it’s been so I know how much slobber to expect.”
A shocked gasp escapes me and then I laugh, not quite believing what he just said to me. “I’m not a slobbery kisser!” Well, at least I hope not .
“I’ll be the judge of that. So, how long?”
“Four months.”
His head draws back. “How often do you usually kiss people if four months is a while?”
“When was the last time you kissed someone?” I shot back.
He ignores my question. “Who was he?”
I give him a deadpan look, but he’s relentless. “Remember Paul?”
His eyes narrow. “Paul from the gallery?”
I nod.
“Well, that explains a lot then,” he says tightly.
We went on one date, but for me, the chemistry was lacking.
I tried to be friends with him, but it turned out he couldn’t be “just friends” with me.
When he drops his daughter off, he can barely look at me.
That’s why it was so surprising when he showed up at the gallery.
It was a nice reminder of why I don’t date the parents of my students.
It should have been a no-brainer from the beginning, but I wanted to try something new.
A thoughtful look crosses his face. “It was in September, so a little over a month ago.”
“What?”
“The last time I kissed someone.”
I should leave it at that, but something has me asking, “Did it mean anything?”
He stares at me for a moment and then shakes his head. “I think I wanted it to, but in the end, no, it didn’t mean anything.” He swallows thickly. “Did yours?”
“No,” I answer in a single breath. “What was her name?”
“Willow. ”
Oh, her again. “Hm.”
“Hm?”
“So, exactly how pretty is she?”
He frowns. “Andrea.”
I wince. “Sorry, I don’t know why that matters. I mean, of course, she’s a stunner.” Stop talking . “It wasn’t serious?”
Studying me for a moment, he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “It was only a fling, but like I said, we ended on good terms. She’s Lily’s aunt.”
“Oh, wow.” That means she’ll appear in his life frequently then. I stare at him closely, searching for any signs that this bothers him in the slightest, and come up empty.
“You’re overthinking it. She’s happily in love and I’m. . .” His words break off with a small shake of his head and an inhale.
“You’re what?”
“I’m standing in this room with you.”
My heart thumps wildly. “Oh.” The air changes around us, thickening as we stare at each other. A question sits between us but neither of us asks it. Will this mean something? My blood heats up when his eyes focus on my mouth. “We’re really doing this?”
“It was your idea, Andrea,” he says but gives me a serious look. “You’re allowed to change your mind.”
“I haven’t,” I breathe heavily, the air dense with anticipation. I shrug out of my jacket and toss it to the floor. “I want to do this.”
His eyebrows lift in amusement, but only for a moment because then he’s pushing the blanket off his shoulders. My cheeks and lower belly heat. A hint of smugness touches his ridiculously beautiful face. Damn it . “Come over here and kiss me then. ”
Fuck me, this was a stupid idea, but I swallow my nerves as I inch closer. My eyes switch between his and then his waiting mouth. It hits me that I should retreat, but I don’t. Instead, my feet stop in front of his. “This means nothing, right?”
His jaw feathers and he dips his chin. “Right.”
“You’re my friend,” I tell him, placing my hands on either side of his neck.
I’m not sure why I need to clarify this.
A part of me considers that it’s more for my benefit than his.
“I mean, I value our friendship,” I add, my voice shaking.
My thumb lightly traces his smooth jaw. My stomach flutters in suspense like everything is about to change the moment I let myself kiss him.
He slides his hands around my waist until they’re behind my back. With one sure movement, he tugs me to him. I gasp as my chest presses into his, our lips a breath away. Everything about him consumes me. His touch, his smell, his eyes.
My eyes fall to his mouth as he says, “Good because we’re about to become best friends.”
Before I can respond, he presses his mouth to mine, swallowing my words.
It’s a gentle kiss that feels like a soul caressing another soul and has my eyes shuttering closed.
His lips maneuver over mine with such precision that I briefly realize we didn’t need to practice, but it feels too good to stop.
It builds slowly into something more fierce, and I barely register us moving until my back hits the mirror.
As if he realizes it too, he pauses. “More?” he asks, panting into my mouth.
I nod, pulling him back to me. “More.”
Oh, he delivers on the request. This time, the kiss is explosive and when his tongue sweeps across my lips, I open for him.
The second our tongues meet, he groans into my mouth and presses in closer.
My entire body lights up and before I know what I’m doing, I hook my leg around one of his.
My hands tangle in his hair as his hands squeeze my hips, tugging me to him as he devours me.
I’m in flames and he’s the wind that makes me burn brighter.
I would have suspected kissing Julian was easy, but what I didn’t expect was this—the best kiss I’ve ever had in my life.
There’s a loud hum and then a click. Light floods the room and Julian and I freeze.
Breathless, we stare at each other. His brows dip as he looks at me and I can only manage to blink.
Those gray-blue eyes fall back to my mouth which is no doubt swollen from our bruising kiss.
His nostrils flare and he looks away, taking a step back.
It causes my leg to unwrap from his and I feel warmth tint my cheeks.
“That was um. . .” My words trail off when he looks at me again, looking more unsure than I’ve ever seen him. I push past my sudden urge to run away and giggle like a schoolgirl over that kiss. “Do you think we qualify for friendship bracelets now?”
Three blinks and then he laughs. It’s not a small kind of laugh either. This laugh comes from his stomach causing the muscles to tighten there. I’ve never heard him laugh like this before and it has me joining him.
And just like that—all uncertainty vanishes and we’re us again.