42. Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Three
ANDREA
I wake up with warm limbs wrapped around me. Blinking my eyes into focus, I lift my head to find Julian sound asleep, his breaths coming out even. I glance down at his body tangled with mine as if he held on in fear that I’d leave him in the middle of the night.
After what we did last night, I slept better than I have in years. I’ve never been a cuddly sleeper—I’ve always enjoyed my space when I slept, but everything is different with him. I don’t mind having him close. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he tucked me under his skin and kept me there.
I run my fingers over his bare arms and irrational fear washes over me. I like him. I really, really like him. Why does this feel so scary, but safe at the same time?
My stomach growls and I wince, peering up at his face.
Finding him still asleep, I relax, relieved I didn’t wake him.
With an idea in mind, I gently unravel myself from him and rein in a gasp at the welcomed soreness between my thighs.
It only reminds me how embarrassingly long it’s been if all it takes are his fingers.
Once I’m free, I scoot slowly off the bed and ignore the urge to throw myself back into his warmth. Sliding a robe over my shoulders, I covertly exit the room and make my way up the stairs. I keep my steps quiet in hopes of not running into anyone.
I reach the deck that houses the main salon leading to the indoor dining area and find what I’m looking for, a buffet of food. What I’m not looking for? Julian’s ex-girlfriend, who’s gingerly sipping a cup of American tea that she most likely finds distasteful.
She’s so pretty it’s annoying.
When she spots me, she smiles and it’s genuine enough that I find myself instinctively replicating it.
“Good morning,” she chirps, taking another elegant sip of tea.
“Morning,” I respond, walking over to the corner of the room to grab a coffee cup. Before I can grab one, a crew member pops out of nowhere, taking the one I intended.
“Allow me, miss.”
I step back and glance over to find a tall, thin man with perfectly gelled hair. “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
“How do you take it?”
I hesitate before telling him, “Uh, cream and two sugars for me.”
I fiddle with my two hands, which could have done it themselves like they have every morning. I’ll admit, it is kind of nice. Weird—but nice.
“Here you go,” he says, handing me the cup .
I smile warmly. “Thank you, Eric.”
His eyes light up at me remembering his name and has him returning the smile. Producing a playful bow, he responds, “Let me know if you need anything else, Andrea.”
I watch him leave the dining area to get back to the task he was doing before stopping to make my coffee. I selfishly wish he stayed so that I don’t have to be alone with Eden. This causes guilt to slam into me when I find her watching me again with a perfectly nice smile plastered to her face.
“First time?” she asks.
“Sorry?”
She chuckles at my confusion. “Is it your first time having someone wait on you?”
“Oh,” I breathe, snapping out of my frozen state to grab a plate. “Yeah, it seems I’m having a lot of firsts lately.” I look at the large variety of food laid across the table, letting my hair fall to hide my cheeks that warm at the memory of Julian’s hands on my body.
“You’ll get used to it,” she quips, and I can’t help but toss her a quizzical look as I fill the plate with bright-colored fruit. Clarifying, she says, “It’s a different world with him—us.”
My brows furrow. “Us?” I ask, glancing at the tray of muffins and wondering which one Julian would like best. Maybe none? From what I’ve noticed, he isn’t a heavy breakfast eater. I go with the crepe. Even if he’ll deny it, he’s got a sweet tooth.
“His circle; his. . .class,” she answers my question and then winces at how that sounds. “I meant no offense by that. Sorry.”
I shrug, brush it right off, and fill a glass with orange juice.
I know what she meant and it’s something I try not to think too hard about.
I know that if I do, I’ll give myself an aneurysm.
“I’ll admit that I do feel a bit out of place sometimes, but.
. .” I trail off as I set the pitcher of juice down.
“But what?”
“Then when I’m with him it stops mattering.” I swallow thickly, feeling awkward saying this to his ex. “I’m sorry,” I blurt spontaneously, slightly embarrassed. “I know you and him used to. . .you know.”
She waves a hand. “Do not worry yourself with that. It was a long time ago.”
“Still,” I find myself stressing. “A man like him can’t be easy to get over.”
She studies me for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. “No, he isn’t.”
It isn’t that she agrees, but the tone in which she does that sets me on edge. “Good thing you are though.” I force a laugh, popping a blueberry into my mouth before adding, “I’d hate to have to claw your pretty face.”
She snorts. “I’d quite hate that too as my face is part of my job.”
“So, we agree that’s a terrible idea then?” I ask, half-joking, half not.
“Atrocious,” she agrees, lips pressed together to suppress her grin. “I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he does you. I admit, it was strange to see at first. I didn’t think he had it in him.”
“Had what in him?”
“The ability to let himself fall deeper. I thought it was impossible, but now I know that it was only rare and saved for someone he hadn’t met yet.” A sad smile contorts her mouth. “Anyone who tries to compete with that lacks brain cells.”
There’s truth in her statement and I briefly wonder what version of Julian she had that makes her jealous of the one I have.
Instinct has me almost stupidly saying that we’re just friends but stop myself.
We’re together. . .I think. After last night, friends doesn’t seem like the right word.
Not when I now know we both want more. I’m not sure how he feels about labels or if he even wants to label us.
I have no clue what this means for our contract, but we can shred it for all I care.
“I can tell you have plenty of those,” I respond, feeling as ridiculous as my choice of words.
She laughs and I swear somewhere in the market, a stock goes up. The smile she gives me is not malicious in any way. It’s genuine . Sort of. “I like you.”
“You should. I’m a very likable person,” I remark.
Before she can respond, another presence joins us.
Caleb keeps his head down and avoids my eyes as he sits at the head of the table. He immediately grabs a mini waffle and takes a big bite out of it, jerking a chin at Eden with a flirty wink. She rolls her eyes, flipping her hair off her shoulder.
Him ignoring my presence makes me frown. “Are you not talking to me or something?”
Still avoiding eye contact, he utters, “I happen to like my balls attached to my body.”
My brows drop. “Huh?”
“Uck. You could at least say good morning before you start talking about balls,” Eden advises dryly.
“G’morning,” he greets, his mouth full as he smirks.
Eden’s nose scrunches in disgust. “How you were created from your father’s genes I’ll never fathom.”
Caleb’s smile vanishes. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
I cross my arms. “Ignoring someone isn’t very nice either.”
“I’ll have to agree with her.” Eden’s brow lifts at Caleb. “Why are you being an ass? Wake up with your face in the toilet?”
He shoots her a deadpan expression. “I’m not the ass.” Finally, he looks at me. “ Your boyfriend is the ass.”
My heart skips a beat. “Julian?”
His eyes widen. “How many boyfriends do you have?”
“Just the one.” I smirk.
His eyes latch onto the mark on my neck. “I wasn’t aware we had a vampire on board.”
I’m about to bite out a retort, but then he tenses at the sound of an approaching voice.
When he sees that the voice belongs to Felix, he relaxes.
Felix speaks into his phone, in a language I can only presume to be French from hearing Julian speak it occasionally.
He breezes past us as if we’re nothing but furniture and begins to pour his own coffee.
I look around, half-expecting Eric to magically appear and slap the pot out of his hand.
Remembering my plan, I scoop up the plate I made, ready to get back to Julian. A yawn sounds from the hall, stealing my attention. Kira enters, looking far more put together than when I last saw her.
When she sees me, she beams. “Hey, Andrea.”
I return the smile. “Hey.”
Her attention goes somewhere behind me, and I watch something akin to pain flash across her face as her eyes land on Felix. Glancing over my shoulder, I find his eyes on her—the coffee pot frozen in his hand. So much passes between them that even I’m afraid to move.
My morning plan of stealing kisses and eating breakfast in bed with Julian is slowly being whisked away. Kira snaps out of her daze and loops her arm around mine.
Her smile is more forced this time when she says, “I’d say what a night, but I hardly remember it.”
“It was a lot of fun,” I tell her, glancing longingly at my exit.
“It was!” she agrees loudly.
This time when I look over my shoulder, the spot Felix stood is now empty, the coffee he poured left behind.
“Sit with me,” Kira chirps, pulling me down into a seat—right next to Caleb, who winces .
“Actually, I was going to—” I start, but my words end at Eden’s interruption.
“Julian!” she says with far too much enthusiasm. “There you are!”
When I glance over, I find his eyes searching the room until landing on me. There’s something in how he’s looking at me that I can quite place. It’s like a wave of hurt and then it’s gone. I don’t understand it, but it still causes my heart to sink.
“Join us,” Kira says.
Julian’s eyes linger on mine for a beat and then to the back of Caleb’s head.
Caleb stiffens and whispers to no one in particular, “He’s looking at me, isn’t he?”
“Mhm,” Kira hums sharply, pressing her lips together to smother a grin.