Chapter Eighteen
I’m feeling better now that I’ve got my truth out in the open, but Julia still looks as though she’d rather be anywhere else and her gaze has been focused on whoever is in front of us. When the woman turns around, she looks at me and flashes a flirtatious wink that results in Julia tensing beside me. Is that her problem?
Mallory keeps looking between me and Julia, her eyebrows jumping in the air dramatically to tell me to make a move on Julia, but I don’t know what I should do. I’m lost right now. When we get closer to the commotion around the drink carts, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, Mallory clears her throat. “I’m going ahead…” she says, trailing off before pointing at a random cart. “That way. Catch you guys in a minute!”
As soon as she disappears through the crowd, the tension between me and Julia swarms through the air and it forces me to grab her hand. Julia’s breath hitches, but luckily, she doesn’t try to pull away from my grip and lets me lead her behind a shadowed area away from prying eyes. This could get me a bunch of shit from Mack and the guys if someone were to catch us, but I don’t care.
Julia’s breathes heavily as she asks, “Brent, what are you doing?”
“Something I’ve been wanting to since I saw you tonight, Buttercup,” I rasp, then lean down to do exactly as I fantasized and trace the curve of her breasts with my tongue. The air in St. Croix is humid, leaving her chest slick with sweat, and the saltiness mixes in with her sweetness like a drug I can’t ignore. She arches her back into me, one leg lifting and circling around my waist, and I shake my head against her before pulling away. “I just wanted a taste of you, but this is not the place.”.
Even though it’s dark out, I can see the pink hue to her cheeks as the lights in the distance shine on her face. She smirks and nods in agreement. “Right,” she says, then looks out toward the sea of people heading toward the large stage a small distance away. “One more thing first.”.
Before I can even blink, she crashes her lips against mine and runs her tongue along my bottom lip before pulling away. I stare at her in disbelief, but also in awe that she took a moment to take what she wanted. She darts her gaze away from me for a moment, clearly nervous about my reaction, then shrugs. “Maybe I wanted a taste of you, too.”
The urge to push her up against the tree behind us is insane, but Julia deserves better than some kind of public display. I clear my throat and thread my fingers through hers. “Let’s, uh, get to the concert, yeah?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
When we get closer to the lights, Julia takes a minute to readjust her outfit, then pulls her phone out to text Mallory – likely to find out where she went. I’m not sure how much time passed, but there’s already bass pumping along the beach as we get closer to the stage and I’m guessing we’ve been gone a while. Julia darts her attention ahead, looking between the crowd with her eyes squeezed slightly shut, and points to the left while tugging me along with her.
That woman who winked at me as we made our way through a little while ago catches sight of me again and gives me a finger wave before leaning forward to run her hand over my arm. Luckily, Julia is pulling too fast for me to figure out where she was going with that. I only have eyes for one woman.
Julia gasps beside me and taps a woman on the shoulder. I almost reach out to stop her, until the woman turns around and I notice it’s Mallory. She smiles and jumps up in the air, hollering, then throws a wink my way before throwing her arm around Julia’s shoulders.
I wrap an arm around Julia, stealing her from my sister, and pull her in front of me with a smile before nuzzling my head into her neck. “Thanks for coming tonight,” I whisper into her ear.
Julia side-eyes me and says, “I’m not sure I was given much of a choice, but I’m glad I came.”
With a large crowd surrounding us, and every pair of eyes possibly watching our moves, I tilt her head back and place a tender kiss along her jaw before planting it against her lips. She hums against me, deepening it slowly before pulling away and looking back toward the stage with a smile.
There’s an emotion in her eyes I’m scared to see, so I avert my gaze and look straight ahead. That’s the best course of action for me. Ignore whatever is swirling around in her green eyes, and everything will be okay.
I tighten my hold around her waist and let my body sway with her along to the music, whispering the lyrics into her ear. Only after a few songs do I allow myself to gaze down at her. It’s breathtaking to see her look so alive and free in the moment, which has me looking over at Mallory, who’s already got her eyes on me with a knowing smile.
Julia feels right in my arms, the missing piece I didn’t know I needed in my life, but what if the spotlight I’m shown in isn’t what she wants? After everything we’ve shared together throughout the trip, I can confidently say that she wouldn’t use me in the way others have. I can’t say with confidence that she wouldn’t run away as soon as the paparazzi became too much because I remember how upset she looked when she asked if the picture of us could get taken down.
She hated seeing the comments from fans. I don’t have to see the picture to know that the comments are brutal; I’ve witnessed the lengths my fans will go to more than once. Could she handle it if things were to go further than this beach and resort?
Julia giggles in front of me, then spins around and leans so she can whisper in my ear. “I’m grabbing a drink.”
I shake my head and frown. “You stay here. I’ll grab you one.”
She smiles and pokes the tip of my nose. “So worried, but I’ll be fine.” Before I can keep her from walking away, she’s already scurrying through the crowd and heading toward the carts along the edge.
I silently curse at myself when she disappears, then turn around to see if Mallory is upset, but she’s no longer standing beside me. Where the hell did she go? When a hand travels slowly down my arm, I breathe a sigh of relief before I realize it’s too soon for Julia to be back already. The stranger who keeps flirting with me is standing right there, her nails creating a trail of unwanted attention along my arm, and she smiles. “It’s about time she leaves so I can make my move on you.”
She’s trying to be hot, but her voice makes my jaw clench tightly, and I pull away from her touch. Not that it does much because she’s practically rubbing her breasts against me like a cat in heat. I try to step away from her, smiling politely along the way, but she follows each move I make. “Listen, could you please back up?”
Her giggles make my head pound, and she throws her head back. “You’re so funny. Of course, that’s not what you want.” She leans forward, her mouth coming too close to my ear, and whispers, “I’ll play along for you, though, baby.” Her breath swimming over my skin makes it crawl, and I shake from the uncomfortable position I’m in.
When I look up and find Julia’s wide gaze watching our interaction, I already know she’s going to think the worst. Why wouldn’t she? I gently budge the woman to the side while keeping my eyes on Julia and start making my way toward her. For a moment, I think she’s not going to run away but instead allow me to explain the situation to her, and that evaporates when she finally takes a breath.