Chapter Eleven

“Honey, go call the boys for dinner.”

Holly glanced up from the salad she’d been preparing. Judy’s kitchen was large and airy, giving it both a homey feel while being functional enough to support a large B&B.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else you need help with?” she asked, wiping off her hands.

“You’ve been an excellent assistant, but I think everything’s ready. Go on with you. Down the hall, third door on your left.”

Dutifully, she set off.

Judy was a warm and jovial woman, and she’d infused every inch of her business with the same comforting atmosphere. Holly was glad she came, and not just because it offered her some insight into Julian’s life.

Reaching the study, she knocked on the old wood door.

Julian answered, smiling at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

“Dinner?” he guessed.

“I’ve been sent to summon you.”

“Perfect timing. We’re starved.” He pulled the door wider, and an older man sitting behind a desk came into view. “Pete, soup’s up.”

“Please tell me she made a roast. That woman cooks like a dream,” he said as he came around the desk. When he reached her, he took her hand in his. “You must be Lillian. It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“You, too,” she said with a smile. “And it is a roast, but you didn’t hear it from me.”

Pete laughed and patted her hand. “You’re in for a treat, then.”

Stepping around her, he started down the hall to the kitchen.

She glanced back at Julian to find an uncharacteristically soft smile on his face.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied before pulling her closer.

She should move away, but when he leaned down to kiss her, there was nothing she could do but let her eyes flutter shut.

The kiss was gentle, more of a hello than anything else, and still it made her breath catch in her throat.

“How was hanging out with Judy?” he asked as he drew back.

“I like her,” she replied.

A smile curved his lips. “Good.”

“And she really likes you.”

His smile widened. “I think she vowed when I was a kid that she’d wear me down if it was the last thing she did. I gave up resisting a long time ago.”

“She’s proud of you.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah.”

She blinked twice at the red tinging his cheeks. “You’re embarrassed,” she exclaimed.

He shot her a glare. “You not the only one allowed to feel the emotion.”

“Aw, is the big bad CEO nervous about what I’ll hear tonight?”

“Judy doesn’t do subtle well.”

A lightness filled her. “Now I’m curious. Did you sleep with a night light till your adult years? Have a worn teddy bear hiding somewhere in your closet? No, don’t tell me. You had an imaginary friend, didn’t you?”

Something flashed through his eyes before he stepped forward.

Her humor disappeared as he pushed her across the small hall and crowded her up against the wall, one leg shifting between hers.

“Go on, sweetheart. I can tease, too.”

She swallowed, trying not to be as affected by his nearness as she was.

In her best Lillian voice, she declared, “You don’t intimidate me.”

A wicked glint entered his eye. “No?”

Bending down, he ran his lips along the side of her neck, breathing her in. Teeth scraped lightly against her earlobe as she shivered at the touch.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he whispered in her ear as his thumbs slid under her shirt to glide along her sensitive skin.

Her bravado melted away as she gripped his arms, waiting to see what he’d do next as he drew back enough to meet her wide eyes. A flash of a grin was her only warning before his lips claimed hers. Need raced through her at the searing intensity of his touch. This was nothing like the light hello kiss.

No, that had been a greeting. There was nothing polite or staid about this embrace. Julian was trying to make a point, and boy, had she heard it. If she was going to play with him, she ran the risk of getting burned.

Problem was, his particular brand of heat felt so damn good.

Lillian would push him away with a single finger.

She, on the other hand, melted into a puddle the second he put his hands on her.

The world around them drifted away as she pulled him closer. Tilting her head to the side, she deepened the kiss in a way she would never have dreamed of doing when they first met. Back when he’d been an enemy to fight against.

Now she had a hard time remembering where the line should be. Whenever Julian stepped into a room, all she wanted to do was walk into his arms and do exactly this.

Her fingers delved into his hair, brushing through the soft locks that should make him look far more girly than they did. No, with those piercing eyes of his, no one would mistake him for feminine. Certainly not with his ability to turn women’s worlds upside down with a kiss.

And that ability was for her alone.

The knowledge curled her toes.

He’s mine for at least these few moments.

A pointed cough tore through the desire flooding her body, and she froze in his arms. Together they turned to see Judy standing at the head of the hall, arms crossed and toe tapping.

“You’ve got the rest of your lives for that,” she said. “The food’s hot now. Come along so we can eat.”

“Do we have to?” Julian asked.

“Yes, we do,” Holly said, batting at the hands that had slid fully under her shirt. “Let go.”

The gaze he pinned her with was sultry. “Don’t wanna.”

“Julian Samuel Worth, get yourself into the kitchen this instant,” Judy said.

“Samuel?” she said with a little laugh.

“Tease me again,” he whispered into her ear before stepping back. “I dare you.”

She straightened her shirt before lifting her chin. “Maybe I will.”

Back straight, she marched down the hall toward Judy.

And tried not to think about what would have happened if Julian’s foster mother hadn’t interrupted them.

…

A chuckle threatened to escape him as his fiancée strode away, her back ram-rod straight.

Over her shoulder, Judy shot him a pointed glare, but he just shrugged. Lillian might not use them often, but the kitten had claws when she needed them. He had no doubt she’d put him in his place if he did anything she didn’t enjoy.

Which meant she’d been enjoying herself a hell of a lot.

He loved the way she molded to him, pulling him closer as if she never wanted to give him up.

The sexual side of their bargain hadn’t been something he’d considered much. Back when he’d assumed they’d live separate lives, it had been easy to picture his life going on as it always had. Temporary relationships between willing partners. A life with women who didn’t care how his day had been so long as he gave them an entertaining night. It was an easy way to live. No attachments. No entanglements.

But that wouldn’t work with Lillian. The idea of turning up at another woman’s door left him cold. And the thought of anyone else touching Lillian…

I’d rip them apart.

He stared at Lillian as she rounded the corner to the kitchen. Why would he want anyone else when Lillian set his blood on fire with those cursedly guileless smiles of hers?

She’s the one I need.

And there he was, a man who never wanted commitment or a partner, waxing poetically about a woman.

Urgh, I’ll never live this down if Jason and Ryan find out.

Whether he wanted it or not, Lillian was changing something in him. It was unsettling. Uncomfortable. And yet, undeniable.

Who are you, Lillian Abbott, and what are you doing to me?

Judy was right about one thing, at least. He had a lifetime to answer those questions.

Shaking his head, he jogged down the hall to catch up.

Only to pause when he entered the kitchen. Pete was setting the last plate while Judy scooped potatoes onto a serving dish that Lillian raced to the table. It was all perfectly domestic. I could have this.

He’d spent so many years being unwanted, thinking a family was a weakness because he’d never needed one to get where he was.

But Judy and Pete had made it clear they’d claim him no matter what. And now there was Lillian.

A socialite beauty who laughed at Judy’s bad jokes as she transported a homemade roast to the table.

Something buried deeper than he wanted to think about relaxed within him. Outside these walls, the world might be his to conquer, but the scene before him was filled with everything he’d tried his best not to want.

Everyone needs their people.

He’d always thought the rule didn’t apply to him.

Look at that. Maybe I’m growing up.

And there was only one person to thank for that.

Lillian Abbott.

The woman who would become the rest of his life.